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Gospel: Luke 19: 11-28
While people were listening to Jesus speak,
he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem
and they thought that the Kingdom of God
would appear there immediately.
So he said,
“A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’
His fellow citizens, however, despised him
and sent a delegation after him to announce,
‘We do not want this man to be our king.’
But when he returned after obtaining the kingship,
he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money,
to learn what they had gained by trading.
The first came forward and said,
‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’
He replied, ‘Well done, good servant!
You have been faithful in this very small matter;
take charge of ten cities.’
Then the second came and reported,
‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’
And to this servant too he said,
‘You, take charge of five cities.’
Then the other servant came and said,
‘Sir, here is your gold coin;
I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man;
you take up what you did not lay down
and you harvest what you did not plant.’
He said to him,
‘With your own words I shall condemn you,
you wicked servant.
You knew I was a demanding man,
taking up what I did not lay down
and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank?
Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’
And to those standing by he said,
‘Take the gold coin from him
and give it to the servant who has ten.’
But they said to him,
‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’
He replied, ‘I tell you,
to everyone who has, more will be given,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king,
bring them here and slay them before me.'”
After he had said this,
he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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This is a difficult parable to interpret.
Jesus is on the verge of entering Jerusalem, where he will be killed and raised from the dead. With hindsight, we can understand this parable in the context of responsibility. We are living in a time in between Christ’s resurrection from the dead and his return in glory.
Each Christian has been gifted with a coin of “faith.” We know who created – and redeemed – the world. What we do with this knowledge leads to either punishment or reward in the afterlife.
The one who lives out their faith to the fullest will be rewarded ten-fold. The one who does so somewhat will still be rewarded, though less than the first. The one who buries their faith in the sand of indifference will be punished severely.
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I think the real heart of this parable centers around that third person, who takes their faith and buries it.
With hindsight, we can imagine this person to be an indifferent Christian. Although that is a fair interpretation, it’s not who Jesus was thinking of when he first delivered this parable.
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He likely directed it towards the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day. They believed it was their God-given duty to preserve the Law in its entirety by maintaining absolute purity, thus avoiding any contact with the “defiled” or “sinners.”
But they missed the point.
Yes, the Jews were God’s chosen people. But their mission was to take this knowledge and to go out into the world, increasing the size of God’s flock. But they did the opposite; the more “religious” they were, the more secluded they became.
Jesus, on the other hand, went out to the margins. He ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners without ever sinning himself. He expanded God’s reign by preaching, healing, and forgiving.
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This is what he still asks of us today – to learn how to live in a messy world without becoming defiled ourselves; to engage our neighbor; to seek the lost; to love our enemies; to share our faith in word and deed.
Doing so leads to a “ten-fold’ reward in heaven.
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Image credits: (1) Bible Study Tools (2) Amazon.com (3) Israel My Glory