Luke 19:11-27 - The King is Coming

All right. Good morning. Everyone. This is the 8 charger my people that like we are going to be in Luke chapter 19 this morning. So if you have your Bibles with you can turn either in your Bible or on your app that you can follow along with the text off of those. Do you don't know me by my name is Rob Bell. I'm one of the elders here and it's my delight and privilege this morning to bring the word of God. Let's pray and then I'll read the text for us this morning.

Call Greg Otto father. We know that you have written your word for our instruction and for our benefit and so we just pray that this morning as we look into your word that you would help use the word to correct us. And I hope you use the word to encourage us to help use the word appoint us to Jesus Christ this morning the father if there are misconceptions that people have hear about Jesus about heaven about your kingdom. I pray that we would help clarify some of them today. So mostly I pray that your Holy Spirit would be active in each one of us prodding us pointing us to Sims and flaws in her own life helping us to confess those and as we celebrate the Lord's Table after the sermon. I prayed that you'd help us to focus on Jesus Christ and remembered his suffering in his death in our behalf. So we pray these things in Christ name. Amen.

Chapter 19 we're going to start in verse 11 and head down 2 verse 27 the parable of the ten Minas. verse 11 I thought I heard these things he that is Jesus proceeded to tell a parable because he was near to Jerusalem and because they suppose that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said there for a nobleman went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return Calling 10 of his servants. He gave them ten Miners and said to them engage in business until I come but his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying we do not want this man to Reign Over Us. Money returned haven't received the kingdom. Do you order the servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him that he might know what they had to gain by doing business. The first came before him saying Lord, your mind has made 10 - more and he said to him well done good servant because you have been faithful in a very little you shall have authority over 10 cities have a second came saying Lord, you're mine has made five- and he said to him and you are to be over five cities. Then another came saying Lord hears our minor, which I kept late away in a handkerchief where I was afraid of you because you are a severe man you take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not so he said to them 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 so why then did you not put my money in the bank and that my coming I might have collected it with interest. How do you say to those who stood by take the minor from him and give it to the one who has 10 - they said to him Lord. He has 10 - I tell you about to everyone who has more will be given but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to Reign Over them bring them here and slaughter them before me.

I was a heavy Landing. How do we deal with a passage of scripture? But seems to put Jesus in a bad light. In general, how do we deal with that? But no particular this passage? How do we deal with passages of scripture that we struggle with Setter seem heavier hard. Well this morning we have some help do the first verse that we have Russell Evan actually gives us the contest and the purpose for the story. So let's look at that before we get into the parable itself. The context of the story is in the first couple of words of first number 11 as they heard these things Jesus proceeded to tell a parable if you've been with us for the last few weeks, you know that Jesus has been steadily gathering this huge crowd along with the disciples with him as he heads towards Jerusalem. And for the last 2 weeks, he's been in Jericho by Gerald Hayes preached a couple weeks ago on how he heals a blind beggar. I been last week Reese plant preached on how he saved the Zacchaeus Was Zacchaeus change from being a Roman collaborator and tax collector and turn into this generous man who gave back all his money and was transformed at the meeting with Jesus. So we have this context these people have seen these amazing works of Jesus his miraculous healing power and also how he transforms people who come in contact with him and no we see the purpose of the story. Jesus is getting close to Jerusalem. And the crowd and the disciples day in the text think that Jesus is going to bring about the kingdom immediately. They misunderstand Jesus and his mission produces being interpreted as a physical conqueror. They think he's going to come and he's going to overthrow the Romans. They think he's going to set up a new Kingdom of Israel. But that's not the point of the story. This is not primarily a story about the overthrow of the Roman said this isn't primarily a story has is often told about how we're supposed to use our gifts. Although that is a consequence of the story that will see Jesus is the subject of the story. And so we need to look at this Parable with God at the center not us at the center. But Jesus tells the story to remind his followers that the kingdom work was not going to be done when he got to Jerusalem. There was still going to be work to do other work that is left to do is what we've just seen in chapter 11 the healing and restoring in the saving work of Jesus. So now that we have a bit of a context than a purpose for Jesus telling this Parable. Let's look at how he sets it up and look at first 12 to 14. Tell the story is about a man whose of noble birth and heads and receives a kingdom from a different country. And that might seem really foreign to us in our day and age, but actually if you had lived in ancient times, it would have seemed very natural do other things about ancient times is that they were often territories that were governed by Empires and his Empire conquered more territory in ancient world to get bigger and bigger. They have trouble governing themselves. They have to figure out ways so they can still manage this Empire that they've created and one of the really easy ways to do that is to basically rent out the territories on the outside parts. And so you could say to somebody who lives in the far-flung part of your Empire. Why don't you run this territory for me? You can collect the taxes. You can raise all the people you need to administer the district at your end. And then the Empire gets to save all their best people. They don't have to keep sending them all the way all the way to the end of the empire. I'd be the same thing that happens nowadays in like a business take over sofa large business conglomerate moved in and buy his own a small business and then takes the owner pays them out of the money and then make something manager like a small Department within the bigger within the bigger Corporation. It's kind of the same principle. So this Parable mirrors the story of one of these will client Kings is plant Kings who travel to Rome for approval and this is actually happened. So here is a great in the hair that tries to kill Jesus when he's a little baby. He did this. He actually went to Rome with the try to talk to Marc Anthony Anthony and Cleopatra Fame and Marc Anthony gave him commission to be over Judea and the same thing happened with his son are coleus was the son of Herod and he also travel from Judea to Rome to try to get the Emperor Augustus to make him in charge of Judea when he went actually the Jews hated him so much that they sent a delegation of people with him to protest his appointment. So if you wear the audience in Jericho right now listening to Jesus, this is like current event politics to you. It's exactly what you would be familiar with. You would realize that Jesus is telling a parable and he's putting himself. In the place of our class, this is tricky because our class was just an awful human being he was a terrible ruler. He hated the Jewish people and he treated them really poorly. Only Jesus I think would be a gutsy enough to put himself in the place is somebody that was so hated in order to make a point. So let's look a little bit at the point of this passage. The parable is about Jesus of noble birth who's going to leave from heaven and come down to earth and an Ascend back to Heaven that's his journey to receive from a father a kingdom. I think he's going to return it is going to establish his kingly rain forever. But in the meantime, he gives gifts to a servant's to put to use There are a number service the passage says that he calls 10 of the servants so clear. This is a rich man is many many servants and he calls 10 of them. I think 10 is used because 10 is a number that represents all of us gets used in the Bible for the Ten Commandments and the 10 plagues in Revelation. It shows up all the time 10 is the number to stand in place for all. So I think this is Jesus's way of saying that this message is universal to everybody who is sitting here and listening to it this morning and what he gives them each is a minor or Mina Ormond that cuz there's actually no vowels are in the Greek word. This is MMA. So these miners now it's it's always hard to translate old currency the new currency, but I might have would have been worth about a hundred days wages. So if you imagine a hundred days of working throw in some Sabbath days and they're in some holidays you're looking at about four months of pay at a pretty low rate like something close to our minimum wage. So4 number for the minor we can think maybe $10,000 maybe $15,000. This is by no means a huge sum but is enough for like a small business loan to get started with some day trading. So Jesus is giving with the the king is giving these people disturbance just enough money to get started with their own business. No, it's a parable mirrors real events. We should notice the fact that were somewhere between verse 14 and verse 15 in real life. Jesus has received the kingdom. He already came to Earth die on the cross rose again went to heaven ascended to the father. But we're still waiting for the Return of the King. The kingdom is already but not yet. This is already received the kingdom, but we don't always see that information here on Earth. And now with the rest of this Parable there are three principles that I think we can learn from this Parable from the three different groups of people that relate to Jesus and their responses to his kingship. We're going to look at each one of those and turn and see what each one of them can tell us about the kingdom of God. The first group that we see are the Faithful Servants they show up in versus 15 to 19 in the nobleman returns. Now, he's a king. He's been Anointed The King in this case probably by an emperor of the Empire and he receives reports from his servants this house as to how they've done the first servant comes up to him and says, I have your money here and look I made 10 more I made a thousand percent profit on your money, which is incredible, right? He took his $10,000 and made $100,000 here. I made all this money. Well done good servant, but notice that his Commendation isn't just for being faithful in the work or being fruitful to work, but it's also about his character. He calls him a good servant. The king elevates that servant to be in charge of 10 cities in the Kingdom. They're in that. He's just received the second servant likewise he comes and he's in charge of five cities. I don't know about you. But if my boss had come and give me $10,000 to work with for a little while and disappears for a few months or years while he goes on a business trip and comes back and I've made five times as much money are ten times as much when he says great. You're going to be the mayor of 10 cities. I would be blown away a disproportionate. That is the amount that were given compared to how much responsibility I would have afterwards. But here's the principle of the king that we can learn from this faithfulness now leads to responsibility later on this now leads to responsibility later. I think as Christians living in the 21st century. We have such a small and inaccurate view of Heaven that we don't understand responsibility later. We're not going to be sitting around with little cherub babies and wings on our backs and playing Harps. That's not what happened is going to look at look like heaven is going to be the restoration of all things and the consummation of the Kingdom Revelation 21 actually tells us that God is going to prepare a new holy city of Jerusalem and it's going to come down from heaven on Earth at everything on Earth is going to be restored and then God is going to come down and live with humans in the holy city of Jerusalem. And we sometimes think of Heaven as this far away place in the streets are paved with gold in those things are written in Revelation their true, but those things are going to come down and it's going to restore Earth. So there's going to be work in heaven. What redeems work with no frustration or sin matching going to school or work this week and having no one sin against you? Your boss doesn't tell you off. You don't have any clients that melt that you your colyte you're probably doesn't have some Sly comment for you or disparage your work. Imagine perfect work work work everything you do works, but work is supposed to do right? It's supposed to work imagine doing that mention having no frustration in your work, but the Roblox that are anyway aren't there still give me work. I mean where my Matthew will work is force times distance, right? You still going to have to take things and move them we're going to have to use energy for a certain amount of time. I can still going to have to do work, but the work will always work. It'll be the worse that you've always wanted to. And this work is it was meant to be means that those who are faithful now will have a greater share responsibilities. Later. Hazel face on the snow will lead to responsibilities later is what we can learn from the Faithful Servants. What about the next group The Unfaithful servant that he gets the most verses in this text. And so we probably need to spend the most time on him understanding juices point in this parable of the Unfaithful servant goes to give his report to the king and when he shows up he only has the original one minor that he was given by the king and he hid it in a handkerchief and he never uses it. He doesn't touch it the whole time that he has it. I personally find this careless Andrew if you were called in to a lunch meeting with your boss and they say I'm going away on a long trip. Here's a $10,000 check do some business for me while I'm gone and you take the check and stuff in a napkin and throw it on your desk and don't look at it for the next several months or years. What kind of employee are you? I think the carelessness in the rudeness of this servant shows up in the way that he tries to excuse himself from not doing the work. So after he shows up and says, here's your mind back. I didn't even use it. Sorry. He then makes excuses actually afraid of you. Your your severe you take the deposit that isn't yours. In other words, you're a thief you steal stuff and you reap what you didn't know you also cheat people out of things. I don't even think I could walk up to my boss and say that to their face but hear this servant walks up to his boss and says, here's your stuff back. I didn't do anything with it. You're scary because you're a thief and a cheat. So what does the king do you know any boss would be angry at that was this boss is smart. He uses the employees words against them this serve in own words a twisted back to back to point out his flaws Wicked and then he condemns him with his own words noticed in your Bible. If you look at the first number 22, you'll notice that it's in the form of a question. So it might seem like the king is acquiescing to this person's description of him, but he's not he's actually using it to turn back against them. They so he's not agree with this assessment. He's he's arguing against them. So here is what the King has to say to the servant if you're right about me being harsh and dishonest. Then you should have acted differently. These words don't make sense because your actions don't match them. If you really thought it was harsh and dishonest then you would have done something about those two things. You would have taken the money and you would have put it in the bank and at least you would have learned some honest interest in the bank that would have satisfied both me and your conscience if you think I'm harsh then at least you could have learned in give it to me that would have taken away some of the harshness and if I'm unscrupulous person that will cut corners and Steve and steal and cheat people out of their money. Then if you felt your conscience was pricking you about that you could have gone and on Ernest earned on a Centrist in the bank and give it to me that your conscience would have been a piece. That's not what the wicked servant does is wrong about the king being harsh of the dishonest man. This is a really serious insult to the king. And you spell to a bail. So we're left with the choice of either the servant is lying about how he feels about the king. Is he trying to cover up his an action or he's seriously misjudged the king either way. He's responded incorrectly and the King points the 7th and the truth is the faithful servant is wrong because he does not know the king. His words are untrue as read through this whole passes are so many difficult Parts, but the only person who describes the king is Harsh is the Unfaithful servant all the other servants. Joyfully and then they get rewarded. In fact, the situation is the exact opposite of what the Unfaithful servant said go to faithful servant says that you take deposits aren't yours and then you reap what you didn't so what if you look at what the if you like it was a nobleman did he deposited money and then didn't take it back he gave away a deposit to a service. And then was the service gain their money and reaped he didn't take it. He stowed but didn't repeat entry podenco. He's exactly the opposite of what the Unfaithful servant does in literature. Sometimes we have people called unreliable narrators write an unreliable narrator will tell you a story but the trick is that they're trying to fool the audience as you go through so that the audience doesn't realize that there's actually like a hidden meaning behind everything that the narrator's doing. In this case. The Unfaithful servant is like an Unfaithful narrator and they aren't telling the truth and everything that they say if I everything they say is the opposite to leave it all this passage seems really harsh in light of who and it'll taste Jesus in a bad light all the things that are harsh are actually reversed their lies from the Unfaithful servant.

And I think the same thing that happens with the Unfaithful servant happens in everyday life how many people have friends or colleagues neighbors maybe from people in this room family who will admit pick things about God that they don't like he's too harsh. I don't understand what Christianity is. So exclusive why don't have to believe in Jesus. Why do I have to go to church? Why does God have to judge people?

It'll say something like if that's the kind of God you believe in that. I don't want any part of it. well, we can use their words and their logic against them like the Unfaithful servant if you're right in your assessment that God is some sort of Evil person that he's harsh that he's unrighteous then shouldn't you be doing whatever you can to get onto God's good side. If God is capricious in some way shouldn't you be trying to appease that shouldn't you be doing what the Unfaithful servant should have been doing put the money in the bank and at least collect some interest least have a token of appreciating God. And if you're wrong about God, maybe you need to reevaluate your faulty point of view. Maybe God is gracious after all. And you just don't understand breathe. We have your priorities wrong behind both the parable and what happens in real life is a truth that there is a God and His judgment is a reality for those who accuse God of harshness or unrighteousness your leveling a serious insult at God. We're left with a question. Does the other servant here represent in the real world? What is the analogy to our situation is the Unfaithful servant in some kind of cultural Christian or lapsed Christian? Carnal Christian somebody who's going to waste their life of the Ruby save sort of by the skin of their teeth and still make it into heaven. I don't think so. I got to think there is strong evidence that the Unfaithful servant is not among the redeemed people but they're not going to go into heaven. And here's why I think that first will the Unfaithful servant is it called the third servant normally, I would expect if your listing the servants you'd go to the first second or third the second serving this Thursday, but they can say them in order, but he was first second other. Other to me seems like he's in a different category from the Faithful Servants and then the king gets more specific that other category is that he's wicked his character isn't good. Unlike the Faithful Servants. He's a wicked servant. And then maybe most telling is that the servant that is Unfaithful clearly doesn't understand the character of the king of this King generously gave his own money to his servants to work with in order to earn for themselves a position of responsibility in the future. He thinks this is some kind of trap that God hates a man is trying to trap them. That's not what I was trying to do that was giving him the opportunity to grow to show how he loves the king and how he can serve the king.

That he just doesn't understand the grace of the King has towards a servant so he doesn't trust the king and around here at West London. We often say this faith is trusting God enough to obey him. If he doesn't obey him, he doesn't have faith. It has minor as another proof is taken away from him by people protest. Who are you taking the minor away from this guy? He only has one and this other guy has 10 that seems unfair but the reality is the first that I didn't even really have the money cuz what did he do with it? He stuck it in a handkerchief and tossed it away that he hadn't even availed himself of the one minor that he actually had its own people complaining that they taking it away from him. Of course you taking it away from you weren't using it. I'm going to give it to somebody whose proof faithful. This is a harsh. This is why stewardship of the money

The king's decision is just reminds us that God's condemnations for Jesus at the judgment. It'll just told us that many people are going to say to him Lord Lord, didn't we do blank didn't I preach the gospel didn't I serve people in the church, didn't I run a small group tonight? Teachsundayschool did not show up for church every week then I do all this in your name. You're going to say that. Those are Unfaithful narrators. Jesus is going to say back to them away from me. You workers of lawlessness. I never knew you. Your house scary that is for person who stands up here and preaches for person who sits in a room and praise you guys on a regular basis who? Gets to make decisions that impact the direction of the church to hear Jesus saying that there are some people who are going to say they did all these things. But it was a lie. It made me examine myself this past week 2 weeks while I've been prepping for the sermon. Do I know the king? Closing of us who have been around the Community of Faith the church for years, but don't know the king. We are the other servant. So I plead you to know Jesus. Our second principle that we can learn. The first one was faithfulness now leads the responsibility later, but from the second Unfaithful, so we learned this not knowing the king priest. He's working for the king the king comes before working for the king. You see here's the thing about this Parable Jesus. The king is the ultimate faithful servant. Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus was of noble birth. He was gone yet. He gave up his position and having to take on the nature of a servant delivers a human. He's the king who has been the servant and more than that the Lord to make his journey. He died for us the king also died for his people Romans 5:8 tells us that God demonstrates his love for us in this that while we were still sinners Christ died for us Christ rose from the dead and he ascended into heaven and he received the kingdom and get this the first principle is laid out here for us in perfection in Christ. Christ was faithful in everything that God gave him to do and since faithfulness now least responsibility later. That means Christ is now over everything that makes sense. He he was faithful in everything. And so now he's over everything. In fact, you could argue that the Faithful Servants are only faithful because they know the king and they're becoming made in the image of the king the Faithful Servants are faithful precisely because the king is faithful similarly. We need to know the king in order to be able to serve him. That's why we have this That's why we have scripture. That's why we have each other and we meet together on Sundays to preach the word we get together in small groups for Life groups and for some of the different Ministries that we have around here. This is why we meet one-on-one with people in disciple each other because we need to know the king. What's better, things off with the hateful citizens in first 27, they don't show up for very long, but they do help us to ponder a little bit about judgement. The citizen delegation hates the king. No reason is really given they don't explain why they don't like the king. They just don't want the king to Reign Over them. They represent people who have rejected Jesus. So who do we believe out of the freezer? Should we believe the faithful servant the Unfaithful servant or these hateful citizens of the Faithful Servants will love their Master Beyonce. We've already seen as actions and words that don't match up. He's a liar. The hateful delegation doesn't even have like a reason for why they don't want the master. They just don't want him to be the Waffle King and he is the lawful King makeup bones about it. He has gone and he has received the kingdom and we seen that not only see a lawful King but he's a righteous King. He gives gifts he rewards those who follow him. Quickest way to the citizens are much like the complaints of the other servant. They don't know the king. They don't want to know the king. They've already objected to his rule out of hand. It may seem harsh but the word we use for this is treason. Estate has he been given the power over the economy and the power like the sword in the country in order to be able to protect its people and to make the country strong and keep it healthy and when people constantly fight against that refused to be a part of the country or engage in dialogue about how to do that. They're committing what is called treason then and in much of the ancient world and still in our world today penalty for treason is death of the case of the ultimate ultimate God Ultimate Death is the penalty Wells Fargo lymphocytes with the reality of God's judgement God is not just some benevolent and harmless man in the sky and he is observing and judging the Earth. There will be punishment to the Unfaithful and to the deliberately rebellious, but they're also be the Vindication of the righteousness of God and rewards to the Faithful Servants. So we should look forward to Christ return we can see this Parable that the expectations of the Disciples of the Jews were all wrong. I thought the kingdom was coming when Jesus hit Jerusalem the kingdom would it be in immediate overthrow the Romans in Judea? The kingdom was going to come the same way that it came to Zacchaeus Zacchaeus met the king the kids knew the king and it changed his life so that he could work for the king and serve him. That's what two thousand years is Jesus still hasn't returned yet. And you might wonder why it's been so long but just hasn't come back yet so that we can meet him and like the key is we can know him to I didn't go and make known King Jesus and his greatness to those around us. food finished with their last points Let's learn from a Faithful Servants are lasting the principal the king is coming back and we should best be about his business. Let's pray as we transition to communion.

Or God you are returning. Maybe morning, maybe noon, maybe someday maybe soon. We don't know when you're going to come back. But we do know father that Jesus is going to return and there will be such a cheer in the day that he returns from all his Faithful Servants. I like one we have never heard before us O Lord, would you make Us Faithful would you help us to see how you have been faithful for us? Help us to know you better and let that transform our hearts Lord as we take the elements of communion right now. I pray that you would help us to seek you and to know you better in the work of Christ Jesus on our behalf comparison Christ name. Amen.