The Parable of the Ten Minas
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September 21, 2014 |
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 "So He [Jesus] said, 'A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, "Do business with this until I come back"'" (Luke 19:12-13).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
Jesus did not speak to people without using a parable and He taught them things hidden since the foundation of the world through parables.
Among them there are two parables many people mistakenly deem identical: the parable of the ten minas and parable of the talents. Each of them carries different spiritual connotation. That of the talents tells us that we will get more of the Lord's recognition to the extent of fulfilling our duties well with spiritual talents given to us. Let's then look into the parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11-27).
1. The spiritual meaning of the ten minas
Luke 19:12 reads, "So He [Jesus] said, 'A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.'" Jesus referred to Himself as 'a nobleman' in this parable. In fact, though He came down to the earth in flesh, He is the Son of God who existed in the form of God. No matter how powerful or wealthy they may be, no one will ever be nobler than He.
He used the expression of 'a noble man', not 'the Savior', because at that time He had not yet fulfilled the providence of the cross.
Even though He had no sin He was hung on the wooden cross so that all people could be saved. On the third day He overcame death and resurrected. He completed His duty as the Savior and ascended into heaven to prepare dwelling places for believers.
The first half of Luke 19:13 says, "And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas…" A mina was worth of about one-sixtieth of a talent, and here the mina represents the Holy Spirit. Just as the ten slaves received one mina each, when people accept the Lord, each of them receives the Spirit with no partiality. Speaking of parable of the talents, some receive two talents while others five, the number of which depends on their faith, hope, and love—the spiritual talents. As for minas, everybody can be given only one mina equally.
After giving the slaves ten minas, the noble man went to a distant country to receive a kingdom. In practice, however, the Lord ascended into heaven first, and then sent the Holy Spirit to people. The sequence of the events seems to be reversed, but this also includes spiritual intention.
In the parable, the noble man gave them ten minas and went to a faraway country to acquire a kingdom. Here it meant Jesus would go to 'the country' to restore the power of believers over the kingdom, not to regain His power over it. In fact, He already had power over the kingdom since it was after His resurrection. However, on the earth, believers still have no power over the kingdom. They must have time to recover the image of God throughout human cultivation while living in this Satan-controlled world. Their royal power will be restored after the end of human cultivation and when the Lord comes in the air.
2. "Do business with this until I come back"
Jesus said in the second half of Luke 19:13, "Do business with this until I come back". He told us to do "business" with the Holy Spirit until He comes back.
Matthew 13:44 reads, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." Here, 'all that we have' symbolizes such things that belong to the flesh as lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and boastful pride of this life. To the extent we 'sell' fleshly things and remove them, our heart-fields will be made better ones. Then whatever we sow, we can bear great fruit. Furthermore, if we fill them with spiritual things, we can enter better dwelling places in Heaven.
To cast off flesh and become a person of spirit, it is 'doing business' in a spiritual sense. The Holy Spirit helps God's children do this spiritual business well. The Spirit in us lets us discover our sins and helps us cast them off when we pray (John 16:8, Romans 8:26).
Simply put, 'doing business with a mina', that is 'doing business with the Holy Spirit', means casting away sinful nature and flesh from our hearts and cultivating them into spirit by the Spirit's help, thereby recovering the image of God.
3. The Lord repays us according to what we've done
The noble man returned after receiving the kingdom and called the slaves to know what business they had done (Luke 19:15-19). The first appeared, saying, "Master, your mina has made ten minas more." And he praised him and gave him the authority over ten cities. The second came, saying, "Your mina, master, has made five minas." And he gave him that over five cities without compliment.
Let's see what each of these situation means: to make ten minas and to make five minas. If one makes ten minas, he has cast off all works of flesh and all things of flesh by the Holy Spirit and achieved sanctification. The Lord praises and gives him the power over ten cities.
"Ten" symbolizes the size of his heavenly dwelling place. One who makes ten minas (who has become sanctified) can enter the 3rd kingdom of heaven. If he is also faithful in all aspects, he can enter New Jerusalem located at the center of the 3rd kingdom of heaven.
Now to the man who made five minas the power was given to rule over five cities. This slave stands for people who practice the Word of God over 50%.
Now another came, saying, "Master, here is your mina which I kept put away in a handkerchief" (Luke 19:20). He said he kept the mina and did no business due to the fear of the noble man since he was a man who required much. Then the noble man reprimanded him saying, "By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?" (Luke 19:22)
This slave symbolizes evil people who neither cast away sins nor struggled against them though they received the Holy Spirit. They just practice the works of flesh and keep things of flesh. They also have misconceptions about God. They may feel that God is just to be feared or just likes to punish people. When they meet with hardship, they say that God struck them.
4. He who has much, will receive more, but from he who has little, even that will be taken away
Jesus told the bystanders to take the mina away from him and give it to the one who had the ten minas. And he added in Luke 19:26, "I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away."
If we cast off all sins and become sanctified through the Spirit, then we are the one who received a mina and made it ten and we also work faithfully for God's glory. Then He will want to fulfill our hearts' desires and give us great blessings.
On the other hand, even as they learn about sins during sermons, those who are evil won't repent. They rather pass judgment on the speaker thinking he pointed them out and even feel uncomfortable. Note that though you have received the Spirit, if you don't follow the desire of the Spirit but keep seeking the desire of flesh, the Holy Spirit in you can be quenched.
Jesus said in Luke 19:27, "But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence." In Jesus' time, there were people who didn't want Him to be the Savior. Now there are still people who do not accept Jesus as their Savior. They are to be put to death in the end and suffer eternally in Hell.
Therefore, if you are blessed to be saved by believing Jesus Christ, you should give thanks for the love of God and keep on doing 'business' until you make more than ten minas by the Holy Spirit. I pray in the name of the Lord by doing so you will be God's true and sanctified children.
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