The Parable of the Ten minas

1. The Parable ofthe Ten Minas – 29th
August 2016
“I wasafraidof you, becauseyou are a hardman. Youtake outwhat you didnot put in andreap what
you didnot sow” ( Luke 19:21).
The occasionof the parable isJesus’final triptoJerusalem.Manypeople inthe crowdalongthe road
believedthatHe wasgoingto JerusaleminordertoestablishHisearthlykingdom immediately.Butwe
have readthat He was goingto JerusaleminordertoofferHimself practicallyin aplatterwhere He died
on a cross to save us,as He had statedin Luke 18:33, “
They will whiphim andkill him.On the third day,
he will rise from the dead!. Christusesthe Parable of the Ten Minasto teach aboutthe coming
kingdomof God onearth. Jesususedthisparable todispel anyhopeful rumorsthatthe time of the
kingdomhadarrived. We can read thisparable in Luke 19:11–27.
In the parable,a noblemanleavesforaforeigncountryinorderto be made king.Before he left,he gave
tenminasto tenof hisservants “Aman froman importantfamilywent to a country far away.He went
there to be made kingand then return home. 13
So he sent for ten of hisslaves. He gave them each
aboutthree months’pay. ‘Putthis money to work until I come back,’ he said.(Luke 19:12–13). A mina
was a goodsum of money(aboutthree months’wages),andthe future kingsaid, “Putthismoneyto
work . . . until I come back” (verse 13).
However,the man’ssubjects“hatedhim”andsentwordto himthat theyrefusedtoacknowledge his
kingshipaswe readin Luke 19:14,“ “Butthose he ruled over hatedhim. They sent some messengers
after him. They were sent to say, ‘Wedon’t wantthis man to be our king”. But the man wascrowned
king.He returnedto hishomelandandbegantoset hisaccount right.First,he calledthe tenservantsto
whomhe had loanedthe minas.Theyeach gave an account forhow theyhadusedthe money.The first
servantshowedthathisminahad earnedtenmore.The kingwaspleased,saying, “‘Youhavedonewell,
my goodslave!’his master replied.‘You have been faithful ina very small matter. So I will put you in
charge of ten towns.’ (verse 17). The nextservant’sinvestmenthadyieldedfive additional minas,and
that servantwasrewardedwithcharge of five towns: “Thesecond slavecame to hismaster. He said,
‘Sir,your money has earned fivetimes as much.’19
“Hismasteranswered, ‘I will put youin charge of
five towns.’ (verses 18–19).
Thencame a servantwhoreportedthathe haddone nothingwithhisminaexcepthide itinacloth as
we read in Luke 19:20, ““Thenanother slave came. He said,‘Sir,here isyour money. I have kept it
hiddenin a piece of cloth.He gave a reasonfor not doinganythingwiththe entrustedmoney:“Iwas
afraidof you,because you are a hard man.You take out what you didnot put inand reap what you
didnot sow” (verse 21).
The kingrespondedtothe servant’sdescriptionof himas“hard” by showinghardness,callinghima
“wickedservant”andcommandingforhisminato be giventothe one whohad earnedten as we readin
verses22 -24. “Hismaster replied, ‘I will judgeyou by your ownwords, you evil slave! Soyou knew
that I am a hard man?You knew that I take out what I did not put in?Youknew that I harvest what I
didnot plant? 23
Then why didn’tyou put my moneyin the bank? WhenI came back, I couldhave
collected it withinterest.’24
“Thenhe said to those standingby,‘Take his moneyaway from him.Giveit
to the one who has ten times as much. ’Some bystanderssaid,“Sir.. . he alreadyhasten!” “He replied,
‘I tell you that everyone who haswill be givenmore. But here is what will happento anyone whohas

2. nothing.Even what they have will be taken away from them. 27
Andwhat aboutmy enemies who did
not want me to be king over them? Bring them here! Kill them infront of me!’ ”(verses25–26).
Finally,the kingcommandedthathisenemies—those whohadrebelledagainsthisauthority—be
broughtbefore him.Rightthere inthe king’spresence, theywere executed (Luke 19:27).
In thisparable,Jesusteachesseveral thingsaboutthe Millennial Kingdomandthe time leadinguptoit.
Afterthe rapture of the church,after the seven-yearlongtribulation,afterthe warof Armageddonand
the resurrectionof the saints,Jesuswill ruleonthe earthforone thousandyearswhichisknownas the
MillennialKingdom.AsLuke 19:11 indicates above,Jesus’mostbasicpointisthatthe kingdomwasnot
goingto appearimmediately.Therewouldbe aperiodof time,duringwhichthe kingwouldbe absent,
before the kingdomwouldbe setup.
The noblemaninthe parable isJesus,wholeftthisworldbutwhowill returnasKingsome day.The
servantsthe kingcharges witha task representfollowersof Jesus. Some have beengivenbiggertasks
than others. The Lord has givenusa valuable commission,andwe mustbe faithful toserve Himuntil He
returns.Upon Hisreturn,Jesuswill ascertainthe faithfulnessof Hisown people.We canlearnthisfrom
see Romans14:10–12, “You,then, whydo you judgeyour brother or sister[a]
?Or why doyou treat
them with contempt?For we will all stand before God’sjudgmentseat. 11
It is written: “‘Assurely as I
live,’says the Lord,‘ every knee will bow before me; every tonguewill acknowledgeGod.’12
Sothen,
each of us will givean account ofourselves to God”. There isworkto be done and we mustuse what
God has givenusforHis glory.There are promisedrewardsforthose whoare faithful intheircharge.
The Parable of the TenMinas issimilartothe Parable of the Talents inMatthew 25:14–30. Some people
assume thattheyare the same parable,butthere are enoughdifferencestowarranta distinction:the
parable of the minaswas toldon the road betweenJerichoandJerusalem;the parable of the talents
was toldlateronthe Mount of Olives.The audienceforthe parable of the minaswasa large crowd;the
audience forthe parable of the talentswasthe disciplesbythemselves.The parable of the minas deals
withtwoclassesof people:servantsandenemies;the parable of the talentsdealsonlywithprofessed
servants.Inthe parable of the minas,eachservantreceivesthe same amount;inthe parable of the
talents,eachservantreceivesadifferentamount(andtalentsare worthfarmore than minas).Also,the
returnis different:inthe parable of the minas,the servantsreportten-foldandfive-foldearnings;inthe
parable of the talents,all the goodservantsdouble theirinvestment.Inthe former,the servants
receivedidentical gifts;inthe latter,the goodservantsshowedidentical faithfulness.