Day 19 of 24

Today's passage: Luke 19

Today's focus: vs. 11-27

Author: Wesley Cheung

The Parable of the Ten Minas (not to be confused with the parable of the ten talents though quite similar) is a story about 10 servants who are given each a mina and tasked to “put this money to work until (he) comes back”. One makes 10 minas and receives rule over 10 cities, another makes 5 and rules over 5 cities, and the lazy servant hides his in the dirt only to have it seized and given to the one with 10.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Be good stewards of God’s riches” tied to both this and the Parable of the Ten Talents. But taking a step back and the context and minor details around this particular parable, we can hopefully assign some deeper meaning to it. Through verses 11 and 12, we can establish that:

1. He was telling this parable “because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once,” a regular occurrence since some Jews believed Jesus to be the Messiah who was here to reestablish His kingdom  (Isaiah 9:6-7)

2. The king is “a man of noble birth (who) went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return”, a subtle hint to the crowd but obvious to us - the king represents Jesus who will return.

Connecting everything together, we see this is not just encouragement to be faithful but to be faithful in anticipation of His return. The servants weren’t just rewarded because of their obedience and understanding of the master but also their faith and diligence. They acted completely not knowing when their master would make his return or how long he would be gone. 

When it seems like everything has an ETA or same day delivery, we can feel anxious or angry when things don’t arrive on time. And with the pandemic and never ending news cycles of tragedy after tragedy, it can feel like we’re mimicking the crowd, begging for his return. But where there are trials and doubts, there are opportunities to build faith and follow in the footsteps of the obedient servants as James reminds us:

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  -James 1:2-4