THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: - Vital Christianity

213WISE AND FOOLISH STEWARDSThe Parable of the Ten MinasLuke 19:11-27Jerusalem is finally in sight, and because the people in general thought the kingdom ofGod would appear immediately, Jesus tells them another parable:“ While they were listening to this, He went on to tell them a parable, because Hewas near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God wasgoing to appear at once” (v. 11).Jericho is not a great distance from Jerusalem, only about nineteen miles, and as Jesusnears the city, the disciples and others expected Jesus to take control of Israel, and to be thepolitical savior of the nation.Matthew has a parable (the Parable of the Talents—Mt 25:14-30) which has strikingsimilarities, but the differences are so clear that there is no possibility that the two are records ofthe same parable. In the parable of the Talents, for instance, each steward receives a differentnumber of talents (5,2 and 1) whereas in this parable all receive the same amount. In the Parableof the Talents each shows the same fidelity by doubling what he received; in this parable eachreceives the same and render a different return. In each parable, therefore, the intended lesson isdifferent.THE PURPOSE (19:11).Passover was coming soon; according to Josephus, more than two million pilgrims wouldpour into Jerusalem shortly, and the air would be heavy with the sense that something big mighthappen. George Macdonald has a pretty rhyme about their confused expectations:“They were all looking for a King,To slay their foes and lift them high.He came a little baby thing,That made a woman cry.”Perhaps the generality of his followers thought that, on his arrival at Jerusalem, he wouldproclaim himself king.