Responsibility

Imagine being the disciples during this time. Jesus is just outside of Jerusalem. Inside Jerusalem awaits some religious rulers that hate him and obviously desire to kill him. Jesus has performed many miracles and signs to prove that he is the Messiah that was spoken of in the OT. The OT books of Daniel and Zechariah say that through this new Messiah, this new David, God would raise up in Israel a kingdom that would be everlasting. He will once and for all time destroy his enemies and establish justice in the land. Instead of a wilderness, the land will once again flow with milk and honey. This time next year, the disciples think, will be enjoying life as servants of the king.

(ESV) — 11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

It’s about this time that Jesus speaks up and tells them a parable. Luke informs us on the truth that was intended in this parable: the kingdom of God will not appear immediately. The inauguration and culmination would take place over a longer period of time than they were expecting. Apparently a misconception is prevalent at that time that Jesus would immediately destroy his enemies and fulfill the promises made in the Old Testament. Jesus has already told the disciples on three occasions that he was going to Jerusalem to die and they haven’t understood that. So instead of telling them again, Jesus tells them this parable.

(ESV) — 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’ ”

What is the Meaning?

In this parable we see a man become king and upon his return he holds his servants and his citizens accountable for what they have done. He gives his servants ten minas and tells his servants to “Engage in business until I come” and then he leaves to be given the kingdom. According to verse 11, this is somehow supposed to illustrate for the disciples that Jesus will not receive the kingdom immediately as they supposed. Isn’t this an odd way to reveal this truth? How is this going to help the disciples understand that the kingdom will not appear immediately when they come into Jerusalem?

Kingdom

To start with let’s admit that the idea of a man going into a far away country to be crowned king makes no sense to us. It also seems like an odd thing that would never happen not to mention that the citizens would oppose a man about to be named king. Who would do that? But it would have made perfect sense to them at that time. You see, Jesus’ parable parallels with recent events in their lives. The son of Herod The Great, Archelaus went through this exact same process.. He had to travel to Rome to ask Caesar for that title, but when he got there he was opposed by some of his own family, a number of Jews from his home country of Israel, and a multitude of Jews who were in Rome. The result of this upheaval was Archelaus becoming like a king without the exact title he wanted and 3000 Jews being killed for their opposition. Jesus uses this recent event to illustrate what he is going to do. Jesus would go through a similar process but in order to be a good king unlike Archelaus who was very bad. Like Archelaus had to leave for a time to pursue that title, Jesus will be leaving for a time to be given that title when he dies. Then he will return and kill his enemies like Archelaus did, but that’s on down the road.

As stated before, Jesus’ disciples think when they enter Jerusalem Jesus will be inaugurated as king and the culmination of all the kingdom blessings will come at once. That’s what immediately means. But this parable reveals to them that they will have to wait for him to return from a trip “to a far away land.” This parable would set them up for a long absence that would begin in the book of Acts. The inauguration would happen when Jesus is given the Holy Spirit in and the Culmination would happen over an even longer period of time until as Paul says in , “Until all his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.” But why isn’t this really the focal point of the parable? Jesus seems to bring it up and change focus from talking about the coming of the kingdom to the responsibility of the servants?

Teaching The Disciples Responsibility

The disciples have a tendency to become distracted and focus on the wrong thing. Notice how the way the kingdom comes is really just a side note to the main point of the parable? The main point of the parable is not that the nobleman received his kingdom after a long journey. The main point is that the nobleman’s servants would go through a responsibility test while he is gone (13-26). He will entrust to them something small to do and see how they can handle it. In this case he gives them an amount of money and simply says, “Engage in business until I come.” There is no explanation about what will happen if you do good or if you do bad. They are just told what they need to do and they are all given an equal opportunity to do it. Then, Jesus spends most of the parable discussing what they did with that responsibility.

Good Servants

The first and second servants put in a considerable amount of time and effort to profit their master. They were working diligently to accomplish the will of their master while he was gone. One seems to have worked harder and been a little more cunning or able than the other, but they both worked hard for their master. Why did they do that? What would drive someone to put in that much effort to serve their master when their master isn’t watching them work? Do you think they were tempted to look around them and do less work like others were? The old saying goes, “While the cat is away the mice will play.” But they didn’t seem to have that kind of attitude toward their master. Notice what they said when the master returns, “Your mina has made you ten minas.” Is that true? Wouldn’t we say that the servant has made his master ten minas. But their attitude is one of humility and submission to their master. They wanted to do what was in the best interest of their master. It’s almost as though they feel indebted to the master for something.

Bad Servant

Now, let’s contrast that response with the response of the third servant who said, “I was afraid of you” and did nothing with the mina. Did you notice how this servant has bought in to the thoughts of the citizens who rebelled against the king. He doesn’t really like his master. He thinks he is too severe and that he is not an understanding guy. I get the feeling that this guy is trying to manipulate the king and make him feel bad about how severe his punishments have been in the past. The servant thinks that he can avoid any kind of punishment here by simply excusing himself for his disobedience and rebellion. Not only has he been lazy with the opportunity he was given, but he was also careless. Who leaves three months pay in a handkerchief, sitting around their house? It’s not a talent of money, but it’s still three months wages! He didn’t even care enough to bury it and keep it safe. This guy gets called out by the king after making his excuses known. Notice how the king doesn’t cave to the manipulations. He is not going to overlook the sins of this man. If he wants to call him severe or harsh for giving what is deserved, so be it. He points out that the servant’s words don’t line up with reality. Either the servant doesn’t know the master, who “reaps where he does not sow,” or he is just lying to cover up his unfaithfulness and attempting to manipulate. Regardless, his response to these feelings he has makes no sense. If he really felt that way he should have done something to avoid the punishment.

The King

The king’s reactions to all of these servants are amazing. To the first two servants he takes this faithfulness to a small amount of responsibility and hands them a much greater responsibility. Do you think these servants are prepared to rule over an entire city? That doesn’t matter. The king sees that they are faithful and responsible servants. What they put their hands to do is done out of love for the master and a true understanding of who the master is. The king wants to bless these servants and these servants want to bless the king. However, the servant who disobeyed not only gets called out for his unfaithfulness, but even the thing that was entrusted to him and the opportunity that he had is taken away and given to the man with ten minas. In this we see that the king really values those who value him. He wants to put them in a position where they can blossom and prosper to the fullest extent possible. This king is not going to tolerate excuses or rebellion against him. He’s not going to be manipulated, coerced, or deceived into doing something that is unjust or wrong. He gave all of his servants the same opportunity and what they did with that opportunity is on them. To those who do what they are supposed to do he will bless abundantly, but those who are lazy and careless he will take away what he gave them. He may not slaughter them like his enemies, but how will they live without the blessings or the opportunities they once enjoyed?

What Do We Learn?

When we read this parable, what can we learn about the kingdom and the part we play in it? We are still supposed to be working and waiting for the king to return and we are all given the same responsibility.

(ESV) — 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

We are supposed to “engage in business” until the Lord returns. What will we do with our responsibility?

We Can Ignore Our Responsibilities

The most common thing we do with our responsibility is ignore it like the third servant. The third servant decided to go about his own business and set the responsibilities that were given to him aside. Do we ever ignore our responsibilities as Christians? How many of us have gone through a period of time when we just aren’t doing anything for the Lord. We aren’t growing in knowledge and understanding. We aren’t reaching out to help anyone or trying to teach anyone. Has there ever been a time in your Christian life when you were so self focused that you didn’t even think about what you could be doing for God. What about last week?

Maybe some of us are stuck in a rut right now. We have been ignoring our responsibilities to God for so long that we don’t even remember what it was like to do our best for God. It’s not that we aren’t giving God every minute of every day. We don’t give him any time outside of this building. Why not? What are we thinking about that keeps us from doing the work of the Lord? Do we think, “I’ll let the other people engage in business, they seem to be working hard enough for the both of us.” How easy is it to think that way? I wonder if the disobedient servant was friends with the ten talent man so he thought he was fine by association. We know that’s not how it works. The text tells us that the disobedient servant was thinking he would somehow be able to do what he wanted to do, lie to the king, and get away without punishment. But it did not work for him and it will not work for us. We can convince ourselves that God is not very understanding by expecting us to give an effort, but that way of thinking led to the third servant missing out on the blessing of the kingdom. That is what our future looks like if we continue to ignore our responsibilities.

Or We Can Embrace Our Responsibilities

On the other hand, there were servants who embraced the responsibilities given to them. And did you notice that their roles and responsibilities only increased as a result of their faithfulness? The king saw their faithfulness and wanted them to play a bigger part in his kingdom. Isn’t there a valuable message in there for us? It seems as though the servants found satisfaction in performing their work so the king gave them more work. Do we want more work? The attitude of the ten mina and five mina servants is an excellent example for us because they understood the love of their master and they desired to pay him back for all of the blessings that he has entrusted to them. We need to find the same understanding for ourselves. Our work here is not a work of obligation. It is a work of love that is worth investing our time, energy, and resources in. We need to see this work as something that we look forward to doing. This is a work that can replace our hobbies because we get to serve the king. This is a work that we get to volunteer for because of what God has done for us.

Yet, how many Christians view their work this way? How do we typically view our responsibilities for the Lord? So many times I have seen Christians viewing their work as a temporary burst of work then I’m done and I get to retire from working for the Lord. We may think, “I have converted or assisted in the conversion of one soul so my work is done. I get to retire now.” I remember patting myself on the back for helping someone else and trying to take it easy. But that’s not the attitude we see in the two servants who are blessed. They weren’t satisfied with making one mina into two or even three. The difference between the first two servants and the third servant was not small because there was a difference in understanding who the king is and what he has done for them. Do we understand who Jesus is? Do we really know him? Do we love him? These servants were diligently working to make the king’s mina into as much as they could before he returned. They had a desire to do more for the king because of their gratitude for what he has done for them.

Conclusion

We must not ignore the work we are given the responsibility to do and we must not view our work as what we have to do in order to get to heaven. The work that we do is for the Lord because he has made a way for us to be with him. If we know the Lord, if we know what he has done for us, and if we know what he continues to do for us we ought to be involved in this as a labor of love. This is like a family business and we want it to succeed in all the earth. We are working along side our brothers and sisters to do the work of our Heavenly Father. Why? Because that’s the business that our king, our eldest brother, has told us to engage in and we love our king. We love him and he loves us. In the end we trust that the he will reimburse us for our hard work because the guy who made ten minas got to keep his ten mina and he was given an additional mina.

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