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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 23 - Ten Minas
Luke 19:12-15
12 He said [epo] therefore [oun] , A certain [tis] nobleman [anthropos] [eugenes] went [poreuomai] into [eis] a far [makros] country [chora] to receive [lambano] for himself [heautou] a kingdom [basileia] , and [kai] to return [hupostrepho] .
13 And [de] he called [kaleo] his [heautou] ten [deka] servants [doulos] , and delivered [didomi] them [autos] ten [deka] pounds [mna] , and [kai] said [epo] unto [pros] them [autos] , Occupy [pragmateuomai] till [heos] I come [erchomai] .
14 But [de] his [autos] citizens [polites] hated [miseo] him [autos] , and [kai] sent [apostello] a message [presbeia] after [opiso] him [autos] , saying [lego] , We will [thelo] not [ou] have [thelo] this [touton] man to reign [basileuo] over [epi] us [hemas] .
15 And [kai] it came to pass [ginomai] , that when [en] he [autos] was returned [epanerchomai] , having received [lambano] the kingdom [basileia] , then [kai] he commanded [epo] these [toutous] servants [doulos] to be called [phoneo] unto him [autos] , to whom [hos] he had given [didomi] the money [argurion] , that [hina] he might know [ginosko] how much [tis] every man [tis] had gained by trading [diapragmateuomai] . KJV-Interlinear
12 He said therefore, 'A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. 13 'And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business with this until I come back.' 14 'But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to reign over us.' 15 'And it came about that when he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him in order that he might know what business they had done. NASB
Jesus now introduces His plan for the future. The certain nobleman was Himself, the Son of God, the first born, the Prince and heir to the throne of the Kingdom which is still future. He is going away to a distant country, Heaven, to receive the coronation as King of His realm. That realm is includes everything there is. So that crown prince will have the greatest kingdom ever.
Now, He calls forward ten qualified slaves, and gives to them one mina each. A mina is a coin of the realm and is equivalent to about three months wages. A denarii is one days wage for the common laborer, and a mina is equivalent to 100 denarii or 100 days wages.
So if you were a laborer who lives basically from hand to mouth and month to month in life, then when someone gives you a little over three months worth of wages, then that can be a considerable bonus. But this was not a bonus per se, but an investment. Likewise, these were not educated folks, nor independent skilled workers, or common day laborers, but slaves. The monies given to them is far more than they will need in order to survive, and even have a better life than before.
The slaves were to invest the money while the master was gone and live off of it and then return what was left, when the master returned. The time of His return is not specified, but regardless of the length of time that the Nobleman was gone, the slaves were to be faithful and obedient to Him.
The Nobleman left and the ten slaves now had their orders. Likewise there were those other citizens of the realm, who did not want the Nobleman to be their king. They set about to prevent the coronation from happening.
Two event streams surface here. The first is that of the relationship between the Nobleman and his slaves, or those who belong to Him. And the second event stream concerns those who do not belong to the Nobleman, and their attempt to prevent His kingship.
The Nobleman is Jesus Christ. The slaves are those people who believe in Him and therefore belong to Him by virtue of their faith. The citizens are unbelievers who oppose Jesus Christ, and in their capacity of unbelief, they participate (even if naively) by default in the conspiracy (the common objective) to prevent His taking the throne. This is a part of the Angelic Conflict wherein Satan is in opposition to God, and Satan wishes to bring about the downfall of God, by preventing His Son from going to the Cross.
The Nobleman is leaving for a distant country. The Nobleman is going to leave, therefore the trip will occur with certainty. Jesus Christ controls history. No one and nothing can prevent that trip. Once He had gone to the Cross, He was to arise and then depart to heaven, and there be seated (His coronation as King of kings, and Lord of lords) at the right hand of the Father and assume the reins of power in the universe, forever. His rule and His dynasty will go on forever.
He will leave, which means that after the Cross He will arise. He will be crowned as King, and He will return. Also within that history time line, He will call before Him all who belong to Him and evaluate them. This is the Judgment Seat of Christ. Likewise at the end of history, all of His enemies will be dealt with and thrown into the Lake of Fire. That will occur at the Great White Throne.
This sets the pattern of history that will occur. Everyone can occupy their time on work, social activities, political ambitions, hobbies, or whatever, but the fact remains that there is a definite history before us and we are all going to be a part of its conclusion one way or another.
The Nobleman, Jesus Christ, leaves with his slaves (all who belong to Him) capital assets with which to invest for His and their benefit. God gives us all three things - time, volition, and Bible doctrine.
Time is our life span on this earth.
Volition is the right to make decisions with respect to God and His word.
Bible doctrine is the ultimate capital which we invest by placing it into our soul (the spiritual growth process) and then make that investment work for us day after day, throughout our life.
Some will invest wisely and pursue their spiritual life by studying daily, learning, applying what they learn to their daily life, and consequently growing up, building up gold, silver, and precious stones within their soul. We call this process, advancing to spiritual maturity and building up spiritual treasure within our soul.
Many will do some of the above, but will not pursue their spiritual life as vigorously as those who advance to spiritual maturity. Their spiritual growth will be marginal.
Most, will not do anything about their spiritual life and though they believed in Christ, they will not advance in their spiritual life toward maturity. They remain spiritual infants as it were, with nothing to show for their life.
'Pragmateuomai' means to gain by active trading. The servants are instructed to trade actively, that which they were given. the single mina. We as believers are to engage in active trading with our spiritual lives. We are to interact on a daily basis with God through His Word. This is our mandate. To grow up spiritually.
Note also, that these assets were given to slaves. They were not given to educated Ph.D.'s, not to folks with hi IQ's, not to people of title and status, not to anyone who might be considered to have an advantage of some kind in life. They were given to lowly and unprivileged slaves. Slaves are of a status of inequality, inability, severely limited resources. They are totally helpless in this world. They are totally dependent on their masters. They are not expected to run large companies as its chief officer. They are not expected to make policy. Slaves are simply expected to be obedient and to do the manual labor for which they were designed.
Who are these slaves? Believers in Jesus Christ. Believers are people who through their faith, have given over their trust and future to a master whom they believe will do whatever is necessary for their best interest. The alternative is oblivion and utter terror in an environment, the Lake of Fire, which will exist without the power and grace provisions of God.
It is far better to be a slave of Christ, and have the opportunity to have a future which is beyond ones imagination (perhaps even to be appointed a Duke, Marquis, Count/Earl, Viscount, or a Baron or some other noble title), than to be master of the world and ultimately have nothing when it counts in eternity.
There will be an evaluation for our individual lives. We simply do not exist in this world being permitted to do whatever we want whenever we want, and without repercussions.
So the Nobleman calls forward his servants, one by one, and grades them and rewards them according to their individual decisions in life. That is the Judgment Seat of Christ. And that is where we will begin tomorrow.
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