Verses 11-12 Jesus is nearing Jerusalem, the place where prophets in the Old Testament predicted the Messiah would set up his rule and reign. So the Pharisees and disciples think the kingdom of God will appear as soon as they arrive. The Pharisees think another prince is coming to bring this kingdom of heaven down to earth, but the disciples maintain it is Jesus, with lots of pomp and power.
They were all mistaken.
What the prophets predicted in the Old Testament is still far off in the future. The disciples and Pharisees will not see that day in their lifetime. But they clearly do not know that.
Jesus tells this story of a man who traveled to a far country to receive the authority to be king. Jesus wanted his hearers to understand that his kingdom’s reign was not coming immediately. He would actually leave earth and return at a later time.
Jesus must go to heaven to sit down at the right hand of the Father to receive from Him honor and glory. And then Jesus’ Spirit will pour into the hearts of his followers (us) and the Church will set up his kingdom on earth. This is where we’re at and where Jesus is at today.
Jesus’ Return
At some point (which we know is after the disciples and Pharisees are dead) Jesus will return to earth again (this is referred to as his second coming). This is what the disciples thought would happen in their lifetime, and it did not.
Even today, the Church expects Jesus’ second coming, “the end times”, at any moment. Will it be during our lifetime walking the earth? So many self-proclaimed prophets today try to predict Jesus’ second coming.
I remember when 9-11 happened, some tried to conclude we were seeing the end times. Others see the war between Russia and Ukraine as a sign of the end times. We all want to know and so we look for signs of Jesus’ return.
Signs of the Messiah
Verses 13-14 The disciples thought Jesus might come into Jerusalem with some kind of public ceremony to illicit recognition that he was the king around here. And they figured they would be receiving dignity and honor as well. Perhaps the crowd would give them preferential treatment and make them princes even.
Isn’t it interesting how the mind can daydream up all these scenarios that are so far from the truth?
Jesus tells this story about a man with his servants to clearly get the point across.
Managing Our Resources
Jesus entrusts his followers with the skills, spiritual gifts, talents, time, resources, money, relationships, and advantages. While Jesus is gone, we should obey and manage what he gives us until his return (this is Jesus’ second coming which is outlined in the book of Revelation).
Out of obedience, we are to be a people of business, making good returns on all that He gives. We should be ambitious about God’s kingdom and employ everything to serve Jesus. That’s an honorable call on our lives.
In the story Jesus tells, the man commands his servants to engage in business on his behalf until he returns. He gave each of his ten servants one mina. A Mina was a coin worth about a hundred days’ wages.
God entrusts us to do good with what we have. This trust is how God honors us.
Notice the man expects obedience and investment from the money, not selfish squandering.
Invest, Trade, and Make Good Increases
This is a clear call to obedience to invest, trade, and make good increases for the glory of God with what we have. Jesus calls us to share the gospel, set up the Church on earth, encourage people, and help others stay obedient to this faith in Jesus. We have the Holy Spirit living inside us to help prevent idleness. No matter what opposition or difficulties we meet, we must faithfully stay active in the business of doing what we can with what we have.
These servants hated the man and declared they didn’t want him to rule over them.
Even when the world rejects the King and his kingdom, God’s servants are called to follow him in obedience.
Verses 15-19 When the man returns from his trip, he summons his servants to see how they managed his money. God rewards those who are diligent and faithful.
They will not labor in vain.
Faithfulness With Our Resources Reaps Rewards
The first servant had proved faithful with his master’s resources and earned ten more minas. For his obedience, the master rewarded his servant with authority over ten towns. The second servant was also faithful. He didn’t earn as much as the first, but he was diligent with the opportunities he had. He obeyed and invested so the master rewarded this servant.
The varying rewards between these two men might show us there are degrees of glory in heaven. To those who do well to squeeze every last drop of every opportunity they have, there will be a reciprocal reward in heaven. How are we using all the opportunities we have?
Everything we have is a gift from God. We must recognize that we are stewards of our resources, not owners. God will call us to give an account of our obedience and how we have managed all our opportunities- and he will reward or judge his people accordingly. God does not judge us according to someone else’s returns.
God is interested in our faithful obedience to what we have.
When we see gains in our work, God must have all the glory.
There’s No Excuse For Laziness
Verses 20-26 The next servant simply returns his master’s mina to him. He considered his master a harsh man so he did nothing with the money. This unfaithful servant was lazy. He was careless with his gift. Maybe he didn’t want the work that went with investing. Maybe he didn’t want it to rob him of his time. Or money.
Do we make excuses for our partial effort? Partial obedience is disobedience.
The lack of relationship between the man and the servant is what fuels this lack of obedience. The servant operated out of his emotions and didn’t feel like obeying and investing. He felt the master was too hard on them to expect obedience and gains with the money.
Respect fuels obedience.
The servant gives another excuse about receiving gains from the money he did not sow. What?! This guy has so many excuses for doing nothing in his life.
Fearing God Is The Beginning of Success
The servant’s failure is that he didn’t take the master’s expectations seriously. He disobeyed and continued to make excuses for it.
God will judge those who are apathetic toward His Kingdom. Some people actually feel like if they have done no hurt to the world, so they must be pretty good and can expect a reward.
Our Obedience Reaps Eternal Rewards
When the master heard the servant’s testimony, he rebuked and punished him. The master says if this servant was so fearful that he would lose the money while trading, he could have at least put the money in the bank to earn a minimal amount of interest. But apparently, even this was too much for the servant to do.
This servant (an unfaithful believer) wanted nothing to do with the responsibilities of stewardship and obedience.
On judgment day, unfaithful believers will experience negative consequences for their disobedience.
The man in this story gave the servant’s money away to one of the other servants who had been faithful.
Those who refuse to use their gifts will lose them.
God will not entrust us with investing and furthering the kingdom when we sit idle.
When we are responsible for the skills and opportunities we have, we will receive more.
When we invest what we have, we can expect God to give us more to invest.
We receive more grace when we give more grace.
We don’t want to miss out on the eternal rewards that God has for our faithfulness to steward his resources well. Faithfulness results in kingdom reward; unfaithfulness results in a loss of our reward.
Verse 27 Those who choose not to allow Jesus to rule over their lives on earth make themselves enemies of God.
Jesus is king to those who obey him.
It’s easy to think that Jesus’ enemies are those who persecute him, but Jesus’ enemies are any who do not submit to his authority in their lives and obey. There are those who desire to be their own boss, make their own rules, and run their own life. There are consequences awaiting those who make themselves God’s enemies. They will experience eternal judgment.
When we refuse Jesus’ grace and authority in our lives, his wrath will inevitably wreck us.
Prayer
Jesus, you are so good to me. You are grace to me, salvation, Truth, and Life. Thank you for the spiritual gifts, skills, resources, relationships, and opportunities you’ve entrusted to me. I don’t want to sit before your judgment throne and be negligent with the advantages you’ve poured out in my life. Help me use them well, to increase the return, to be a funnel of your good things in this world so that your goodness and glory may shine. Open my eyes to all that you’ve planted in my life and show me where I can invest and improve in sharing the gospel, sharing your grace, and being a beacon of love. Help me persevere in the work and not give in to laziness or indifference. I want to be found diligent and faithful in serving you, Jesus. Holy Spirit, light the fire inside me to be ambitious about these investments. Help me stay focused and use my time wisely. Let the work of these hands produce and make good on all that you’ve gifted me with. I let go of excuses and any justifications that are holding me back from doing and being all that you created me to do and be. Help me be a good steward, Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.