The Servants and the Minas
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Introduction
Introduction
Jesus has just finished talking to Zacheus as they were making their way through Jericho, which is really close to Jerusalem, and the crowd is gathered around Him. Luke has been telling us about this final journey to Jerusalem for 10 chapters now, and the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth is near.
11 As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.
As they are listening to Jesus speaking to Zacheus and telling him that the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost, He goes on to tell them a parable. Remember, a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, or principle. Specifically, most of the parables are used to explain an aspect of the kingdominion of Jesus Christ. Luke tells his readers that the reason that He tells this parable is 1) because He was near Jerusalem and 2) because they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away. I understand how it relates to the second point, but how does it relate to the first? Well, I don’t think that Luke means it simply on the proximity to Jerusalem. Jesus has been telling His disciples several times that they are going up to Jerusalem and that He will be handed over and be crucified by the chief priests and scribes, but that He will rise up on the 3rd day (Lk 18:31-33). Therefore, when Luke says that He is telling this parable because they are near to Jerusalem, he is saying that Jesus is telling this parable because the end of His ministry on earth is near. The time has come. The second reason He is telling it is to clarify a misconception they have of the kingdom of God appearing immediately.
The point is that the kingdom of God would not appear immediately and so He is going to illustrate to them how they should be acting until He returns.
12 Therefore he said: “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then to return. 13 He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas, and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’ 14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’
Because of the reasons that Luke just gave for Jesus telling them this parable, He goes on to give the setting for the parable. He says that a nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king and then to return. The original says, “to receive for Himself a kingdom.” However, I believe that the CSB captures the essence of what Jesus is saying. This nobleman went away to a far away country to be made king and then to return. Why the emphasis on the far country? Because it meant that it would be a very long journey and because it meant that this country was vastly different from the one he was leaving. On the word for “noble” here, BDAG says, “pert. to being of high status, well-born, high-born (X., Hell. 4, 1, 7; Philo, De Jos. 106; Jos., Ant. 10, 186; Just.) .” It is obviously speaking of nobility, which we are not used to here in the U.S.. It would be someone who was part of the royal household in some way or another. Given the context, this nobleman was a sort of prince, for he was in line to be made a king; it was only a matter of time. He left to receive this, and also to return. Don’t miss that.
Jesus doesn’t tell us if takes place before or after he left. However, we can assume that it was very close to that time. The point is that he called 10 of his slaves, and gave them 10 minas and told them to do business with this until he returns. A mina is a Greek measure equaling around 100 denarii, or 100 days worth of wages. Some measurements put that at around $20,000, if it were a gold mina. If it were silver, it’d be around $350. I have a feeling it is the larger sum, as Jesus tended to use quite large quantities in His parables. It is a large sum of money. So, the nobleman/prince calls them, gives them this large sum of money each, and commands them to do business with it until he returns. If a nobleman gave you a large sum of money and told you to do business with it, it is obvious that he wants you to make some more money with it. He wants you to go and invest it. If this wasn’t his purpose, then he would have just put it in a safe or the bank, or kept it with him. The purpose of this money is for it to be invested, to gain even more money. It takes wisdom and determination to make more money with the money you already have. It takes skill. It takes persistence and hard work. What is the command? To make more money with the money that he is giving them.
However, there is another group of characters that Jesus tells us about here - the citizens that were under this nobleman. Jesus says that they hated the nobleman, and while he was gone, they sent a delegation of messengers after him and told him that they don’t want this man to rule over them. In essence, they are saying that they don’t want him to be king over them. They don’t want to accept his rule or reign, because they hate him. This is the truth of the matter in our world today. People give many reasons for why they don’t want to come to God and be under him, but the true reason is because they hate Him. This is a sort of parenthetical, but Jesus makes sure to include it in the setting of the story. He wants us to keep them in mind as well. He is giving the setting that ties to what is going to happen shortly with Him in Jerusalem and afterwards.
15 “At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those servants he had given the money to, so that he could find out how much they had made in business. 16 The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’ 17 “ ‘Well done, good servant!’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, have authority over ten towns.’ 18 “The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 “So he said to him, ‘You will be over five towns.’
Luke 19:15-19
When he returned, having received the authority to be king, he summoned the servants that he had given money to, so that he could find our how much money they had made in business. Catch that he is now coming back, no longer as a nobleman, but as a king. This means that he has more authority now. He can do whatever he wants in the kingdom. This is how he is returning to them.
He had given them one command - to do business with the money that he gave to them. On his return, he summons them to find out how much they have made. Remember, he is now returning as the king with authority given to him. He is going to use this authority in 4 different ways on his return. He is expecting that they were doing what they were commanded to do.
The first slave came forward and told his master that his mina had earned him 10 more minas. This means that the slave took $20,000, did business with is, and earned $200,000 with it. What does giving the amount show us? It shows us much concerning the character of the slave who earned 10 more. It shows us that he was faithful, and wise, and diligent, and hard working. He worked his but off and gained for his master 10x more than he had given him.
How does this look in our lives practically? Look, God has given us all gifts. However, He does not give them to us fully developed, does He? No. He gives us the desire to pick up a guitar, and we pick it up, and we begin to practice and practice and practice. Eventually, we are asked to lead worship. Then we take that craft and begin to hone it even more. In another situation, God puts it on our hearts to begin studying the Word. We start off with 15 minutes every night. Then we study it more and more. We then even go to Bible college and begin to hone our craft more and more. Until we are asked to teach one day. Then we continue to teach. We continue to learn more and more and think about ways we can make it better, until the day we die. The mentality that Jesus is showing here is of faithfulness to what He has given us and always striving to make more of it. We take that mina and make it 2. Then we take those 2 and make them 4. But it always takes faithfulness, diligence, wisdom, persistence, and hard work.
Because this first servant had these qualities and did this, the king responds by commending him on a job well done. And he even calls him a “good servant.” Then he tells him that because he has been faithful in a small matter (notice that he calls $20,000 a small matter), he is given authority over 10 cities or towns. Imagine going from managing $20,000 to managing 10 large cities. The jump in scale is tremendous! Now, this was not based on the fact that he made $200,000, but on the fact that he was faithful with a small matter. It showed the worth of his character. Therefore, this character will transition to even more.
Then, a second slave came and told the master that his mina had earned him 5 minas. He took $20,000 and made him $100,000. Now, he may not have given it absolutely everything he had, like the first servant, but he did work hard. What work he did would not be negated him. Therefore, the king told him that he will be over 5 cities. This is still a tremendous blessing. However, notice that the king didn’t necessarily give any commendations to this servant. Yet, the king is not unjust to overlook the hard work that this man had done.
Perhaps these people are akin to those who worked very diligently for the Lord in their early years, but then tapered off in the latter years. While this is not what we want, the Lord is not unjust to overlook hard work that had been done before.
Luke 19:20-24
Luke 19:20-24
20 “And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it safe in a cloth 21 because I was afraid of you since you’re a harsh man: you collect what you didn’t deposit and reap what you didn’t sow.’ 22 “He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow, 23 why, then, didn’t you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.’ 24 So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
One more slave comes and tells his master that he has his min ($20,000) and that he has kept it safe in a cloth. Why has he done this? Because he was afraid of him, since he is a harsh man. He collects what he didn’t deposit and reaps what he didn’t sow. Why would this make the slave think that the master was a harsh man and cause him to be afraid of him? Is the servant faulting the master for collecting what he himself didn’t put the work in for? Why would this make him harsh? Doesn’t the master have the right to have his slaves sow and reap and deposit on his behalf? I don’t understand how this makes him harsh. It’s no coincidence that I always feel confused when I come to this statement, for they are irrational claims. The slave has it all twisted and thinks that the money is his, and not the master’s. Does he not see that the money and fields are his to deposit and reap? Since he doesn’t see this, it causes him to fear the master and think that he is a harsh man for collecting on these things. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Therefore, this servant just kept the money hidden, did nothing with it, disobeying the command, so that the master could just take back what he had given him. But he disobeyed the command of the servant. This servant thinks very little of his master. I am not exactly convinced that this is a believer here.
What is the master’s response? He tells him that he will condemn him by what he has said and calls him an evil servant, as opposed to the good servant earlier. Then he tells him that if he really feared him and thought him a harsh man in his depositing and collecting, why didn’t he put the money in the bank to later collect it with interest. The truth is that these were all just excuses and he was really an evil servant who cared little for his master. His lie was just exposed by the master, since he would have acted differently if he really considered the master harsh, as he claimed earlier. In the same way, when Jesus returns, all of the arguments that people have of not submitting to Him will dissolve like dust in the wind.
So then, the master commands that the mina he has be taken away from him and given to the one who has 10 minas.
25 “But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’ 26 “ ‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.
25 “But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’ 26 “ ‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away. 27 But bring here these enemies of mine, who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter them in my presence.’ ”
How do the other servants respond to the command to give that one mina to the one who has 10? They are shocked and point out that he already has 10 minas (and 10 cities)! In essence, they are saying that he doesn’t need another mina. This actually shows us that it seems as thought the king is allowing them to keep the minas.
The master responds by telling them that everyone who has, more will be given to them, but the ones who do not have, even what they do have will be taken away. In other words, if it comes to the end of the age, and you have made more with what God gave you, He will give you more. But if you did nothing with what he gave you, even that which he originally gave you, he will take it away and give it to someone who has already. Now, to me, this verse, along with the next are actually evidence that even the evil servant was still a believer. It is just a believer who didn’t do anything with his salvation. For God would not give gifts and responsibilities to those who are not His. He would not expect those who are not His to have produced anything for Him.
On top of that, I believe that Jesus qualifies it with which goes back to reminding us of the citizens that actually hated Him. The king tells servants to bring them and to slaughter them in His presence. Now, the sad part is that it is really difficult to differentiate between the evil servant’s feelings towards his master and those of the citizens who hated him. Yet, there is a distinction, and it is only those who hated Him that are judged and slaughtered at the end. The evil servant was lazy.
And the truth is that we all know Christians like this. We know that they believe, but they just come to church and sit. They love church and God, but they just come there and sit and do nothing for God. God has given them gifts and commanded them to share to the world and to use the gifts he gave them, but they do nothing with it. And the truth is that it boils down to laziness. These Christians will get nothing when Jesus comes back with His kingdom. They were unfaithful with very little, so they will get nothing.
Now, this may just refer to the Millennial Kingdom, as Dr. Hanna says, but we cannot be sure. The point is that we don’t want to be the lazy servant. We want to be the faithful servant. We want those characteristics. We want to take what God has given is and grow it and grow it and grow it until He returns.
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 404.