Parable of the Ten Pounds - Luke 19:11-28

Leaving Jericho, Jesus and his group go up to Jerusalem for the last time. Jesus knows what pain and agony is coming, and yet he goes anyway. On the way to Jerusalem the people were under the impression that “the kingdom of God should immediately appear.” This just illustrates the point that the Jews at the time had no real concept of what was going to happen. It’s easy for us to look back and analyze what Jesus did knowing that he wasn’t going to set up his political kingdom at that time, but we have 2,000 yeas of hindsight. It appears that Jesus wasn’t in too big of a hurry to explicitly teach them what was going to happen either, and I wonder why. It might have thrown a wrench in the understanding on his disciples because it would have been completely contrary to what they had come to believe their whole lives. It might have gotten in the way of the process of the atonement and how it had to happen, getting people worked up about the timing of things as opposed to having them focus on His teachings that were so important.

To illustrate the timeline of the kingdom of God without explicitly focusing on it, Jesus tells a parable that is difficult for me to understand. It is similar to the parable of the ten talents, where “a certain nobleman” leaves his estate and goes “into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” Before leaving, this nobleman gives each of his ten servants a “pound” each and tells them to “occupy till I come,” meaning according to the footnotes, “do business with my money until I get back.” The difference between the two parables is that this parable adds in that “his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.” Here’s where it gets complicated, his citizenry hates him, and he is later described by one of his servants as “austere man: (who) takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.” This makes it sound like the nobleman is a shady, awful man, and it he is to be the character that represents the Savior, then it’s difficult to connect the two men.

Interestingly, an article entitled, “The Ten Pounds” from Bible.org gives some background that would have been fresh in the minds of those who were hearing this parable at the time, and it sounds oddly similar. The article explains that after Herod the Great died the kingdom was divided up between 3 men, Phillip, Herod, and Archelaus. They had to go to Rome to get the emperor’s approval before they could start their rule. “There were a group of Jews that did not want Archelaus to rule because of his wickedness, ego, etc… There was a group of Jews that went to Rome to see Caeser to complain about Archelaus. Caeser let Archelaus go ahead and take his throne and when Archelaus went back to Judah, he killed all those who had complained. That is the historical background of this story.” Incredibly similar to this parable, and might have struck a little terror in the hearts of those who heard it, because they might have been personally affected by this event, or just the fear of Rome.

The article also points out that the “pound” that each servant is paid is “three months wages. Notice each one is given an equal amount.” Upon the nobleman’s return, the first servant has turned his one pound into “ten pounds” and is commended. The second servant has turned his one pound into “five pounds” and is also commended. But the third servant gave the original pound back to the nobleman saying, “Behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takes up that thou layest not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.” The nobleman is not pleased and tells the third servant basically “you know who I am and knew what I wanted you to do, and yet you didn’t do it. You should have given the pound to the bank so it could collect interest.” The article suggests that letting the money earn interest with the bank might have been what the servant was referring to when he accused his master of taking what he hasn’t earned because interest in one of those things that comes to the owner with out that person needing to work for it.

The “wicked servant” has what was given to him taken away and given to the servant who earned ten pounds. The article points out that it’s significant that the “wicked servant” wasn’t punished, just had the rewards taken away from him. It compares this to the Olympics, saying, “those that win get God, silver and bronze medals. Those that does win, don’t get punished, they just don’t get medals.” That’s what happening here, the servant isn’t punished, he just doesn’t get to keep what he had. Comparing this parable with the parable of the Ten Talents, the article says, “to whomever has, will more be given and whoever does not have, what they have will be taken away.” It’s a “use it or lose it” scenario, discipleship takes constant work, and we must be vigilant to move forward spiritually, otherwise we will begin to slip back.

Then there are the explicit enemies of the nobleman, the ones who sent the message “we don’t want you to rule over us.” When the nobleman returns, those who will not have Him to be their king he commands, “but those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.” This seems like a pretty harsh response, but if we keep in mind that Jesus will personally reign on the earth in his glorified state and the wicked cannot withstand the presence of God, and they will be openly rejecting him, they know what’s coming and chose rebellion over survival. And honestly, it’s simple rule, you can’t keep those who are actively seeking the downfall of the kingdom around to let them destroy everything for everyone. But I will admit that it can be a tough concept.

It’s kind of tough to keep all of the different story lines together and understand them as a whole. From what I am gathering, Jesus is telling this parable saying that he’s going to go away for a while, that all those who have been given the gospel are responsible for preaching to others, and that when He comes back those who have been faithful will be rewarded, and those who have been rebellious will be punished. The three servants demonstrate the various levels of obedience, those who are uber faithful, those who do their best, and those who don’t “act on what (they) knew. What you don’t use, you lose.”

He’s also accusing those who reject Him as their ruler of being enemies to the kingdom of God. The IM says, “The parable of the pounds bears some similarities to the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. Both parables tell of a lord who departs, leaving his servants various sums of money that they are to put to good use. When the lord returns and receives an accounting from his servants, he rewards those who have earned a profit by using his gifts well, but he reproves those who have failed to do so. Thus, both parables teach us to be ready for the Lord’s return by making good use of the gifts and responsibilities He has given us. However, the parable of the pounds teaches additional truths about the Lord’s future millennial reign. The parable implies that Jesus Christ would be rejected in Jerusalem and would not immediately reign there as king. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained the significance of the parable in its historical context: ‘Jesus was enroute to Jerusalem for the last time. In about ten days he would die upon the cross, and to the Jews generally it would appear that he had failed to set up the promised Messianic kingdom. To correct the false concept that ‘the kingdom of God’- meaning the political kingdom, the kingdom which should rule all nations with King Messiah at its head, the millennial kingdom- ‘should immediately appears,’ Jesus gave the parable of the pounds… Christ is the nobleman; the far off country is heaven; the kingdom there to be given him is ‘all power… in heaven and in earth’; and his promised return is the glorious Second Coming, when the literal and visible kingdom shall be set up on earth… The servants are commanded to labor in the vineyard on their Lord’s errand until he returns.”

I really like the summary of the message of this parable from the article which says, “The Messianic Kingdom has been postponed, but the responsibilities of the subjects has not.” I have to be honest, looking forward to the Messiah who will come and overthrow your oppressors would be so difficult, especially if you believed that Jesus is the Messiah and then he dies. I can’t even begin to imagine what that gut-check would be like. I look forward to the Millennium like a bear looks forward to a fish dinner, I am so excited and I think about it quite a bit actually. I couldn’t imagine the hopelessness that would come watching Jesus ascend into heaven while I’m still waiting for him to save us. I am grateful that I am on this end of Jesus’ earthly ministry instead of being closer to when it happened.