Which Kingdom Will Judge You? (Luke 19:11-27)
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Last week, I shared with you that I wanted to preach Luke 19, but just couldn’t quite get comfortable with the text. I’ll say that I’m more comfortable this week—but I’m also not 100% convinced that I’m right. It might not be a good thing to stand before your people and say, “everything I’m about to tell you might not be what this text is actually saying…I could be wrong.” But I have to do that.
Part of why I’m proceeding though is that I’m not teaching something that doctrinally would be divergent from anything else you’d find elsewhere. The core of the message this morning is about the two kingdoms—the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of Christ. And I’m convinced that this text is comparing those two kingdoms and it’s an invitation to correct the way the disciples are thinking about things like kings and kingdoms and power and the way to bring about the peace of God. That’s what I think this text is doing.
Now others will say that this text is about stewardship—and stewardship of our finances, resources, etc. And there very well could be true. But I just cannot be convinced that this is what is happening in this text. So…I proceed with caution. In just a moment we are going to land in Luke 19:11 but you’ll have to give me just a second to set up the scene.
Okay first question I’d ask of you. Think about what we have learned so far in the gospel of Luke. When it comes to things like money, wealth, resources, etc. how has Luke shaped the material to tell us Jesus’ view of these things?
Consider the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4. It wasn’t necessarily about possessions but he stood over Jerusalem on a high mountain and the enemy said to him, “worship me and I’ll give you all of this. You can have all the power and authority. You can rule. Isn’t that what you came to do? And I’ll give it to you without a cross. Or turning stones to bread when Jesus was hungry.” Use your power for you. Ruling without a cross. Rescue them without suffering.
Or think of Jesus in Luke 4 when he opens the scroll and it comes to Isaiah and he talks about good news. What did it say? Good news to the poor. Liberty to the captives. Sight to the blind.
Or consider the rich fool in Luke 12. He was such a fool because his whole life was about getting more and more possessions. More stuff. And he wasn’t leaving the edges of his field for the poor. He was just squeezing as much out of society as he could possibly get.
Or think about the Pharisees throughout this narrative and how they have been given our to the applause of people. How they’ve become hypocrites. And we get the idea from various places that they were lovers of money. And we also see a similar narrative in the story of the rich young ruler…who cannot walk away from his possessions.
Or what about the dishonest manager in Luke 16. And how Jesus spoke of the way the sons of this world do things and that there is a different way the sons of the kingdom view wealth.
And then in Luke 19 we see Zacchaeus. Now here is a guy who had the worlds view of wealth and possessions. Get as much as you can and it doesn’t really matter how you get it. Steal from your people, doesn’t matter. Use power and authority for yourself. Get the kingdom for yourself.
How would you summarize the kingdom of the world in regard to their view of wealth and possessions? Get as much as you can and use it to further your kingdom. It’s about power, really. Money helps you rule. Money helps you do what you want to do.
Look at the dude building bigger barns. Money gives you rest. That’s what he thought.
Look at the rich young ruler, the dishonest manager, and others. Money lets you rule. Money gives you power.
And money helps you to have relationships. People want to be around you when you have money. It gives you power in relationships as well. Money is a substitute for God. This is why Jesus said in Luke 16:13
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Now have said all of that we’re almost ready to enter into this text here in Luke. But you have to see that Zacchaeus just came down from his tree. And Jesus tells him that salvation has come to his house on this day. That’s a pretty big deal because they had been longing for salvation to come…salvation is here! That’s a huge statement.
The kingdom is here!!!
Before I read that whole text I want to read 19:11. “As they heard these things...” as they heard Jesus speaking to Zacchaeus…he proceeded to tell a parable…so the parable is connected in some way with what happened to Z. But listen to this…here is why he tells the parable...
“because he was near to Jerusalem...”
We know from listening to the story that Luke has been telling us that Jesus is going to Jerusalem to die. Jesus told his disciples that but they didn’t get it. They just couldn’t see it. Because their view of the kingdom was still upside down. Which is why we have the second because…not only b/c Jesus was close to Jerusalem but also
“because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately...”
What do they think when he talks about receiving a kingdom. What is their view?
They are going to Jerusalem to rule. In some ways their view of the kingdom isn’t a whole lot different than the world’s view of kings and kingdoms. Messiah is going to wallop people. He is going to put Rome in their place. He is going to bring the sword, punish the Gentiles, and give the kingdom back to Israel.
Salvation is coming!! The kingdom is here!! And so Jesus tells them this parable…Now whatever this parable means it’s meant to do something. It’s meant to tell them about the nature of the kingdom—to correct their misunderstanding that they were going to Jerusalem to set up a throne.
Now listen in to Luke 19:12-27
He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, 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.’ 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. The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 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.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 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.’ 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? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘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. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’ ”
So how does that parable do what Jesus said the parable was meant to do? How does this parable of the nobleman and the servants answer the question about the coming kingdom?
This is where I differ from so many commentaries and other interpretations of this passage. And it’s why I started where I did. Given everything that we’ve seen about Jesus and wealth and possessions and the way of the kingdom, why in the world would you hear this for the first time and think, “Oh, this is the way of the kingdom of Jesus. If you don’t get him interest on his investment in you, then you’ll be condemned as a wicked servant. And if you don’t like his rule over you—well he’s going to slaughter you.”
Does that fit anything with what we’ve seen about Jesus so far in the gospel of Luke? Would you naturally put Jesus in this spot of the nobleman?
Now what if I also told you that historically there was something that happened right outside Jericho with one of these Herod’s. Herod Archelaus was just such a nobleman who was set to rule over people—Jewish people around this region—and they didn’t want him to rule. So, guess what he did. He slaughtered them. If they didn’t accept rule he killed them—some of them in the temple.
They would have known about this. It would have been like me sharing a parable of a terrorist who hi-jacks a plane. Your mind immediately goes to 9/11. And so when they hear this parable it’s connected to a history that they know.
How does this connect to Zacchaeus? How does this connect to Jesus going to Jerusalem? Because those who do not follow the world’s system and the world’s view of wealth and possessions are going to be considered wicked servants. And those who don’t bow a knee to Caesar are going to be slaughtered.
Those like Zacchaeus who turn their back on this kingdom are in danger of being slaughtered in a place like Jerusalem. And it’s the type of place where Jesus will be a slaughtered lamb as well. Someone like Jesus doesn’t rule in a kingdom like this. The kingdom of Jesus is different.
And let me show you this...
We aren’t supposed to stop reading at verse 27. Look at verse 28. “And when he had said these things...” does that sound familiar? It’s like verse 11. It’s not only Zach who is connected to this parable it’s also the triumphal entry. What is happening here? Look.
He sends his disciples ahead to get a colt. And here this is a fulfillment of prophecy. Listen to Zechariah 9:9-10 and listen for the differences of kingdoms:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Humble. Coming on a donkey. Unassuming. Not a horse. Not a war horse. The kingdom of Jesus isn’t a slaughtering kingdom. It isn’t a “you wicked servant you didn’t invest in the stock market”…you didn’t give me my money back…that’s not the way of His kingdom. It’s a riding on a donkey and bringing piece. It’s a “peace to the nations” a “battle bow shall be cut off type of kingdom”.
Let me show you one more thing here. Look at verses 41-44. Here he is looking over Jerusalem again. Remember the temptation. You can rule, them Jesus, just bow to me. And Jesus weeps. Now listen to what he says through tears
saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
If only you’d have known what really leads to peace. What do they think leads to peace? The way of Rome. Stomping others. Using power to rule. Their view of possessions and money and power and all that stuff that we saw at the beginning. This is what will give us peace. This is what will bring us back to the garden. This is what will give us rest, rule, and relationship. Power!!!
But Jesus weeps because the way of the kingdom is now hidden from their eyes. And he sees what is going to happen in AD70. He sees that they are going to die by the sword because they live by the sword. They won’t accept the rule of Rome…sure. But they didn’t accept the one riding in on a colt either.
Their enemies will tear them down to the ground. They will be slaughtered. Not by Jesus…but by Rome. They won’t leave one stone upon another. But it also is because they have rejected Jesus. They have rejected the path of peace. They have rejected the Messiah and his rule and reign. As it says there “they did not know the time of your visitation”. They missed their Savior. They refused their Savior.
Now…do you want to see this in the parable? And I hope we can tie all this together and it make sense. Look a little closer at that discussion with the third servant. The one who put the mina in a handkerchief.
I’m going to nerd out on you for just a second. What is happening here is what is called a chiasmus. That’s a fancy way of saying the letter X. But it’s a pattern. A type of poetry that if you charted it and connected the dots it’d form an X. AB BA.
The Sabbath (A)
was made for man (B)
not man (B)
for the Sabbath (A).
That’s a simple one. But sometimes they are a bit more complex. That’s what we have here in verses 20-24. And sometimes you have a statement right in the middle that doesn’t connect…and when that happens…you know you’ve got the core of the passage.
So here look at verse 20, “Lord, behold your mina” then verse 24 “Take from him the mina”. Then you’ve got v21 “you are a harsh man” then verse 22, “I’m a harsh man”. Then you’ve also got in verse 21 “reap where you don’t sow...” same thing in 23. But right in the middle here is the beginning of verse 22.
“But to him he said, “Out of your own mouth I will judge you, wicked servant.”
And I think that is the core of what is happening in this passage. It’s kind of ironic, really. If your view of Jesus and the kingdom and possessions and all of that is the way of the world…where he is going to use power to destroy, to come into Jersualem and set up an earthly kingdom, and slaughter enemies, and that he’s about getting out of you everything he possible can, and you think of him like a worldly leader and a worldly ruler....and in so doing you end up rejecting and missing his kingdom because he comes in peace, and he comes riding on a colt…if that’s you…then by your own mouth you’ll be judged.
Live by the sword and you’ll die by the sword. You’ll be judged by your own kingdom. I think that is what Jesus is saying in this parable and what we see played out in the triumphal entry, and Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. Because they’ve chosen their kingdom. They’ve rejected his. And Jesus knows that this is the way of death.
Or you can follow Zacchaeus and turn your back on the kingdom of this world. That will certainly mean being judged by the kingdoms of this world—they will slaughter you. But in doing so you’ll ultimately be “judged” by King Jesus.
As we close I want to end with the words of Christ to you, but before we get there I want us to briefly think about Zacchaeus again. “hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today”. Do you know what that is saying to someone who has been filled with shame? Do you know what that says to a Zacchaeus who had heaps of guilt upon him?
I want to be with you. I want to eat with you. You aren’t untouchable Z. You aren’t beyond reach. You aren’t beyond redemption. You don’t have to clean yourself up, or climb trees in order for me to accept you. Come down from that tree Z. You’re loved and I want to come over to your house. I want to enter into your world, into your life.
But what will they think of Jesus? You’ll lose credibility by coming to my house. They won’t think you’re legit. Jesus doesn’t care about those things. And thankfully that didn’t hinder Zacchaeus either. He just came down and received him joyfully.
I want to close with the words of Christ to you:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus saying he wants to eat at your house today?
Which kingdom are you living for? Which kingdom are you striving for? Which kingdom do you want to be judged by? You want it to be about swords?