I pray you have come through 2016 with many blessings. Mostly, I pray you have come "through." I must confess that this was a year of survival in our family, but thanks be, we made it through. If you have landed on my blog today with a gut-felt realization that, like me, you can look back on the previous year and not really count your accomplishments, but you can see that your only accomplishment is that you didn't go under, first of all, thank the Lord! Next, move on, knowing that sometimes, we simply are called to a season of standing (for truth, to strengthen others, or just to prove that Jesus is bigger than all this sin-crazy world can throw at us.) But remember, that His command to "occupy" (as in, occupation) never implies inaction.
I have been taking a college hermeneutics course (the science of interpreting the Bible), and the following blog is an excerpt from one of my assignments, with a few changes made here and there. It was very timely for me to study this passage, personally. I pray it will encourage you and act as a call to action on behalf of our sweet Lord Jesus in the coming days!
Luke 19.11-27:
As the passage begins, we find Jesus travelling to Jerusalem. Undoubtedly, his followers were greatly anticipating this trip, as they most likely hoped this would be when Jesus would establish his throne. (“…they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. v. 11) We see, however, that the crux of Jesus’ journey, as well as the discourse He was about to deliver would be found in the encounter which had just occurred with Zacchaeus. His actions and message in this passage, as well as what would transpire in Jerusalem would echo verse ten, “For the son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.”
As His disciples entertain thoughts of grandeur and respect in the kingdom to come, Jesus begins to speak of a nobleman that must travel to a far country “to receive for himself a kingdom,” and then return. Before he departs, he allots to each of his ten servants, one pound each, and leaves with the command to “occupy” until his return. It is important to note that verse fourteen says that his citizens hated him and sent word by messenger that they would not have him to reign over them. So, the picture is of a master who leaves his servants with a charge to keep among citizens who openly reject the nobleman’s leadership. This was prophetic of the Jews who would deny that Jesus was the Christ, and it seems fitting in our present secular culture to feel as the servants left to occupy among openly defiant rejection of our Lord.
Nevertheless, when the nobleman returned, each servant was called to account for his actions regarding the entrusted charge. The nobleman’s response to the rebels is not mentioned firstly. There is only an immediate call to accountability on behalf of the servants. The first servant who multiplied the pound left to him by ten receives a place of prominence in the nobleman’s kingdom. Likewise, the second servant who multiplied his one entrusted pound by five is also placed into leadership. The third servant in the text returns the pound left to him safely secured in a napkin, declaring, “For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.” He thought to justify his idleness by accusing the master of greed for expecting increase, but the nobleman had entrusted to this servant his own possession, therefore, the nobleman was completely justified in expecting increase. This brings to mind the command of Jesus in Mark twelve to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” Just as the nobleman expected a return and increase of his own possession from his servant, God is certainly entitled that we, who are created in His image be wholly given to Him. And, because the blood of His Son purchased our redemption, He is entirely worthy and justified in demanding that we refuse to sit idle with the gospel He has entrusted to us.
The third servant is then judged by the very words he has spoken. Because he refers to the nobleman as “austere”, he will receive the harsh judgment of the one he has judged strict and severe. His pound will be given to the first servant, and when the bystanders object because that servant “hath ten pounds”, the nobleman declares, “unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.” It is most certainly reasonable that a master would entrust more to an industrious servant, in order for that servant to return with even more abundance on the master’s behalf. It is as befitting that he would take privilege and possessions from the idle, selfish servant who refuses to do good with them. Christ gives this warning to his disciples, lest while they are arguing over their positions in His future kingdom, they would neglect the most needful ministry they will share with Jesus, to “seek and to save that which is lost,” and fall short of rewards in Heaven.
Finally, in verse twenty-seven, the nobleman addresses the rebels who refuse him as their ruler. “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” While this speaks to the Jewish nation who would reject Jesus and suffer His vengeance and wrath, it is, as certainly, applicable to all of those who will not have Christ rule over them. Some day, we will all stand before Almighty God and answer for what we did with His Son, Jesus, sent into a world that despised Him to offer redemption for the souls of those whom He created. He will also judge us according to how we have treated the souls He has entrusted to our care and witness. We, as believers, must remember that Christ has given us salvation and left us with the command to "occupy", to engage, to invest, and to increase, until He comes.
As His disciples entertain thoughts of grandeur and respect in the kingdom to come, Jesus begins to speak of a nobleman that must travel to a far country “to receive for himself a kingdom,” and then return. Before he departs, he allots to each of his ten servants, one pound each, and leaves with the command to “occupy” until his return. It is important to note that verse fourteen says that his citizens hated him and sent word by messenger that they would not have him to reign over them. So, the picture is of a master who leaves his servants with a charge to keep among citizens who openly reject the nobleman’s leadership. This was prophetic of the Jews who would deny that Jesus was the Christ, and it seems fitting in our present secular culture to feel as the servants left to occupy among openly defiant rejection of our Lord.
Nevertheless, when the nobleman returned, each servant was called to account for his actions regarding the entrusted charge. The nobleman’s response to the rebels is not mentioned firstly. There is only an immediate call to accountability on behalf of the servants. The first servant who multiplied the pound left to him by ten receives a place of prominence in the nobleman’s kingdom. Likewise, the second servant who multiplied his one entrusted pound by five is also placed into leadership. The third servant in the text returns the pound left to him safely secured in a napkin, declaring, “For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.” He thought to justify his idleness by accusing the master of greed for expecting increase, but the nobleman had entrusted to this servant his own possession, therefore, the nobleman was completely justified in expecting increase. This brings to mind the command of Jesus in Mark twelve to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” Just as the nobleman expected a return and increase of his own possession from his servant, God is certainly entitled that we, who are created in His image be wholly given to Him. And, because the blood of His Son purchased our redemption, He is entirely worthy and justified in demanding that we refuse to sit idle with the gospel He has entrusted to us.
The third servant is then judged by the very words he has spoken. Because he refers to the nobleman as “austere”, he will receive the harsh judgment of the one he has judged strict and severe. His pound will be given to the first servant, and when the bystanders object because that servant “hath ten pounds”, the nobleman declares, “unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.” It is most certainly reasonable that a master would entrust more to an industrious servant, in order for that servant to return with even more abundance on the master’s behalf. It is as befitting that he would take privilege and possessions from the idle, selfish servant who refuses to do good with them. Christ gives this warning to his disciples, lest while they are arguing over their positions in His future kingdom, they would neglect the most needful ministry they will share with Jesus, to “seek and to save that which is lost,” and fall short of rewards in Heaven.
Finally, in verse twenty-seven, the nobleman addresses the rebels who refuse him as their ruler. “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” While this speaks to the Jewish nation who would reject Jesus and suffer His vengeance and wrath, it is, as certainly, applicable to all of those who will not have Christ rule over them. Some day, we will all stand before Almighty God and answer for what we did with His Son, Jesus, sent into a world that despised Him to offer redemption for the souls of those whom He created. He will also judge us according to how we have treated the souls He has entrusted to our care and witness. We, as believers, must remember that Christ has given us salvation and left us with the command to "occupy", to engage, to invest, and to increase, until He comes.
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." ~ Matthew 25:21
