#157 Lu. 19:11-27  THE PARABLE OF THE TEN POUNDS

Introduction:

    While Jesus was passing through the streets of Jericho on His
way to Jerusalem a short little man by the name of Zacchaeus tried
to get a look at Him.  He could not see Jesus because he was short
and the people in the crowd were so much taller than he.  So
Zacchaeus climbed up in a sycamore tree waited for Jesus to come
by.  The result was that Zacchaeus got saved.  Jesus told him to
come down from the tree because He was going to his house.  The
crowd of onlookers were very critical of Jesus for saying that He
would go to the home of a sinful man like Zacchaeus.  Jesus
explained to them that He had come into the world to seek and to
save lost sinners like Zacchaeus.
    In our text today Jesus speaks a parable which is known to us
as "The Parable of The Ten Pounds."

I.  The purpose of the parable

    V. 11, "And as they heard these things, he added and spake a
parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they
thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear."  Luke
gives two reasons why Jesus to spoke this parable at this time.
The first reason was that they were getting close to Jerusalem.
They were at Jericho and Jericho was less than twenty miles from
Jerusalem.  This means that Jesus was getting very close to the
time of His crucifixion.
    The second reason was because the disciples still thought that
when they got to Jerusalem Jesus would establish His throne and
rule Israel.  He had repeatedly tried to tell them that He would
not establish His throne at this time.  He was going to Jerusalem
to be crucified.
    Therefore, one of the chief reasons for giving the parable was
to teach them that He would not establish His throne at this time.
Rather, as He had already told them, He would be crucified at this
time.

II.  The parable itself

    Listen to the parable.  V. 12, "He said therefore, A certain
nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom,
and to return."  Jesus used an event that was very familiar to all
the Jews and therefore would be familiar to His disciples.  He
spoke of a certain nobleman.  The word, nobleman, refers to one
who is born into a royal family, the family of a king.  Now one
could be born into a king's family and still not be in line for
the throne at the death of his father, but this man was in line
for the throne.  Apparently his father had died because he expects
now to be given the kingdom in his father's stead.
    This is the kind of situation that all Jews were very familiar
with.  Herod the Great had been king in Israel at the time of the
birth of Jesus.  Before he died, he named his son, Herod
Archaelaus, to succeed him on the throne.  However, before
Archaelaus could take the throne, he had to go to Rome and appear
before the Caesar to be confirmed as the new king.
    So the disciples could follow this part of the parable very
well.  A nobleman had to go away before he would be made king.
    But lets note the next part of the parable.  V. 13, "And he
called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said
unto them, Occupy till I come."  In the parable before the
nobleman went away, he called ten of his slaves together and gave
each of them a sum of money which Luke calls "a pound."  I am not
sure just what that would be equal to in our money.
    The instructions were,  "Occupy till I come."  The word,
occupy, as used here meant "to increase."  Each one was to invest
the money given him by his master in such a manner that it would
increase.  This was to be done until the nobleman returned.  He,
of course, expected to be king when he returned.
    The disciples would have no problem in understanding this
part of the parable.  This would be standard practice for any rich
man who would be gone from home for an extended period of time.
He would want his money to increase even while he was gone.
    There was one problem for the nobleman.  V. 14, "But his
citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will
not have this man to reign over us."  The problem was that the
people over whom the nobleman would rule did not want him to be
their ruler.  They sent a message to that effect to the Caesar
voicing their opposition to the nobleman and stating bluntly that
they would not have this nobleman to be their king.
    This is, too, is something that the Jews were familiar with
including the disciples.  When Archaelaus went to Rome to be
confirmed as king in Israel by the Roman Caesar, the Jews sent an
embassy of fifty men to voice their opposition and asked the
Caesar not to appoint Herod Archaelaus as their king.  Historians
say that a group of 5,000 Jews from Rome gathered with fifty to
strengthen their voice of opposition to Herod Archaelaus.
    However, in the parable, the nobleman was made king in spite
of the opposition.  V. 15 "And it came to pass, that when he was
returned, having received the kingdom..."  This, too, was familiar
to the Jews and to the disciples.  However, in the case of Herod
Archaelaus, the Caesar did not appoint him to be their king, but
he did make him a ruler over them wearing a title somewhat less
than a king.  Never-the-less, it was something the disciples would
understand because Herod Archaelaus was make ruler in Judah in
spite of the opposition.
    (V. 15), "...then he commanded these servants to be called
unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how
much every man had gained by trading."  In the parable when the
nobleman returned to his land as king, he called the ten servants
together and asked them to give a report concerning the pound (the
money) which he had given them to invest.
    In the parable the reports of only three of them are recorded,
but we can be sure that the new king required all ten of them to
report.  The reason that the reports of only three of them are
recorded in the parable is that these three are representative of
the kind of the three different kins of reports given by the ten.
So there were three kinds of reports.
    V. 16-17, "Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath
gained ten pounds.  And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant:
because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou
authority over ten cities."  When the first man reported, he
informed the new king that his investment of the one pound which
he had been given had earned ten pounds.  This was exceptionally
good and the king bragged on him.  He then appointed that servant
to be ruler over ten cities in his kingdom.  That servant had been
faithful to serve while he was away.  He was now well rewarded by
the new king for his faithfulness.
    V. 18-19, "And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath
gained five pounds.  And he said likewise to him, Be thou also
over five cities."  The new king did not brag on this servant as
he had the other, but he did reward him generously for his
faithfulness.  He made him ruler over five cities.
    V. 20-21,  "And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is
thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 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."  The third
man did not have a good report at all.  He did not even have a
good attitude at all.  Let me paraphrase what he said to his
master.  He said, "I knew that you were going to be hard to
please.  I knew that if I lost your money in an investment deal
that I would have to pay it back.  So I didn't invest it.  I just
wrapped it up nice and neat and hid it in a safe place so that
when you return I would be sure to have it and be able to give it
back to you."
    The new king was not at all pleased with this servant.  Listen
to what he told that servant:  V. 22-23, And he saith unto him,
Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant.
Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not
down, and reaping that I did not sow:  Wherefore then gavest not
thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have
required mine own with usury?"  Again let me paraphrase.  He said,
"Since you knew that I was going to be hard to please, you should
have tried harder to please me.  You knew that I wanted you to
invest my money so that it would increase.  If you were afraid to
invest it in merchandize, why did you not at least carry it down
to the bank and invested it so that it would gain at least a
little bit of interest?"
    V. 24, "And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the
pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds."  Now this came as
a surprise to those who watched.  V. 25, "(And they said unto him,
Lord, he hath ten pounds.)"  They wondered why the king would take
everything away from this man and leave him with nothing and give
it to a man who already had so much.  They should have understood.
The king would give it to a man who had already proven that he had
his master's best interest at heart.
    V. 26, "For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath
shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath
shall be taken away from him."  This part of the parable should
not have been hard for the disciples to understand.
    V.  27, "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should
reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."  This
would not be hard to understand.  It was common practice for a
king to kill those who stood in opposition to him.

III.  The meaning of the parable

    The disciples would have no problem in understanding the
contents of parable.  What they might have a problem with was in
understanding the meaning of the parable.
    Let us take another look at the meaning of the parable.  The
nobleman in the parable represented the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was
born in a royal family as the Old Testaments had predicted.  He
was born a descendant of King David.  The disciples would have no
problem with this.  They knew that He was a descendant of David
and they already expected Him to take David's throne.  In fact,
they expected Him to take the throne shortly after they reach
Jerusalem.
    In the parable the nobleman would go away before He would be
crowned as king.  This is the part that the disciples would have
trouble understanding.  They would see what the parable
illustrated, but the problem was that they just did not want to
believe it.  They would soon have to believe it.  They would soon
stand on Mt. Olive and see Him arise and go away into heaven.
Then they would believe it.  If they never believed it before,
they would believe it then.
    In the parable the nobleman gave money to his servants to
invest for him.  Since the disciples, for the time being, would
not understand the part about Him going away, neither would they
really understand at this time what this part of the parable
meant.  But once Jesus was gone, then they would be able to
reflect back upon this part of the parable and understand its
meaning also.  What this really meant was that while Jesus is away
in heaven, He has left work for His followers to do.  Every
disciple of Jesus is given work to do for Him.
    It means also that Jesus will return and when He does return
He will sit upon the throne and rule.  He will rule from the city
of Jerusalem, which is the capital city of the nation of Israel.
He will rule Israel.  But He will not only rule Israel; He will
rule the world.  He will rule this whole great big world.
    Likewise, the parable illustrates that when Jesus does return
there will be a reckoning of His servants.  The Lord's people will
give an account for the service they have rendered to the Master.
They will give account as to how well they have served the Lord.
They will give account of how well they have attended church.
They will account for how well they have supported the Church.
They will give account as to how faithful they have been to study
the Bible.  They will give account of how faithful they have been
to witness to the unsaved.  They will give account to Him of how
faithful they have been to live godly lives.  Then Jesus will
judge His servants and they will be rewarded accordingly.
    Some will be rewarded with such great rewards that it will
be beyond their wildest dreams.  I think those servants in the
parable who were given great cities to rule over were overwhelmed
by the generosity of their lord.  They could not understand why he
would reward them so richly for such small deeds rendered.
Likewise, some of the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ will be
given such fabulous rewards that our minds simply not grasp it
right now.  Even when it comes to pass for real, it will still be
so overwhelming that it will seem impossible.
    On the other hand, there will be some who are saved will be
sadly disappointed in their rewards.  They may be expecting much,
but they will receive very little.
    As I said, the disciples would not understand this at first,
but later on after Jesus was gone back to heaven, they would
understand.
    There was one more thing in the parable that must be rightly
understood.  This is the part about those men who said that they
would not have the nobleman to rule over them.  First of all,
these represent the Jews who lived at the time Jesus lived.  They
rejected Him as Savior and King and crucified Him instead.  In the
parable, these were all put to death.  This pictures the time when
they, along with all unsaved people, will be cast into the Lake of
Fire and Brimstone where they will suffer forever and forever.  It
will be too late then for them to decide that they would like to
be saved.  It will be too late for them to avoid hell.

Conclusion:

    Listen, my friends, Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  He came
to this world and died on the cross and to be the Savior of men.
Now He is gone back to heaven and the gospel message is being
preached throughout the world.  Every man, woman, boy and girl in
the world has the privilege of being saved.  They not only have
the privilege of being saved, but they have an opportunity to
serve the Lord Jesus Christ while He is away.
    It will not be long until Jesus will return.  Come today and
put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and follow Jesus in
baptism and unite with this church.  Let me also appeal to you who
desire to come and move your membership here to come.
    Let me also call upon all of you who are saved to come and
give yourself in service to the Master.  Come and give your life
in faithful service to Him.