POUNDS
POUNDS
(CP Lu 19:11-27) In many respects it is very similar to the parable of the talents in Mt 25, yet it is so different. Jesus spoke the parable of the talents to His disciples, this to the crowd. This was spoken in Zacchaeus the tax collector's house at Jericho after his conversion, just before Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem (CP V8-10). The parable of the talents was spoken later, on the Mount of Olives (CP Mt 24:3). In the parable of the talents there are only three servants involved who each received a different number of talents according to their several abilities. In this parable there are ten servants and they all received the same amount. There is a variety of stewardship in the parable of the talents, here all are alike responsible. This is the key to the distinctive teaching in the two parables. Here all of us are responsible to God for certain things which have been committed to each one alike, but there are also varieties of gifts and graces as in the parable of the talents (CP Ro 12:3-8; 1Cor 12:1-11). There are two reasons why Jesus spoke this parable: firstly, because He was nearing Jerusalem, which signified that the end of His earthly ministry was at hand - Jerusalem was symbolized in the parable by the nobleman's citizens who said "we will not have this man to reign over us" (CP Mt 27:21-25; Jn 1:11; 15:18). The nobleman symbolized Jesus Himself - and secondly, because the crowd with Him thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear and Jesus wanted them to know that there would be an interim between His first and second coming.
The parable sets out what Christians are to do until Jesus comes back to establish His millennial kingdom - His thousand year reign on earth. The word "occupy" in V13 in the King James Version means be busy, do business, trade with. This is a specific command that has to be obeyed. The pound which all the nobleman's servants alike were given, represents the word of God all Christians alike have been given (CP 2Cor 5:17-19), and as the servants had to trade with the pound for the nobleman's profit, so too Christians have to do the work of God's word for the advancement of His kingdom (CP Mt 28:18-20; Mk 16:15-16 with Ac 1:7-8; 2Cor 5:17-20; Jude 3). The servant who hid his pound had the same excuse for not investing it as the servant who hid his talent in Mt 25, and both lost what they were given as a result. It was taken from them and given to the servant who already had the most (CP Mt 25:24-30; Lu 19:20-26). The simple teaching here is that worthy Christians will be rewarded while unworthy Christians will be punished - doers of the word will be saved while merely hearers will be lost (CP Mt 7:21-27; Ro 2:13; Jas 1:22-25; 2:14-26; also Jn 14:15 with 1Jn 2:3-5).
Clearly Jesus, Paul, James and John all teach here that only doers of the word are justified before God, and that those who hear the word and do not do it will forfeit their place in His kingdom, yet there are many in the contemporary church who teach that the servants' punishment for not trading with their masters' goods in the parables merely translates to loss of rewards in heaven for Christians who do not do the work of God's word. But that is not what Jesus teaches as we shall see once more (CP Mt 12:30). Jesus makes it quite clear here that there is no neutrality in the Christian walk: if Christians are not actively involved in doing the work of God's word for Christ, then they are actively involved in doing the work of the devil in opposition to Christ. That is what this passage means: if we are not doing the work of God then we are doing the work of the devil, and it is hardly likely that those who do the work of the devil in this life will rule and reign with Christ in the next life. The dominant idea in this parable is of a time of trial which must needs come between the departure and return of our Lord to prepare the judgement which shall fix the position of every man in the state of things which shall follow the second coming (CP Mt 16:27; Rev 22:11-14).
GOOD SHEPHERD
(CP Jn 10:1-9) This is an extension of Jesus' teaching in Ch 9. Jesus told this parable as a sequel to the behaviour of the chief priests and Pharisees after He opened the eyes of the blind man in Ch 9 (CP Jn 9:1-7, 35-41). Jesus is illustrating by the parable that the chief priests and Pharisees are false shepherds. They claimed insight but were spiritually blind, missing the point completely in Jesus' healing of the blind man. In their blindness they could not see Jesus as the Lord who is the Shepherd (CP Psa 23). When Jesus said that all who came before Him were thieves and robbers He was referring to the religious leaders of Israel who had only ever cared about themselves, and not the spiritual good of the people (CP Isa 56:9-12; Jer 23:1-6; Eze 13:22-23; 22:23-29; 34:2-10; Zech 11:15-18 with Mt 23:1-7, 13-33 [also Lu 11:42-52] Jn 10:11-14). The religious leaders of Israel were hypocrites. They not only rejected God's offer of salvation for themselves, but hindered others from accepting it as well (see also comments on Lu 11:46 and Jn 10:10).
That concludes this study on the parables of Jesus. It is not an exhaustive study - some Bible scholars list more than 100 sayings of Jesus as parables - but what we have learned from our examination of the 46 parables listed here should enable us to better understand the other sayings of Jesus in scripture.
These Studies by Br Val Boyle may be downloaded and freely distributed but not sold for profit.