And also he said to this one, ‘You will be over five cities.’
Luke 19:19
Authority is an interesting concept in Scripture. Here this servant is given the five cities to have ‘authority’ over. Does this mean dictatorial / monarchical type rule? No, that is not consistent with what we know of Scripture. Instead the authority in view is representative more than anything. This master knows he can trust this servant to be his representative.
In spite of the smaller number of cities, this servant is given a lot to be responsible for. The trust is no less real.
Does this mean that in the future kingdom of heaven we will rule over cities? Well, we do not know as much as we think about the future. But what we do know is that the kingdom of Christ is not the same as the kingdoms of this world. They are but a pale shadow in comparison. Thus, the servants of Christ need not focus on dreams of grand rule, but of humble service.
Heavenly Father, thank You for working in our lives even when we cannot see the next step as clearly as we would like. We see that You are active in this world, but also in our lives. The comfort we must take, is not in the next step, but Who will take it with us! Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.