The Parable of the Pounds ( Mat 25:14-30 ) Luk 19:11-27 gives us the Parable of the Pounds.

The Believer’s Role in Government – David Barton, who teaches on America’s Christian founding and heritage, often says that believers should be involved in politics as were many of the founding fathers of the U.S.A. who were devout Christians. He refers to the Parable of the Pounds to explain that one of our rewards in Heaven for being faithful would be to be rewarded with some office of civil government or leadership; for the faithful servants were made rulers over cities. [266]

[266] David Barton, (Wall Builders, Aledo, Texas), interviewed by Kenneth Copeland, Believer’s Voice of Victory (Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Fort Worth, Texas), on Trinity Broadcasting Network (Santa Ana, California), television program.

Luk 19:12 Comments We can easily imagine a member of the Herod family being called to Rome to receive the office as king over Palestine. Herod would have delegated his property to certain stewards and made his way to Rome, a journey that would have taken some time in the ancient world. He would probably have a lengthy stay in Rome, building relationships with political figures before returning to Palestine. Such appointments by Rome over the Jews would have been met with mixed feelings. They would have despised Rome’s appointed king over the Jews for imposing a leader over them that served the interests of Rome rather than the Jews. A small factor of zealous Jews would have revolted by publically rallying the people to refuse this new leader, causing him to call in Roman soldiers to squelch such opposition, as is indicated at the end of this parable, while the majority of Jews would quietly submit themselves to unfair and oppressive governance over them.

Luk 19:13 “And he called his ten servants” – Comments The ten servants describes Christians, not lost people who do not know nor serve their Master in heaven (1Pe 4:10).

1Pe 4:10, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

“Occupy till I come” Word Study on “occupy” – The Greek word (G4231) means, “to busy oneself with, i.e. to trade.”

Comments – That is, one must work for a living!

Luk 19:17 Comments Faithfulness is an attribute that is required of stewards (1Co 4:2).

1Co 4:2, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

Luk 19:22 “Thou knewest that I was an austere man” Comments – The phrase “thou knewest” is a key word in this passage.

Jas 4:17, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Luk 19:22 “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee” Scripture Reference – Note:

Mat 12:37, “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

Luk 19:23  Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?

Luk 19:23 Word Study on “bank” Gesenius says the Greek word (G5132) refers to the dinner table on which a meal was placed. Thus, also refers to the table used by the money-changers ( Gesenius, Strong). Luke uses in the Parable of the Pounds to refer to the place where interest is gained by doing business with the money-changers (Luk 19:23).

Although the KJV translates as “bank,” it actually refers to the table used these ancient businesses of exchanging currency. We find a reference to these money-changers working at their tables in Mat 21:12, Mar 11:15 and Joh 2:15, where the Scriptures tell us that Jesus cast them out of the Temple for bringing their business into this sacred place of prayer.

The Gospel of Matthew uses the Greek word (G5133) in the Parable of the Talents to mean, “a money-changer, banker” ( Gesenius) (Mat 25:27). The Scriptures also use the Greek word (G2855) to refer to a “money-changer” ( Gesenius), or “coin-dealer” ( Strong), who sat at these to do business (see Mat 21:12, Mar 11:15 Joh 2:15).

Luk 19:23, “Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?”

Mat 21:12, “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,”

Mat 25:27, “Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.”

Mar 11:15, “And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;”

Joh 2:15, “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;”

Comments There was a need to change money change in Palestine because of the various currencies used throughout the Empire,, such as the Roman denarius, the Greek drachma and tetradrachma, and the Phoenician coins. Thus, Jews coming from the Diaspora to Jerusalem would bring an array of currency that needed to be exchanged in order to pay the customary half shekel annual temple tax for all males above the age of twenty (Exo 30:11-15). [267] In additional money changing, A. R. S. Kennedy says the wealthy members of this profession developed a business system in which people could deposit their money with them in order to gain interest. [268] This type of usury would describe what Jesus was referring to in Mat 25:27 and Luk 19:24.

[267] Edward Bagby Pollard, “Money-changers,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., c1915, 1939), in The Sword Project, v. 1.5.11 [CD-ROM] (Temple, AZ: CrossWire Bible Society, 1990-2008).

[268] A. R. S. Kennedy, “Money-changers,” in A Dictionary of the Bible Dealing with its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology, vol. 3, ed. James Hastings and John A. Selbie (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1901), 432-433.

Luk 19:24  And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.

Luk 19:24 Illustration – After firing a marketing agent at Lighthouse Television for being dishonest, I gave out her clients to other marketing agents. I gave the biggest paying clients to the marketing agent who was doing the best job. Naturally, this agent was already making the most money in commissions, and when I gave him the biggest clients, he made even a greater amount, far above the other agents. Faithfulness and hard work were the reasons I gave the good clients to the best agent. The point is that I did not distribute the clients evenly (or fairly, as was said in verse 25, “And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.”).

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Parable of the Talents.

The departure of the nobleman:

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.

v. 12. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into afar country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.

v. 13. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

v. 14. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

To seek and save that which was lost, this, as Jesus had just stated, was the purpose of His coming. As the Messiah of the world He could have no other object, according to the prophecies of old. And therefore He wanted to impress this fact upon all His hearers, especially His disciples, once more. At the same time He wanted to indicate to them in just what way He expected His servants, His disciples and the believers of all time, to continue His work. He wanted to impress upon them the sense of responsibility in their position as followers of the Lord. He was nearing Jerusalem; the last act of the great drama was about to begin; He would soon be removed from their midst as their visible Leader. They must give up the foolish idea with which they were obsessed, as though Christ would still have a temporal rule, an earthly kingdom. Some of the disciples even now had the idea that He would be proclaimed king at Jerusalem at this time. So He wanted to make it clear to them that He was going away, and that they were, in the meantime, to continue the work which He had begun, in the upbuilding of the Church by the preaching of the Gospel. A certain man of noble birth, a prince, took a journey into a far country in order to take possession of a kingdom which belonged to him. He had the definite purpose and intention to return. But before going, he called ten of his servants to him and gave to them ten pounds, or minae (the value of each being somewhat less than twenty dollars). His instructions were brief and to the point: Do business until I come. The servants were to invest the money profitably, and gain for the master as much as possible. No sooner had the lord left than the citizens of his country sent an embassy after him with the message: We do not want this man to be king over us. They declared a state of open revolt against him.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Luk 19:11. Hespake a parable, &c. Because his followers were accompanying him to the royal city, in expectation that the kingdom of God would immediately appear, and with a resolution to assist him in erecting it; he spake a parable, wherein he shewed them their duty, describing the true nature of the kingdom of God, and taught them that it was not immediately to appear: considered in this view, as suited to the circumstance of time, and to the case of those to whom it was delivered, this parable will appear a most wise and seasonable admonition; and by neglecting the instruction which it was designed to give them, the Jews deservedly brought ruin on themselves. The evangelist says, that as they heard these things, namely, that salvation was come to Zaccheus’s family, he added, and spake a parable; whence we gather that he spake the parable in Zaccheus’s house.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Luk 19:11 . As to the relation of the following parable to Mat 25:14-30 , [231] see on Matthew; the form in Luke is not the original one; see also Weiss in the Jahrb. f. D. Th . 1864, p. 128 ff.

] But because they heard this (Luk 19:8 ff.), whereby their Messianic anticipations could only be strengthened; see what follows. Not the disciples (Grotius and others), but only those murmurers , Luk 19:7 , could be the subject the single plural-subject which preceded. The scene is this the people in attendance have accompanied Jesus as far as the entrance into the house (as far as into the forecourt), when they also observe how Zacchaeus joyously welcomes Jesus, and they murmur; whereon Zacchaeus speaks the words, Luk 19:8 , and Jesus the rejoinder, Luk 19:9-10 .

Both utterances therefore are spoken while they are still at the entrance, so that the murmuring crowd also listens to what is said. The connection is neither disclosed first of all from the contents of the parable (Weizscker), nor is it obscure (de Wette, Holtzmann), but it is darkened by the interpreters (see also Sehleiermacher).

] adding to , still continuing a Hebraism, as at Gen 38:5 , Job 29:1 , and elsewhere; Winer, p. 416 [E. T. 588]. In pure Greek the expression would run . .

.] Comp. Luk 18:9 .

] 150 stadia, Joseph. Bell . iv. 8. 3.

. . .] , ., , Euthymius Zigabenus.

] to come to light .

The people think of the glorious setting up of the kingdom believed in by them. This verse, moreover, does not exclude from the connection of Luke the history of the entrance, Luk 19:29 ff., which Marcion rejected. Comp. Hilgenfeld, Krit. Unters . p. 466.

[231] In affinity with the contents of this parable is the word which Christ, according to Clem. Homil . ii. 51, iii. 50, xviii. 20, and Apelles in Epiphan. Haer . 44. 2, is said to have spoken: . The wide publication of this saying in Christian antiquity (Clem. Alex., Origen, etc.) makes it probable (in opposition to Lechler, Apost. Zeit . p. 458) that it actually was a word of Christ’s.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

5. Jesus in relation to the Sanguine Hopes of His Disciples (Luk 19:11-27)

11And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought [or, imagined] that the kingdom of God should 12[was about] immediately appear [to be manifested immediately]. He said therefore, A certain nobleman [] went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom,and to return. 13And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy [Do business therewith] till I come.114But his citizens [or, those of his city] hated him, and sent a message [embassy] after him, saying, We will not have [we do not wish] this man to reign over us. 15And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that be might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17And he said unto him, Well [Excellent], thou good servant: because 18thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19And he said likewise 20to him, Be thou also over five cities. And another2 came, saying, Lord, behold, 21 here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin [handkerchief]: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that [which] thou layedst not 22down [didst not deposit], and reapest that [which] thou didst not sow. And [om., And, V. O.3] 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 23[which I did not deposit], and reaping that [which] I did not sow: Wherefore then And wherefore, ] gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury [collected it with interest]? 24And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath 25, 26ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For [om., For, V. O.4] I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that [which] he hath shall be taken away from him. 27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them5 before me.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk 19:11. And as they heard these things.The instruction communicated by Luke in the next following parable, our Lord may have delivered while yet in the house of Zaccheus, but we doubt whether it was uttered just at the entrance of this dwelling before the ears of the murmuring throng, Luk 19:7 (Meyer). With better right, perhaps, we might conclude from Luk 19:28 that the Saviour delivered this parable immediately before His departure from Jericho. But, however this may be, it stands in direct connection with. His declaration, Luk 19:10. It may be that the mention of the Son of Man having come, threw a new spark into the tinder of their earthly expectations, although it is difficult to state more exactly what precise connection there could be between this declaration and the thought that the kingdom of God should become manifest. We know, however, how many looks were directed with the liveliest interest upon the approaching Passover, where it appeared that the intense opposition between Jesus and His enemies was about to come to a public decision. Besides this, they were already in the neighborhood of the capital; and might there not there, even by the least word, be kindled anew the expectation of that which had been most longingly desired? In no case do we need to deny that the now-following parable was addressed to the disciples of the Saviour also. From Luk 18:34 it appears that they were as yet by no means cured of their earthly Messianic hopes, and here also, as often, there lay a certain truth at the basis of their error. That the kingdom of God should become manifest, , was in and of itself subject to no doubt, but that it would come into view at this very point, and that in a palpable, sensuous formin other words, that Christ would be glorified without a previous separation from His own; in that lay the error of which they must be immediately cured, and to controvert it the following parable is designed.

A parable.That the parable coincides in many respects with that of the Talents (Mat 25:14-30), and yet is in no way identical with that, but is more or less modified in the redaction, Lange has, Matthew, p. 441, convincingly demonstrated. So also the assertion is destitute of any ground (Strauss) that this parable has arisen from an only half-successful amalgamation of two others, namely, that of the Talents and that of the Unfaithful Husbandmen. Undoubtedly the representation of a king who, instead of arms, rather entrusts his money to his servants, has at the first look something strange, but if this admits of sufficient explanation from the purpose of the parable, it can by no means prove anything against the originality and exactness of the rendering of Luke. Precisely in this way would our Lord teach His disciples that His true subjects were not, like those of other kingdoms, to strive with arms in their hands, but that they were to carry on business with the entrusted pound, while not till after His return (Luk 19:27) should they be called to take part in His victory over His irreconcilable foes. In view of the relative coincidence which exists between this parable and that of the Talents in Matthew, the question can hardly be avoided which of them was first delivered, and may consequently be considered as the foundation of the other. Directly in opposition to the common views (Schleiermacher, Neander), we believe that the parable of the Talents must be regarded as a further explanation of the parable before us, not the reverse; in other words, that the first delivered parable (in Luke) is also the simplest; that the one subsequently uttered (in Matthew) bears, on the other hand, a more complicated character. For here the work for all the servants is alike; there there exists a diversity in the number of the talents. Here there is bestowed on the servant only recompense; there with the recompense an extended eulogy. Here it is only an ignominious loss; there also a terrible judgment, which is the punishment of the slothful servantgrounds enough for the opinion that in reality the parable of the Pounds must have preceded that of the Talents. It is true, there are. single features in the last-named parable which are less elaborated than in the former: but this phenomenon is sufficiently explained if we only consider that one was, at all events, delivered shortly after the other, and that the parable of the Talents can be only so far called a variationor, if we will, a short summary of the one before usas this, that in it the chief thought is modified according to the necessity of the disciples, and set forth yet more clearly. Because the parable, Matthew 25, was delivered exclusively for the faithful disciples, and not, like this, in the presence also of secret enemies, it was there unnecessary again to depict the fate of the rebellious citizens, without, however, the parable of the Talents having suffered the least loss in completeness by the falling away of this feature; on the other hand, it has even gained in unity thereby. Thus may the two stand very well independently by one another; and, moreover, the parable of the Pounds has this peculiar character, that it sets forth the King of the kingdom of God on the one hand in contrast with His servants, on the other with His enemies. In the prospect of righteous retribution which is prepared for both at His coming, is the inner unity of the representation grounded.

Luk 19:12. A certain nobleman.An indirect intimation of the kingly descent and dignity of our Lord; at the same time a prophecy of His going away from the earth, and a comforting representation of His departure to the Father, as of the means ordained for the obtaining of the kingly dignity and glory. Finally, the definite assurance that the interval between the departure and the return of the Lord is only an interim.

Luk 19:13. Ten pounds.. It is not probable that we have here to understand a Hebrew mina of 100 shekels; rather an Attic mina of 100 drachm = 21 thalers ($14),6 about one-sixtieth of the talent, Mat 25:15. The distinction is sufficiently explained from the consideration that the lord in the latter parable leaves behind his whole property in the hands of his servants. Here, on the other hand, he only commits to them a slight gift, by which their faithfulness in the least is to be proved, comp. Luk 16:10. In comparison with the great reward which is hereafter bestowed above upon the faithful, even five talents are an , in comparison with which ten pounds deserved to be called an , Luk 19:17. is used by the Rabbins also in the sense of , Mat 25:26 = negotiari. This must they do, not till the King returns, but while he is on the journey. , see notes on the text. General indication of the period of time which remains allotted them for trading. He spends the time in travelling, they the same time in business.

Luk 19:14. Embassy.A peculiar designation, taken from the political history of this period, of the stubborn enmity of the Jews (see below), especially as this should exhibit itself after our Lords departure from the earth. The capriciousness of the enmity appears from this, that the ambassadors do not give even a word of reason for their dislike, and the degree in which they despise the king finds expression in the contemptuous . That this essay has no success, since the king nevertheless receives the kingdom, and returns as judge, appears from the sequel of the parable. Before, however, he punishes his enemies, his servants must give account for themselves.

Luk 19:15. How much every man, , contracted form for two different questions. It must be shown what form of business each one had carried on, and with what success. By the pounds we are to understand in general that which the Lord bestows on His servants that they may labor therewith for the kingdom of God and make profit: as well the external possessions as the inward endowment and energy. In deep humility all the servants acknowledge that this gain is not their own, but the lords, therefore with emphasis, Thy pound.

Luk 19:16. Gained ten pounds.Here the thought comes into the foreground that faithfulness, even with the smallest , may become a source of inexhaustible blessing. In Matthew the emphasis is laid more upon the proportionableness of the capital, the profit, and the reward. In this the faithfulness is rewarded simply with a more extended circle of operation (I will place thee over many things), and with the enjoyment of the joy of their Lord. Finally, the praise here bestowed on the first servant is withheld from the second, who with the same pound had only gained the half of what the first had gained, in order thereby to intimate that the reward should be different in just that proportion in which the profit of the labor is greater or less. As to the rest, the government over five cities is of itself distinction enough, especially when we consider that the cities lie in the midst of the land of the rebels, that is now become the kings kingdom, and from which the enemies are now soon to be exterminated.

Luk 19:20. In a handkerchief.The conduct of the third had been, therefore, in direct conflict with his calling; without personal faithfulness or love he had in secret calculated that if he had gained much, his lord would pluck the fruit thereof; if he, on the other hand, lost, that the responsibility and the damage would be on his side, since he, at all events, would have to give back the amount entrusted. Thus had he given ear to the voice of self-seeking, suffered himself to be strengthened in his natural slothfulness, and instead of laboring in the sweat of his brow for the interest of his lord, he had hidden the entrusted money in the now entirely superfluous handkerchief [Greek, ; literally, sweat-cloth]. To excuse his words and his character (Olshausen) appears to us to conflict as well with the letter as with the spirit of the parable. We see evidently that our Saviour will describe the slothful egoist, who allows himself to be held back by carnal considerations from that which in any event would have been his duty, and who believes that he can excuse his mean conduct by the appeal to the austere character of his lord. So much greater, therefore, must his consternation be, when the very ground made the pretext by him for his vindication prepares the way for his condemnation. See further on Mat 25:25-26.

Luk 19:22. Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee.A wonderfully happy argument ex concessis (Lange). Comp. Mat 12:37. His own word is retorted upon the slothful one, and thereon a question is grounded, beginning with , which brings him into contradiction with himself. The lord does not concede to him that he is actually a hard man, but only refutes the shameless one on the position he had most arbitrarily taken. Ne dicas, te invenire non potuisse, quibus pecunia esset opus. Argentarii ab omnibus pecuniam sumunt fnore. Sensus est: non est etiam, quod in collocanda pecunia periculum, obtendas; mea erat; ego jam exegissem non tuo, sed meo periculo. Grotius.

Luk 19:24. Unto them that stood by.Not the other (Kuinoel), who had already rendered account, but the halberdiers, who surround him when he appears in his majesty, comp. Mat 25:31. The astonishment which these testify (Luk 19:25 may be put in a parenthesis, Lachmann and Ewald), gives the king occasion now more particularly to give the reason for his severe determination. Without giving heed to the remonstrance, he repeats the great principle, Unto every one which hath, &c. See Luk 8:18, and the admirable remarks of Neander, L. J., ad loc. The positive retribution, Mat 25:30, which is threatened against the unprofitable servant is omitted here, probably because the judgment upon the enemies is yet to be declared. Yet by the loss itself decreed against him his unfaithfulness is sufficiently punished; while he that gained the ten pounds has now, besides the gracious recompense, received a happy surprise in addition.

Luk 19:27. But those mine enemies.The command is given to the same guards to whom that in Luk 19:24 was addressed. Contemptuously the enemies are named (see Tischendorf, ad loc.), as they previously had named their lawful king, .Slay them.A strong expression of the severity and hopelessness of the Messianic retribution. The sudden breaking off of the parable heightens not a little its beauty.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Far more than any other parable of our Lord, the parable of the Ten Pounds is a picture which, as it were, is framed into the political history of that unquiet period. Native princes of minor territories were then sometimes obliged to repair to Rome, in order there to be elevated to their legitimate rank. This had been the case in the Jewish land also with Herod the First, and with Archelaus, and it belongs to the yet too little considered traits of the deep humility of the Son of Man, that He can compare His Ascension, even though only remotely, with the journey of a Herod to Rome; a , and yet, at the same time, an accommodation beyond compare.But also a second trait of the parable was taken from life, namely, the embassy of the hostile citizens, who sought to work against the dreaded enthronement. We are to understand the fifty Jews, who had followed Archelaus with this very intention, and the eight thousand who afterwards followed these, and earnestly besought Augustus, in the temple of Apollo, that he would free them from the Iduman prince, and in case of necessity rather even unite them with Syria. In Jericho, where, perhaps not far from the dwelling of Zaccheus, the kingly palace stood which Archelaus had built with princely splendor (see Josephus, A. J. Luk 17:13; Luk 17:1), such an allusion was doubly fitting, and at the same time easily intelligible. The bloody vengeance, with the mention of which the parable ends, was in those days often exercised, if at Rome the intrigues of the prince had triumphed over his opponents. It was, moreover, well remembered by the hearers of our Lord how Archelaus, after he had returned as Ethnarch over Juda and Samaria, had bestowed on his faithful adherents cities for a reward, and had on the other hand, out of vengeance, deprived his enemies of life. (See A. J. 14, 14, 3; Luk 15:6-7; Luk 17:9; Luk 17:3, a. o.) It scarcely needs an intimation how much freshness and life such an historical background imparts to this parabolical instruction, and how spontaneously the question must have arisen: Who is the kingwho his servantswho are the enemies that are here spoken of?

2. The parable of the Ten Pounds was thoroughly fitted to serve as a wholesome antidote against a fourfold error. It might be fancied that the Messianic kingdom would very soon appear; that it would be at once visible on earth; that every one would willingly and with joy submit himself to the same; and finally, that there could be for its subjects no higher calling than that of an inactive enjoyment. In opposition to the first opinion, there is this feature of the parable, that first, the far journey must be made, and therefore a comparatively long interval spent before everything could come to the desired issue; in contrast with the second expectation stands the remark, that not here but elsewhere must the native prince receive the reins of legitimate dominion, before he could vindicate His high rank on His own soil. Over against the third error, our Lord counts it needful to sketch the image of an enmity which would shamelessly, groundlessly, stubbornly, but at the same time also unsuccessfully, lift its head against the King. In opposition to the fourth opinion, He sets forth the image of the calling of the ten servants,the type of the collective body of all His servantsto the carrying on of business and obtaining of gain. Not as proud warriors, but rather as humble dealers with a very small capital, does He leave them at His going away, and so must all ideal Utopias of their fantasy recede momentarily, at least, before the requirements of the soberest reality.

3. The whole parable is a strong testimony for the elevated self-consciousness of our Lord in reference to His heavenly origin and His high destiny. At the same time it gives a proof of the lofty courage and the still dignity with which He approaches Jerusalem. It is as if once more were heard the roaring of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, before the lamb gives itself to be led to the slaughter. On the one hand the whole Christology of this parable is an echo of many a royal psalm of the Old Testament, especially of Pss. 2. and 110; on the other hand, we have here the intimation of the more extended eschatological revelations which are afterwards to be given in the Apocalypse.

4. The promise of a future extension and elevation of their activity as the proper reward for the disciples of our Lord, is wholly in the spirit of the Hellenistic Pauline Gospel of Luke, comp. 1Co 13:9-12. With this, however, it deserves consideration, that the promise of a personal return of our Lord to earth, Luk 19:15, comp. Act 3:21, is not only made in the Gospel of Matthew, or in the discourses and Epistles of Peter, but also in Luke. Certainly a proof that this doctrine is something more than the mere offspring of a narrow Judaistic theology, and, therefore, at the same time, for all who reject every hope of a personal Parusia as gross Chiliasm, an important intimation that at all events they are not to throw away husk and kernel together.

5. The parable of the Pounds places visibly before our eyes not only the life-calling of the apostles, but also that of all believers. From the fact that here ten servants appear who all receive the same, the diversity recedes before the unity. As bond-servants of their Lord they are called to wait for His return, and that not in inactive rest, but in zealous activity. They have not to contend with carnal weapons against His enemies, but in the midst of all opposition quietly to proceed with their labor. In the humble position of witnesses to the faith, they must seek with word and deed to spread abroad Gods kingdom, and expect their share in the government of the world, not before, but only after, the personal return of the Lord. The success of their endeavors is differently modified according to the diversity of time, talents, and energies; but the reward is suited to the different deserts. In every case it is in proportion to that which was demanded and accomplished. For the ten pounds which the best one I gained, he would scarcely have been able to buy a house, and he is placed over ten cities; but never does a reward fall to the portion of the slothful one, who has contented himself merely with this, that he did no positive harm. To gain nothing is the way to lose all, and the injury which one prepares for himself by his own unfaithfulness appears as irrevocable. Certainly here also agrees the word: , which our Lord, according to some, really uttered on this occasion. (According to Dionysius Alexandrinus, Cyril, and others, the admonition, 1Th 5:21, is also to be taken as proceeding from our Lord, and as belonging to the same connection. See Lardner, Probab. ii. p. 38.)

6. In the concluding word of the parable there stands before the eyes of our Lord, without doubt, the terrible fate of Jerusalem, which He soon so sadly weeps over, Luk 19:41-42. It is the greater for this, that He immediately after these discourses sets forth, in order, for enemies from whom He foresees such hatred, and who are to be condemned to such a punishment, to die the death of a slave.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Earthly-minded Messianic expectations a weed: 1. Deeply rooted; 2. hard to eradicate; 3. soon shooting up again.On the point of accomplishing His Priestly offering, our Lord speaks as a Prophet of His future Kingly dignity.The opinion that the Lord will never come again is, in its kind, not less to be reprobated than the fancy of His apostles that He would never, go away.The parable of the Ten Pounds sketches for us an image: 1. Of the King of the kingdom of God, a. His origin, b. His destiny, c. His departure and return; 2. of His servants, a. their calling, b. their giving account, c. their reward; 3. of His enemies, a. their hatred, b. their impotency, c. their punishment.The Christian life, that of the merchant: 1. The capital; 2. the income; 3. the profit.The absolute refusal to acknowledge the kingly authority of our Lord: 1. The height which it reaches; 2. the depth in which it ends.We must all be manifested; 2Co 5:10.On what depends the various profit for the kingdom of God, and according to what standard is the diverse recompense calculated?They who suffer with Christ shall also reign with Him; 2Ti 2:12.Faithfulness in the least the Saviour esteems not slightly.The slothful servant condemned from his own words.If we have presumptuously neglected good, it helps us little if we believe that we have avoided greater evil.The sins of omission are not less worthy of punishment than the sins of commission; Jam 4:17.The little pound put into a napkin, the greater talent buried in the earth.Even the angels do not at once comprehend the in the sentence of the Lord.No earthly nor heavenly might can alter the judgment once pronounced.The greater the Lords forbearance to His enemies has been, so much the more terrible will their judgment be.The crime of treason is punished under the eyes of the King.By the extirpation of the enemies of the kingdom of God, the blessedness of the redeemed is perfected.

Starke:This parable, as it were the Testament of Christ, in which He shows the nature of His kingdom, &c.Quesnel:Jesus truly of a high descent.There is no one that has not received from the hand of the Lord gifts wherewith to get usury.Brentius:Even the very wisest rulers never satisfy the rabble.Their humility of heart is the main character of all true servants and children of God.The growth of grace in us draws the growth of glory after it.Canstein:As to worldly business there appertains not only diligence and laboriousness, but also understanding and prudence, so also in spiritual husbandry.; Eph 5:15.The eternal glory has its fixed degrees.Nova Bibl. Tub.:Terrible is it that sinners undertake to divert from themselves the guilt of their wickedness, and to push it upon God.For unreasonable excuses the ungodly are never at a loss.God is righteous in His judgments; let man only lay his hand upon his mouth.God will avenge and punish ungodliness not in secret, but before the tribunal of the whole world.The Almighty God hath committed all judgment to the Son.Whoever will not let himself be pastured by the lamb, him shall the lion devour.Up! Christians that die in the Lordthey are setting out towards Jerusalem.

Heubner:Not the abundance and magnitude of what is done, but faithfulness, makes worthy of reward.Thou needest be no eminent character.The selfish heart continually hostile to God.All that originates from God has an inner fructifying power if it is only used aright.Divine love knows no limits; it gives ad infinitum.Lisco:The great responsibility of the Christian, which is imposed upon him through the possession of Divine gifts.The rule according to which the King of the kingdom of heaven will hereafter judge His subjects.Palmer:Him that hath, to him shall be given, &c.; text for communion sermon.F. W. Krummacher:Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee: the stinging rebuke of apostasy.Beck:How we in the light of eternity have to regard this time below.

Footnotes:

[1][Luk 19:13.Van Oosterzee translates: while I am on the journey, on the strength of the reading for . is found in A., B., D., Cod. Sin., K., L., R., and is accepted by Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Meyer, Tregelles, Alford. Bleek, however, objects to it as not giving a good sense, as cannot well have any other meaning than come in the connection.C. C. S.]

[2]Luk 19:20. should be read, according to B., D., [Cod. Sin.,] L., [R.,] cursives, Lachmann, Tischendorf, [Tregelles, Alford. Meyer regards the article as a mechanical repetition of those in Luk 19:16; Luk 19:18.C. C. S.]

[3]Luk 19:22. is not sufficiently attested.

[4][Luk 19:26.The of the Recepta is apparently borrowed from Mat 25:29. [Omitted by Meyer, Alford; bracketed by Lachmann, Tregelles; retained by Tischendorf. Not found in B., Cod. Sin., L. More reason for adding it, than for omitting it if genuine.C. C. S.]

[5]Luk 19:27.Them being in italics in E. V. indicates the absence of the pronoun in the Greek. Tischendorf, Tregelles, and Alford, however, read on the authority of B., [Cod. Sin.,] F., L., R.C. C. S.]

[6][Equal, of course, to many times the present value of that sum.C. C. S.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

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. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, 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. 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. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 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. 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? And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto you, That unto everyone which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

In this parable we have an illustration in part of Christ’s method of government in his kingdom. I take it for granted, that without a comment the Reader will immediately understand Christ himself is the nobleman here represented. Having finished redemption-work, he is returned to glory; and in the appointed season will come to judgment. Act 3:21 ; Joh 5:25-29 ; Act 10:42 .

But it is not so clear who is meant by the Ten Servants, which are here appointed to occupy till Christ shall come. Not the Apostles I should think; for they were twelve in number. And, even if it be supposed that Judas is the one who is represented as the slothful and unprofitable servant, in this case the remainder would be eleven, and not twelve. Neither do I conceive, as some have thought, that the servants here spoken of, mean the Ministers of the Word and Ordinances; for although, as in the instance of Judas, the call to the office doth not imply a call by grace; yet the occupying and improving the trust must carry with it the, blessing of God qualifying; and the reward given, in the different degrees to the faithful servants, doth not bear correspondence to the scripture account of the last day. Neither doth it seem that by the ten servants is meant the world at large. For though, no doubt, the whole creation may be said in this sense to minister to the Lord’s service; yet here appears to be some special and personal acts of servitude implied in their labors.

If I venture to give my views of our Lord’s meaning, I pray that it may be considered I rather propose them by way of enquiry, than in a way of decision. But I am inclined to think, by the ten servants (in which I conclude our Lord hath only put a certain number for an indefinite,) are intended by the Lord Jesus to distinguish his redeemed from the Adam-nature out of which he hath brought them; and those of the Adam-nature who stand upon their own bottom. And I am inclined to this opinion, because though ten servants are mentioned, we hear only of two classes, though three persons are called when the Lord cometh to reckon with them. And those two classes plainly mean the different states of nature and grace.

To each servant was given a pound; by which is meant the equality of the outward ministry, of the word. All brought under the sound of the Gospel may be said, in the language of the parable, to have the same charge, Occupy till I come. By the improvement, the different situations are marked between those, who through grace, from an union with Christ, increased their riches; and the man who void of grace, stood upon his own creature bottom, and consequently made no advance. The faithful servants represent those, who in the use of the blessed means afforded them, rejoice in the prospect of their Lord’s coming, and, through grace, are found waiting in hope of eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. The unprofitable servant hath his pound no less, in hearing the Gospel of salvation; but is averse to the method of Gods free grace in Christ, and rejects the counsel of God against his own soul. Both these characters differ from the world at large, in that they are called by the Gospel to occupation; and as such are brought into a state of service. The rejection of the one becomes the cause of just condemnation; while the acceptation of the other tends to magnify the riches of free grace; and both illustrate the equity of the divine will. Had the posterity of Adam continued in the state of uncorrupt nature in which Adam was formed; a state of happiness suited to that state would have followed, as Adam before his fall enjoyed. But, when by that fall transgression entered into the world, it was a merciful dispensation to have the trust of that occupation, as the parable calls it, of the means of grace; and the rejection of it, which the man who kept the pound laid up in a napkin represents, justly induceth the whole condemnation which followeth.

Reader! what a mercy is it to discover our grace-union with Christ, which brings up after it an interest and communion in all that belongs to Christ! The close of the parable in Christ’s own words is full to this point. To everyone that hath, that is, that hath union with Christ, shall be given. Jesus hath engaged for all his redeemed. everything which is in Christ, as the head of his body the Church, is for them. In Him all is secured. But the seeming possessor, he who hath all the advantages of the outward means of grace, and yet, from no union with Christ, hath in reality no grace; all those outward privileges will shortly cease and be taken away! And Christ’s destruction of all such will follow.

I shall only detain the Reader with just remarking, that in the margin of our old Bibles, (and our old Bibles, like old gold, are precious things,) the word pound is said to be twelve ounces and half, which at five shillings an ounce of our money, would be three pounds twelve shillings and six-pence. I believe that this is tolerably correct. The word Mina, (or more properly MacNeII) being of that value. But if it was a gold coin, (and there is nothing said that it was not,) the pound in that case would be an hundred drachms, which was worth near eighty pounds, and in silver near eight pounds. But our dear Lord in worldly circumstances was poor, and in his days and his company, as one of them said, and all might have said the same, silver and gold have I none, Act 3:6 . it is more than probable Jesus alluded to the common Maneh, which was neither gold nor silver, but ordinary coin, and as the margin of our Bible renders it, three pounds twelve and six-pence!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

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.

Ver. 11. That the kingdom of God ] A temporal earthly kingdom, such as they expected by the Messiah. And it should seem that hearing our Saviour say he came “to seek and to save that which was lost,” they mistook him so far as to think that he meant the Jewish kingdom, the public liberty, &c. This misconceit he confuteth in the following parable.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

11 27. ] PARABLE OF THE MIN. Peculiar to Luke . By the introductory words, the parable must have been spoken in the house of Zacchus , i.e. perhaps in the open room looking into the court, where probably many of the multitude were assembled.

A parable very similar in some points to this was spoken by our Lord His last great prophetic discourse, Mat 25:14-30 .

Many modern Commentators (Calv., Olsh., Meyer (on Matt.), but not Schleierm. or De Wette) maintain that the two parables represent one and the same: if so, we must at once give up, not only the pretensions to historical accuracy on the part of our Gospels, (see Luk 19:11 ,) but all idea that they furnish us with the words of our Lord any where: for the whole structure and incidents of the two are essentially different . If oral tradition thus varied before the Gospels were written, in the report of our Lord’s spoken words , how can we know that He spoke any thing which they relate? If the Evangelists themselves altered, arranged , and accommodated those discourses, not only is the above the case, but their honesty is likewise impugned (see Prolegomena to Gospels). Besides, we shall here find the parable, in its very root and point of comparison, individual and distinct . Compare throughout the notes on Matt.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

11. ] The distance of Jericho from Jerusalem was 150 stadia = 18 English miles and 6 furlongs.

. ] They imagined that the present journey to Jerusalem, undertaken as it had been with such publicity and accompanied with such wonderful miracles, was for the purpose of revealing and establishing the Messianic kingdom.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 19:11-27 . Parable of the pounds, or of the nobleman who goes to find a kingdom ( cf. Mat 25:14-30 ). Into the vexed question of the connection between this parable and that of the talents in Mt. I cannot here go. That there is a resemblance between them is obvious, and the hypothesis that the one has grown out of the other in the course of tradition cannot be treated as a mere impertinence. Yet that they are two distinct parables in their main features, both spoken by Jesus, is not improbable. They serve different purposes, and their respective details suit their respective purposes, and the kindred features may only show that Jesus did not solicitously avoid repeating Himself. The parable before us suits the situation as described by Luke, in so far as it corrects mistaken expectations with regard to the advent of the Kingdom. It is a prophetic sketch in parabolic form of the real future before them, the fortunes of the King and the various attitudes of men towards him. It is more allied to allegory than most of the parables, and on this ground, according to J. Weiss (in Meyer), it cannot have proceeded from Jesus. One fails to see why Jesus might not occasionally use allegory as a vehicle of truth as well as other teachers.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luk 19:11 . The introduction . naturally suggests the words spoken to Zacchaeus by Jesus about salvation, as what was heard. imitates the Hebrew construction = He added and said, cf. Gen 38:5 , . : about fifteen miles off. : a natural expectation for friends of Jesus to entertain, and for all, friends and foes, to impute to Him, and a good occasion for uttering a parable to correct false impressions; comparable in this respect with the parable of the Supper in Luk 14 saying in effect, “not so soon as you think, nor will all be as well affected to the king and his kingdom as you may suppose”.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 19:11-27

11While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. 12So He said, “A 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.’ 14But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done. 16The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ 18The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ 19And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 21for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’ 22He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? 23Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ 24Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ 26I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 27But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”

Luk 19:11 “a parable” See the Introduction to Luke 8 for the hermeneutical principles for interpreting parables.

Jesus gives two reasons for telling this parable at this time and place:

1. He was approaching Jerusalem

2. the crowd was expecting an immediate coming of the Kingdom

Many commentators assert that Luke’s Gospel accentuates a delayed Second Coming. This parable is one evidence (cf. Robert H. Stein, The Method and Message of Jesus’ Teachings, pp. 54-55).

“the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” The Jews only expected one climactic coming of God in history through the Messiah and the setting up of the Age of Righteousness with Jews in charge! Many thought this would happen when Jesus came to Jerusalem at Passover. See Special Topics “The Kingdom of God” at Luk 4:21 and “This Age and the Age to Come” at Luk 2:17.

Luk 19:12 This is similar to Mat 25:14-30. Obviously Jesus used the same themes and teachings in different settings for different purposes.

NASB, NRSV,

NJB”a nobleman”

NKJV”a certain nobleman”

TEV”there was once a man”

This parable is introduced with tis, which is normally translated “a certain.” Many of Luke’s parables are introduced with this textual marker (cf. Luk 7:41; Luk 10:30; Luk 14:16; Luk 15:11; Luk 16:1; Luk 16:19; Luk 19:12).

“A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return” Many historians see this as an allusion to Herod the Great’s death and his son Archelaus’s attempted succession (cf. Luk 19:14, which is an unusual footnote). This historical incident is recorded in Josephus’ Antiq. 17.

Luk 19:13 “he called ten of his slaves” Although he called ten, only three are mentioned specifically. The term doulos would denote a household servant.

“and gave them ten minas” This is the Greek term maneh (Semitic loan word mena), which equals one hundred drachmas, (one sixth of a talent). A drachma is equivalent to a denarius, which was the day’s wage for a laborer or soldier. Therefore, this was less than one third of a year’s wage, not a large sum at all. It may reflect this master’s stinginess or frugality. See Special Topic: Coins in Use in Palestine of Jesus’ Day at Luk 15:8.

NASB, NRSV”do business with this until I come back”

NKJV”do business till I come”

TEV”See what you can earn with this while I am gone”

NJB”Trade with these, until I get back”

This is an aorist middle (deponent) imperative (“do business”) followed by a present middle (deponent) indicative (“while I am gone”). In Joh 14:3 it is used of the return of Jesus. The master was testing the skills and trustworthiness of his servants. He gave them some responsibility! He will call them to account at an unspecified future date (cf. Luk 19:15-20).

Luk 19:17

NASB”you are to be in authority over ten cities”

NKJV”have authority over ten cities”

NRSV”take charge of ten cities”

TEV”I will put you in charge of ten cities”

NJB”you shall have the government of ten cities”

This is a periphrastic present active imperative, which denotes continuing authority.

Luk 19:20 “handkerchief” Possibly there is an Aramaic confusion between the word “ground” (see parallel in Mat 25:25) and “handkerchief.” The custom of the day would have this man burying the money in the ground for safekeeping. However, this term is used of a cloth in Joh 11:44.

Luk 19:21 “I was afraid of you” This is an Imperfect middle (deponent) indicative, which denotes repeated action in past time. Paralyzing fear is not a motive for effective service.

NASB, NJB”you are an exacting man”

NKJV”you are an austere man”

NRSV”you are a harsh man”

TEV”you are a hard man”

This Greek word is used in the Septuagint of 2Ma 14:30 for “harsh,” “rough,” or “sour behavior.” It is used in the Koine Papyri for an exacting, strict, penny-pincher and letter-of-the-law type of personality.

This word is just part of the parable. It in no way describes Christ at judgment (cf. 2Co 5:10).

Luk 19:22 Some translations make this verse a question (NASB, NRSV, NJB, NIV), but others see it as an affirmation (NKJV, TEV, NAB).

Luk 19:24-26 Remember this is a near eastern parable, which often uses hyperbole. The details of the story cannot be allegorized. These overstatements are usually part of the surprising twist which denotes the main point of the parable. Possibly this is analogous to Luk 8:18.

The central paradox of the gospel is that salvation is free in the finished work of the Messiah, but the resulting reality is a cost-everything service (cf. Eph 2:8-10). See Special Topic: Degrees of Rewards and Punishments at Luk 10:12.

Luk 19:25 The NKJV and NRSV put this verse in brackets because some ancient Greek texts omit it (MSS D, W, several lectionaries, as well as some Old Latin, Syrian, and Coptic translations. The UBS4 translation committee rates its inclusion as “certain”!

Luk 19:26 One wonders how far to push the details of this (and every) parable. Is it possible to identify

1. the nobleman as Jesus (Luk 19:12)

2. the slaves (Luk 19:13) as disciples

3. the citizens (Luk 19:14)

Is so then Luk 19:26 presents the interesting question, “Is the slave punished but still in the family (cf. Luk 8:18; Mat 13:12; Mat 25:29; Mar 4:25; 1Co 3:10-15; Jud 1:23)? The Parable of the Soils (Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8) strongly suggests that some initially respond, but do not remain. See SPECIAL TOPIC: APOSTASY (APHISTMI) at Luk 6:46.

Although the speculation is interesting, usually parables have one main truth or at least one truth connected to each main character. Often the details are just part of the story. See Introduction to Luke 8.

Luk 19:27 “But bring these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence” This statement refers to Luk 19:14. Exactly how the people who rejected the master’s reign relate to the slave who did not act, is uncertain. Possibly two groups are judged:

1. those who reject the master’s reign

2. those who refuse to act in the service of the master

The introduction in Luk 19:11 relates this to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The people and their leaders will reject Jesus and be rejected for different reasons, related to #1. Zaccheus was fully accepted and his actions proved it, which related to #2.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

added and spake = went on to speak.

because = on account of (Greek. dia. App-104. Luk 19:2) [the fact] that. Not the same word as in Luk 19:44.

that. Greek. hoti, same as “because” in verses: Luk 19:3, Luk 19:17, Luk 19:21, Luk 3:31.

the kingdom of God. See App-114.

should = was about to.

immediately = at the very moment. See Luk 1:64. appear be manifested. App-106.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

11-27.] PARABLE OF THE MIN. Peculiar to Luke. By the introductory words, the parable must have been spoken in the house of Zacchus, i.e. perhaps in the open room looking into the court, where probably many of the multitude were assembled.

A parable very similar in some points to this was spoken by our Lord His last great prophetic discourse, Mat 25:14-30.

Many modern Commentators (Calv., Olsh., Meyer (on Matt.), but not Schleierm. or De Wette) maintain that the two parables represent one and the same: if so, we must at once give up, not only the pretensions to historical accuracy on the part of our Gospels, (see Luk 19:11,) but all idea that they furnish us with the words of our Lord any where: for the whole structure and incidents of the two are essentially different. If oral tradition thus varied before the Gospels were written, in the report of our Lords spoken words, how can we know that He spoke any thing which they relate? If the Evangelists themselves altered, arranged, and accommodated those discourses, not only is the above the case, but their honesty is likewise impugned (see Prolegomena to Gospels). Besides, we shall here find the parable, in its very root and point of comparison, individual and distinct. Compare throughout the notes on Matt.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 19:11. , He added and spake) Therefore the parable which follows has a most close connection with the preceding incidents; as also with what follows, Luk 19:28.-, on account of their thinking) The Hebrews think that the Messiah will collect together in Galilee the brethren scattered in the world, and will lead them to the city of Jerusalem, as the seat of His kingdom: that He will thus commence His reign, and will much frequent the Mount of Olives. The aspect of things at that time was not unlike this. [Nor was their opinion erroneous in itself; but they formed their conception of the event rather out of the due season for it.-V. p.] The Lord teaches them the true judgment which they ought to form. See Luk 19:27; Luk 19:41.-, to make its appearance) in a manifest and visible manner on earth and in the city, and this without the agency of human power.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Doing Business for God

Luk 19:11-27

In many respects this parable differs from that of the ten talents. In that, the servants are entrusted with different amounts; in this, the same amount is allotted to each. Obviously, the former deals with our powers and opportunities for service, which greatly differ; whereas the latter deals with those ordinary gifts which are common to all, and especially with the gift of salvation. All have the opportunity of using and enjoying the same bestowment of life which is in Jesus Christ for those who believe, Jud 1:3.

Some make the greatest possible use of our common salvation. They increase its blessings by much prayer and faith and experience. They speak of it to others and spread the knowledge of the heights and depths of Gods love. The more they do this, the more it grows on them. Others pass through life without realizing or enjoying Christs gift of eternal life. They hope that they may be saved; but they have no deep experimental knowledge of His love. These are they who misuse their pound! What a contrast between such and Paul or Luther or Wesley!

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

When The King Returns To Reign — Luk 19:11-27

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. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, 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. 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. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 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. 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? And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 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. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me- Luk 19:11-27.

Our blessed Lord had passed through Jericho and was well on His way to Jerusalem. He knew that many were expecting Him to set up immediately the kingdom which had been predicted for so long by the prophets. Many of the Jews looked for Him to enter the royal city and declare Himself Israels Messiah. They expected Him to put Himself at the head of an army of Jewish zealots and drive out the Romans, take over the throne of His father David and begin His reign on Mount Zion. Some day these Old Testament prophecies will be fulfilled, but the time had not yet come, and it is still in the future. During the present age the kingdom ,of God cometh not with outward show; the kingdom is now apprehended by faith. It is a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of men and women who are born again, and who own the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is preached in order that men may be saved and reign with Him when He returns.

The Lord Jesus related a parable to make it plain that His kingdom was not to be set up at His first coming but will be manifested when He comes back: that is, at His second advent. This parable was based on an historical incident that had taken place not many years before, and with which the people generally would be familiar. When King Herod died, that is, the Herod who lived when our Lord Jesus Christ was born, and who decreed that all babies in Bethlehem should be put to death, he decreed in his will that Archelaus should succeed him on the throne. But the Jews hated this man and did not want him to reign over them, and so he went over the sea to Rome to confer with Augustus Caesar, and to secure his approval regarding the kingdom. Before going away he entrusted large sums of money to many of his friends and gave instructions as to how this money was to be used in his absence, in order to make other friends who would forward his interests and be ready to acknowledge his claims. But the Jews who hated him sent an embassy after him and said to Caesar, We do not want this man to reign over us. He is cruel; we hate every member of his house. Archelaus conferred with the Emperor, secured his approval and eventually returned to Jerusalem to be proclaimed king over Judaea. He then sent for the servants to whom he had entrusted the money and inquired as to the use they had made of it, rewarding them according to their faithfulness to his interests. After that he summoned his enemies who had been determined that he should not be recognized as king, and put many of them to death.

All this was fresh in the minds of the people, for it had occurred when Jesus was only a little lad. He based His parable upon that incident, because there was a certain likeness in what took place then and what will take place in connection with His present rejection and future return.

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. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. A certain nobleman: the Nobleman is the Man Christ Jesus, and He has gone into a far country. He has gone to the Fathers house, not like Archelaus to confer with some earthly ruler, but He has gone to confer with His Father and to remain with Him yonder until the time when He is to take the kingdom. Ere going away the nobleman called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. Our blessed Lord has conferred upon all His servants certain treasure, certain talents, certain abilities, all of which He holds us responsible to use for His glory during His absence. Every Christian has something committed to him which he can use for Christ. Suppose you have the talent of public speaking: you can preach the gospel before great throngs; you can tell of the Saviour who died, and who has been raised again-if you have this talent then you are responsible to proclaim His message. But suppose you say you have no special gift. Well, you can live for Christ in your own home. You can so live for Him before your friends and your neighbors that they will realize the importance of owning His authority over their own lives. Possibly yours is the talent of singing. Then He would have you dedicate your voice to Him, and use that talent He has given you to make Him known to men. I heard of one young lady who had a talent along that line. Her worldly father had spent great sums of money to fit her for the opera platform or stage, but just as she was completing her musical education-if you can ever complete a musical education-she was saved at a special meeting and yielded her life to the Lord. When she returned home, she said, Father, I cannot go on the opera-stage now: Christ has saved me; I have yielded my life to Him. He has given me my voice, and now I want to use it for Him. Her father was intensely angry; and he finally said to her, My daughter, I am going to give you one more opportunity. We have planned a great party to welcome you home-your graduation party. Now your friends will be here tonight, and when they come I want you to sing for them some of those operatic songs that you have learned; and if you do not I shall disown you and cast you out. She waited until evening came. Her friends arrived, and she was presented to them. The hour came when she was asked to go to the piano and sing. She breathed a prayer in her heart and went over to the instrument and sat down. After the first introductory note, she began to sing with her beautiful, trained voice:

No room for mirth or trifling here,

For worldly hope or worldly fear,

If life so soon is gone;

If now the Judge is at the door,

And all mankind must stand before

The inexorable throne.

She sang all four stanzas of that old Wesleyan hymn. After she finished she rose from the piano, expecting her father to dismiss her from the house, but he came forward with tears streaming down his face and said, My daughter, I too want to know your Saviour. The reward of dedicating her voice to the Lord was the winning of her own father to Christ. We all have talents committed to us which we are to use in His interests during His absence. Just as in the case of Archelaus, we read of those who hated our Lord and sent a messenger after Him, saying, We will not have this Man to reign over us. I do not think I am stretching it by saying that the messenger was no other than Stephen, the first martyr of Christianity, who went into the presence of the Lord to bear witness that they did not want Jesus to reign over them. They stoned Stephen to death because of his message. And he went to be with Christ and to give the decision of the people. That was their attitude then, and it has been their attitude all through the centuries since. They said, We have no king but Caesar. They refused to own Jesus as their rightful Ruler, and so they abide still in unbelief.

As our Lord looked forward to His second advent, He said, And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, 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. Only three are mentioned particularly, as examples. 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. By wise and careful investment the first servant had made an excellent profit on what had been committed to him. His integrity and trustworthiness were recognized by the master, and he was rewarded accordingly. This of course suggests the way Christs faithful servants will be compensated at His return for all they have accomplished for Him in His absence. If you are faithful even in a little now, you will reign with Him in power then. The measure of our authority in our association with Him when He comes back will be according to the measure of our devotion to Him now.

The second servant came and said, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. All have not the same business acumen, nor the same talents and abilities. But this man, too, had acted wisely and with concern for his masters interests. The reward was not so great as in the other case, but it was in proportion to the gain that had resulted from the servants business activities. You see the place given us is according to the work done. I am afraid there are many of us who are Christians, who know our souls are saved, but who are going to find out when the King returns that we have lost out terribly, because we have done so little self-denying service for Him. We have lived to please ourselves to a great extent. So there will be very little for which He can reward us.

And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin. It was an inexcusable fault thus to have failed in the trust committed to him, not realizing that It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful (1Co 4:2). Yet how many Christians are failing in the same way, not using that which God has entrusted to them. Clean, straightforward business methods are as important in the Lords work as in secular affairs. This man said, as it were, Master, here is your money. I have not lost it; but I have not used it, because I was afraid I could not use it satisfactorily. I knew that thou wert a hard man to please. For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow-I knew you demanded a lot, and so I did not try to do anything. It shows how little he knew his master. If the servant really believed this, it was all the more reason why he should have been diligent in business, in order that he might have pleased the one who employed him (Rom 12:11; Pro 22:29). Is there anyone who says, I have only one talent, and I can do so little; I cannot do enough to win His approval, and so I will not do anything at all? This nobleman turned to the slothful servant and said, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knew-est 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? The servants excuse was hypocritical. He did not know his master, and he did not want to put himself to any trouble on his behalf. Sternly the master rebuked the slothfulness of his servant, pointing out that if he feared to make any investments, he might, at least, have placed the money where it would have drawn interest and thus not have stood idle. It is a salutary lesson in the right use of capital which God has put in our hands, and the spiritual lesson is even clearer. We shall be held responsible, not alone for overt acts of evil, but also for sins of omission. And so he had all taken from him, and he found himself without reward because of his failure to serve. That which is not used will profit nothing, rather shall we suffer loss. Whereas they who wisely use what they have will be further rewarded.

Actually, I gather, from the fourth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, that there will be no Christian left without reward, for we read, Then shall every man have praise of God (1Co 4:5). But I am afraid there will be many of us who will have very little reward because we have done so little real service for our Lord Jesus Christ. Unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away. The first half of the verse is clear enough and requires no comment. The latter part may be better understood if we paraphrase slightly, so that it would read: From him who hath not used that which was entrusted to him, even that itself shall be taken. Opportunities neglected are lost forever.

The nobleman then commanded that his enemies be brought before him, But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. And in that coming day when Christ returns, those who reject His grace, those who refuse to own Him, those who spurn His love, will have to know His judgment when He is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God. Have you bowed your heart before Him? Have you recognized Him as the rightful King? Have you put your trust in Him as Saviour? Do you own Him as Lord of your life? If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. If you have never recognized Him as your rightful Lord, do it today. It is not yet too late. The King has not returned, although His coming draws nigh. He will soon be back, and then it will be too late to get right with Him. Why not make this the occasion when you yield your heart and your life to Him and acknowledge Him as earths rightful Lord and King?

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Chapter 28

The Nobleman And His Servants

When our Master had saved Zacchaeus, though the disciples heard his doctrine and saw the way he dealt with that poor soul in grace, though the Lord Jesus had told them plainly that he was on his way to Jerusalem to die in their place, to redeem his people by the shedding of his blood, they still thought they were on their way to his inauguration ball as the King of Israel! The parable given in Luk 19:12-27 was given to correct their ignorance, because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.

Their minds were fixed on the notion that the coming of Christ the King meant that he was about to become a carnal king, a king over the physical nation of Israel. They had terribly carnal notions about his kingdom. So he here showed them that, for the present, the practical matter to be remembered was that he had come to seek and to save that which was lost.

If they had not been so full of their idle dreams of a temporal, earthly kingdom, they would have understood that in the calling of Zacchaeus, the Lord Jesus had manifested his kingship in the realm of mercy and grace and salvation. He had in seeking and saving Zacchaeus displayed the sovereignty of his grace as the sovereign king of grace. That is what he is doing today on his throne as our great King, the Son of God and the Son of man, the Son of David and Davids Lord. He is seeking and saving his lost ones.

This parable is an illustration, a picture of things present and things to come, which ought to set our hearts upon our Saviour and his cause in this world. Its intent is to show us our faithful God and Saviour, who has promised, him that honoureth me I will honour, and will reward his faithful servants for their service, not in this world, but in the world to come.

The Nobleman

He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return (Luk 19:12). I am sure that you understand who the nobleman in this parable represents. He represents our Lord Jesus himself. He was here on earth a man among men, and truly a nobleman in the midst of his fellow citizens. He was and is King of all the earth. He is King by nature and by right, but he must first go away by death, resurrection, and ascension, to the highest courts of heaven to receive for himself a kingdom from his Father as the reward of his obedience. It is written in the 2nd Psalm, Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance. The day is coming when he will return, clothed with glory and honour, to take unto himself his great power and reign; for he must reign till all enemies are put under his feet. When he comes, his enemies will be destroyed, and his faithful servants will be abundantly rewarded. That is the essence of the parables meaning.

The Son of God came here in humiliation as the Son of man to seek and to save that which was lost. He is here portrayed as having finished his work of redemption and returned to glory to receive his kingdom. He ascended back to heaven to receive the kingdom for us as our Forerunner (Heb 6:20), and to receive all his ransomed ones into his kingdom by the mighty operations of his Holy Spirit. He is still the Son of man, now ascended to glory and seated upon his throne; and it is still his business to seek and to save that which was lost. After he has received his kingdom, after he has saved all his lost ones, he will return to judge the world. Even then, it shall be his business to seek and to save that which was lost.

When the Lord Jesus left this world, he ascended up into heaven as a mighty conqueror, leading captivity captive. He is there sitting at the right hand of God, doing the work of a High Priest for his people, ever making intercession for them. But he will not sit there always. He will come forth from the holy of holies to bless his people. He will come again with power and glory to put down every enemy under his feet, and to set up his universal kingdom in a new heavens and a new earth (Heb 2:8-9). When Christ returns, the kingdoms of the world shall become his.

Let these things sink down into our hearts and minds. In all our thoughts about Christ let us never forget his glorious second advent. He who lived for us, and died for us, and rose again for us, and intercedes for us is coming again in power and great glory (Tit 2:11-14; 2Pe 3:11-14).

Christs Servants

And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us (Luk 19:13-14). Our Lord compares his servants to men who have been left in charge of their masters money, with strict instructions to use that money well. They are to occupy until he comes again. To each of these ten servants he gave a pound of money. But who are these servants? Though ten servants are mentioned, there are but two groups, or categories. All ten are the Noblemans servants; but some were faithful and good, the others were slothful and useless.

Each servant was given a pound, which appears to me to represent the gospel of the grace of God. Oh, what a choice blessing that is! All who are given the great privilege of hearing the gospel of the grace of God have the same charge. Occupy till I come. The words mean, Take this pound that I have put in your hands and busy yourself in trade with it until I return.

What does that mean? It means that we to whom the Lord God has given this great treasure are responsible to trade with it for the increase of riches to our souls, responsible to believe it to the saving of our souls. This is exactly what Paul tells us in 2Co 5:18 to 2Co 6:1.

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christs stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

It is true that we cannot and will not trade, without money and without price, for the Pearl of Great Price until and unless God the Holy Spirit gives us grace to do so. But that is our charge, our responsibility before God. Taking the pound the Lord has given us, believing the gospel, our souls are enriched with grace, enriched with the sweet experience of grace, some fivefold and some tenfold. And in the world to come we shall be enriched by his grace to an infinitely higher degree than can ever be imagined by us in this body of flesh (1Co 2:9-10).

The countless privileges which we enjoy, compared to those who have never heard the gospel, are pounds given to us by Christ, pounds for which we must one day give account. In the Judgment Day we will not stand side by side with the tribesmen of heathen lands who never heard of the Bible, the God of Glory, and the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. We have much more for which we shall give account in that great day.

The faithful servants in this parable represent those who believe the gospel, using the means God has given us for the benefit of our souls. These faithful servants rejoice in the prospect of the Lords coming. By the grace of God, we shall be found looking for him when he comes again, living in hope of eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The unprofitable servant has his pound. He, too, hears the gospel of grace and salvation, redemption and righteousness in and by Christ. But the unprofitable servant hates his Master, the Lord Jesus. He hates Gods method of saving sinners by free and sovereign grace through Christ, the sinners crucified Substitute, and rejects the counsel of God against his own soul.

Both the faithful servants and the unprofitable servant differ from the world in general. They differ in this one thing. You and I have been given the gospel. We have been called by the gospel. The world at large has not. To whom much is given, much shall be required. What a great benefit! What a great weight of responsibility!

The unbelief and rejection of the unprofitable servant is the cause of his just condemnation (Pro 1:23-33). The faith of the profitable servant, believing the gospel, trusting Christ, magnifies the riches of Gods free grace in us and assures us of greater riches in the world to come.

Blessed Servitude

All ten of these servants were the noblemans servants, both the faithful and the unprofitable. Believers and unbelievers alike are Christs servants. Those who hate him and refuse to bow to him are his servants, just as surely as Gabriel himself. And we who believe him and rejoice in his rule are his servants. Yet all are his servants. But only we who believe him, who are glad to be his servants are occupying, using the gospel for our souls everlasting benefit.

Let me show you something about the blessedness of our service. It is a blessed servitude indeed! Our service is most honourable. We serve a great Nobleman, the King of Glory! Ours is a service for which our Master supplies all a pound. All that we need to know Christ and enrich our souls by Christ is found in the gospel. And our service is itself exactly that which we need. Faith in Christ. The essence of our service is faith in Christ, worshipping the Son of God (Joh 6:27-29). What blessed service this is! To occupy till he comes, to make trade with the gospel, is neither more nor less than believing him. The more we believe him, the more our souls are enriched by him. The more we believe him, the more we grow in the grace and knowledge of God our Saviour.

Reckoning Day

There is a day coming in which we will give an account of our service. In that great day of reckoning we will be judged by the gospel, by what we have done with the pound our Saviour has given us.

And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, 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. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds (Luk 19:15-16).

The faithful servant, with proper humility, puts himself in the background. It is not he who has gained ten pounds, but his Lords pound that has done it. He is pleased to bring the ten pounds; yet he claims no credit for himself, but says, 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. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities (Luk 19:17-19).

Notice that there is no correlation between the servants work and the reward for it. He who gained ten pounds in this world by the faith God gave him by the gospel, and he who gained but two, are each declared to be faithful servants and rewarded as such.

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. 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? (Luk 19:20-23).

The Servants Rewarded

And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 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. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me (Luk 19:24-27).

Those who will not have this Man to rule over them, those who are his enemies, when he comes again, he will take from them everything they have and give it to his own. Then, he will have them brought before him and slain.

Do you remember our Lords answer to Peter, when Peter asked him what we shall have who have left all and followed him (Luk 18:28-30)? The Lord Jesus said, In the world to come life everlasting! That is the reward the Lord Jesus gives to all who trust him. He says, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Mat 25:21).

Gods saints receive great recompense even in this present time. Though our names are often cast out as evil, though we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God, the gain of godliness, of faith in Christ, is not to be measured in earthly things, but in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, in a good hope through grace and joy in believing. Still, our good things are not in this world. But there is a day coming when we shall have an abundant recompense! We shall, in that day, receive wages far exceeding anything we have imagined. In the world to come life everlasting!

We read of a place thats called heaven.

Its made for the pure and the free.

These truths in Gods Word he hath given.

How beautiful heaven must be!

In heaven no drooping nor pining,

No wishing for elsewhere to be.

Gods light is forever there shining

How beautiful heaven must be!

Pure waters of life there are flowing;

And all who will drink may be free.

Rare jewels of splendour are glowing

How beautiful heaven must be!

The angels so sweetly are singing

Up there by the beautiful sea.

Sweet chords from their gold harps are ringing.

How beautiful heaven must be!

How beautiful heaven must be!

Sweet home of the happy and free,

Fair haven of rest for the weary,

How beautiful heaven must be!

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

they thought: Luk 17:20, Act 1:6, 2Th 2:1-3

Reciprocal: Dan 7:14 – given Mat 6:10 – Thy kingdom Mat 13:31 – put Mat 20:21 – in thy Joh 11:35 – General Act 3:20 – General

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1

People are inclined to go to extremes with their conclusions. Jesus had frequently told them that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. They concluded, therefore, that it was just upon them, especially because He was headed toward Jerusalem and was even then very near the city. Immediately is from PARACHREMA, and Thayer defines it, “On the spot; immediately, forthwith, instantly.”

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

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.

[And because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.] The time draweth nigh that the kingdom of heaven shall be revealed. We have observed elsewhere, that it was the nation’s universal opinion, that that very time wherein Christ did appear was the time wherein they expected the coming of Messiah, being so taught by the prophecy of Daniel. Which however the more modern Jews would now endeavour to evade, as also other more illustrious predictions that concern our Jesus, yet were those times then more truly and more sincerely interpreted. Hence that conflux of Jews from all nations to Jerusalem, Act 2:5. And to this doth that in some measure attest which the Talmudists relate concerning the paraphrast of the prophets, that when he went about to paraphrase also the Hagiographa; or holy writings; he was forbidden by Bath Kol; saying, That he must abstain from that; for in those books was the end of the Messiah, viz. Dan 9:26.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

THE occasion of our Lord speaking the parable before us, is clear and plain. It was intended to correct the false expectations of the disciples on the subject of Christ’s kingdom. It was a prophetical sketch of things present and things to come, which ought to raise solemn thoughts in the minds of all professing Christians.

We see, for one thing, in this parable, the present position of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is compared to “a certain nobleman, who went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.”

When the Lord Jesus left the world, He ascended up into heaven as a conqueror, leading captivity captive. He is there sitting at the right hand of God, doing the work of a High Priest for His believing people, and ever making intercession for them. But He will not sit there always. He will come forth from the holy of holies to bless His people. He will come again with power and glory to put down every enemy under His feet, and to set up His universal kingdom on earth. At present “we see not all things put under Him.” The devil is the “prince of this world.” (Heb 2:8; Joh 14:30.) But the present state of things shall be changed one day. When Christ returns, the kingdoms of the world shall become His.

Let these things sink down into our minds. In all our thoughts about Christ, let us never forget His second advent. It is well to know that He lived for us, and died for us, and rose again for us, and intercedes for us. But it is also well to know that He is soon coming again.

We see, for another thing, in this parable, the present position of all professing Christians. Our Lord compares them to servants who have been left in charge of money by an absent master, with strict directions to use that money well. They are to “occupy till He comes.”

The countless privileges which Christians enjoy, compared to the heathen, are “pounds” given to them by Christ, for which they must one day give account. We shall not stand side by side in the judgment day with the African and Chinese, who never heard of the Bible, the Trinity, and the crucifixion. The most of us, it may be feared, have little idea of the extent of our responsibility. To whomsoever much is given, of them much will be required.

Are we “occupying”? Are we living like men who know to whom they are indebted, and to whom they must one day give account? This is the only life which is worthy of a reasonable being. The best answer we can give to those who invite us to plunge into worldliness and frivolity, is the Master’s commandment which is before us. Let us tell them that we cannot consent, because we look for the coming of the Lord. We would fain be found “occupying” when He comes.

We see, for another thing, in this parable, the certain reckoning which awaits all professing Christians. We are told that when the master returned, he “commanded his servants to be called, that he might know how much every man had gained.”

There is a day coming when the Lord Jesus Christ shall judge His people, and give to every one according to His works. The course of this world shall not always go on as it does now. Disorder, confusion, false profession, and unpunished sin, shall not always cover the face of the earth. The great white throne shall be set up. The Judge of all shall sit upon it. The dead shall be raised from their graves. The living shall all be summoned to the bar. The books shall be opened. High and low, rich and poor, gentle and simple, all shall at length give account to God, and shall all receive an eternal sentence.

Let the thought of this judgment exercise an influence on our hearts and lives. Let us wait patiently when we see wickedness triumphing in the earth. The time is short. There is one who sees and notes down all that the ungodly are doing. “There be higher than they.” (Ecc 5:8.) Above all, let us live under an abiding sense, that we shall stand one day at the judgment seat of Christ. Let us “judge ourselves,” that we be not condemned of the Lord. It is a weighty saying of James, “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” (1Co 11:31. Jam 2:12.)

We see, for another thing, in this parable, the certain reward of all true Christians. Our Lord tells us that those who are found to have been faithful servants shall receive honor and dignity. Each shall receive a reward proportioned to his diligence. One shall be placed “over ten cities,” and another “over five.”

The people of God receive little apparent recompense in this present time. Their names are often cast out as evil. They enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation. Their good things are not in this world. The gain of godliness does not consist in earthly rewards, but in inward peace, and hope, and joy in believing. But they shall have an abundant recompense one day. They shall receive wages far exceeding anything they have done for Christ. They shall find, to their amazement, that for everything they have done and borne for their Master, their Master will pay them a hundred-fold.

Let us often look forward to the good things which are yet to come. The “sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed.” (Rom 8:18.) Let the thought of that glory cheer us in every time of need, and sustain us in every dark hour. Many, no doubt, are “the afflictions of the righteous.” One great receipt for bearing them patiently is to “have respect, like Moses, to the recompense of the reward.” (Psa 34:19. Heb 11:26.)

We see, lastly, in this parable, the certain exposure of all unfaithful Christians at the last day. We are told of one servant who had done nothing with his lord’s money, but had “laid it up in a napkin.”-We are told of his useless arguments in his own defense, and of his final ruin, for not using the knowledge which he confessedly possessed. There can be no mistake as to the persons he represents.-He represents the whole company of the ungodly; and his ruin represents their miserable end in the judgment day.

Let us never forget the end to which all ungodly people are coming. Sooner or later, the unbeliever and the impenitent will be put to shame before the whole world, stripped of the means of grace and hope of glory, and cast down to hell. There will be no escape at the last day. False profession and formality will fail to abide the fire of God’s judgment. Grace, and grace only, shall stand. Men will discover at last, that there is such a thing as “the wrath of the Lamb.” The excuses with which so many content their consciences now, shall prove unavailing at the bar of Christ. The most ignorant shall find that they had knowledge enough to be their condemnation. The possessors of buried talents and misused privileges will discover at last that it would have been good for them never to have been born.

These are solemn things. Who shall stand in the great day when the Master requires an account of “His pounds”? The words of Peter will form a fitting conclusion to the whole parable, “Seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” (2Pe 3:14.)

==================

Notes-

v11.-[As they heard these things.] Our Lord’s hearers had just heard Him speaking of Himself as one who had come into the world for a great end, to seek and to save that which was lost. Their minds were probably full of the idea that He was come to restore the kingdom to Israel, and save the Jews from the power of Rome. He proceeds to check their error.

[Spake a parable.] There is great resemblance between this parable and that of the talents in Matthew. Yet they are not the same. They were evidently spoken at different times, and differ in one important respect, namely, the sums given to the servants. In Matthew the servants receive different sums. In Luke all receive the same.

[Nigh…Jerusalem..Kingdom…appear.] The disciples evidently expected that our Lord was about to be proclaimed king, as soon as He arrived at Jerusalem, and to wind up His miracles by reigning on earth.

Our Lord undeceives them by showing in the parable of the pounds, the true nature of the position He was about to take up, and of the position which His disciples would soon have to fill. As for Himself, He was going away from them, to receive a kingdom, and would not return for a long time. As for them, they would be left behind in charge of great privileges, and upon their faithfulness in the use of them their place in the final glorious kingdom would depend. There would be a kingdom one day in which He would be a King upon earth. But there was much to be done and borne by His people before that time came. He would have them think of their present duty rather than waste time in looking for a kingdom which was yet far distant.

v12.-[A certain nobleman.] This clearly represents Jesus Christ Himself.

[Went into a far country.] Augustine thinks this means that Christ left the Jews and went to the Gentiles. I prefer the opinion of Theophylact and Euthymius, that it means Christ’s ascension into heaven.

[To receive a kingdom.] Most commentators agree in thinking that this part of the parable refers to a well-known custom in Eastern countries, in the time when our Lord was upon earth. The princes and kings of petty territories under the protection and supremacy of Rome, made journeys to Rome, in order to be invested with kingly authority at the hands of the Roman Emperor. Josephus, for example, mentions that Archelaus, one of Herod’s family, did so, and that the Jews sent after him a protest against his receiving the kingdom, to which Augustus would not listen. Alford observes that the place where our Lord spoke this parable, made this circumstance singularly appropriate. It was spoken at Jericho, where this very Archelaus had built himself a royal palace of great magnificence.

v13.-[Ten servants.] Chemnitius and others think that the “servants” in this parable mean only the ministers of the Gospel. I cannot take so narrow a view of the parable. I think that the expression means all who profess and call themselves Christians. By baptism they all profess to be Christ’s soldiers and servants.

[Ten pounds.] The word translated “pound,” means a sum much larger than an English pound. It was worth about 4 Isa 3:1-26d. of our money. In the kindred parable of the talents in Matthew, it should be noted the servants receive much more. The talent was worth 243 15s.

[Occupy.] The Greek word so translated is only found here. It means literally, “employ in business, or trading.” A substantive formed from it is found in 2Ti 2:4, and is rendered “the affairs” of this life.

v14.-[His citizens hated him, &c.] There can be no doubt that, this verse describes the conduct of the Jews towards Christ, both while He was among them and after He had ascended into heaven. It is a lively emblem of their bitter hatred and obstinate unbelief.

[We will not have this man, &c.] Theophylact remarks the striking resemblance between this part of the parable and the cry of the Jews when Christ was before Pilate. They were asked, “Shall I crucify your king?” They answered, “We have no king but Csar.” They said, “Away with Him!” “Crucify him.”

v15.-[When he was returned…kingdom.] This part of the parable describes the second advent of Jesus Christ. The kingdom for which we pray in the Lord’s prayer is not yet come.

[Commanded…servants…called.] These words describe the judgment of all professing Christians, when Christ comes the second time. He will take account of every man’s works.

v16.-[Thy pound.] The humility of a true Christian is indicated in this expression. The servant does not say, “By my skill I have gained,” but, “thy pound hath gained.” We have nothing to boast of. All that we have we have received.

v17.-[Faithful in a very little.] The sum given to each servant was undoubtedly very small. But our Lord would have us learn that however small a man’s gifts and opportunities, he is as much accountable for using them rightly as if they were very great. And he would have us know that the poorest and the humblest Christian, if he uses his one pound well, shall be as carefully noticed and rewarded as the mightiest king. Faithfulness in the use of what we have, however little, is what Christ requires at our hands.

[Over ten cities.] Let it be noted, that the servant who had turned one pound into ten, was set over ten cities, and the servant who had turned one into five, was set over five cities. Each was rewarded according to his diligence. The doctrine of reward according to works seems to stand out here as well as in other places of Scripture. Our title to heaven is all of grace. Our degree of glory in heaven will be proportioned to our works. “Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.”

Henry remarks, “There are degrees of glory in heaven. Every vessel will be alike full, but not alike large. And the degree of glory there will be according to the degrees of usefulness here.” (1Co 3:8.)

v20.-[I have kept…napkin.] The ingenuity of commentators has discovered allegorical meanings here. Some have thought that as napkins were used for tying round the faces of dead persons, the whole expression represents a sleeping conscience and a dead soul. I am unable to see that there is anything more in the expression than a circumstance of the parable.

v21.-[I feared thee…austere man.] The heart of the unconverted man is figured in a very striking manner in this expression. Like Adam and Eve, when they had eaten the forbidden fruit, he is afraid of his Master in heaven, and does not love Him. Like the murmuring Israelites in the wilderness, he finds fault with God’s appointments and dealings, and charges Him with hardness and injustice.

Hard thoughts of God are a common mark of all unconverted people. They first misrepresent Him, and then try to excuse themselves for not loving and serving Him.

v22, v23.-[Out of thine own mouth &c.] The particular expressions in the concluding portion of the parable must not be pressed too closely. We are reading a story of an earthly lord’s dealings with his servants, which illustrates Christ’s dealings with men, and justifies His final condemnation of the wicked. We are not reading an exact account of what will be said and done in the day of judgment.

The turning point of the king’s address to the unfaithful servant is the expression “Thou knewest.” It is meant to teach us that those who are condemned at the last day will be found to have “known” enough to guide them to salvation if they would have used their knowledge.

v24.-[Take from him…give it.] It should be observed, that we have no mention here of any positive punishment inflicted on the unfaithful servant, such as we find inflicted on the man who buried his talent. But we may not therefore suppose that unfaithful Christians will not be condemned to punishment at the last day. The privation of all privileges, and taking away of all gifts, described in the parable before us, evidently implies that unfaithful Christians will be cast out forever from Christ’s presence. We must once more remember that we are reading a parable, and not a history of the last day. The punishment of unfaithful Christians will doubtless answer to the punishment which a king will inflict on unfaithful servants.

v25.-[They said unto him, &c.] This parenthetical expression is remarkable. It was either spoken by those at Jericho, who heard our Lord deliver this parable. (Such an interruption by interested hearers, would not be extraordinary in Eastern countries.) Or else it forms part of the parable itself, and was spoken by our Lord’s own mouth. In either case, the lesson is the same. It shows that the honor placed on faithful Christians, at the last day, will be so great as to surprise and amaze all who behold it.

Some have thought that it means the angels, who will be the standers-by and ministering agents in all the proceedings of the last day. This, however, seems very improbable.

v26.-[Hath…hath not.] It is evident that these two expressions are elliptical. “Every one which hath,” signifies every Christian who not only has privileges, but improves them and turns them to good account. “He that hath not,” signifies the professing Christian who is content with the idle possession of Christianity, and makes no effort to use it for his soul’s good, or the glory of God.

The Gentile Christians who have not made a good use of the Gospel, are very probably included prophetically in the latter part of the verse.

v27.-[Those mine enemies…slay…before me.] The meaning of this verse appears to be, that the Jews, who persisted in unbelief when Christ came among them, and died in unbelief, will be fearfully punished in the last day. They will be raised and brought before the bar of Christ, and receive a punishment proportioned to their enormous sin, in killing the Lord of glory. Though triumphing apparently in the day of our Lord’s crucifixion, Christ foretells in this parable, that there will be a reckoning day. Annas and Caiaphas and their companions will yet be brought before Jesus of Nazareth and punished.

In leaving the parable, let us not forget that it shows us three sorts of people.

Firstly, there are open opposers of Christ and the Gospel. Such were the Jews who refused to receive our Lord. Such are all infidels in the present day.

Secondly, there are faithful Christians. Such are all they who make a good use of the Gospel, for their own good and for God’s glory.

Thirdly, there are unfaithful, formal Christians, who have Christianity, but make no real use of it. Of these it should be always noted, that the parable does not charge them with being open enemies of Christ, or open breakers of God’s commandments. But they “hide their pound in a napkin.” They have a mighty gift from God, and make no use of it. This will prove at last their eternal ruin.

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Luk 19:11. Heard these things, i.e., the conversation with Zaccheus. The parable was spoken in the house, probably from the open room looking into the court, where a good part of the multitude that had followed Him (Luk 19:3), had doubtless remained and murmured (Luk 19:7). To them the parable was addressed.

Added. To the conversation with Zaccheus.

Nigh unto Jerusalem. The distance was about fifteen English miles.

And because they supposed, i.e., the multitude, although the disciples were included, since they were not yet cured of their carnal hopes.

That the kingdom of God was immediately to appear. This public journey to Jerusalem, attended by so many miracles and impressive discourses, was regarded as introductory to a Messianic kingdom of temporal splendor. Jerusalem was so near, that this was immediately expected; the more since our Lord had just spoken of the actual coming of the Son of man (Luk 19:10). The parable was designed to controvert the idea that the glory of the Messianic kingdom would appear at once, without a previous separation of the Master from His servants, to whom He would return as King.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

For the better understanding of this parable, we must,

1. Consider the occasion of it.

2. The design and scope of it.

3. The lessons of instruction which our Saviour intended us by it.

As to the former; the occasion of our Saviour’s uttering this parable seems to be this, He was now going up to Jerusalem to die; some of the company were of opinion, that he would immediately enter upon his kingdom, and act as a temporal prince, delivering them from the Romans, and destroying his and their enemies: he lets them understand the quite contrary, that he must die and rise again, and ascend into heaven, and then return again and receive the kingdom; and that he was now taking his last journey to Jerusalem, in order to that end.

The design and scope of the parable, together with the interpretation of it, is this, the nobleman here mentioned is our Saviour himself, who in his state of great humiliation was but like a nobleman: his going into a far country, signifies his return from earth to heaven: his coming back again, signifies his coming to judgment: his calling his servants, and delivering them their talents, intimates to us the various gifts which he bestows upon the sons of men, all which are to be employed in his service, and improved to his glory: his calling his servants to an account, plainly signifies, that when Christ comes to judgment, he will have an account of every individual person, how they used the gifts, and improved the talents, intrusted with them; and that they may expect to be impartially rewarded according to their works; for God will appear a righteous God, and will condemn sinners out of their own mouths, and a most certain and final ruin will be their portion, while those that were faithful in his service shall be crowned with his reward.

Now from the whole we may learn these lessons of instruction:

1. That our Lords’ state of humiliation and great abasement on earth being passed and over, a glorious state of exaltation he is now arrived at in heaven. God has exalted him with great triumph to his kingdom in heaven.

2. That, clothed with inifinite majesty and power, and attended with an innumerable host of glorious angels and saints, this exalted Saviour will come to judge angels and men.

3. That in the mean time Christ variously dispenses to his servants particular talents, to be employed and improved for his own glory and his church’s good.

4. That there will most certainly be a reckoning-day, or a time when our Lord will take an account of men’s improving those gifts and graces, which were given them as so many talents to be improved by them.

5. That there will be degrees of happiness and misery in the other world, according to men’s degrees of faithfulness or negligence in this.

6. That it is abominably false and impious to charge God, as being rigid and severe with men, and requiring impossibilities at their hands: For out of their own mouths will God condemn them.

Lastly, that the condition of God’s faithful servants will be unspeakably happy, and that of the unprofitable servant intolerably miserable both in this world and in the next: the righteous shall enter into the joy of their Lord, and be confirmed therein, with an utter impossibility of losing that happiness. The wicked, who would not submit to Christ’s authority, shall not be able to resist his power. They that would not suffer Christ to reign over them, shall at the last day be brought forth and slain before him. Those mine enemies that would not that I, and etc.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Luk 19:11. And as they heard these things Namely, that salvation was come to Zaccheuss family; he added, and spake a parable From this we gather, that he spake the parable in Zaccheuss house; because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and they thought, &c. Because his followers were accompanying him to the royal city, in expectation that the kingdom of God would immediately appear, and with a resolution to assist him in erecting it, he spake this parable, wherein he showed them their duty, described the true nature of the kingdom of God, and taught them that it was not immediately to appear. The parable, says Dr. Doddridge, considered in this view, as suited to the circumstance of time, and to the case of those to whom it was delivered, will appear a most wise and seasonable admonition; and by neglecting the instruction it was designed to give them, the Jews deservedly brought ruin on themselves.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

9. The Parable of the Pounds: Luk 19:11-27. Luk 19:11. The Introduction.

We have already observed in the multitudes (Luk 14:25, Luk 18:38, Luk 19:1-3), and even in the disciples (Luk 18:31; comp. with Mat 20:20 et seq.), the traces of an excited state. Luk 19:11 shows that it went on increasing as they approached Jerusalem. The profound calmness and self-possession of Jesus contrasts with the agitation which is produced around Him.

The words , as they heard these things, and , He added, and spake, establish a close relation between the parable of the pounds and the preceding conversation. But we need not conclude therefrom that this parable was uttered as a continuation of the conversation. It may, indeed, have been so merely in respect of time (Luk 19:28). The relation indicated by the introduction is purely moral: the so striking contrast between the conduct of Jesus toward Zaccheus, and the generally received ideas, was such that every one felt that a decisive crisis was near. The new was on the eve of appearing; and this imminent revolution naturally presented itself to the imagination of all in the form in which it had always been described to them. The word , immediately, stands first in the proposition, because it expresses the thought against which the parable following is directed. The verb , to appear, answers well to the great spectacle for which they were looking.

That Luke himself deduced this introduction from the contents of the parable, as Weizscker supposes, is not impossible. But up to this point we have too often recognised the historical value of those short introductions, not to admit that Luke’s source, from which he took the parable, contained some indication of the circumstances which had called it forth.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

THE RETURN OF JESUS WITH HIS GLORIOUS KINGDOM

Luk 19:11-27. This wonderful, inspiring, conclusive, unmistakable, glorious parable was delivered to the multitude by our Savior, in front of the house of Zaccheus, Saturday evening before His crucifixion the following Friday. It is so plain that I do hope every reader will understand and profit by it, as many of the Lords dear people have not yet received light on His second and glorious coming. We have no doctrine to give you. We are only endeavoring to expound the Word of the Lord as the blessed Holy Spirit reveals it. And they, hearing these things, proceeding He spoke a parable, because He is nigh unto Jerusalem, and they are thinking that the kingdom of God is about to appear immediately. That He will be crowned King of the Jews at the oncoming Passover, which is to open the ensuing Sabbath, they are all fondly and eagerly anticipating. Having waited three years, they see plainly that a momentous crisis is at hand. Having no light on the bloody tragedy looking Him in the face, they are vividly contemplating the coronation scene for which they have been praying ever since His mighty works had convinced them that He must be the Christ of prophecy. You will see plainly from this parable that the connection abundantly justifies the conclusion that the glorious coronation, which they regarded as at that time pending in a few days, is to take place at the second coming, it being His mission during His first advent to suffer and to die; but in the second, to conquer and to reign.

Then He said, A certain nobleman went away into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. Herod the Great having died while the infant Jesus was in Egypt, Archelaus, his eldest son, succeeding him, went away from Jericho, as his father died there, to Rome, a great journey for that day fifteen hundred miles to receive the kingdom of Judea from the hands of Augustus Caesar, the Roman emperor, and return to reign over the Jews. But as the Jews didnt like him, they sent an embassy after him, beseeching the emperor not to crown him king. Consequently the emperor, to their unutterable surprise and disappointment, sent them no king; but turned Judea into a Roman province, sending them Coponius to serve as proconsul, thus taking away their kingdom indefinitely. Though he did not know it, God was in it fulfilling the prophecy, that the scepter shall depart from Judah…. when Shiloh comes. This transaction was vivid in the memories o the people who heard Him, and forcibly illustrates the case, because at that time Rome ruled the whole world, and no king could reign anywhere unless the emperor crowned him. So all the kings of the earth had to go to Rome to receive their kingdom before they could return to their own country and reign. Now we all know that Jesus Himself is the nobleman, who, instead of reigning at that time, went away to heaven to receive His kingdom, and return, illustrating most conclusively the patent fact that the kingdom He is to receive in heaven is special, and, in some important respects, different from the kingdom of grace which He brought with Him on His first advent. Our Lord soon went away to heaven, and is still there. But He is certain to receive this kingdom from the hands of His Father and come back. This conclusion is irresistible, unless you flatly contradict the Savior. I believe Him without the shadow of a doubt, and am constantly looking out to see Him coming back in the glory of that kingdom which He went up to heaven to receive, and return to earth to reign, as this conclusion is irrefutable, from the fact that it was then exemplified throughout the world, all kings going to Rome to receive their kingdom from imperial Caesar, and return with their kingdom to reign over the land given by the emperor. The analogy of this parable clearly warrants the conclusion that our Lord has gone away to heaven to receive a kingdom, and return and reign over this world. More errors in interpretation arise from spiritualizing the literal, and literalizing the spiritual, than any other source. Lord, help us to leave everything where Thou hast put it! If it is literal, let it so remain; if spiritual, let us all say, Amen! Though our Lord certifies that His kingdom is not of this world, yet it by no means follows that it may not have dominion over this world. He rules all other worlds without a rival, and is going to cast out Satan and extend His glorious dominion over all this world.

And having called his ten servants, he gave to them ten pounds, and said to them, Operate until I come. Ten is a prominent representative number in the Bible, being a convenient multiple of hundreds, thousands, millions, etc. The mnaa, or mina, translated pound, was worth fifteen dollars. You see that he gave the money to his servants; i.e., his own people.

And his citizens hated him, and sent an embassy after him, saying, We do not wish him to reign over us. This was literally verified, right there at Jericho, in the case of Archelaus, within the memory of that audience. Hence the parable must have been very forcible with those people. N.B. The citizens here differ widely from his servants the latter being his disciples, and the former the people of this wicked world. How signally is this item of the parable verified this day! The people of the world are panic- stricken at the thought of Jesus coming back. They are glad He is gone, and hope that He will never return. Even the worldly Churches are so horrified at the thought of the Lords return that they will not tolerate the proclamation from their pulpits.

And it came to pass that he returned, having received the kingdom, and said that those servants to whom he had given the money should be called, that he might know what each one had accumulated. And the first came, saying, Lord, thy pound has gained ten pounds. And he said to him, Well done, thou good servant; because thou wast faithful in the least, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound has gained five pounds. And he also said to him, Be thou ruler over five cities. And another came, saying, Lord, behold thy pound, which I had laid up in a napkin; for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up what thou hast not laid down, and thou reapest what thou hast not sown. And he says to him, Out of thine own mouth I condemn thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knowest that I am an austere man, taking what I have not laid down, and reaping what I have not sown. Wherefore didst not thou indeed give my money to the bank, and having come, I would have received the same with the product? Usury, in the E.V., is all objectionable translation of toko, which is from ticto, to produce, and has no such a meaning as unlawful interest, but simply the normal production of the money. Every investment, if judiciously managed, produces something. Money is no exception to commercial investments. The meaning of this passage is, that the man should have judiciously invested the money, instead of secreting it away where it brought no stipend to the proprietor. Of course, the estimation of his lord as an austere, unjust man was utterly false, the fault being in himself. Though a servant, you see that the lord denominates him wicked, thus showing up his character as a counterfeit disciple, parallel with the case of the tares growing among the wheat. Of course, these three reports sample all the balance, concerning whom we have no statement.

And he said to the bystanders, Take the pound from him, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. And they said to him, Lord, he hath ten pounds. I say unto you, that to every one that hath, it shall be given; and from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath. Here we see a beautiful recognition of the great law of spiritual thrift. Money is magnetic. If you have it and use it judiciously, it will attract from all directions and accumulate. It is so with everything. The soil of the frugal farmer is getting richer and more productive all the time; while that of his profligate, indolent, or injudicious neighbor is constantly wearing out and washing away. Thus, in both temporal and spiritual things, we see people moving with great expedition to diametrically opposite destinies.

Moreover, these my enemies, who do not wish me to rule over them, lead them hither, and slay them before me. Here we have the awful destruction of Armageddon, deluging the world with rivers of blood, and heaping it with mountains of the dead, the great tribulation, such as the world never saw before and will never see again. The flood was terrible, destroying all the world except one family. The plagues in Egypt, winding up with the desolations of the destroying angel, slaying the first-born in every home, and culminating in the destruction of Pharaohs army in the Red Sea, was awful. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, a million of people perishing by sword, pestilence, and famine, and a million more being sold into slavery, was an ordeal terrific in the extreme. Yet the indescribable calamities of all former ages will not be comparable to the unutterable woes which shall come upon this densely-populated earth in the last days. God made this world and has the sole right to rule it. With the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews, B. C. 387, the last vestige of the Theocracy evanesced from the earth, human rule supervening, and being perpetuated in all lands down to the present day; but destined to be overthrown and utterly exterminated in the great tribulation, when the enemies of our Lord, who are opposed to Divine rule and conservative to human government, shall all be slain. (Dan 7:9) Here you see the adumbratory light on the Divine administration which shall cover the whole earth in the glorious coming kingdom, flashing out in the case of these two samples of our Lords service of those who shall prove faithful during His absence, diligently investing and utilizing His pound, which is committed to all of His servants. You see that the one who had quintupled his money, received the same loving congratulation as the mall who had centupled the pound committed to his care. However, we find each one rewarded according to his industry and thrift the ten-pounder receiving the government of ten cities, and the five-pounder only five. Certainly the natural conclusion is very plain and simple. Our Lord is going to rule this world, in the glorious coming kingdom, through the instrumentality of His transfigured saints, among whom we find an endless diversity of reward.

Of course, none but carnally-minded people will apprehend the administration of the Millennial Theocracy from a selfish standpoint. In the realm of grace, the more we have, the more there is for others. After the multitude ate the loaves and fishes, there was vastly more left than all they began with. Even so in our Lords glorious kingdom, the more you receive, the more will be left for others. O what a thrilling inspiration to diligence, application, humility, frugality, industry, and perseverance! Let every one resolve to gain ten pounds, and receive the government of ten cities and the intervening country. I certainly would recoil from the responsibility of explaining away this plain and unequivocal parable of our Lord. O what a privilege to be one of His servants, and receive the pound from His hands, with all the encouragements of heavenly bliss and eternal felicity, on the one side, to inspire indefatigable energy, assiduity, and heroism; and on the other side, the awful incentives of hell and damnation to goad us up, and keep us, on precipitate wing, for truth, righteousness, holiness, and heaven! I certainly pity the exegete who shall undertake to emasculate, enervate, and explain away the lesson of this beautiful and unmistakable parable.

Saying these things, He was going before them, marching up to Jerusalem. Four times it has been my privilege to travel that same road from Jericho to Jerusalem. O how fond memories, on the wing of inspired history, did fly back to the days of yore, when Jesus walked along that road, accompanied by His disciples, and followed by the thronging multitude!

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 19:11-27. Parable of the Talents (Mat 25:14-30*).There are some differences in the two versions. In Lk. the man of Mt. becomes a prince who (like the sons of Herod the Great) journeys (to Rome) to have his title and dominions confirmed. So Jesus departs to heaven to be invested with the Messianic Kingdom. All the servants (ten in number) receive the same endowment (contrast Mt.), a pound (mina, 100 drachmae, say 3, 15s.; Mt.s talent was worth 60 min). The protest of the citizens (Luk 19:14) had an historical precedent in the deputation of fifty Jews that besought the Emperor not to instai Archelaus on the throne of Juda. Similarly the claim of Jesus had been objected to. Lk. may be thinking of the refusal of the Jews to recognise the Risen Jesus as the Messiah. The reward (Mat 5:12*) of faithful service is association in rule; cf. Mat 19:28. Luk 19:27 stands related to the parable much as Mat 25:30* does to Mt.s version; with it contrast Mat 5:44. A comparison of the two forms suggests that Lk. has grafted another parable on to that of the talents. Luk 19:11 shows that the main teaching is (as in Mt.) the duty of using in the best possible way the interval (which may be long, despite the entry into Jerusalem) before the Parousia.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 11

Should immediately appear; should immediately be established, as a worldly kingdom, at Jerusalem, whither they were going.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

19:11 {4} 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.

(4) We must patiently wait for the judgment of God which will be revealed in his time.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

7. The parable of the minas 19:11-27

This parable serves in Luke’s narrative as a conclusion to the section on salvation’s recipients (Luk 18:9 to Luk 19:27). It provides something of a denouement (i.e., a final unraveling of the plot) following the excellent example of Zaccheus’ faith and the summary statement describing Jesus’ ministry. In this teaching to the people who were observing his meal with the tax collector, Jesus taught several important lessons. He repeated His coming rejection and future return, and He clarified the time when the kingdom would appear. He also explained the duty of His disciples during His absence from the earth. Both the nation of Israel and the disciples had duties to Jesus. This parable summarizes Jesus’ teaching on this subject.

The parable also prepared the people for the postponement of the kingdom. Most of the people who believed on Him expected it to arrive when Jesus reached Jerusalem. This teaching should have dispelled those hopes.

This parable is similar to the parable of the talents that Jesus gave later in the Olivet Discourse (Mat 25:14-30). However that one lacks the emphasis on the rejection of Jesus that was appropriate for the mixed audience that Jesus addressed in Zaccheus’ house (Luk 19:27).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The connection between Jesus being almost at Jerusalem and the kingdom appearing immediately implies that the believers in the crowd expected Jesus to begin the kingdom when He arrived there. Jesus had just told Zaccheus that salvation had come to his house that day (Luk 19:9), but salvation would not come to Israel for some time. Even though the Son of Man had come to seek and to save the lost (Luk 19:10), the national deliverance of Israel would have to wait. What follows is another of the many passages in Luke that records Jesus’ teaching about the future.

"In Luk 19:11 the disciples are pictured as expecting something that should have been and could have been apart from the rejection of Jesus. But because of this rejection, the messianic kingdom for Israel does not come immediately, as the disciples mistakenly hoped. We see that in Luke-Acts the problem of eschatological delay is intertwined with the problem of Jewish rejection." [Note: Tannehill, The Narrative . . ., 1:260.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

-39

Chapter 23

THE ESCHATOLOGY OF THE GOSPEL.

COIFI, in his parable to the thanes and nobles of the North Humber country, likened the present life of man to the flight of a sparrow through one of their lighted halls, coming out of the night, and then disappearing in the dark winter whence it came; and he asked for Christianity a candid hearing, if perhaps she might tell the secrets of the beyond. And so indeed she does, lighting up the “dark winter” with a bright, though a partial apocalypse. It is not our purpose to enter into a general discussion of the subject; our task is simply to arrest the beams of inspired light hiding within this Gospel, and by a sort of spectrum analysis to read from them what they are permitted to reveal. And-

1. The Gospel teaches that the grave is not the end of life. It may seem as if we were stating but a truism in saying this: yet if a truism, it perhaps has not been allowed its due place in our thought, and its restatement may not be altogether a superfluous word. We cannot study the life Of Jesus without noticing that His views of earth were not the views of men in general. To them this world was everything; to possess it, even in some infinitesimal quantity, was their supreme ambition; and though in their better, clearer moments they caught glimpses of worlds other than their own, yet to their distant vision they were as tile twinkling stars of the azure, far off and cold, soon losing themselves in the haze of unreality, or setting in the shadows of the imposing earth. To Jesus earth was but a fragment of a vaster whole, a fragment whose substances were but the shadows of higher, heavenlier realities. Nor were these outlying spaces to His mind voids of silence, a “dark inane,” without life or thought; they were peopled with intelligences whose personalities were as distinctly marked as is this human “Ego,” and whose movements, unweighted by the gyves of flesh, seemed subtle and swift as thought itself. With one of these worlds Jesus was perfectly familiar. With heaven, which was the abode of His Father, and immeasurable hosts of angels, He was in close and constant correspondence, and the frequent prayer, the frequent upward looks tell us how near and how intensely real the heavenly places were to Him. But in the mind of Jesus this empyrean of happiness and light had its antipodes of woe and darkness, a penal realm of fearful shadow, and which, borrowing the language of the city, He called the Gehenna of burning. Such were the two invisible realms, lying away from earth, yet closely touching it from opposite directions, and to one or other of which all the paths of human life turned, to find their goal and their self-chosen destiny.

And not only so, but the transition from the Seen to the Unseen was not to Jesus the abrupt and total change that it seems to man. To us the dividing-line is both dark and broad. It seems to us a transmigration to some new and strange world, where we must begin life de novo. To Jesus the line was narrow, like one of the imaginary meridians of earth, the “here” shading off into the “hereafter,” while both were but the hemispheres of one round life. And so Jesus did not often speak of “death”; that was too human a word. He preferred the softer names of “sleep” or “exodus,” thus making death the quickener of life, or likening it to a triumphal march from bondage to liberty. Nor was “the Valley of the Shadow” to Jesus a strange, unfamiliar place. He knew all its secrets, all its windings. It was His own territory, where His will was supreme. Again and again He throws a commanding voice across the valley, a voice which goes reverberating among the heights beyond, and instantly the departed spirit retraces its steps, to animate again the cold clay it had forsaken. “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” said Jesus, as He claimed for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob an existence altogether apart from the crumbling dust of Hebron; and as we see Moses and Elias coming to the Mount of Transfiguration, we see that the departed have not so far departed as to take no interest in earthly things, and as not to hear the strike of earthly hours. And how clearly this is seen in the resurrection life of Jesus, with which this Gospel closes! Death and the Grave have done their worst to Him, but how little is that worst! How insignificant the blank it makes in the Divine Life! The few hours in the grave were but a semibreve rest in the music of that Life; the Easter morning struck a fresh bar, and the music went on, in the higher spaces, it is true, but in the same key and in the same sweet strain. And just so is it with all human life”; the grave is not our goal.” Conditions and circumstances will of necessity change, as the mortal puts on immortality, but the life itself will be one and the same life, here amid things visible and temporal, and there amid the invisible and eternal.

2. The Gospel shows in what respects the conditions of the after-life will be changed. In Luk 20:27 we read how that the Sadducees came to Jesus, tempting Him. They were the cold materialists of the age, denying the existence of spirits, and so denying the resurrection. They put before Him an extreme, though not impossible case, of a woman who had been the wife, successively, of seven brethren; and they ask, with the ripple of an inward laugh in their question, “In the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be?” Jesus answered, “The sons of this world marry, and are given in marriage: but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” It will be observed how Jesus plays with the word around which the Sadducean mind revolves. To them marriage was a key-word which locked up the gates of an after-life, and threw back the resurrection among the impossibilities and absurdities. But Jesus takes up their key-word, and turning it round and round in His speech, He makes it unlock and open the inner soul of these men, showing how, in spite of their intellectuality, the drift of their thoughts was but low and sensual. At the same time Jesus shows that their test-word is altogether mundane. It is made for earth alone; for having a nature of flesh and blood, it cannot enter into the higher kingdom of glory. Marriage has its place in the life whose termini are birth and death. It exists mainly for the perpetuation and increase of the human race. It has thus to do with the lower nature of man, the physical, the earthly; but in the world to come birth, marriage, death will be outdated, obsolete terms. Man then will be “equal unto the angels,” the coarser nature which fitted him for earth being shaken off and left behind, amongst other mortalities.

And exactly the same truth is taught by the three posthumous appearances recorded in this Gospel. When they appeared upon the Mount of Transfiguration, Moses and Elias had been residents of the other world, the one for nine, the other for fourteen centuries. But while possessing the form, and perhaps the features of the old body of earth, the glorious body they wear now is under conditions and laws altogether different. How easy and aerial are its movements! Though it possesses no wings, it has the lightness and buoyancy of a bird, moving through space swiftly and silently as the light pulses through the ether. Or take the body of Christs resurrection life. It has not yet become the glorified body of the heavenly life; it is in its transition state, between the two: yet how changed it is! Lifted above the needs and laws of our earth-bound nature, the risen Christ no longer lives among His own; He dwells apart, where we cannot tell. When He does appear He comes in upon them suddenly, giving no warning of His approach; and then, after the bright though brief apocalypse, He vanishes as mysteriously as He came, passing at the last on the clouds to heaven. There is thus some correspondence between the body of the old and that of the new life, though how far the resemblance extends we cannot tell; we can only fail back upon the Apostles words, which to our human ear sound like a paradox, but which give us our only solution of the enigma, “It is raised a spiritual body”. {1Co 15:44} It is no longer the “natural body,” but a supernatural one, with a spiritual instead of a material form, and under spiritual laws.

But taking the Apostles words as our baseline, and measuring from them, we may throw our lines of sight across the hereafter, reading at least as much as this, that whatever may be the pleasures or the pains of the afterlife, they will be of a spiritual, and not of a physical, kind. It is just here that our vision sometimes gets blurred and indistinct, as all the descriptions of that after-life, even in Scripture, are given in earthly figures. And so we have built up before us a material heaven, with jasper walls, and gates of pearl, and gardens of perennial fruits, with crowns and other palace delights. But it is evident that these are but the earthly shadows of the heavenly realities, the darkened glasses of our earthly speech, which help our dull vision to gaze upon glories which the eye of our mortality hath not seen, and which its heart cannot conceive, except dimly, as a few “broken lights” pass through the dark lenses of these earthly figures. What new senses may be created we do not know, but if the body of the after-life is “a spiritual body,” then its whole environment must be changed. Material substances can no longer affect it, either to cause pleasure or pain; and though we may not yet tell in what the delights of the one state, or the pains of the other will consist, we do know that they must be something other than literal palms and crowns, and other than material fires. These figures are but the stammerings of our earthly speech, as it tries to tell the unutterable.

3. Our Gospel teaches that character determines destiny. “A mans life,” said Jesus, when rebuking covetousness, {Luk 12:15} “consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” These are not lifes noblest aim, nor its truest wealth. They are but the accidents of life, the particles of floating dust, caught up by the stream; they will be left behind soon as the sediment, if not before, when they reach the barrier of the grave. A mans possessions do not constitute the true life, they do not make the real self, the man. Here it is not what a man has, but what a man is. And a man is just what his heart makes him. The outer life is but the blossoming of the inner soul, and what we call character, in its objective meaning, is but the subtle and silent influence, the odor, as we might call it, fragrant or otherwise, which the soul unconsciously throws out. And even in this world character is more than circumstance, for it gives aim and direction to the whole life. Men do not always reach their goal in earthly things, but in the moral world each man goes to his “own place,” the place he himself has chose, and sought; he is the arbiter of his own destiny.

And what we find to be a law of earth is the law of the kingdom of heaven, as Jesus was constantly affirming. The future life would simply be the present life, with eternity as its coefficient. Destiny itself would be but the harvest of earthly deeds, the hereafter being only the after-here. Jesus shows us how while on earth we may lay up “treasures in the heavens,” making for ourselves “purses which wax not old,” and thus becoming “rich toward God.” He draws a vivid picture of “a certain rich man,” whose one estimate of life was “the abundance of the things which he possessed,” the size and affluence of his barns, and whose soul was required of him just when he was congratulating it on the years of guaranteed plenty, bidding it, “Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry”. {Luk 12:16-22} He does not here trace for us the destiny of such a soul-He does this in another parable-but He pictures it as suddenly torn away, and eternally separated, from all it had possessed before, leaving it, perhaps, to be squandered thriftlessly, or consumed by the fires of lust; while, starved and shriveled, the pauper soul is driven out from its earthly stewardship, to find, alas! no welcome in the “eternal tabernacles.” In the appraisement of this world such a man would be deemed wise and happy, but to Heaven he is the “foolish one,” committing the great, the eternal folly.

The same lesson is taught in the parables of the House-builders {Luk 6:47} and of the Talents. {Luk 19:12} In each there comes the inevitable test, the down-rush of the flood and the reckoning of the lord, a test which leaves the obedient secure and happy, the faithful promoted to honor and rewards, passed up among the kings; but the disobedient, if not entombed in the ruins of their false hopes, yet all shelterless from the pitiless storm, and the unfaithful and slothful servant stripped of even the little he had, passed downwards into dishonor and shame.

In another parable, that of the Rich Man and Lazarus, {Luk 16:19-31} we have a light thrown upon our subject which is at once vivid and lurid. In a few graphic words He draws for us the picture of strange contrasts. The one is rich, dwelling in a palatial residence, whose imposing gateway looked down upon the vulgar crowd; clothed in garments of Tyrian purple and of Egyptian byssus, which only great wealth could purchase, and faring sumptuously every day. So, with perpetual banquets, the rich man lived his selfish, sensual life. With thought all centered upon himself, and that his lowest self, he has no thoughts or sympathies to spare for the outlying world. They do not even travel so far as to the poor beggar who is cast daily at his gate, in hopes that some of the shaken-out crumbs of the banquet may fall within his reach. Such is the contrast-the extreme of wealth, and the extreme of poverty; the one with troops of friends, the other friendless-for the verb shows that the hands which laid him down by the rich mans gate were not the gentle hands of affection, but the rough hands of duty or of a cold charity; the one clothed in splendid attire, the other not possessing enough even to cover his sores; the one gorged to repletion, the other shrunken and starved; the one the anonymous Epicurean, the other possessing a name indeed, but naught beside, but a name that had a Divinity hidden within it, and which was an index to the soul that bore it. Such were the two characters Jesus portrayed; and then, lifting up the veil of shadows, He shows how the marked contrast reappears in the after-life, but with a strange inverting. Now the poor man is blessed, the rich in distress; the one is enfolded in Abrahams bosom, the other enveloped in flames; the one has all the delights of Paradise, the other begs for just a drop of water with which to cool the parched tongue.

It may be said that this is simply parable, set forth in language which must not be taken literally. So it is; but the parables of Jesus were not merely word-pictures; they held in solution essential truth. And when we have eliminated all this figurative coloring there is still left this residuary, elementary truth, that character determines destiny that we cast into our future the shadow of our present selves; that the good will be blessed, and the evil unblessed, which means accursed; and that heaven and hell are tremendous realities, whose pleasures and whose pains lie alike deep beyond the sounding of our weak speech. When the rich man forgot his duties to humanity; when he banished God from his mansion and proscribed mercy from his thoughts; when he left Heavens foundling to the dogs, he was writing out his book of doom, passing sentence upon himself. The tree lies as it falls, and it falls as it leans; and where is there place for the unforgiven, the unregenerate, for the sensual and the selfish, the unjust and the unclean, but somewhere in the outer darkness they themselves have helped to make? To the sensual and the vile heaven itself would be a hell, its very joys curdling into pain, its streets, thronged with the multitudes of the redeemed, offering to the guilty and unrenewed soul but a solitude of silence and anguish; and even were there no final judgment, no solemn pronouncement of destiny, the evil could never blend with the good, the pure with the vile; they would gravitate, even as they do now, in opposite directions, each seeking its “own place.” Wherever and whatever our final heaven may be, no one is an outcast but who casts himself out, a self-immolator, a suicide.

But is it destiny? It may be asked. May there not be an after-probation, so that character itself may be transformed? May not the “great gulf” itself disappear, or at least be bridged over, so that the repentant may pass out of its penal but purifying fires? Such, indeed, is the belief, or rather the hope, of some; but “the larger hope” as they are pleased to call it, as far as this Gospel is concerned, is a beautiful but illusive dream. He who was Himself the “Resurrection and the Life,” and who holds in His own hands the keys of death and of hades, gives no hint of such a posthumous palingenesis. He speaks again and again of a day of test and scrutiny, when actions will be weighed and characters assayed, and when men will be judged according to their works. Now it is at the “coming” of the Son of man, in the glory of His Father, and with a retinue of “holy angels”; now it is the returning of the lord, and the reckoning with his servants; while again it is at the end of the world, as the angel-reapers separate the wheat from the tares; or as He Himself, the great Judge, with His “Come ye,” passes on the faithful to the heavenly kingdom, and at the same time, with His “Depart ye,” drives from His presence the unfaithful and unforgiven into the outer darkness. Nor does Jesus say one word to suggest that the judgment is not final. The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, whatever that may mean, shall not be forgiven, {Luk 12:10} as St. Matthew expresses it, “neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.” The unfaithful servant is “cut asunder”; {Mat 12:46} the enemies who would not have their Lord to reign over them are slain {Luk 19:27}; and when once the door is shut it is all in vain that those outside cry, “Lord, open to us!” they had an open door, but they slighted and scorned it, and now they must abide by their choice, outside the door, outside the kingdom, with the “workers of iniquity,” where “there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” {Luk 13:28}.

Or if we turn again to the parable of the Rich Man, where is there room for “the larger hope?” where is the suggestion that these “pains of hell” may be lessened, and ultimately escaped altogether? We listen in vain for one syllable of hope. In vain he makes his appeal to “father Abraham”; in vain he entreats the good offices of Lazarus; in vain he asks for a momentary alleviation of his pain, in the boon of one drop of water: between him and help, yea, between him and hope, is a “great gulf fixed that none may cross.” {Luk 16:26}

“That none may cross.” Such are the words of Jesus, though here put in the mouth of Abraham; and if finality is not here, where can we find it? What may be the judgment passed upon those who, though erring, are ignorant, we cannot tell, though Jesus plainly indicates that the number of the stripes will vary, as they knew, or they did not know, the Lords will; but for those who had the light, and turned from it, who saw the right, but did it not, who heard the Gospel of love, with its great salvation, and only rejected it-for these there is only an “outer darkness” of eternal hopelessness. And what is the outer darkness itself but the darkness of their own inner blindness, a blindness which was willful and persistent?

Our Gospel thus teaches that death does not alter character, that character makes destiny, and that destiny once determined is unalterable and eternal. Or, to put it in the words of the angel to the seer, “He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and be that is holy, let him be made holy still”. {Rev 22:11}

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary