In
Luke there is a wonderful parable Jesus teaches at the home of Zacchaeus, the
chief among the publicans. Now the
Scriptures does not say, but I believe the disciples were there. As a child in
Sunday School I remember being told the story of how little, short Zacchaeus climbed up in a sycamore tree
because he wanted to see Jesus a noble desire.
Jesus saw him in the tree and said come down because today I must abide
at your house. And of course Jesus took a lot of grief from the religious folks
(probably the disciples too) because they said He (Jesus) was eating with a
sinner (ain't we all), but Jesus said, "And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also
is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost." (Luke 19:9-10) This was in keeping with Jesus'
maximum effort to minster to only the Jewish people. Jesus' time on earth was
not to minister to the Gentiles, but to the lost house of Israel, sons of Abraham. We see this truth in Matthew when Jesus sent
out the 12 disciples, "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and
commanded them, saying, Go not
into the way of the Gentiles, and into any
city of the Samaritans (half Jewish) enter
ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at
hand." (Matthew 10:5-7) as a matter of fact Jesus only
ministered to two Gentiles; the Centurion in Matthew 8:5-10 and in Mathew
15:21-24 where a Gentile lady's daughter was grievously vexed with a devil and of
course Jesus cast the demon out, but first in verse 24 Jesus says, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." From Genesis 12:3 (when the Covenant with
Abraham and the entire (past, present, and future) Jewish people was
established) to Romans 1:1 (where Paul began to share the Gospel of grace
through faith) that entire swath of Scripture is written about and written to
the Jewish people. All of the parables and stories in the Gospel are about "the lost sheep of Israel," but that does not mean we today cannot glean
some truth and learn from the parables and
stories. So too this truth is the
parable in Luke 19:11-27 we will take a look at. In the parable the players are the nobleman
Jesus, the servants the nobleman's workers (maybe us), and the citizens the
Jewish people. Let us look at portion of the parable, "He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten
pounds (each got one pound), and said
unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated
him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.15 And it came to pass,
that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these
servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he
might know how much every man had gained by trading." (Luke 19:12-15) So Jesus calls His servants (maybe us) before
He goes away, gives us money, talent, abilities, resources, capabilities, and
then says, "Occupy till I
come." Now notice the
word "Occupy" is capitalized in mid sentence. Also notice the nobleman (Jesus) did not tell
the servants what to do when they "Occupy"
He left their occupying up them. But we know when the nobleman comes back (after
He receives the kingdom) He takes stock of each servant and rewards them according
their faithfulness to Him. Sadly this parable plays out in the lives of so many
Christians today. They are busy occupying for themselves in their lives, living
for themselves, planning for the future, scheming up ways to get ahead, but not
occupying for the nobleman. Jesus really
lays it on the line in Luke 16 when He says to the disciples (maybe us), "He that is
faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is
unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not
been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true
riches? 12 And if ye
have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that
which is your own?" (Luke
16:10-12)
Did you get that? If you have not
been faithful in little things, insignificant things you will not be faithful
in big things. If you have not been faithful with "unrighteous mammon" things like: money, houses, cars,
God given talents and abilities then "who
will commit to your trust the true riches?" ("riches" added).
Now Karen and I are NOT followers of American Idol, but the #1 common
denominator with most of all of the winners is they started singing in church.
God gave them a talent, but they were unfaithful to God and used His talent in
the secular world to make money. What
are the true riches? Money, fame, power,
authority, etc. No my friend the true
riches of God are: peace, joy,
longsuffering, health, etc. and "who"
will give these to you if you have not been faithful with "unrighteous mammon?"
These my friends are riches that are only found in God. I like the next verse, if you are not faithful
with "another man's" things
"who shall give to you that which is
your own? If you cannot take care of
your boss' stuff, his duties and goods, the house you rent, relationships "who will give you that which is your own?" Only God can
give you things that nobody can take from you if you have been faithful with "another man's." Until then
everything you have is up for grabs by the world. I have friends who are praying for God to
give them a better car, a bigger house, a new job, but are perplexed why their
prayers are falling on deaf ears, well why should God give them something
bigger and better when they have not used what God has already given them for
His glory? The word "Occupy" in Luke 19:13 is from the Greek #4231 and means
busy one's self with trade, not work. We are to be busy doing things in our
lives not for ourselves, but for the glory of God. We are to trade our time,
resources, home, cars, abilities, etc. for the purposes of God to see people
come to the LORD. What a winning trade off!
We are to trade our leisure time for the time we spend with God. Our
occupying here on earth should be used to share the Gospel message with family,
neighbours, co workers, strangers, enemies, whoever. Our home should be a place
where people can come to hear the Scriptures revealed. Our cars, trucks, SUVs, etc. should be used
to carry people to our home, a good church, the doctor's office, the market, as
Jesus said, "as you are going make
disciples" in Matthew 28:19. We need to open up our homes (like
Zacchaeus did) to make a place for the sharing of the Gospel have it be in a
Home Group Meeting setting or one on one.
Now in Luke 19:16-27, we see where all of the servants were given 1 pounds
(verse 13) by the nobleman and had to give account how they handled it in the
absence of the nobleman. The first servant was given 1 pound and now has 11
pounds and was given rulership over 10 cities. The second servant increased the
nobleman's worth by five pounds (now 6 pounds) and was rewarded rulership over
five cities. Another servant came and presented one pound which means he no
increase for the nobleman who was wrought because of the servant's
unfaithfulness so he took the pound and gave it to the first servant who now has
11 pounds. As a matter of Scripture this servant did not even try to trade the
nobleman's money verse 20 says he kept it laid up in a napkin fearing the nobleman
because he was an austere man. Do you see a pattern here? But the nobleman gave
pounds (G#3414 mina, a certain weight equal to three months salary) to 10
servants. I wonder what happened to the
other seven servants? Maybe the servants
were unfaithful like the last servant and lost ALL of the nobleman's money we just
do not know, but it looks and smells like 4/5th of the servants were
unfaithful. Sounds like today. The servants were to trade (occupy) the
nobleman's money for rewards which were based on their faithfulness not the
increase of money. Of course Jesus again is talking about the servants receiving
their rewards when Jesus sets up the kingdom.
This was Jesus' plan when He came to earth. He would proclaim the
kingdom of God is at hand and the Citizens (the Jewish people) would crown Him
their Messiah, but as we saw in verses 14 they said they hated the nobleman and
would not have him reign over them. We know the Citizens rejected Jesus and
even crucified Him. So God had to insert 2,000+ years (the age of grace) into
His timeline, but do not worry this parable will come to pass for His servants
in the Millennium. Now the point is the servants were to trade the pound God
gave them for future rewards. Their occupation was not working for man, but working
for God and for future rewards. They were to be trading (occupying) one gift
for a greater gift. You know we stand on
the threshold of the year 2021 and what we did for God in 2020 will soon be
sealed for all eternity, but the question I have is how will we occupy in
2021? Will we be about trading what God
has given us in 2020 and the past for greater rewards in 2021 and beyond? The choice is ours. Will we occupy till He comes? It looks like to me many Christians believe
Jesus is not coming back in their life time and the world could care less, but
I believe Jesus is coming back maybe soon and maybe in my life. I do not know when and I do not want to know
when all I want to do is be ready when He comes calling and occupy till He
comes. What will happen then? I really do not know. I think the very best
we can do when it comes to future things in God is to be very careful with
things we have been told by people and just do all that we can do to be ready.
Then when He comes just go along for the ride. You know my thoughts and heart
is on the 4/5th of the servants who were unfaithful. WOW I believe 8 out of 10 were unfaithful or
the nobleman would have commented on them. The trend was down hill by way of
service. Maybe the eight servants stole
the pound after all it was not about the money but about the service and future
rewards, trading (occupying) a given gift for future gifts. I guess there is
nothing new under the sun. It was a
shame then and is a shame today. In the
future then what shall we receive then? Well
I cannot answer that question either, but I know what we receive will depend on
just how faithful we want to be to the nobleman. Written
by David Stahl
