April 1931.
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perience of Archelaus, son of Herod the Great,..who went to Rome with his father, Herod, and asked for the kingdom. His own “citizens” sent an embassy to Caesar. Augustus, pleading for deliverance from Archelaus and all of the Herods. They were not immediately successful. If Jesus had that incident in mind, it served to clearly illustrate the attitude of the Jews, at least of the officials, toward Him. That they hated Jesus, their Messiah, and re fused His authority was evident. The samé attitude toward Christ prevails in the world today. The Lord Jesus has not yet received the kingdom. He refused to take, the kingdoms'of the world from Satan when He was tempted in the wilder ness (Lk. 4:5-8). He must bear the cross before ¡He could take, the crown. II. The Servants and their Service (13). Called ten servants. Literally, “bond servants,” It was quite customary in those days to put slaves into positions of responsibility and authority. Cow them ten. pounds. The word in thé Greek is mina, a corruption of the Hebrew maneh. Its value was one hundred drachmas (cf. 15:8), equivalent to a little more than fifteen dollars. This comparatively small sum was given to test the faithfulness and the ability of the servants in order to dis cover their possible fitness for larger re sponsibilities in the future kingdom. Each was given One pound, illustrating the fact that there are certain gifts'and opportuni ties' which are equally available to every servant of God, Trade ye. Each steward was to engage in Commercial transactions at his own discretion, to increase the mon ey entrusted to him. The purpose of the nobleman was- not so much to get money as it was to develop the character of his’ servants. Till I come. Special stress was laid on; the time of his return, when each stëward would be required to render an account (cf! Matt. 24:48). III. Attitude of the "Citizens’1 (14). His citizens hated him. If those who listened to the parable thought of Arche laus, they would quickly get the point of the parable, for this cruel king began his reign with the massacre of many of Ki's subjects. It has. been supposed thât be cause of .this incident Joseph and Mary, when returning from Egypt, did not go to Bethlehem, but went back to Nazareth (Matt. 2:22, 23). In the parable, these “citizens” represent the Jews, the fellow countrymen of Christ. We will not that this man feign. Contempt was expressed in the words “this man”—literally, “this one.” The persistent hatred of that gen eration is still maintained by Israel as a whole. IV. The Day o f Reckoning (15-24). V. 15. Commanded these servants , to be called. When the noblemán was confirmed in his kingdom, he had a new authority over his servants. So, too, when Christ comes again, He will summon all of His servants to render. account (cf. 1 Pet. 5:1-4; 1 John 2:28). Know what they had gained. The original has a double question ; he sought to know who had made gain and what they had gained. The .examination was thorough and ex acting. V. 16. Hath made ten pounds more » This servant did not say “my pounds” but “thy pounds.” This was evidence of due modesty as well as of faithfulness (cf,
who are to, be trained for places of re sponsibility in his kingdom. The faith less servant with an unused talent was severely punished; the slothful possessor, of a pound merely suffered loss. ’ * ' ♦ * H eart of the L esson I. Setting o f the Parable (11, 12), V. 11. Heard these things. The refer ence is evidently to the things spoken in the home of Zacchaeus concerning salva tion given to him and his house and the purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world
May 10, 1931 The Parable of the Pounds
Lesson'. Luke 19:11-26. Golden T e x t : “It is required in stew ards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2). * * * L esson in O utline 1. Setting of the Parable (11, 12). 1. A wrong idea to be corrected (11). 2. A correct view given (12). a. Noblem an (Christ) go ing away. b. A kingdom to be received. c. The king (Christ) returning.' II. The Servants and their Service (13). 1. A trust given—“pounds.” 2. A responsibility given—“trade.” 3. A time limit—“till I come.” III. Attitude of the “Citizens” (14). 1. Hatred. 2. Rebellion. IV. The Day of Reckoning (15-24). 1. The time—when the king returns (15). 2. The servants summoned (15). 3. The faithful servant (16, 17). a. Gain—ten pounds. b. Commendation—“well done, thou good servant.” . c. Reward—authority over ten cities. 4. The less faithful servant (18, 19). a. Gain—five pounds. b. Reward—placed over five cit ies. 5. The faithless servant (20-24). a. His indolence (20). b. His slander of the master ( 21 ). c. His loss (22-24). V. The Law of Awards (25, 26). * * * A pproach to the L esson '"THERE was great excitement concern- . ing the hope of Messiah’s coming kingdom, not only among the multitudes (cf. 14:25; 18:39; 19:1-3), but also to some degree, amqpg the disciples (cf. 18: 31; Matt. 20 :20, 21). This agitation ev idently increased as Jesus approached Je rusalem (v. 11). Possibly Jesus gave the parable of the pounds with the thought of allaying the excitement and of conveying, particularly to His disciples, light as to the true nature of His kingdom and the tipie pf its manifestation. The similarity between this parable and that of the talents has led some to think that they were but two versions of the same parable. But the weight of evidence is against this supposition. The one was given at Jerusalem and was addressed to the disciples alone; the other was deliv ered at Jericho and addressed to all the people. The one speaks simply of talents committed to servants and of the use made of them; the other has a different setting —there are citizens present who are en emies and upon whom severe punishment falls. The talents represented a large sum; the pound, in comparison,,was. an insignificant amount. In the case of the talents, various amounts were entrusted to the servants; in the other case, only one pound was given to each. In the one parable, a householder distributes talents; in the other, a nobleman who is seeking a kingdom gives the pounds to servants
to seek and to save the lost. Spake a parable. The para ble grew out of the immediate situation -—the excited multi tude, looking for the kingdom, and the murmurings of the
critics who would shut “sinners” like' Zacchaeus out of the kingdom. The pur pose of the parable was to show that those who clairried to be heirs of the kingdom, because they were “sons of Abraham,” and who expected preferment in the king dom, must first come in penitence to be saved and then prove their fitness for ad vancement by faithfulness to the absent' king. Was nigh to Jerusalem. Messianic expectation ran high as Jesus neared Je rusalem, the city of the King. No other city could possibly be the capital of that kingdom for which they were looking. It. was hoped that Jesus would at once take the throne and deliver the people from the cruel Roman yoke. Kingdom . . . immediately to appear. The parable was given to correct a wrong impression and to show that an interval of some length would precede the setting up of the king dom. This implied that the King was to be rejected, not crowned, at Jerusalem. V. 12. A certain nobleman. That is; one of noble birth and high rank, who could properly aspire to kingly authority. The reference is of course to Christ Him self. Went into a far country. Christ went back to the Father’s presence and glory (John 17:1-5). To receive . . a kingdom, and to return. Historians have thought that Jesus had in mind the ex-
Psalm. 138:2 What God hath spoken well demands our time: His blessed Word; Let patient, loving toil search His sublime And blessed Word! Only to meditation is it given, To taste the fullness of this truth from heaven. Exhaustless is Thy new, and new Thy old: Most blessed. Word; Such wealth of folded treasure to unfold, O blessed Word, Demands eternity! helps me to see . How endless life may endless learning be! — Believer's Magazine.
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