“It’s Just Not Fair!”
Luke 19:11-27
3 November 2019 (SBC,
Sligo IE)
INTRODUCTION:
We humans are funny creatures. Even though we often act unfairly toward
one another we want to be treated fairly ourselves. And exactly what do we mean
by “fairly”? It is a vague concept that we find hard to define, but we know it
when we see it, or rather, when we perceive that we are victims of unfairness.
TRANSITION:
In our passage for today Jesus tells a story, a parable, about a
nobleman who was also an astute businessman. It this story there comes a
moment when everyone in the audience sucks in his breath and says, “Hey,
that’s not fair!”
MAIN BODY:
Verse 11: While
they were listening to these things, Jesus
went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they
supposed that the Kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
·
Luke tells us that in the same time
and place Jesus told another parable because His disciples were operating under
a false assumption. This event, like the previous one, took place in or near
Jericho, a town located just 17 miles from Jerusalem, down the mountain to the
east, so their journey was nearly over. This led some of His followers,
including the Twelve, to conclude that the climax was at hand and that the
Kingdom of God would appear immediately. They assumed that Jesus was about to
set up His Kingdom on earth. The climax was indeed at hand, but not in the way
they imagined. What they did not understand was that Jesus was going to
Jerusalem to die, and that the Messianic Kingdom was going to be postponed.
Jesus told this parable to help set them straight.
Verses 12-13: So, He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to
receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. 13 And he called ten
of his [servants], and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business
with this until I come back.’
·
The “nobleman” in the parable represents the Lord Jesus
Christ. He will receive the Kingdom from His Father, not from us. And you can
be sure that He will not run a presidential style campaign and ask people to
vote for Him when He comes again. People will either receive Him or they will
be destroyed! He came to earth the first time to be the Saviour. When He
comes again it will be as the Conquering King and Righteous Judge.
·
The word “slaves” in some of our translations is
better rendered as “servants.” Historically speaking, slaves would not
have had the authority needed for the business transactions foreseen by the master.
The “servants” in the parable were people like us. By the same token, our
Lord expects us to serve Him faithfully and to be about His business. Yes,
He is a loving God and a Gentle Shepherd, but He is also the Lord, the Master,
the King, the Sovereign of the Universe, and we should never make the mistake
of thinking that His mercy outweighs His holiness and justice. We should never
presume upon the Lord’s mercy.
·
“Do business with this until I return.” KJV says, “Occupy until I
come.” We are not called merely to mark time and stand around in our white
robes looking at our wristwatches. We are to be at work, investing what He
has entrusted to us so that His Kingdom will be built up. And what is that
exactly? What has He entrusted to us?
o Talents – We have abilities
and skills that should be used for His glory. That’s why they were given to us,
so that we might use them for Him, not just to amuse ourselves.
o Wealth – What we own all came
from His hand. Some have more than others, but we all have something to invest
in the Kingdom. And one day we will be called forward to give account of what
we have done.
o Time – Time is a gift from
God. We are to redeem it and invest it.
o The Gospel – The Good News
has been entrusted to us to share with everyone everywhere. The “old, old story
of Jesus and His love” should thrill us but it should also motivate us to go
out and “make disciples” as we were commanded.
·
Before leaving on his journey the nobleman put his
business affairs into the hands of ten of his servants, entrusting them each
with one “mina.” This was a Greek coin worth 100 drachmas. A
drachma was worth a labourer’s wage for a full day’s work. The servants were
instructed to do business with the money, and evidently each had a pretty free
hand, although they all knew that in due course, they would have to give an
account to the master of their success or failure.
·
This parable has the historical basis of Archelaus,
the son of Herod the Great, who traveled from Jerusalem to Rome on this very
errand, to receive a kingdom in Palestine and then to come back to it. When this
happened, it was a matter of common knowledge throughout Israel. Herod the
Great died in 4 B.C., and in his last will and testament he divided his realm
between three of his sons, Herod Antipas, Herod Philip, and Archelaus, all of
whom went to Rome to press their claims with Emperor Augustus, who had to
ratify the will. Archelaus had been given Judaea by his father, along with the provisional
title of “king.”
Verse 14: But his
citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want
this man to reign over us.’
·
This is exactly what happened with
Archelaus. The Jews sent 50 representatives to Caesar asking that Archelaus not
be enthroned as their king, because the people hated him with a fervent
passion. Heaven knows he had given them good reason to hate him! According to
the Jewish historian, Josephus, on the first Passover after his ascension to
the position he had massacred about 3,000 of his subjects. Besides that, he was
a terrible ruler. Nevertheless, Caesar ignored their entreaty and confirmed
Archelaus as sovereign over Judea, although refusing to give him the title of
“king.” So, this parable would especially resonate with the people in Jericho
because Archelaus had built a magnificent palace in Jericho for himself, as
well as a huge aqueduct for irrigation purposes.
·
As I have told you before, you
cannot make a parable walk on all fours. In the story the people did what
they could to keep the nobleman from obtaining kingly authority. In the case of
Archelaus the people were justified but unsuccessful. However, we cannot
transfer this to the allegory because Jesus is the perfect King and nothing can
interfere with His kingship, but we should not miss the point that people rebel
against everything He stands for. This is the exact attitude that the world has
had toward Jesus. “He came unto His own and His own
received Him not.” But that will not stop Him from
coming back, just like He promised. Mankind rebelled against God and His
Messiah. They did not want Jesus to rule over them, so they nailed Him to a
cross.
Verses 15-17: When he
returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these servants, to whom
he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business
they had done. 16 The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, 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 thing, you
are to be in authority over ten cities.’
·
This servant managed to make some
good investments with what he received from the master and the money he
returned was tenfold greater than what he had started with [= 1,000%]. But what
was the basis of the master’s praise? It was faithfulness. The servant
had been faithful. He had done what the master had asked of him and that
pleased the master. What was his prize… was it a nice holiday to rest up on the
beach? No! It was increased responsibility and authority, and the day-to-day
administration of ten cities. That was a big job advancement! The reward
of work well done was more work to do. That was a great compliment.
Verses 18-19: The
second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five
minas.’ 19 And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five
cities.’
·
In exactly the same way the second
servant received praise from the master for his faithfulness. The return on
investment was different [fivefold = 500%] but the two servants were alike in
their faithfulness. Sometimes our best efforts don’t turn out perfectly and God
knows that. He does not judge us on productivity but upon faithfulness.
·
Notice that neither of these servants
took any credit for himself. In fact, they both stated it in the exact same
way: “Look
master, your mina has made ten minas, or five minas, more.” They said it as though they had played no
part in the success. I think their master was impressed by that.
Verses 20-21: Another
came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a
handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an
exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not
sow.’
·
In the parable ten servants received
the money to invest but Jesus only reports on three of them. They must have had
varying degrees of success, but this last fellow is in trouble. Literally the
unfaithful servant said, “I kept on keeping [the money hidden away] in a
handkerchief.” He blames his lack of anything to
show on his fear of the master: “I was afraid of you.” Yes, and with good reason! By his own admission he knew that his master
was a hard-nosed entrepreneur who expected results from his investments. The
master had read Donald Trump’s book, The Art of the Deal, and he was an
astute businessman, with little patience for cowardly, snivelling employees
like this fellow.
Verses 22-23: He said
to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know
that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I
did not sow? 23 Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and
having come, I would have collected it with interest?’
·
“Why did you not put my money in the bank?” FYI, they did not have actual banks
in those days. Literally he said, “…on the table.” This refers to the
moneylender’s table where business was conducted in the market in those days. By
the way, our English word, “bank” derives from the Italian word banco,
meaning “a bench,” since Italian merchants and moneylenders in the
Renaissance made deals to buy, sell, borrow, and lend money working from a
bench, often in a pub or tavern. People would place their money on that bench.
·
The point in the parable was that the
servant could easily have put the money in the hands of a moneylender and would
have turned a bit of profit. The money would have gained some interest. But
stupidly, driven by his fear, the servant did not even do the minimum,
so he incurred the wrath of his master who called him a “worthless servant.”
And that is just the beginning. Right there in front of the crowd he reams the
guy out and leaves him standing there waiting to see if his head will roll.
Verses 24-25: Then he
said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who
has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Master, he
has ten minas already.’
·
This is the moment to which I was
referring in my introduction. The response of the crowd to Jesus’ story shows
two things:
1. It shows that they were paying very close attention to the parable.
2. It shows that their sense of fairness got tweaked when the master in
the story did not respond the way they thought he should. They thought that
the master should have given that extra mina to the guy with five rather than
to the fellow with ten. They said to themselves, “It’s just not fair for one
to get eleven and the other to only have five.” It offended their sense of
fairness and fair play.
Verse 26: I tell
you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does
not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
·
So, the money was taken from the
unfaithful servant and given to the one who had proved that he could make good
use of it. Now Jesus lays out another principle that conflicts with the way
humans look at things. He is not saying that the rich will get richer and
the poor will get poorer. He is saying that the man who has made good use of
what he has will get more, while the man that has made no use of his
opportunities will lose what little he has. There is a principle here if we
will stop to see it: even the smallest gift must be put to good use or we will
lose it. In the Christian life we never stand still, are never static. We are
either moving forward, making progress, and using our gifts, or we lose what we
had. We either advance to greater heights or slip back every day.
Verse 27: But
these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring
them here and slay them in my presence.”
·
The parable finishes on a note of
frightening severity. The nobleman had not forgotten those who opposed his ascension
to the throne. Now after taking care of business he commands the destruction of
his enemies. They had set themselves up in opposition to him and now it was
time to take their medicine.
CONCLUSION:
The last verse of this text gives us a
little peek into the future to see what will eventually happen to all those who
reject King Jesus. We might be horrified by the fierceness of Jesus’ conclusion
but underneath the imagery is the grim fact that the coming of Jesus to the
world puts every man to the test and calls every person to a decision.
Some people claim that God is unjust
in this matter. They say that He should not treat people so meanly, so
severely. They say that He should be more fair, kinder, more merciful to those
who reject Him, reject His Son Jesus, and reject His rightful sovereign rule
over them. They are offended by His “holier than thou” attitude. But that’s the
point, isn’t it? He is holier than us! We are rotten sinners and He is the Holy
God of Heaven.
Today Jesus can be your Lord and
Saviour, your Shepherd, and your Friend; or one day, He will certainly be your
Judge, Jury, and Executioner. That decision is no light matter. In fact, it is
a matter of life and death. But it is your call, your choice to make. Just
remember that the Bible says in Hebrews 10:31, “It
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God,” and that is exactly who Jesus is!
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