cited before offering, about God calling us his children
1 See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
the main sermon passage, the parable of the minas told near Jerusalem
11 As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that God’s Kingdom would be revealed immediately.
12 He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
13 He called ten servants of his, and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
15 “When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business.
16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’
17 “He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
18 “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.’
19 “So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’
20 Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief,
21 for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’
22 “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow.
23 Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’
24 He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him, and give it to him who has the ten minas.’
25 “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’
26 ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him.
27 But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”
28 Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
referenced in connection with the Magi visiting Herod and Joseph fearing Archelaus
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
2 “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.
5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
6 ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come a governor, who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’”
7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared.
8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”
9 They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Being warned in a dream that they shouldn’t return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
14 He arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt,
15 and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
17 Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; she wouldn’t be comforted, because they are no more.”
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
20 “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.”
21 He arose and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee,
23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
The pastor preached from Luke 19:11-28, the parable of the ten minas, set just before the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He spent considerable time on the historical background of the Herodian dynasty before turning to what the parable was actually saying and why Jesus told it when He did.
What was said
To understand why Jesus told this parable, the pastor walked through the world His first hearers lived in. He traced the Herodian dynasty from Antipater the Edomite, a political opportunist who worked his way into Roman favor and laid the groundwork for his son's rise, through Herod the Great, who expanded his kingdom through brutality, murdered members of his own family out of paranoia, and ordered 300 prominent Israelites held at the Hippodrome so that there would be mourning at his death whether anyone wanted to mourn or not.
The specific figure Jesus had in mind was Herod Archelaus, Herod the Great's son, who sailed to Rome to have Caesar confirm him as ruler after his father died. A delegation of Jews followed him there to say they did not want him as their king. Caesar named him ethnarch rather than king, and when Archelaus returned home he had 3,000 people executed. He ruled for ten years before being banished to Gaul. This is the "nobleman" who goes to a distant country to receive a kingdom while his citizens send word that they do not want him to reign over them. Everyone in that crowd knew this story.
The pastor noted that the current conflict involving Hamas and Israel is not a "both sides" situation. He called the attack an unprovoked act of evil, and said that the same animosity between Esau's people and Jacob's people that runs through ancient history is present in the region today. Slaughtering innocents is always wrong, and Christians should say so plainly.
Jesus told this parable, Luke says, because He was near Jerusalem and the people around Him thought the kingdom of God was about to appear immediately. They were walking uphill with Him as though they were part of a winning political movement. Jesus used a story everyone recognized, the story of a ruler who leaves, gives resources to his servants with the instruction to do business until he returns, and then comes back to settle accounts, to tell them that things were not going to unfold the way they imagined.
The servant who buried his mina in a handkerchief did not lose it or steal it. He simply held it without doing anything with it, and when called to account he described his master as a hard and demanding man. The pastor said that description fits Archelaus well enough, but he has been trying to think about how it fits Jesus, and he does not think it does. A smoldering wick Jesus would not extinguish, a bent reed He would not break. The servant's fear was not an accurate reading of who his master was, and it produced nothing.
The application the pastor drew was straightforward. What the servants were given was not for their own kingdom but for their master's. Christians have been given forgiveness, grace, mercy, and love. Holding those things without putting them into practice, being glad for your own forgiveness while refusing to forgive someone else, is wrapping the mina in a handkerchief. The closing benediction from 1 Peter 4:10 named it plainly: each person has been given a gift, and the call is to use it to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor John spent a long time on the history of the Herodian dynasty before reading a single verse. Why do you think that background mattered for understanding what Jesus was saying, and was there anything in that history that surprised you?
Jesus told this parable specifically because the people around him thought the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. Have you ever expected God to act on your timeline, and what happened when He did not?
Speaker 2Well, good morning, everybody. How are doing on a beautiful fall morning? Good, I hope. Hey. Would you stand with me?
And, I've got I've got an encouraging word from Psalm 107 to lead us in the worship. It's thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for he satisfies the longing soul and the hungry soul he fills with good things. Shall we sing a bit? All of your goodness, I'll love you forever. There's a song in my soul.
There's a song in my soul. I feel it's stirring in me. Yes. I do. For sure.
Speaker 1How's about now? Okay. Thank you. That's my fault. Glad you all are here.
Sometimes when we start, I feel like y'all aren't coming. That's that's kinda I have to admit that. You know? But I love that we I love that we can just gather like that. When I was a little kid, there was a guy that that came a little later, a little later, a little later every week.
He was getting older, you know. And he lived close enough to the church that we could hear when he cranked up his LTD. And he would rev the engine and rev the engine and rev the engine to get it warm, you know, we're in Georgia. And and then he would come to church. And the last Sunday that he came to church, he got there just before the closing prayer.
And the pastor called on him to pray. And he prayed, and then he thought, you know, maybe I don't need to keep on going. There's a there's a way that you can be involved. Right? All over the place, there's a way that you can be involved.
That guy was just wonderful. Mister Louis Matas was his name. I don't know what reminded me of it this morning. Good luck during the sermon, Here we are. Check out the Bible study board in the back.
If you want to find a small group to be a part of or a Bible study to be a part of, there are a lot of listed on the board in the back. You can connect with a leader or you can ask us and we can direct you. Youth group is on, middle schools are on Sunday evenings, three to five or Sunday afternoons, three to five, starting off in the Fellowship Hall. High school is Thursday evening, thirty to eight at the tribe ministry center down on, Broadway across from kind of Whole Foods in that area. So high school, Thursday, 06:30 to eight.
Middle school, Sundays, three to five. Awana, do you want to say anything about Awana? Yes. Yeah. We're Alright.
Speaker 205:45 tomorrow. And tomorrow is TNT parents' night. So grades three third
Speaker 1Third grade.
Speaker 2Through fifth grade. Parents are invited to just follow on, see where a night Awana night is.
Speaker 1TNT is Truth and Training, right? Truth and Training. And they are amazing. We have a large group of Truth and Training right now. And so if you're a parent of the one of the TNTers, come on and join in for the evening.
Last Monday was Sparks Night. It was a lot of fun. So that's good. Discovery Class, October 22 between services. Usually, it's the third Sunday of each month, but we'll make a special one if you mention it and want to, we'll do that.
Gary usually leads that, Gary Geek, but October 22 between services for discovery class. Oh my goodness. Find out if the person behind you has a colder hand than this penguin. I think that's the, hey, greet your neighbors. Would you all stand?
That's it. We hurried through. Greet your neighbors.
Speaker 2Your kingdom has no end forever mighty God we lift you higher. Can I share a word of encouragement from the scripture? It's Psalm 29, and it's the Lord rules over the floodwaters. The rule the Lord reigns as king forevermore. I think we need to hear that this morning, don't we?
The Lord gives strength to his people. He is here to strengthen you. The Lord blesses them with peace. God, we thank you for we thank you for your strength. We thank you for your peace that's outside of ourselves.
This isn't something that we just that we just have that you supernaturally give. And, God, I thank you that you truly are king. You're on the throne. Amen. From Psalm 23, it's even though I walk through the darkest valley, whom shall I feel?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life, and whom should I be afraid? Let's keep singing. Surrender. Amen. You you can have a seat here for a moment.
This is the the worship through giving part of the service, and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward. And we're gonna sing the the words, I am a child of God. And and from first John three one, let's see how much the father loves us. He's called us his children, and that is what we are, adopted sons and daughters of the most high by grace through faith in Jesus brought into the the family of God. But before we sing, Ray, do pray?
Speaker 1Sure. God, thank you for this this place together this morning in your name, singing your praises, lord. I'm overwhelmed, Lord, by the liberty that you have given us in Christ, by the freedom that you've given, and just amazed. Lord God Almighty, in this group of people here this morning, gathered in your name to hear your word, proclaimed and to sing your praises, both, Lord, to worship you. I I pray that, you'd move in our hearts and, give us clear direction, forward.
Give us clear understanding of what we have been given and gifted in, in Christ. And Lord, would you give us the a facility with using what we've been given to bless others? Would you bring many into your kingdom through the actions of your humble and obedient servants. Lord, I ask you to bless whatever is placed in these plates financially, physically, but also whatever is placed in there metaphorically, Lord, that every conversation, every praise of you that is breathed out, Lord, I pray it'd be received. I pray that the word would be so deep in our hearts that it'd be overflowing out of our mouths, and that we'll be offering hope to a world that is pretty hopeless.
In Jesus' name, Lord, I ask for your peace to reign in our hearts. I also ask for peace in Jerusalem, Lord. That. We're to
Speaker 2So And God Almighty, I pray that you would quash
Speaker 1do evil, that you do so by your spirit, that you do so by the advance of the good news of the gospel. In Jesus' name, I pray, Lord, that you would calm the situation, be peacemaking and not just peacekeeping. Amen. Amen. And it's time for children's church downstairs.
Oh my goodness. And there they go. If y'all if y'all in the back wanna sit in the front, you got plenty of space. When the kids leave, it leaves a leaves a big opening up here. Luke nineteen eleven through 28 is where we're going today.
I'm going to stretch for a minute and calm down for your sakes and for mine. Luke nineteen eleven through 28 is a is a pericope between Zacchaeus and the walk to Jerusalem, the final walk before the crucifixion. And so Luke nineteen eleven through 28 is a story you've heard before. You probably have overlaid it over a story we've already discussed in Matthew. I think it's sufficiently different to probably be a different event with a different similar point in some ways, but a different context.
And so first, a story. This doesn't happen to be a story of my own life in Shiloh, Georgia with Louie Meadows and LTVs. But it goes way back. We in the church have heard the names of some bad guys, villains that we know they're bad guys in the Christmas play. We know they're bad guys, but we don't know all that much about the history of it.
So Once Upon a Time sounds like a fairy tale story. This is more of, I I don't watch it, but Game of Thrones type story. Okay? It's bad. It's ugly.
Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, gives us tons and tons of information about what was going on in the Roman Empire at the time of the first century. Now he's writing towards the end of the first century, but he's writing for what's happened in the last couple hundred years before that too. And he gives a lot of information that is backed up by Roman historians, that's backed up by lots and lots of record keeping Romans. But we're gonna start with Antipater the Idumian. Now I say that, I realized last week, I preached without having watched the news in between the time the attack from Hamas happened on Israel.
I had not seen any of that. Didn't know anything about it. And so when when I got up to preach, I just preached like a not exactly like I normally would have, but went for it. And then afterwards, I said, can't believe you didn't mention Israel. Well, I didn't know anything about it at that time.
Hamas is anti Israel. That's their whole point, is anti Israel. Always has been. They want the eradication of the state of Israel. That's what their stated goal is.
And this was now, I'm not a both side ism is is the the temptation here. Well, you know, there's always been animosity between the two and there's some no. This was an unprovoked attack. It was evil. It was wrong.
Slaughtering innocents is always gonna be wrong. And so it was really, really bad. I started studying for this week, and I see Auntie Potter the Edomite, the Edomian. And so y'all know Jacob and Esau, the story. Right?
Esau's people are the Edomites and Jacob's people are the Israelites. And after the Babylonian exile, this is going back to the six hundreds BC, you know, Babylonian exile going back that far, coming forward, there was a lot of confusion. Antipater the Edomite, the Edomian, was Edomite. There's no doubt about it. He was born that way.
At best, he was half Jewish, which is, to the Jews, a big deal. Really, really big deal. And he kind of conflated his own history and told a bunch of stories. And then Herod the Great told a bunch of worse stories and a bunch of stories about how he was related to those Babylonian exiles. And he Antipater.
Let's go to this. This is ridiculous. You can't read it. I know. But this is what it takes for the Herodian dynasty.
You see the lines and then the colors are intermarriages. So it's like have a kid, have a nephew, niece, get married to that one, have a kid, niece, keep it in the family. So this is it has to be color coded from generation to generation to say who was married to whom and when. It's full of intrigue and ugliness and paranoia. So Auntie Potter the Edomite is from down here, Edomea.
It's the land of Esau's people, which is historically the Arabs Palestinians some would say today. So this conflict was going on way, way, way long time ago. Yes. But he sidled up to the Romans, and he got in good with the Romans first, and then he went in with the Hasmoneans. The Hasmoneans, Hyrcanus particularly, and he was a chief adviser to Hyrcanus.
And he gets to Hyrcanus and kind of gives him all kind of political advice, which was really good for Hyrcanus, but it was good for him. And so he's a political weasel. Okay? He made the groundwork for Herod the Great to be able to be Herod the Great. So he's from Idumea.
He works his way into Jerusalem. He eventually is named the Roman procurator of Jerusalem. So he's that. That's Antipater, Herod's dad. He puts Herod the Great in charge of Galilee.
He put him in there for a while. Now all we know of Herod the Great is this. There are three wise men from the East that come and speak to Herod. And Herod says, oh, where is this guy so that I can worship him too? Right?
But we know that what he wants is to get rid of any, any, any kind of threat to his ruling throne. So Herod the Great, this is a image of the slaughter of the innocents. If you can't see it, be thankful. The Negev, Egypt, around this area, the Gaza Strip, that's where a lot of the fighting darker tan area is the area of Herod the Great. Herod the Great expands the kingdom, expands the kingdom, expands the kingdom, little by little through political acumen and ugliness.
So he's brutal. He actually kills his first wife that he loved dearly because he thought that her son would be a threat to the throne. Killed the son too. Killed his wife and his son. Okay.
That's that's ugly. Really ugly. So this is Herod the Great. All of the little red things you can barely see up there, this is from a National Geographic article. I would recommend going back.
It's an article about Herod's Herodian, which is where he's buried. Now for our story, we're used to seeing this map and I say, well, here's Perea over here and this is Jericho and Jerusalem, and we'll get to that. But these major fortifications are projects of Herod the Great. And when he was named by Julius Caesar to be the guy who was in charge, He was given the ability to collect taxes. So every single time that we mention a tax collector in the New Testament, I always say tax collectors are hated, where they're collecting taxes under the auspices of Herod.
And so they are paying to Rome, but they're also paying to Herod to do all these unnecessary things. But people love a building project. I can't understand why. But people love a building program. They just can't get away with not loving a building program for some reason.
So he's got all kinds of stuff going on. This is they're they're in ruins now, but it was a pretty amazing thing. This is the Herodian, which he made as a place where he would be buried. And this is the shape of it. Josephus describes what it is shaped like and says that this is his crowning achievement.
It's almost like a pyramid, but round. And that's where he's going to be. It's a city unto itself. That's it still, like a couple years ago. That's in that article.
That's a theater devoted to himself of course. This is I think this is a replica actually. It is a replica of the 80 foot burial spire for where his sarcophagus would be, and this is a part of it. That's someone else's, maybe second wife, we don't really know. Somebody else's sarcophagus, and this is probably his.
The other thing that studying history does for me is it just roots these things into the real world where we walk around every day. Afterwards, later on, people that hated Herod, when they were able to take over for a little while, they crushed his tomb. They crushed and tore it all down because we tend to want to erase our enemies from history, and that's kind of what they were trying to do. This wasn't found until fairly recently actually. Now this is the first picture I have up here that is of Herod Archelaus.
So we've gone through Antipater and Herod the Great. And then this image, it's from like a French manuscript, illuminated manuscript, but it it pictures Herod Archelaus and he is sitting there on the throne leaning forward his at his father's death. He just can't wait for his dad to die, which is probably a good thing because his dad had just murdered one of his brothers, and he went from Jerusalem to where his father was to make sure that he would change his will. So Antipater, his brother, the one we know oh, Antipater, excuse me, his brother. The one we all know about because he beheaded John the Baptist, and he was the one Jesus stood before at the trial, right, the kangaroo court before the crucifixion.
So Herod Antipas, we know, and he didn't want Antipas to get everything. So he goes and urges his dad to change the will, especially after he murdered his brother and his stepmother or first wife. Anyway, intrigue. It's hard to get all that right. But he can't wait for his dad to die.
He has sidled up to Rome too. Actually, when his dad dies this is this is this is Herod the Great's thinking. He's so paranoid that he's murdering his own family and people in his court. He also ordered that 300 of the most famous and well liked people in Israel be brought to the Hippodrome, the racetrack. And they're brought to the Hippodrome and held so that at the hour of his death, those 300 people would be killed, there would not be anybody in Israel that would not be mourning.
Is that a bad dude? He's a pretty bad dude. Archelaus is following in his father's footsteps, political intrigue. He's trying to weasel in, get in there. But this is the time of Roman imperialism and Rome has to say yes for you to become a king.
So Archelaus goes from Judea around there. He goes and the will says that he is to be the king. Also, Antipas gets a little section and Philip gets a section. But he's going to get the lion's share of the goods. Actually, Herod Arcelius, this is a coin.
This coin has a boat on it. And this, warship says that he set sail from there and went to Rome, and he went to and by the way, this is a family series of coins. This is Herod the Great. This is Herod Archelaus. This is the next Herod.
That doesn't really matter right now. But they're trying to show that they are the rightful person. Right? We're the we're the right ones. Well, Herod Archelaus goes and he bows the knee before Caesar, Augustus, which would be hard for a devout Jew to do, right?
He's not a devout Jew. He's a political guy. All he cares about is power. And so he goes and bows the knee before Caesar Augustus. And and Caesar names him rather than naming him the king of the area, he names him an ethnarch.
So he's in charge of his people. As long as he can keep the peace, everything will be fine. He'll he'll maybe he'll call him king later. He put that out there. You're an ethnarch, which is higher than a tetrarch.
And he named his two brothers a tetrarchs, Philip and Antipas. So when we read in Matthew two about the Magi coming to Herod and then Herod dies, and Joseph and Mary in Egypt were told in a dream that Herod is dead, you know, so you can return. And then it says they're gonna return, but Joseph is afraid of Archelaus. He's afraid. He heard Archelaus was ruling in Jerusalem.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem. That's probably the plan where they were gonna stay, but they didn't stay in Judea because Archelaus is in charge. And when they stayed in Galilee, Nazareth, it fulfills all kind of prophecies. But there are real things going on in the real world that God already knows about, that God is not surprised by, that fit into all of this intricacy, but we're still responsible. He was a bad dude.
He did all kinds of terrible things. Herod the Great decided, this is silly, but he decided at some point it'd be a good idea to put a golden eagle in the temple. That's a graven image. A Roman symbol in the temple. Oh, people had a fit.
They went rioted. He brought in the Roman army and killed a couple of thousand of them. So when Archelaus was going to bow before Caesar, a delegation came from Jerusalem. There were already 8,000 Jews living in Rome. They come together, and they said, this man cannot be our king.
He can't do this. And so he had gone there to establish his kingship, and when he came home as ethnarch, he goes back in and the people are saying, got to lower taxes. You got to do all this stuff. It's too heavy on us. Your dad did some stupid stuff and we hate his guts.
And they're like, my dad was right. What? My dad was right. He did what he should have done in that case, so they riot again, and he has 3,000 of them killed. He's not a good ruler.
He's not moderate in any way whatsoever. And though he is in charge of Edomea and Judea and Samaria, his brother Antipas gets Galilee, and that's why Joseph and Mary come back and settle and Nazareth not in any of these places. So writing and aggravation, not pictured. 3,000 of his enemies were executed upon his return as ethnarch. It took a little while for that to happen.
But eventually, Caesar's advice to rule moderately was not followed and he was banished to Gaul. He served just ten years from four to six. Four BC to six AD. That was his reign, and then he's banished to Gaul where he died. This guy is horrific and did horrible, atrocious things because human beings who are seeking power will do anything to get it and keep it.
And the current issue, yes, it's land acquisition, yes, it's an old dispute, but there is absolute evil involved. There was here, There is now. We should decry it then. We should decry it now. I use all this.
I mention all this because Jesus is in this last moment, right, between Zacchaeus. Now while they were listening to these things, the last thing that you heard from the Bible on this was this. When the people all saw that Jesus was talking to Zacchaeus and going to his house, they all began to complain. He's gone to be in the guest with the man who is a sinner, a sinner who's raising taxes for the Herodian dynasty, who's raising taxes against us. He's a bad guy.
He's associated with the bad guys. It's us and them, and you can't have anything to do with them. He's gone in to be the guest of the man who's a sinner. But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, half of my possessions. I am repenting of every evil, all the stuff that I've done.
I'm giving to the poor half of my possessions, and I've if I've extorted anything or better put, since I have extorted some things from people, I'm gonna pay them back four times as much. And Jesus said to him, today, salvation has come to this house because he too, he is a son of Abraham. He is. For the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Now while they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable.
Oh, I love this. Context matters, though. Sorry. Twenty minutes of context matters. Because.
Why? Oh, he tells us why he tells the parable. Because he was near Jerusalem. It's the last walk up that hill before the crucifixion, and they thought, the people who are with him, he's healing the blind. He's forgiving sinners.
He's gonna establish as a kingdom. They thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. Oh. And we know the disciples thought this and that mighty throng around him, and we're gonna see the triumphal entry is the very next thing in Luke. Right?
But he was near Jerusalem, and they thought that the kingdom of God was gonna appear immediately. And Jesus tells this parable to let them know, it may not be like you think. This is why he said it. And he said, so a noble one went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself. Herod the great died in Jericho.
That's where he died. Gangrene, probably gonorrhea. According to Josephus, very ugly. Ugly, ugly, horrible stuff. And he died there.
Now the sons did say, don't kill those 300 people. Really, dad's gone. Don't do that. The ones that he saved up to curry favor with their people. A noble went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then to return.
And he called 10 of his own slaves, his own people, and gave them 10 minas and said to them, do business with this money until I come back. Now, that's a very direct thing. Do business with this. I'm giving this to you for a reason. Be doing business with it until I come back.
I'm coming back. But his citizens hated him. They sent a delegation after him saying, we don't want this man to reign over us. Now does that sound like anything? Why did I tell that story?
This is for these people in this place, at this time, they all knew this story very well, and we might just read past it and say, yeah. I already read that Matthew. We don't want this man to reign over us. Now wait a second. Were there people that were saying, we don't want Jesus to reign over us?
Yeah. There are a lot of people. Though he was their rightful king, we do not want this man to reign over us. And when he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be summoned to him so that he would learn how much they had made, because he said do business with it, by the business that they had done. And the first slave appeared I imagine he was first in line.
First slave appeared and said, Master, your minas made 10 minas more. I have increased this 1000%, right? Good business. Good businessman. And he said to him, Well done, good slave.
Since you've been faithful in a very little thing, you're to have authority over 10 cities. Well, he's king. He can say that. Next one came to him and said, your mina master has made five minas. And he said to him, and you are to be over five cities.
It's different from Matthew, by the way. The quantities are different. The weight how much they're made is different, everything else. Jesus is using it's a parable here. It's a parable there.
He's using it to make a point. We know that here, it's because he was near Jerusalem, walking uphill for the last time before the crucifixion, and they thought the kingdom was gonna appear immediately. And he knew there was gonna be space between when they would be without him but still responsible. So he said to him, you're to be over five cities. And then another one came, master, here's your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief.
Now what was the command? Be doing business with this money. Risk, you got to risk it in business, that's the way business is. If he'd come to him and said, I lost it. I bet I bet the foreman, I lost it.
That would have been a different thing. He didn't. Master, here's your MENA. Here's what you gave me. I just just just just held on to it.
Here it is back. I tucked it away in a handkerchief for I was afraid of you. I was afraid for you're a demanding man. You take up what you did not lay down. Does that describe Archelaus?
It does. Now in my in my life, I've been trying to say, how does that describe Jesus? Because it doesn't really to me. A smoldering wick, he would not extinguish. A broken reed, he would not break us.
A bent reed, he would not break off. For I was afraid of you because you're a demanding man. You take up what you didn't lay down. You reap what you did not sow. And he said to him, from your own lips, I'll judge you.
You worthless slave. Did you know that I'm a demanding man? Yes, you just said you did. Taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sell. Well, yes, you did know that.
And so why did you not at least put my money in the bank? That's earning a little bit of interest. When I come back, I would have collected the one mina and whatever measly interest there was. And then he said to the other slaves who are present, now he's only interviewed three, there were seven others. He said, take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has 10 minas.
Herods are likely to do whatever Herods are supposed to, you know, gonna do. But he's saying, take away that which I've given him and to the one who has 10. And they said to him, master, he already has 10 minas. That doesn't make sense. And I tell you that everyone who has more shall be given more, but from the one who does not have even what he does shall be taken away.
Now there is common grace that is offered to all by God, and I think that we can look at this and say, there's common grace that's out there for everybody. We live in this place. We breathe this air. The sun shines. The rain falls on the just and the unjust, and there is common grace that is offered to everyone.
But there's specific grace that's offered to those who have accepted what God has given. I tell you that everyone who has more should be given, but to the one who does not have even what he does 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 in my presence. Now, why did Jesus tell the parable? It says because he's near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom was coming immediately, and they're gonna walk up there being in his court.
They're currying favor with Jesus, and they're walking up, and they're doing the same political machinations that all people generally do. And they're walking up the hill with him and like, yeah. We're gonna win this thing. It's gonna establish right now. And Jesus is saying, I'm giving you a gift.
Now the disciples knew that forgiveness was that gift. The disciples knew that mercy was involved in almost everything he did. They knew that grace was involved. We've seen children come to him and rich young rulers recently and tax collectors, and his gracious offering of this special grace of God, gift of God has been put out there. And for the ones who have received it, they're the ones that will be responsible for it.
Are you are you with me? After Jesus said these things, he was going up on ahead to Jerusalem, going up to be crucified. So this is our example. This is our leader. This is the one who has leaned forward, condescended, if you will, from being present with God the father.
He takes home the role of savior by walking out a perfect life, having a perfect record, leaning forward in grace towards us, giving healing, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, healing the lame, spiritually speaking, offering forgiveness, mercy, grace, love, all of those things. Now, if you are a believer in Jesus, that's what you've been given. That's your Mina. Okay? What are you gonna do with it?
What are you gonna do with what he has given you? So you can do business with it. You can put it into business by applying it. Or you can just think, oh, man. I mean, I'm glad I'm forgiven, but I don't want to forgive that person.
They were wrong, and I'm right. And I'm glad God forgave me. I'm just gonna hold on to that. That's wrapping it up in your handkerchief. That's holding it in the bushel basket.
That is not letting your light shine. If God has set you free, be setting other people free. If God has made peace with you, be making peace with other people. We as Christians have a command to be forgiven one another just as God in Christ has forgiven us, and to be leaning towards people offering peace. There is a lot of ugliness in the world, and we ought to pray for that to calm down because loss of life is horrible.
Does not matter which side someone is on, but there is such a thing as evil, and it will be dealt with. Now Jesus does say here that it will be dealt with. For those who do not want him to reign over them, they will get what they want. They will be eternally separated from him. But I think that for me today, reading this parable with the context especially, it's helpful to me to say, why did he tell that?
Because the crucifixion's coming. He's already tried to warn his disciples over and over he said what was coming. And then in the upper room for four or five chapters in John, we're gonna see him trying to describe it again and saying, listen, you're still not getting what I'm saying. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have loved you, you be living loving one another. They're still concerned with it.
They're still concerned with who's in charge, who's going to get the right seat and who's going to get the left seat when your kingdom comes. Lord, we know it's coming right now. I've already tried to tell you over and over, it's not coming right now. It's right here with you right now, but it's not like you think it's gonna be. So prepare yourselves for something different.
I'm gonna send you a comforter. I'm gonna send you the paraclete. I'm gonna send you the Holy Spirit. You'll be able to understand things better. Even though I'm right here right now, it's better for you if I go away.
All of that's coming in the next week of Jesus' life. We're we're just before the triumphal entry right here. If I were to sit it back in your lap, I don't have an application slide today. Think it's gonna just go black when I click this. I wanna know you.
That's the next song. For me, this week, I've been impressed with in this text is this nobleman gave something to his servants that they were to use. They didn't say this was, you gave me this and now I have 10. It says, you gave me this and now there are 10. This is for your kingdom, not for my kingdom.
So for us, our role is we have been forgiven. We have had grace extended. We have had love extended. We should be paying attention to what the scripture says. And we should be ready with a word of defense for the hope that is in us.
We should be ready with a word of love, mercy, grace. And we should be able to use the objective standard and see what is good and what is evil, and we need to say that too. Would you pray with me? I'm gonna invite the band back up. God help us.
Help us to see the minas that we have been given or that we are being given. New are your mercies every morning, Lord. If if your mercies are new every morning and we experience them, Lord, would you give us an opportunity to share that mercy with somebody else? In the very day that we receive it, Lord? I pray that we'd be putting it into practice, doing business with it.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Speaker 2Would you stand and we'll sing. I want to go.
Speaker 1As a benediction, today, first Peter four ten, each of you should use whatever gift you have. So in the New American Standard says, just as each of you has been given a gift. Okay? Because it's happened. If you're a Christian, it has happened.
Just as each of you have been given a gift, each of you should use whatever gift you have, whatever you've received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. By the manifold grace of God, may it be seen by this community into the very uttermost parts. In Jesus' name, amen.
