Living on the Fence?
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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.
Luke 19:11
1 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
keep watch over the door of my lips!
4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity,
and let me not eat of their delicacies!
1 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
keep watch over the door of my lips!
4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity,
and let me not eat of their delicacies!
Just from this first verse we are able to gather several pieces of information for the last parable that Jesus is about to tell.
He is telling them this parable directly after Zaccheus the tax collector
Because he was near Jerusalem
Because they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
They expected the kingdom of God to arrive as a huge military power when it first arrived and that it was supposed to overthrow the Roman government.
We need to to keep these things in mind as we go through this.
As we you can see on the title slid
Describe a time where you were rewarded for what you did.
Describe a time where you were punished for what you did.
Luke 19:12-
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.’
The characters are now laid out for us:
A Nobleman- he went to a far off country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Representing Jesus in this parable.
10 Servants - they were given 10 minas and expected to engage in business for His return. A mina was worth a lot of money. It was about three months wages for a worker in that day. representing those associated with Jesus
His Citizens- they hated him and they sent a proposal to the person who who was in charge of him to make sure that he did not rule. sent delegation after him-representing those who outright reject Jesus
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.
Luke 19:15-
We now know that the citizens have failed and that he succeeded in becoming ruler over their kingdom. So when He gets back the first thing he wants to check on is the investments that he has made. So he calls his ten servants to him that he has called to him before and we only get a look at how three of the servants did. Let’s go through them one by one.
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.’
Luke 19:
Now we are getting a look at the 1st Servant or the 10 and we see that he took his 1 minas and increased it 10-fold he went from three months of pay to 30 months of pay. The Master is rightfully pleased and we see a great praise of him. “Well done good servant” He doesn’t just get a praise. He gets blessed because of his faithfulness with the amount he was given the master says that he shall have authority over 10 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.’
Luke 19:18
Now we look at the second servant his increase is five fold. While this is still a good increase he is not praised as much but he still gives him blessing and makes him a ruler over 5 cities. Now the evaluation slows down drastically as the rest of the parable is mostly concerned with evaluating the 3rd servant.
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?
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?’
Luke 19:20-
This servant made no profit at all. Instead he prevented profit. Let’s look at how. Firstly, it is interesting to note that before the master says anything or even judges the guy he offers himself an excuse. Now why would someone need to give an excuse if they had not done anything wrong.
This servant made no profit at all. Instead he prevented profit. Let’s look at how. Firstly, it is interesting to note that before the master says anything or even judges the guy he offers himself an excuse. Now why would someone need to give an excuse if they had not done anything wrong.
He is saying that the master is strict in his requirements, severe. We know that this is not true based on his previous servants whom he has blessed abundantly and rewarded them with even more responsibility. Either this servant does not know his master well or he is just trying to come up with an excuse as to why he would not have profited his master.
you take what you did not deposit or work for, and reap what you did not sow profits from what he did not plant. This rhetorical response is important. It shows that he does not trust his master. And why should he Work for someone that he does not trust? Even though he is associated with his master, called his servant, there is not loyalty that he has for his master. The servant is a disciple of sorts, but there is not meaningful relationship with that title.
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.
Luke 19:23-
The master's reaction to the servant is strong and clear. This wicked servant will be condemned on his own testimony. If he did not want to work for the master, he could have at least put the money in a bank, where it would have gained interest! If he really knew the master as a hard man, then surely he should have been wise enough to take some action. Interestingly, the master's response to the other servants showed him to be anything but a hard taskmaster, since he has rewarded the other servants with more responsibility. This wicked servant does not really know the character of his master. The master's remarks in verse 22 are not his confession that he is a hard taskmaster, but a condemnation of the third servant's failure to follow through on how he viewed the master. Verse 23 shows the third servants's attitude should have led to a different response. Thus, there is irony in the master's remarks. He is measuring the servant by the servant's own standards, a measure he fails to live up to.
NIV Application Commentary, The - NIV Application Commentary, The – Luke: From biblical text...to contemporary life.
Additionally, the master takes away the minas from him and gives it to the one who has 10 minas. This is important to note . It shows that the servants do not loose the money they earned. It remains their to administrate in order to continue their stewardship of it.
Jesus then makes the application. The one who has gets more, but the one who has nothing loses even what he has. Jesus applies a mathematical warning to the third slave. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. The one who has no trust in God's goodness, even though he or she has a "connection" to God, has no relationship with God and ends up with nothing from him in the end. Such a servant loses even what he thinks he had. The key to understanding the plight and identity of this third servant comes in verse 22: He is "a wicked servant," who is not among the blessed in the end, for he does not know the master (like the picture in 12:46). The third servant represents all those tied to the community who neither trust nor know the goodness of the master Jesus. Perhaps a figure like Judas is in view here. Mere association with the community counts for nothing; what counts is personal relationship to Jesus.
NIV Application Commentary, The - NIV Application Commentary, The – Luke: From biblical text...to contemporary life.
Then we have the final group mentioned in 1 verse.
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.’ ”
These people are judged, separated from blessing no matter how close to him they previously had been. These people are those who outright reject Jesus. They are slain and this shows the fate of all of those who reject Jesus. In the final judgement their punishment will be severe and irreversible.
This parable leaves us with 3 Categories of people:
Those associated with Jesus who work hard for Him to try and increase his kingdom.
Those associated with Jesus who never actually trust Him and reject Him.
Those who outright reject Him.
I wanted to teach on this parable today because when you first stumble upon it, it is confusing. But, as Jesus’ last parable, which he is speaking as he is at Zaccheaus’s house, most likely, is a stern warning. I want you guys to really think about this for a moment. Are you in category 1? If so that is great!
Are you in category 3? where you know that you are against God? If so this breaks my heart and I so want you to be in category 1, but at least you know where you stand. I would love to talk with you in more detail about why you don’t believe if you are willing to sit and have a heart to heart conversation. I promise I will not be condescending.
Finally are you in category 2? Do you think because you come to church, or read the bible, have Christian friends, or have Christian parents that you are going to get into Heaven. If so this parable should serve as a rude awakening to you. You will not get into heaven. At least in your current state. If you want to talk about how to turn your life around then I would love to have a chat with you about this.
I preach on this because I want all of you to put your trust in who Jesus says He is. Jesus is the Son of God who is God and died for us so we can have a restored relationship with Him and the father because we are all sinners. And if we place our trust in Him we become children of God and will get to dwell with Him in heaven forever.
Now we made applications for those on the fence and those who are against God, but what about those who are for God?
Before we go into that I want you guys to discuss these questions:
What makes you angry?
What feelings normally accompany your anger?
How do you deal with your anger?
Luke
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”
And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.
Luke 19:45-
And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples,
In Mark it is even more aggressive. It shows Jesus flipping tables and driving the people out. Why would they sell stuff here? Many people found it extremely convenient that they would sell animal sacrifices here. Especially those who would go on a long pilgrimage or journey just to get there. Instead of bringing the animal that distance where it could be injured or blemished on the way, both making it an unusable sacrifice, they could just purchase it in the temple and bring it in. We don’t know exactly Jesus’ stance on this but why was he flipping tables?
The key to all of this is that they were in the temple when Jesus was doing this. When you first enter the temple you are in the gentile area that they were allowed to be in. Those who were God-fearer’s but not Jewish descent were welcome to practice the faith, actually Israel was commanded to reach out to them or be a light to them in the Old Testament. So their place of worship, the Gentiles, had now become a marketplace/worship place. There was no room for them. Jesus was driving them out to make room for them.
