Luke 19:12-27
12So he said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. 13He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds, and said to them, “Do business with these until I come back.” 14But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to rule over us.” 15When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. 16The first came forward and said, “Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.” 17He said to him, “Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.” 18Then the second came, saying, “Lord, your pound has made five pounds.” 19He said to him, “And you, rule over five cities.” 20Then the other came, saying, “Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, 21for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.” 22He said to him, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.” 24He said to the bystanders, “Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.” 25(And they said to him, “Lord, he has ten pounds!”) 26“I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.” ’
Blog Discussion Question: Notice that these servants were all given the same amounts, and told to "do business" with it. Also, notice what the last servant did with his money, and what he told the master. So, what's the gripe with the last servant here?
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8 comments:
In relation to yesterday and today's parables I believe that all the talk about using what God has given us to use, our "talents" is important. When we are given "talents" which are not necessarily money and we do not use them, we lose them. If our gifts given are teaching, speaking, music, etc. the more we do them, the more we grow and learn within them and help others to grow as well. However, if we neglect to use the gifts they can deteriorate or be gone. So the last servant who did not invest his money or use it in some way but hide it did not grow the amount of the gift as he was afraid to lose what he had. In reality by not making the investment and taking the risk, he had not allowed his gift to grow and help others in the process. His gripe then could be he did what he felt was right and yet in his humbleness, he missed the opportunity to grow.
It is the most often repeated Christ given command in the New Testament and God given in the Old..."Do not Fear!" It occurs more than references to loving God and your neighbor. The parable today and yesterday demonstrates the absence of effectiveness and accomplishments of the "safety-lover" ("I was afraid"). Faithfulness HAPPENS when we approach everything Fearless!
Do not fear.....didn't realize that the Bible has this more than loving God and loving your neighbor. It could be stated a million times, but FEAR seems to be in abundant supply, doesn't it???? I will be much more aware of the "do not fear" in the Bible than I was before!!!!!
These discussions are real eye-openers, or I should say thought-openers, and I appreciate everybody's input--or thoughtful insights!
I haven't written for awhile, but I do so appreciate reading the comments of those who do. I wonder why he didn't mention the other 7 to whom he gave 10 pounds and what they did. How old were these slaves? Slave #1 may have been a young, energetic person eager to become successful. Slave #2 perhaps was middle-aged. While slave #3 may have reached the twilight of his life and perhaps relished receiving 10 pounds to help him in the last years of his life without having to work so hard. He preferred the safe investment. If he had to return the money, why did it go to #1 and #2, as I thought it was all to be returned to the nobleman anyhow. At my stage of life, I would probably have done the same as #3 and still lost it all. And I agree with "sower" that if we don't use our talents we will lose them. But there again, I do believe age and health make a big difference in what we able/willing to do.
Thanks for the comments...good discussion.
I don't know if you noticed, but there are some significant differences between today's parable and yesterday's.
The money: a talent was 20 years wages, a "mina" was about three month's wages.
The set-up: yesterday, three servants were given proportionate shares of all of the master's property based on their abilities with no specific instructions, today's 10 servants were all given the same amount and told to "do business" with it.
the single returner's action: burying was the "right and safe" thing to do, while wrapping it in a cloth was certainly very irresponsible and unsafe.
the last servant's depiction of the master as "harsh" - there are two different Greek words here...yesterday's meant "getting the best of a deal", today's means "stern and exacting"
Given these differences, it helps us to see that in today's parable, Jesus is opening our eyes to the importance of the work that God has given us to do. The last servant apparently took it very lightly, and thought that he could lie his way through...pull one over the master....but not so.
So, this parable might cause us to ask, how lightly do we take the work that God has set before us to do?
I would Have to say the the third man's gripe was not about the money but about the man who gavehim the money. He was afraid of the harsh backlash that his Lord might do if he lost money. The parable also mentions that the nobleman give ten pounds to ten servents. Only three of them confront the nobleman about their money and the other men try to revolt. the men who revolted got the worste of the punishment. but i would also like to bring up the question of what if the third man tried to make money but failed. Would the nobleman feel compassion or would he treat him harsher than before.
James 2:17 says "in the same way faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." the third man had faith in showing up to the nobleman but had now works to back him up.
Ahh...KevKat...could have the third servant failed?
here's something to spin your mind about....
which servant exceeded expectations in the second parable...the first one...right..all were given the same amount and he came back with the most.
but in yesterday's parable....which servant exceeded expectations.......ah.....I'd say the second one....he/she was given fewer talents because of a lesser ability....and he/she did as well as the first....doubling his/her money.....
so, in yesterday's parable....why was the first servant given the third servant's money? In today's parable it makes complete sense to give it to the first in today's parable.
Who's got any ideas....I've got one....blog later.
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