Sermon Central
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How Is Your Life Invested?
Contributed by Mark Aarssen on Jun 19, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: God has made a great investment in us so that we might make a great investment in others. Bringing others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is where we should invest our time and energy. God will examine the books to see if we made a profit for Him.
How is your life invested?
I’m always fascinated about how many different conclusions people can come to about God’s word. This is especially obvious when you read and study the Parables of Jesus.
There is great temptation to take the words of Jesus and make them say what we want them to say instead of letting them speak for themselves.
Today we look at just such a parable in Luke 19:11-27. A similar parable is told in Matthew 25:14-46.
The parable told in Luke is distinctive because Jesus tells it just before He is about to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
If you look at verse 11 you will see that the followers of Jesus thought something was about to happen that was very different from what would play out over the next few days.
“11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.”
We human beings make a lot of wrong assumptions about God and Jesus that are just not true. We do this because we read into Jesus words things that are not there while we miss seeing the truth that Jesus is sharing in plain sight.
Sometimes we can be guilty of misunderstanding something that is very simple by thinking that it must be more difficult than it really is. Sometimes we can look into Jesus words and see the things we want to see instead of seeing the simple truth.
This happens a lot when we examine God’s words with our weak human eyes and minds. That is why we must rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us into the truth that Jesus speaks. Context is the important element in Jesus Parables.
The Dictionary says:
"The parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning The interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs: environment, setting"
What are the interrelated conditions that exist here?
The followers of Jesus now number in the thousands and both the Religious authorities and civil authorities have taken notice. Jesus followers want to proclaim Jesus King of Jerusalem but both the civil and religious authorities fear the results of such an action. Both civil and religious people reject Jesus and see Him as a misguided wandering teacher.
Not a Messiah and definitely not a king.
They have made wrong assumptions about Jesus. But by the same measure the followers of Jesus have made wrong assumptions about Him as well.
The Kingdom of God was not going to appear all at once by Jesus simply riding into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey. It is this “Context” that Jesus explains using the parable.
You will note that Jesus is talking about Himself in verse 12.
Jesus is of noble birth – The Prince of Peace – The only begotten Son of God.
Jesus has left Heaven to arrive in Jerusalem just one of the provinces of His realm.
Jesus has come to Jerusalem to be appointed King and will return.
In the parable the Nobleman calls 10 of His servants. You will notice a distinction between the servants and the subjects. The servants serve the Nobleman and the subjects hated Him. Nonetheless the Nobleman was made King despite the rejection of His subjects.
In calling His Ten servants the Nobleman entrusted them with Ten Minas.
A mina was equal to 1.25 pounds or 0.571 kilograms per mina 18.358 troy ounces of silver.
It is possible that the “Mina” was a single Gold coin worth 18.358 troy ounces of silver. At today’s rates that would be a coin worth $400.00 CDN. About ¼ of an ounce of gold.
Jesus is trying to explain to those listening that He is not going to be made King of Jerusalem at this time but He will return at another time as King.
But in the meantime… to His servants He has given a golden opportunity.
Each of us who has trusted Jesus as our Saviour have been given a golden opportunity.
Jesus will want to know what you have done with that opportunity when He returns.
God the Father has sacrificed His son so that you and I might be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life as servants of His Kingdom.
How are you investing what God has entrusted to you?
Salvation.
Have you shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone?
Have you invested by faith in the things of God?
Have you been a good steward and found ways to increase that which you have been entrusted with?
Has your faith grown?
Are you a Redwood Tree or are you a Deadwood Tree?