The Parable of the Minas

The Scriptures have quite a bit to say about heavenly rewards; Jesus himself spoke at least two parables on the subject. The better known parable is the parable of the talents, but that is not the only parable that Jesus taught. He also taught a very similar parable about ten servants who received ten minas.

The point is that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Every Christian will be judged according to their works - but this is a judgment of commendation, not a judgment of condemnation. You will either receive reward for faithful service, or no reward if you were not faithful in doing something.

The Delay of the Kingdom of God

Now Luke once again gives us a bit of background for the parable, so we understand what Jesus’ means. He says that people supposed that the Kingdom of God would immediately appear. Meaning, they thought when Jesus got to Jerusalem, he was going to set up his Kingdom right then and there, instead of dying for our sins like he said he was going to do.

But how, exactly, does the Kingdom of God “Appear.” The Scriptures are clear that God has always been King and always will be.

Psalm 45:6 NKJV

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

Psalm 93:2 NKJV

Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.

Psalm 10:16 NKJV

The Lord is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land.

Psalm 29:10 NKJV

The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, And the Lord sits as King forever.

God will never step off the throne of the universe, so in this sense his kingdom cannot arrive, because he never left.

And this shows us that the Scriptures talk about the Kingdom of God in two ways. First is about God reigning over all things. He has done this since he said “Let There be Light,” and will continue to reign as eternity rolls. For the sake of clarity, we can call this the “Universal Kingdom.” But it is difficult for us humans to comprehend this kingdom, because it is all there ever has been or will be. A fish does not feel wet, because all they know is water; we cannot ever compare God’s universal kingdom to anything else, because there isn’t anything else. Thus, the universal kingdom of God is invisible. We can’t see it, not because it isn’t there, but because it is all we can see.

The Scriptures talk about the Kingdom in a different way - In this sense it is a kingdom that we are waiting to appear. This is the Mediatorial Kingdom. It is visible because it means Jesus coming and reigning visibly in Jerusalem. This Mediatorial Kingdom is the one Jesus means.

The Mediatorial Kingdom will not appear when Jesus gets to Jerusalem, because he will not be yet functioning as King. He is going to die first, and go to heaven instead; Heaven is the “far country” that this Nobleman is going to go to.

By the way, a real nobleman really did do exactly what Jesus talked about. Archelaus was the son of Herod the Great that was so bad, when Joseph returned from Egypt with Mary and the baby Jesus, he moved back to Nazareth to escape him. But Archelaus got his authority to rule by going all the way to Rome to ask the Emperor to give him control of Judea; a delegation of concerned citizens followed him to beg the Emperor not to do that; the Emperor gave Archelaus the province of Judea anyway.

The Nobleman is obviously Jesus himself. Notice that he is not going to be ruling from a distance. Jesus does reign today from heaven, but he is not yet functioning as the Son of David, because he does not reign from Jerusalem. Unlike Archelaus, Jesus is not begging to receive the kingdom, but merely waiting until the time is right for him to return. Still, the point is that Jesus is not yet exercising authority as the Son of David, but he will certainly do so when the time is right.

The Task of the Servants

Now if you are like me, you don’t have an intuitive grasp of how much a Mina is. Both Talents and Minas were units of weight, not units of money, but they were commonly used to measure money by measuring how much precious metal. A Mina was much smaller than a Talent, only 1/60. That’s still about a pound and a quarter, or roughly $60000 of gold, or $950 of silver. So it is definitely a large amount of money, but not the vast fortune that a Talent is.

But the main point is that the Mina does not represent money, it represents the task that God has entrusted to us. Notice that the nobleman gives them the money so they can “engage in business.” Meaning, he gives them the resources to start a business so they can multiply the money he has given them. The spiritual task God has given to us is not quite so straightforward or easy to measure, and that’s the whole point. the parable simplifies real life so that it is easier to comprehend the spiritual rewards of faithful service. I can easily measure money. I can count how much I have at the start, and how much I have at the end. It is objective and simple. I cannot easily measure spiritual success. While we should pray for many people to join us, I cannot even measure success in my church by numbers. I can easily count heads (It beats counting the size of the offering), but I cannot quantify spiritual growth.

More than that, while I can measure money, I can’t quantify all the things God asks us to do. How do you measure faithfulness in following the Word of God? How do you measure faithfulness in marriage; honesty at your workplace? How do you measure faithfulness in raising children? How do you measure faithfulness in witnessing to others? God doesn’t measure your faithfulness by how many people you win to the Lord, but by how faithfully you delivered the message when you could. Clearly in all these things it is possible to be more faithful or less faithful, but I cannot put a number on any of it. I think that the mina represents all of these things; the reason Jesus talks about money is precisely because it is simpler and more objective than reality. I am thankful that the omniscient God is evaluating all this, because it’s way too complicated for anyone else.

The Nobleman returned after receiving the kingdom and called his servants to account to see how successfully they had done what he has asked them to do - how much money did they make? Clearly Jesus is talking about the judgment seat of Christ. All those who believe in Jesus will be judged and given rewards on the basis of their service to Him in this life. Since making money stands for pleasing God, that’s the actual thing that Jesus evaluates.

The Good Servants

The Parable of the Talents is better known than the parable of the Minas. In the Parable of the Talents everyone gets different amounts, but the two good servants get the same returns - both make double what they received. In this parable each of the ten servants get the same amount - one Mina, but they have different returns. I think both parables reflect different aspects of the complexities of the real world. In the real world we do not all start from the same place. We each have different advantages and skills. Some of us start with more money, or more skills, or a better spiritual heritage than others. But even if we did start from the same place, we do not all conduct ourselves with the same faithfulness. The Parable of the Talents reflects the reality that we start from different places. God takes into account the advantages that each person started with. The parable of the Minas reflects the reality that not all Christians have the same faithfulness; some of us do more with what we have than others. God takes your faithfulness into account as well.

Notice that both of the two good servants are commended. Even though one did the job better than the other one, the nobleman is happy with what each one did. At the Judgment seat of Christ, there will be no condemnation; Jesus will be pleased with your service. However, it is still a judgment of works. Notice that the one who made ten minas ruled over ten cities, while the one who made five only ruled over five. The rewards are proportional to what you actually did.

Notice also that in each case the nobleman said “you have been faithful over few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” Do not think that this life is the significant one, and that heaven is an eternal retirement from doing anything important. It is quite the opposite. We have meaningful things to do down here, but they are small compared to the great things we will do after Jesus returns.

And notice the kinds of rewards. They don’t get trinkets; they don’t get mere applause. They get meaningful jobs in proportion to their faithfulness. A crown is valuable if it stands for something; otherwise it is just a shiny hat. We absolutely do receive crowns, but those crowns represent the authority that we will each receive from Jesus; the authority to rule in his kingdom. Once again, just like the Mina is simpler than the actual task of pleasing God, the rewards are also simpler. I’m sure it is more subtle than just counting cities, but the whole point of the parable is to simplify real life. The point is that those who are more faithful will receive more important and honorable tasks than those who are less faithful.

The Wicked Servant

What the Servant did (20)

The final servant did not make any money, instead, he just held on to it. Now the problem with that is that this is not what the nobleman asked the servant to do. Remember that the task was to “engage in business until he comes.” Thus, just holding onto the Mina was failing to do what the Nobleman wanted.

The Servant goes on a Tyrade against the Nobleman to defend his actions (21-23)

But the Servant does not apologize. Instead, he attacks the Nobleman (its really not a good idea to yell at the king). He accuses the Noblemen of being harsh, unreasonable, and a robber. He says that he reaps where he did not sow and takes what he did not deposit. That is the Nobleman expects a harvest where none ought to be expected, and outright robs people of money he was not entitled to. Now why would the servant think this? It seems clear that he thinks the money is his, even though the Nobleman gave it to him to manage, not to keep.

Thus, the servant is afraid of him and does not want to risk the money. But the response of the master shows that the servant is only putting up a front; that’s not why he really did what he did. That’s because if he really thought that the nobleman was a harsh, unreasonable robber, he would at least have put the money in the bank. Now there weren’t big banks like today; instead, there were individuals who exchanged currency. They were not large corporations, but a single individual to kept different kinds of money so that foreigners could exchange it for the currency of the land. That is “money changers.” But these money changers were the predecessors of our modern banking system, so the translation “bank” is a fair one. In any case, for the money changer to have the currency of the land to exchange, he needed to encourage locals to lend him money, so he would pay interest on that money, and get the money back by charging a fee to foreigners to exchange their money. If you found a reputable money changer, your money was pretty safe, and would gather interest even if you did nothing else. It was pretty much as low effort and safe of a task as it would be to put the money in a bank today. The nobleman implies that if he had only done this really simple thing, it would have been enough to please him, even if he didn’t get nearly as much as the two good servants. In other words, the task was to engage in business; as long as they did that, he was happy. the nobleman is not a harsh man at all. He didn’t have unreasonable expectations, he just wanted the servants to engage in business. That’s all.

Now the wicked servant does not quite fit the real world categories. In our parable there is one more group of people, the enemies of the nobleman; they are destroyed, but the wicked servant is not punished, he just fails to get any rewards. However, the wicked servant is still condemned, and we are told that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Maybe the reason for this difference is because in Jesus’ parable that is what a real king would say if he was especially generous. Or maybe Jesus tells it this way to warn us. In any case, the Scriptures are clear that there will be those in heaven who have no rewards.

1 Corinthians 3:15 NKJV

If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

The Servant Loses what he thinks he has (24-26)

Now the final judgment of the nobleman is to take away his Mina - now that whole cities are handed out, the Mina is a rather paltry thing. The one who has ten Minas and is already ruler of ten cities is not going to be particularly impressed by one more Mina. That’s not the point. the wicked servant has demonstrated that he cannot handle even that small responsibility, so when everyone else is getting an upgrade to bigger and better things, he gets a demotion, losing even the authority and honor he thought he had. That Mina that he treated as if it was his? well, it’s not his even to manage anymore. But he isn’t killed or banished. Others object that the one with ten has so much already, but that’s where the principle that seems at first so unfair - to the one who has more will be given, but to the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

But it’s only unfair if you don’t realize what is actually being possessed. The possession isn’t money, because the Mina doesn’t represent money, it represents the role God has given you so you can serve him. The one who has not used the position they find themselves in to serve the Lord will eventually be relieved of even that small responsibility, and it will be given to others who will actually use them for their intended purpose. This is what it means to have no rewards in heaven; it doesn’t mean punishment, it means not being given a job to do. And the responsibilities handed out then are permanent ones. We are immortal, so whatever privileged position/job we get to enjoy will never be taken away from us. As more people are born into the millennial age, everyone’s roles will expand. Those who are born in that age will also need something meaningful to do, and they will get it. If you end up in heaven with no rewards, you’ll be in the same position as someone who never lived at all, which means your whole life on earth would have been for nothing.

The Enemies

This parable is unique in having one more category of people - the enemies of the nobleman. Those who reject Jesus will not be permitted entrance into the kingdom of God - they will die before it comes or be killed. If you wish to escape the Wrath of God, you must repent and believe in Jesus.

This is also why I can’t easily say that the wicked servant must represent unbelievers. The enemies clearly do represent unbelievers and they are punished. By the way, this is exactly what Archelaus did to the citizen group that opposed his reign. He killed 3,000 people in a purge.

Conclusion

Jesus taught this parable to instruct us on what to do while he is gone in heaven. We are supposed to expect a delay - and since it’s been 2,000 years now, I think that is pretty clear. And during this delay we are to be busy pleasing God. He has given each of us a small role to play in the work he is doing on earth. The main thing is to be faithful in following all he has commanded. We aren’t responsible for how people respond to the truth, just for how we obey the Lord. And your labor here is not in vain, in fact the only thing that will matter in the end is how you pleased God. When the rewards are handed out, you really will want it, and God will be wildly generous with the blessings he gives in compensation. Of course, in reality it is impossible to guess exactly what those responsibilities will be, so all we should do is do our best to be faithful to the tasks he has given us, and leave the results up to him. No matter what happens, you will never regret sacrificing to serve the Lord.