Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 19-20.

There are two aspects of the Parable of the Ten Minas (as the translators title that parable here) that I want to focus on.  One of them I am not sure I ever noticed before.  In the version of this parable which Matthew recounts, three servants received different amounts of money to manage.  Here in Luke, ten servants each received the same amount.  This puts a completely different perspective on the story, as Jesus only notes the outcomes for three of the ten.  This puts a completely different understanding of what this means.  Jesus doesn’t tell us what results the other seven had, I think we are to consider the one who invested and got a return of 10 minas and the one who hid it and gave his Lord back the mina he had been given with no return to both be outliers.  As a result, the one who earned ten minas is outstanding.  He did not start with any more than anyone else.  He just put in extra effort.  While the one who earned nothing looks even worse, because he had just as much to work with as the one who earned ten.  Finally, it seems like the majority did something similar to the one who earned five, but some of them may have only earned one.  In any case, only the one who did nothing with what he was given received punishment.

I have noticed the other thing I want to write about today, but I never thought it mattered.  In addition, I do not recall anyone ever commenting on it (except maybe in passing).  The man who gave out the money to his servants was going to a distant country to have himself made king, but the people of that distant country hated him and sent him a message saying that they did not want him to be king.  Yet, he was made king despite their objections.  First I want to point out that the man was going to have himself appointed king.  He was not called by someone in that distant country to come and be king.  He took the initiative to go and get himself made king over that country.  Second, the people of that country rejected him as king, but he was made king anyway.  I felt like as I spelled out this part of the parable to which we usually pay little or no attention I would come to some understanding about what message it added to the parable.  So, while I did not come up with why Jesus included this detail to the parable, I think it is important that we look at such details.  There is a reason Jesus, and Luke, included those details, when the time is right the Spirit will reveal it to us.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 19-20.

I have always loved the story of Zacchaeus.  He could not see Jesus over the crowd, so he went ahead and climbed a tree in order to see over the heads of those lining the streets.   When Jesus got to where Zacchaeus sat in the tree, He called him down so that He could eat at Zacchaeus’ house.  While everyone else around condemned Zacchaeus for his sinfulness, not without reason, Jesus welcomed his desire to change.  Let us similarly welcome those who desire to turn away from their sinful lifestyle.

However, I want to write about something in the Parable of the Ten Minas which Jesus told.  In the version given here the man who handed out the money to his servants for them to manage had been called away to be crowned king of a foreign country.  I am unsure that I have ever heard, or read, someone comment on that portion of this parable.  Some of those who were to be the subjects of this individual rejected him as king, but he was crowned king anyway.  Then, after taking the mina (coin) away from the servant who failed to invest it, he ordered those who rejected him as king to be killed.  Having taken the time to summarize this part of the parable, I understand why we pay so little attention to it: it is hard to see what to make of it.  But I think I understand why Jesus brought up the enemies of the king in this telling of the parable.  By doing so, Jesus distinguished between a servant of the king who failed to properly use the resources which the king gave him and those who completely rejected the king.  The lazy servant remained in the king’s service, but those who rejected him were put to death. I think we see here something which Paul expands on in 1 Corinthians 3. While the lazy servant did not receive the rewards which the more diligent servants received, he also did not receive death.  Of course, better yet to be a diligent servant of our Lord.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 19-20.

I want to start by writing about Jesus going to Zacchaeus’  house.  We are not given much information about Zacchaeus, just that he was a short man, a tax collector, and wealthy.  We also know that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus as He passed through Jericho.  W do not know why Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, did he hope to see Him perform a miracle, was he just curious what this man everybody was talking about looked like?  In any case, Jesus rewarded Zacchaeus for his curiosity by inviting Himself to Zacchaeus’ house, something which Zacchaeus would never have had the gall to do.  And I think this gives us a hint into Zacchaeus’ motive: he wanted to know more about Jesus, but “knew” that he, a terrible sinner, could never get close to this righteous man .  When people condemned Jesus for associating with someone like Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus was inspired to transform himself (or perhaps, was transformed).   Jesus pointedly acknowledged Zacchaeus’ transformation.  I believe that Luke is contrasting Zacchaeus’ reaction to Jesus to that of the ruler who had approached Him in the previous chapter; the ruler who was unwilling to give up his wealth to gain salvation.

Jesus followed up on Zacchaeus’ declaration by telling the parable of the ten minas.  This parable bears a close resemblance to the parable of the ten talents recounted by Matthew, but with a key difference I never noticed before today.  In Matthew, the ten talents were divided up among three servants and we were told what each did with their talents.  Here, each servant is given a mina (a coin) and we are only told what three of them accomplished with the mina they were given.  Many people believe that both parables are the same one, just remembered differently by the Gospel writers (or their sources).  However, it strikes me that the sum total of what the four Gospels report of what Jesus said is not very much for a man who taught regularly over a period of three years.  So, I suspect that the differences between Matthew and Luke stem from the fact that they were actually reporting different parables which Jesus taught at different times for somewhat different purposes.  In this parable all of the servants started out equal.  One worked really hard with what he was given and achieved great results, another worked hard and achieved good results, but one did not put in any effort and achieved nothing.  While the first received a greater reward for his hard work than the second, he was praised no more than the second.  Only the third who made no effort was reprimanded.  And it is worth noting that except for the mina which had originally been given to the third servant, most of the “reward” the first servant received was more work.  Being given cities meant he had to govern and manage those cities, meant a lot of work.  Our reward for working hard and obtaining good results from the resources God has given us is the expectation that we will work even harder with the greater resources He gives us.

The saying which I paraphrased in the title is often used as a cautionary tale.  If we truly understand what God has done for us, we should indeed consider being given more and harder tasks by God to be a reward.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 19-20

The story of Zacchaeus has some interesting characteristics.  As children, Zacchaeus is presented as an example because he strives to overcome his limitations in order to see Jesus.  As adults, we look at Zacchaeus because Jesus’ presence in his life causes him to turn it around. The story of Zacchaeus really does provide us with a lot of important lessons.  The self-righteous wanted nothing to do with Zacchaeus because of his blatant sinfulness.  Yet ,despite his well-deserved reputation, and the knowledge that he was looked down upon by the righteous, Zacchaeus sought to see Jesus.  Then Jesus did the fateful thing, He accepted Zacchaeus.  In His acceptance, Jesus did not sugar-coat Zacchaeus’ sins, He did not downplay them.  He merely said that He had come to seek and save the lost.  Like Zacchaeus, we should seek to see Jesus, and we should do whatever is in our power to make recompense for the sins we have committed.  But, also, like Jesus we should accept sinners without accepting their sin.  When sinners seek Christ, let us make sure to show them that He has been seeking them.  Zacchaeus did not stop sinning in order to approach Christ, he stopped sinning when Christ came to him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  

Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 19-20

As a child, the story of Zacchaeus was one which was retold often as a children’s Bible story.  I am unsure what made it such a success as a children’s story.  Perhaps it was the fact that Zacchaeus needed to climb a tree to see over the crowds, something children can sympathize with.  Whatever the reason, the story does have some basic lessons for us. 

1. 1. 1. an eagerness to find God will be rewarded.
      Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus called out Zacchaeus by name.
      2. God accepts us where we are.
      Jesus went to Zacchaeus house before Zacchaeus changed his ways.
      3. Showing people love and honor while they are still sinners can transform them.
      In response to Jesus coming to his house, Zacchaeus promised to give half of his wealth to the poor and to compensate those whom he had cheated.