Reflective Bible Study

As we continue moving through our year of podcasting through Luke’s gospel, we come to a challenging parable Jesus shares about a man leaving to become king. While Matthew has a parable that is similar to this one, Luke’s version of this parable has a little more detail, and Luke’s parable contains a powerful truth we would be wise to pay attention to.

With that said, let’s dive into our passage for this episode and discover some things Jesus wants us to learn from this parable He shared while moving towards the cross.

Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 19, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 11, Luke tells us:

¹¹ While the people were listening to these things, Jesus told them a story. He was near Jerusalem. The people thought that God’s kingdom was going to appear right away.

Let’s pause really briefly after this first verse to draw our attention onto the reason Jesus shared this parable. Luke tells us Jesus shared this parable specifically to those people who believed God’s kingdom was going to appear right away. While it is clear looking back on this event that God’s kingdom appearing has been delayed, many of those living in that era believed God’s kingdom would arrive in full force within their lifetime.

To answer this belief, Jesus shares the following parable. Continuing in verse 12:

¹² Jesus said, “A man from an important family went to a country far away. He went there to be made king and then return home. ¹³ So he sent for ten of his slaves. He gave them each about three months’ pay. ‘Put this money to work until I come back,’ he said.

¹⁴ “But those he ruled over hated him. They sent some messengers after him. They were sent to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵ “But he was made king and returned home. Then he sent for the slaves he had given the money to. He wanted to find out what they had earned with it.

¹⁶ “The first one came to him. He said, ‘Sir, your money has earned ten times as much.’

¹⁷ “ ‘You have done well, my good slave!’ his master replied. ‘You have been faithful in a very small matter. So I will put you in charge of ten towns.’

¹⁸ “The second slave came to his master. He said, ‘Sir, your money has earned five times as much.’

¹⁹ “His master answered, ‘I will put you in charge of five towns.’

²⁰ “Then another slave came. He said, ‘Sir, here is your money. I have kept it hidden in a piece of cloth. ²¹ I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in. You harvest what you did not plant.’

²² “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you evil slave! So you knew that I am a hard man? You knew that I take out what I did not put in? You knew that I harvest what I did not plant? ²³ Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.’

²⁴ “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his money away from him. Give it to the one who has ten times as much.’

²⁵ “ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten times as much!’

²⁶ “He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more. But here is what will happen to anyone who has nothing. Even what they have will be taken away from them. ²⁷ And what about my enemies who did not want me to be king over them? Bring them here! Kill them in front of me!’ ”

In this parable, we discover some powerful, challenging truths.

Two big truths we can easily pull out of this parable are that Jesus will be crowned King, regardless of the wishes of Jesus’ enemies and that we are not judged on how long it takes for Jesus to return, but on what we choose to do with what He has given to us in His absence.

In many ways, this is a parable that is just as applicable for us living today as it was for those living in the first century when Jesus shared it. We are living in a time that still looks forward to when Jesus returns, and this means that this parable gives us a picture of what God is expecting from us.

While it would be easy to look at this parable and conclude that God simply wants us to multiply our money, or to look at Matthew’s version of this parable, which uses the word talent, and take that to mean we should multiply our talents and skills, allow me to share a different angle on this passage. This different angle is incredibly powerful and one you might not have thought of.

In other places in the gospels, and earlier this year of podcasting, Jesus challenged His followers to not worry and to store up their treasures in heaven where thieves cannot steal it and where it won’t erode or decay. We learned that we store up treasure in heaven when we intentionally serve others with what Jesus has given to us.

While business at its core is an exchange of service between two people, the only treasure that will truly last is treasure that is stored in heaven.

Part of me wonders if when Jesus returns as King, we will be asked how well we used what God blessed us with to serve and help others. While not clearly alluded to in this parable, it is suggested in the rewards that this new king gives his faithful servants. The servant who multiplied his money by ten times is given 10 towns to care for, and the servant who multiplied his money five times is given five towns to care for.

Being in charge of a location or a group might feel like a great status symbol, but those who understand the position well understand that it is a position of service above most everything else. When people “look up to you” it is because you are able to serve them in some way, and they benefit when you choose to serve. In this parable, while the clear focus is on multiplying money, I suspect that money is really a metaphor and symbol representing service and storing money in heaven.

The last servant who chose to do nothing with his money offers it back to the king, but with it being hidden and not used, it didn’t collect interest and it wasn’t all that valuable. With inflation, it was actually worth less than before. This last servant represents people who are blessed by God who choose to not bless others with what God has given them. When Jesus returns as king, they get to fumble for words when asked what they did with what God has blessed them with and they will ultimately lose out on the reward they could have had.

In this parable, the soon-to-be-king challenges each of his servants equally. While we may not always feel equally blessed, understand that in God’s eyes, we have all been given much more than we could ever realize, and God has challenged us to use what He has blessed us with to bless others. If you don’t know what God has blessed you with, don’t believe you were missed. Choose to be a blessing for others in any way that you know how and I am positive God will reward you when Jesus returns!

There is no question in this parable whether Jesus will become King. The only open question in this parable is what you will do with what God has blessed you with while Jesus’ return is still in the future!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to be a blessing to others in any way you know how. Whether blessing others involves giving money or simply helping when help is needed, resolve to help others because God has blessed us in more ways than we can even imagine.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God each and every day. Through the pages of the Bible, discover just how much God loves you and what Jesus was willing to go through to show you God’s love. Discover in the Bible how to accept Jesus’ sacrifice and how to truly love and bless others in a world where these ideas have become foreign.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or hide from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue in our journey through prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, we turn our attention back onto a portion of a longer prophecy about the Messiah’s life, death, and mission. While we have touched briefly on this prophecy a number of times earlier during our year podcasting through Jesus’ life, this prophecy includes a fascinating detail about the company Jesus would keep while He was buried.

Let’s read this excerpt from Isaiah’s prophecy, and discover what we can about Jesus’ time in the grave. Our prophecy and passage are found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, and we will read from the New American Standard Bible translation. In verse 9, Isaiah writes:

⁹ His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

In this verse, Isaiah, draws our attention to two interesting details. First, the grave of the Messiah would be assigned with wicked men. On one hand, this is not surprising, because, aside from Jesus who lived a perfect life, everyone else who could have been buried with Jesus or assigning a grave to Him would be sin-stained – or perhaps described using the word wicked.

However, it is interesting that even with this designation, Isaiah, draws attention to Jesus being with a rich man, and the reason for this is because He had done no violence and no deceit was in His mouth.

Before diving in to how amazing these lines are in this verse, let’s move forward and read what happened to Jesus’ body after He had given His last breath.

Reading from Matthew, chapter 27, and starting in verse 57, we learn that:

⁵⁷ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.

One thing I find amazing in this short description of Joseph from Arimathea is that we know almost nothing about Him from Matthew’s gospel. However, even with the minimal knowledge that we do have, we can see some amazing details framing how God stepped into the picture in what many might call the darkest part of history.

First off, if we imagine for a minute that Joseph had not shown up, or that he had not requested Jesus’ body, the likely outcome for Jesus’ corpse was that He would be tossed with all the other criminals into a common ditch grave with many other corpses. It is also possible, though I don’t recall how common it was at the time for the corpses of political enemies to have been tossed into a fire to be cremated. Either way, without Joseph from Arimathea stepping in to request Jesus’ body, the first line of Isaiah’s prophecy would have been the end of his description: “His grave was assigned with wicked men”. Because of the death Jesus faced, His body did not warrant any special treatment from those who were wicked.

However, because Joseph stepped in requesting Jesus’ body, we see a direct fulfillment of the second statement in Isaiah’s prophecy: “Yet He was with a rich man in His death”. I find it amazing that no details are given about the rich man Jesus would be with in His death, but it is amazing that every description of Joseph from Arimathea we read describes him as a rich man. Either Joseph was ridiculously wealthy, or all the gospels want to draw our attention to how his presence in Jesus’ burial directly fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy.

Moving to the last two lines of Isaiah’s prophecy, we discover something amazing when looking closely at these details. Isaiah frames the last idea in this prophetic verse by saying: “He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

In the last two phrases of this verse, we see a powerful idea hinted at regarding Jesus’ sacrifice. With the way this prophecy is written, the simple fact that Joseph stepped in with the gift of a tomb, validated Jesus’ sacrifice as being accepted by God. Isaiah writes that because the Messiah had done no violence, and because He had never said anything deceitful, He would be buried with the rich. In a subtle way, God the Father validates Jesus’ sacrifice immediately following His death by directing the details of this event to allow for a rich man to ultimately bury Jesus and fulfill this prophecy. By bringing Joseph into the picture, God the Father validated Jesus’ ministry as one that did no violence, and as one that was not deceitful in any way.

This is incredible to think about. While the disciples were hiding for their lives, and while the religious leaders were plotting what to do next, God the Father was validating Jesus’ sacrifice leading into the opening of that year’s Passover celebration.

While many people didn’t realize it at the time, Joseph from Arimathea also stepped in with the perfect gift at the perfect time. Through Joseph’s gift of a tomb, the stage was set for the resurrection, and everyone who was interested in paying attention would have a clear place to look. While the religious leaders were interested because they wanted to keep the disciples from stealing the body, and while Satan was interested because he wanted to keep Jesus in the tomb, everything about crucifixion weekend pointed forward to Jesus’ sacrifice being accepted, and an impossible-to-stop resurrection on the third day.

Joseph from Arimathea shows up at exactly the right time with the perfect gift for the occasion. This detail tells us that God knows the future, and with whatever happens in this life, we can know that God has orchestrated all the details towards saving you and me for eternity.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and purposefully trust God with whatever the future holds. Know and believe that God knows the future and that with whatever tomorrow holds, God has prepared the best possible outcome. God’s ultimate goal is saving you, me, and as many people as possible for eternity.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow your personal relationship with God. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters have ideas to share, take everything you read, hear, and see and compare it with the truth found in the Bible. The Bible has stood the test of time, and it has tucked within it everything we need to know to grow a personal relationship with God.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or ignore where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!