What Servant are You?
Notes
Transcript
Jesus still continuing towards Jerusalem and drawing ever so close.
Notice that it is stated that the reason Jesus teaches this parable is becasue the people supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
The purpose of this parable is to set the record straight about the coming of the kingdom. To let the people know what the times were going to look like.
This was letting the people know that he isn’t going to go into Jerusalem and overthrow the Romans.
Jesus is likened to the nobleman, who was going to receive for himself a kingdom through the victory that he will accomplish on the cross. Ephesians 4:7 tells us that through this victory, when he ascends He will leading captives.
In Col 2:15 states that through his victory on the cross that these captives (being demonic powers) have been disarmed and put to open shame.
This all happened when Christ as the parable goes, went into a far away country.
In v.15 we see the nobleman, now a king returning to his kingdom to see what had taken place in between when he left, and now returning, physically.
Didn’t Want Him to Reign
Didn’t Want Him to Reign
v.14
The citizens didn’t want the noble man to rule over them.
We see the same hostility with Jesus. The people don’t want him to rule over them.
The next passage we see is the triumphal entry when the people calling out Lord Save us, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
In John 6 Jesus feeds the five thousand. Then in v.15 they desire to make him king becasue of it.
Jesus reveals their hearts in v.26 when he says that they ate the loaves and were filled.
They were self serving. They wanted Jesus to be king becasue they were filled from Him, not becasue they recognized him and the messiah and wanted Him to be Lord.
Luke 23:20-21 reveals their hearts even more. Pilate desires to release Jesus, but the crowds scream crucify Him!!
The people who had once wanted to make Jesus king, who had been shouting Hosanna, now shout crucify.
Why? They didn’t get what they wanted.
He wasn’t the Messiah they had built up in their minds.
The danger I see with many church’s in America is we make Christianity about us.
God wants you to be happy.
God wants to heal you.
God loves you and doesn’t care how you live.
This religion that we see “Christians” making up isn’t about God, it’s about us.
What happens when it doesn’t go our way?
God I prayed the prayer, and I still lost my job.
God I go to church, and my loved one still died of covid.
God you say you love me, how could you let me get cancer.
When we make Christianity about us we are building our lives not on the solid rock, but on the sand. Because it isn’t actually about Jesus.
It isn’t Christianity, it is idolatry, and we are the idols.
Sometimes we make an idol, and name it Jesus.
You hear people say my Jesus wouldn’t send people to hell.
My Jesus doesn’t discriminate against homosexuals.
If your Jesus isn’t the one who you’ve learned about through studying His word, you don’t know the king of kings. You know your little idol, that you’ve made in your own image and named Jesus.
The good news isn’t that Jesus came into the world to make everything perfect here. The good news is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
v.27
Those who are in opposition to Jesus, who don’t want to see His will done, in the end, will die.
v.13
Gave to His Servants
Gave to His Servants
Between his departure and his return. He gave minas to the servants to engage in business.
Once again, this parable is describing the time between the ascension of Christ and the return of Christ.
8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”
He left, now He gives gifts to men.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Gifts that God gave are the leaders, with the soul purpose of not fulfilling all ministry, but in v.12 is says training the church for the work of ministry.
My job isn’t to do all things in the church, it is to train you.
When we are in church. My job is to preach the word in a way that educates you more in scripture so that you can go and do the work of ministry.
Bible studies, Sunday school. These are all tools to equip you to do the work of ministry.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
God has not only given leaders in the church but has also given people within the church gifts for the building up of all in the church.
Are you taking advantage of these gifts and using them to further the gospel?
You are to be working, for the building up of the body of Christ!
There are no vestigial organs in the body of Christ. Everyone has a job, everyone has a gift, everyone needs to be working together to reach this broken and dying world with the gospel of Jesus.
v.22
The Wicked Servant
The Wicked Servant
There is the wicked servant who does nothing while the master is away. He simply hides it away.
The word that Jesus is poneros and it means one who is wicked or evil, a moral failure.
Why is he evil?
He was given a present by his master and by the masters response we can venture he was given instruction.
With the money and knowledge he had a moral failure when he did nothing with it.
This servant is chastised by the returning King.
What are you doing?
God has gifted you in some way shape or form.
Do you realize that for you to do nothing for your king, is a moral failure.
Is your heart, your life so changed by the glory of God that you cannot contain yourself and need to do something for Him, need to learn more about Him?
Or are you slothful? Your content to come to church on Sunday and do nothing else. You don’t reach out to others, you don’t tell others about Jesus or what he is doing for you.
What do you want to hear when you depart this world?
Well done good servant!!
or you wicked servant!!