The Parable Of The Minas

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Luke 19:11-27
11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.
12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’
15 “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
16 Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’
17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’
18 And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’
19 Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’
20 “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.
21 For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’
22 And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.
23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’
24 “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’
25 (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’)
26 ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”

Earlier in Luke 19, Jesus had gone to the house of Zacchaeus for a meal. Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector, living in Jericho. He believed and received the Lord into his heart, and was saved.

Upon his salvation, Zacchaeus not only gave half of his money to the poor, but also paid back fourfold to those people he had cheated. Truly, salvation had come to his house!

After leaving Jericho and approaching Jerusalem, Jesus told this parable.

His disciples and other people expected that Jesus would show Himself as the Messiah, saving and setting Israel free politically from the rule of the Roman Empire. They thought that the kingdom of God would appear immediately, and Jesus would be the King.

Jesus knew that what was in the hearts and thoughts of the people He was with.

So He told them this parable:

A very important man was preparing to go to a country far away to be made a king.

Then he planned to return home and rule his people. So the man called ten of his servants together. He gave a bag of money to each servant. He said, “Do business with this money till I get back.”

But the citizens in the kingdom hated the man. So they sent a group to follow him and say, “We don’t want this man to be our king!”

But the man became king. When he came home, he said, “Call those servants who have my money. I want to know how much they earned with it.”

The first servant came and said, “Sir, I earned ten bags of money with the one bag you gave me!”

The king said to the servant, “Fine! You are a good servant. I see that I can trust you with small things. So now I will let you rule over ten of my cities.”

The second servant said, “Sir, with your one bag of money I earned five bags!”

The king said to the servant, “Fine! You are a good and faithful servant. So now I will let you rule over five of my cities.”

Then another servant came in. The servant said to the king, “Sir, here is your bag of money. I wrapped it in a piece of cloth and hid it. I was afraid of you because you are a hard man. You even take money that you didn’t earn and gather food that you didn’t plant.”

Then the king said to the servant, “You evil servant! I will use your own words to condemn you. You said that I am a hard man. You said that I even take money that I didn’t earn and gather food that I didn’t plant. If that is true, then you should have put my money in the bank. Then, when I came back, my money would have earned some interest.”

Then the king said to the men who were watching, “Take the bag of money away from this servant and give it to the servant who earned ten bags of money.”

They said to the king, “But sir, that servant already has ten bags of money!”

The king said, “The one who uses what he has will get more. But the one who does not use what he has will have everything taken away from him. Now where are my enemies who didn’t want me to be king? Bring them here and kill them before me.”

This parable is very different from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. Here, there are ten servants. Each servant does not receive ten minas. The ten minas are distributed to the group as a whole, one mina to each of the ten servants.

The mina was a basic standard of weight among the ancient Hebrews. In the sacred system of weights, 1 sacred mina was 60 shekels, and 1 sacred talent was 60 sacred minas.

In total, ten minas are given. Each receives a mina, an equal amount of money, worth about three months of wages for a servant.

The parable of the minas is very similar to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14–30. Thus many people think that they are the same parable. But there are enough differences to distinguish them separately.

The parable of the minas was told on the road between Jericho and Jerusalem before the triumphant entry of Jesus into the holy city. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 was told later on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 23:3) after the triumphant entry in Matthew 21.

The audience for the parable of the minas was a larger crowd but the parable of the talents was shared privately to the disciples of Jesus themselves.

The parable of the minas has two groups of people, namely servants and enemies. The parable of the talents deals only with servants.

In the parable of the minas, each servant receives the same amount whereas in the parable of the talents, each servant receives a different amount. And talents are worth far more than minas. One talent is 60 minas.

The returns in both parables are different. In the parable of the minas, the servants report ten-fold and five-fold earnings but in the parable of the talents, all the faithful servants reap double what they had been given.

There are ten servants in this parable of the minas. Only three are mentioned. What happened to the other seven? Maybe some of them might have sowed and reaped different folds, and some of them might be like the wicked servant doing nothing.

As God bestows different gifts in different measures to some people, according to His own pleasure, there are some gifts that given in equal measure. He has given us one life with a daily time duration of 24 hours each, no more and no less. And also He has given us one great commission of preaching the gospel.

Very clearly, the nobleman in the parable is Jesus. He had ascended into heaven but will return as the King of kings very soon. The servants represent the followers of Jesus.

While our Master was away to receive His kingdom, what do we do while we wait for His return? We are His servants, and we are expected to do business, using what our Master has given us faithfully, and using them for His utmost purpose.

But Jesus did not give us a bag of money. What had He given us before He left? The Great Commission.

Jesus did not hand us a bag of money, asking us to do business in the worldly system. The Lord has given us a very valuable spiritual mina of great eternal value. This spiritual mina is like a precious seed to be sowed for His kingdom business. And as His servants, we must be faithful to serve Him until He returns.

And what kind of kingdom business do we do? The business of our Father in heaven.

Luke 2:49
And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

John 4:34
Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

Jesus did exactly what the Father desired Him to do. The triumphant entry into Jerusalem would ultimately lead Him to His death on the cross.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Jesus gave His life for us so that we can receive eternal life. That’s the kingdom business of our Father in heaven. As Jesus had sowed, He had reaped and is still reaping.

But there are many Christians who think otherwise. They are worldly-minded. They will rebel even though they are citizens of our Master. As they are not the servants of the Lord, they do not receive the spiritual mina. They do not want to do what the Lord desires to do. And they do not want Jesus to reign over them!

Why do they rebel and hate Jesus? It is simply because they are self-willed and disobedient, doing only whatever they desire and lust for. They do not like to have Jesus reigning over them, and they do not want Him to return as their King.

But before the King deals with these rebellious citizens, He will first deal with His own servants.

One important thing we must always remember is that our King is also a Servant.

Matthew 20:26-28
26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

When He returns, He will call His servants and ask them what they have done with what He has given them.

Of the twelve disciples of Jesus, Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord and hang himself. Eleven of them were commissioned. Ten of them were martyred. Only John survived, living to old age and dying of natural causes in Ephesus. None of them were rich businessmen. The eleven disciples obeyed the Lord, and did the great commission. They followed the Lord, and did the business of the Father.

The Lord has given us a spiritual mina which is more precious than silver and gold. It is a bag of eternal wealth. Our spiritual life. What has we done with the one life that God has given us by His Spirit? Have we done His business faithfully by obeying Him and doing what He has asked us to do?

Remembering Zacchaeus, he traded his worldly wealth for eternal wealth! He did what really pleased the Lord!

When Jesus returns after having received His kingdom, He will call His servants to know what they have done to the wealth that He has given them, and how much they have gained by doing kingdom business.

The first servant said, “Master, I have sowed what You have given me, and reaped tenfold.” And He said to him, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in very little things, have authority over ten cities.”

And the second came, saying, “Master, I have sowed what You have given me, and reaped fivefold.” Likewise He said to him, “You will have authority over five cities.”

But the third servant came, “Master, here is what You have given me. I have stored away in a handkerchief. I did not sow. For I feared You, because You are a difficult man. You collect what You did not deposit, and reap what You did not sow.”

And Jesus will say to him, “Out of your own mouth, I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was a hard man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put what I have given you in the bank, that at My coming I might have collected it with interest?"

We can understand better what the Lord says if we understand what the Bible teaches about usury and interest.

Exodus 22:25
If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.

Deuteronomy 23:19-20
19 You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest.
20 To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.

Usury or loaning money with interest is strictly forbidden for the people of God in the Bible.

And what was the bank in ancient times? Probably the money changers and bankers in the temple and marketplaces. And Zacchaeus was one of them, and he repented of his wrongdoings.

This wicked servant told two lies. Firstly, he said that the Master was an austere or harsh man. This was clearly a lie as the Lord was merciful and gracious.

Secondly, he called his Master a thief because He reaped where He did not sow.

Thus, the Master said to him that he could add another insult to the injury by lending the money out at interest. In doing so, he could call His Master a usurer too! If the servant had done this, his Master would have been responsible for his servant's actions and guilty of usury.

But at His coming, is the Lord interested in collecting interest? Jesus does not approve of usury. Thus He reproves the wicked servant for his slothfulness, and exposes his folly and wickedness due to his wrong reasons and principles.

And Jesus says to those who are standing by, “Take what I have given him, and give to the one who had reaped tenfold.”

But they said to Him, “Master, he already has tenfold.”

And Jesus says, “To everyone who has will be given. And from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

As the third servant did not obey the Master’s command to do business till He comes. He has nothing to do with the business that the Master will be doing in His kingdom. Thus, what he has will be taken away from him.

Luke 8:18
Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.

After dealing with His servants, the Lord will deal with His enemies.

Luke 19:27
But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”

The servants of the Lord need to answer and account for what they have done with what He had given them in His absence. But none of them are guilty of treason or rebellion.

But the enemies are the rebellious citizens who hated Him, saying “We will not have this man to reign over us.”

They could try and deny the reign of the Master as much as they could, but it would eventually amount to nothing. The Lord will rule over them, and they will finally be put to death.

Philippians 3:18-19
18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.

Many people including Christians live like enemies of the cross of Christ. The way they live is leading them to destruction. Instead of serving God, they do whatever their bodies want. They do shameful things, and they are proud of it. They think only about earthly things.

Many churches today do not teach about the Second Coming of Jesus. They do not desire the return of the King! Many Christian pastors and leaders do not desire to have a King reigning over them. They want to be kings themselves, building their own empires and kingdoms, lording over others, enslaving others and making them to produce incomes and make money for them! These are not the servants of the Lord. They are lords themselves!

Matthew 20:25-28
25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.
26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Are we doing His kingdom business faithfully? Are we His servants humbly serving others? Or are we His enemies arrogantly lording over others and not desiring His return?

If interested, please view: I'd Rather Have Jesus

Written on:
22 August 2024