Ventured Capital (Luke 19:11-27)

THE VENTURED CAPITAL (Luke 19:11-27)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2017

Marriage is an investment that will pay dividends if nurtured properly, like giving attention to one particular day each year:

"Honey," the wife asked her husband, "did you remember what day this is?" "Yes," he answered, "It's our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary." She inquired further, "And did you get me a gift?" "I did," he replied. "Well, what did you get me?" With obvious satisfaction at his foresight, he said, "I bought you a beautiful plot at the "Green Acres Cemetery." ...That was not the kind of gift she had in mind to mark their anniversary, but it was probably expensive, so she thanked him and left it at that. A year later, she posed the question again, "Honey, did you remember what day this is?" "Yes," he answered, "It's our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary." She inquired further, "And did you get me a gift?" "I did not," he replied. "Why not," she asked, amazed at his apparent insensitivity. "Because," he responded... "you didn't use the gift I got you last year."

Marriage is an investment that will pay dividends if nurtured properly. A relationship with God is also an investment that will pay dividends if nurtured properly, as Jesus describes in a parable: The Ventured Capital.

 

Although Jesus' reputation in first century Judaism as a renowned teacher won him invitations to some high society functions, he also mingled with less reputable elements.¹ One of those less reputable elements was tax collectors.² For example, Luke records: "Zacchaeus...was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.... Jesus...said to him, "Zacchaeus....I must stay at your house today." So he...welcomed him gladly. (19:2, 5-6) This fraternizing with such a dubious character raised some concern among Jesus' religious colleagues, which he speaks to in part during the meal with this parable of The Ventured Capital.³

 

I. Jesus addresses the imminence of the kingdom (Luke 19:11-15a).

A. The king begins his journey (vv. 11-12).

• He accepts the invitation to his coronation.

Luke 19:11 He went on to tell them a parable, because...the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.

When Jesus tells a parable he often depicts himself and his audience in the story, as he does here. The "man of noble birth" represents Jesus (Marshall 1978:702), who will one day assume the position of king over God's realm. He hinted at his messianic identity earlier in the ministry:

• When he demonstrated authority "to forgive sins" (5:24)
• When he claimed to be "Lord of the Sabbath" (6:5)
• When he performed numerous miracles: "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised" (7:22)
• When he exercised power over nature by making a storm "calm" (8:24)
• When he sent a legion of demons into a herd of "pigs" (8:34)
• When he fed over "five thousand" (9:13) at one time
• When he predicted his death and resurrection "to life" (9:22)
• When he promised to return "in the glory...of the holy angels" (9:26)

It is no wonder he will be called "King of kings" (Rev 17:14; 19:16).

B. The king instructs his servants (Luke 19:13).

•  He expects a return on his investment.

Luke 19:13 He called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.⁴ 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.'

The "servants" of the king represent Jesus' disciples, who have the task of promoting his agenda until he returns to reign. They will begin with certain resources for which those servants will have to account: "We will all stand before God's judgment seat.... 12 Each of us will give an account of himself to God." (Rom 14:10c, 12)⁵ That day of reckoning will be the day of his return. Until then his servants are free to use those resources as they see fit, but they should keep in mind the time limit (culminating with his return).

C. The king contradicts his subjects (Luke 19:14-15a).

• He enforces an acceptance of his authority.

Luke 19:14 "But his subjects [different from his 'servants'] hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.' 15a "He was made king, however, and returned home.

The "subjects" of the king represent the religious leaders who oppose Jesus and who resent his ascendency.⁶ If possible, they would discredit and dismiss him as irrelevant. Their best chance to do that is if none of the crowd following him has witnessed any of his miracles first-hand.

 

Application: This parable is a reminder that there are two sides and only two sides in the cosmic struggle between good and evil. A person is either on God's side or he is not. There is no middle ground, no fence to straddle. Some people may claim to be neutral, but they are not, and they delude themselves to think otherwise. Daniel and Matthew (quoting Jesus) make the alternatives clear:⁷

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt (Dan 12:2).

The [wicked] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matt 25:46).

However much people may hope for a third option, there are only two, and those people will face that Rubicon sooner than they think: "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Heb 9:27).

 

Having dealt with the "subjects" of the king, the story turns back to the "servants" of the king and to their respective assignments.

 

II. Jesus addresses the investments of the kingdom (19:15b-27).

• The return need not be a lot, but it must be something.

A. The servants relate their success (vv. 15b-26).

1. One earns ten and a reward (vv. 16-17).

Luke 19:15b Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. 16 "The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina [a day's wage] has earned ten more.' 17 "Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'

When the master returns from his journey he calls for his subjects to report to him their progress, and he is pleasantly surprised by the first statement: a ten-fold increase. "Well done, my good servant!" the master commends him. Your reward is to oversee "ten cities."

2. One earns five and a reward (vv. 18-19).

Luke 19:18 "The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.' 19 "His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.'

The second statement is again good—a five-fold increase—with a comparable reward: "five cities."

3. One earns none and a rebuke (vv. 20-26).

Luke 9:20 "Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.' 22 "His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?' 24 "Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.' 25 "Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!' 26 "He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.

The third statement is not good. Afraid of his master's displeasure should he make a bad investment, the third servant wanted to be safe, so he hid the money. Consequently, his master saw no return, even the modest interest a bank would pay. What the third servant feared, his master's displeasure, actually happened. He lost even what little he had. For a subject of the kingdom, this loss of one's reward in the kingdom, while regrettable, is not a loss of one's place in the kingdom.⁸

 

Some might argue that giving the one mina to the servant who already had the most is not fair, but God is not necessarily interested in fairness. He is more interested in holiness, and in the advancement of His plan. He apparently saw the servant with the most as being the most "capable" on that front (Marshall 1978:708).

B. The subjects receive their retribution (Luke 19:27).

Luke 19:27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."

Returning to the status of the "subjects," the king reveals that their opposition to him makes them his enemies, and he treats them accordingly, by eliminating them.

 

Notice the two groups that did not please the king and their different treatment. On the one hand is the "servant" who disappointed his master and hid the mina. He presumably kept his life (although he lost his money). On the other hand is the "subject" who defied the master. He lost his life (as well as his money).⁹

 

Notice also what Jesus identifies as most important is not that these servants are successful, although in his estimation, some are. He commends them because they are faithful ("trustworthy").¹⁰ They invested what he gave them as he expected them to do. The chief difference between the servants he commends and the servant he condemns is that the former did something with what he gave them, while the latter did nothing.¹¹ The parable does recognize varying abilities and proclivities. Our Declaration of Independence not withstanding, all men are not "created equal"—that is, with identical capacity to succeed, even if they set their minds to it: hence, their different results and correspondingly different rewards. Both faithful servants, however, received considerably more the second time than they did the first time.

 

Application: What will be the nature of your reward? Because this is a parable, you cannot assume what the servants received is what you will receive, but there is a common thread in several reward passages, hinting that the nature of your reward is a position of authority.

• Jesus describes it here as authority over cities.
• Jesus describes it elsewhere as authority over people.¹²
• Paul describes it as authority over angels.¹³

...and there may be even more to your reward.

 

You may think, "That's all well and good, but what you call more authority sounds a lot like more responsibility, and I've got plenty of that in this life. Expecting more of the same in the next life is not a big attraction. What happened to the 'rest from your labor' (Matt 11:28) part of heaven?"

 

The most important part in your eternal state may not be what you will get but what you will see. Once kept even from the high priest when he entered the most holy place once a year was a view of the Almighty. This was for the priest's protection because, as God said to Moses, "No one may see me and live" (Exod 33:20).¹⁴ That restriction will no longer be in effect after the Messianic Age, at which point, you "will see his face" (Rev 22:4a).¹⁵

 

A relationship with God is an investment that will pay dividends if nurtured properly, as Jesus describes in this parable of The Ventured Capital. The lesson here is that there will be reward for faithful service and loss for unfaithful service (Marshall 1978:708). You are in the investment stage now, and there will be an accounting of how well you nurtured your relationship when Jesus returns. How well are you doing? What kind of dividends will you get on this investment?

 

For the Bibliography and Endnotes see the pdf here.