Author: Bill Hall

And it happened, as he came into Bethphage and Bethany, to what is called ‘The Mount of Olives’, He sent two of His disciples,

Luke 19:29

One of the interesting things in Bible study is the translation of names. Bethphage, for example, is a transliteration. The Mount of Olives is a translation. If we transliterated the Mount, it would be called ‘Elaia’ instead. Bethphage translated would be ‘House of Unripe Figs’ and Bethany would be ‘House of Figs’ in contrast.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. We learn so much for our daily lives and can always rely on the Truth we find in the Bible. Your wisdom and understanding are boundless. I praise You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

And He said these things, going ahead, He ascended into Jerusalem.

Luke 19:28

This trip into Jerusalem was a significant one. Jesus knew it, and others caught on. But nobody other than Jesus realized its full meaning or importance at the time. And Jesus knew this would be the case. He went ahead anyhow.

Heavenly Father, You must often be so disappointed in us! And yet, Your mercy and grace have brought the universe to this place and time. You are the Wonder of Wonders! Thank You for Your amazing grace, unfailing love, absolute holiness, and complete wisdom. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

But, those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring here, and slaughter them in my presence.

Luke 19:27

To understand what is being said here we must remember that in this parable the master is meant to represent the Lord Himself. There will be many who reject Christ outright and their destination is the lake of fire. In all of His teaching we never find Jesus sharing anything less than a real hell and heaven.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace by Your Son! Without Christ we have no hope. With Him, we can live in hope, with joy and love to go with it. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

‘For I say to you that to everyone who has will be given, and he who has not, even what he has will be taken from him.’

Luke 19:26

What kind of doublespeak is this? Does he have or does he not have? What is the Lord saying here?

Rewind a bit. This servant was given a Mina. He was entrusted with this money. So he ‘had’ something because something had been given to him. But he had nothing on his own. The other servants were the same, before the gift of the Mina, they had nothing that we are told about. They, however, gained more. Whereas this evil servant still had only what he had been given. He had done nothing to gain by it. So he ‘had’ in the sense that he had been given something. But he ‘had not’ in the sense that he had nothing but what he had been given to begin with.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the truth that You have given us. Thank You for giving us the chance and ability to respond to You and to live in Your way. You are glorious above all! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

But they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten Minas.’

Luke 19:25

Oh the assumptions we make when we don’t understand something! The master’s attendants would rather assume his memory was faulty than to assume he knew exactly what he was doing.

Humanity often has the same problem with God. We make a lot of false assumptions because we simply cannot fathom the facts as they are.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love for us! Even when we insist upon doing unreasonable and foolish things, You love us and seek to win our souls. Your grace is truly amazing! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

And to th attendants he said, ‘Take the Mina from him, and give it to him who has ten Minas.’

Luke 19:24

The unsuccessful servant lost the Mina he had. The choice to give it to the servant with ten Minas was all on the part of the master. But it is consistent with what we see in the teaching of Christ. The blessed will be blessed all the more, while the unfaithful will suffer loss.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your truth. We do not immediately understand it in our finite minds. But by the grace of Your Spirit we may have our minds illuminated. We will praise You for that forever! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

“Why then would you not have given my money to the bank, that when I came I might perchance have it with interest?”

Luke 19:23

The bank would have been a relatively safe place to keep the money as well. Yet, the benefit of the bank was the potential for interest. The servant hardly would have produced exponential gains, but some profit would have been likely.

This servant went to some trouble to justify himself in not doing anything with his master’s money. And yet an easier and better option was readily suggested by his poor excuse for his lack of performance.

Very often we find those who never ‘throw in’ with others in the work of the gospel because they have concerns about the methods or fellow ministers. Though wise use of our resources is good, these folks end up squandering any opportunity they might have to further the kingdom.

Heavenly Father, thank You for making Your Word known to us. You have blessed us with many spiritual blessings. We must not hold ourselves with both hands as tightly as possible. We can proceed with wisdom and in the constant desire for Your glory. Your grace can be shed abroad by us because that is what You have chosen. Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

And he said, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, evil servant. Because you had known that I am an austere man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow;’

Luke 19:22

This servant’s knowledge only made him that much more culpable. It revealed the effort he went to in order to justify himself in doing nothing. The master does not here deny what the servant had said. This indicates that this servant did have an accurate picture of his master. And yet, he still failed miserably in his service.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your great love and care! You know our needs and our weakness. You understand our thoughts, but Yours are so much higher and more wonderful than ours. Thank You for Your truth! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

For I was afraid of you because you are an austere man, taking up what you did not lay down, and reaping what you did not sow.

Luke 19:21

This is one of those verses that can cause confusion if one is not careful. To be austere did not necessarily imply that this master was a crook. What this servant is saying is that he knows his master is going to expect a return on his investments. The servant would have to assume some risk as well.

This master might have planned to come back later to take everything back, without choosing to reward the servants. Or, he may have chosen to demand the full Mina if any part was lost in the attempt to gain by it. Thus, this servant was focused on how his master might be planning to end the arrangement. He did not, however, give thought to how to use his master’s money for good purposes, as did the other servants.

Heavenly Father, thank You for what You have supplied to us. You give us truth and power and peace. We know and see the impact of sin, and that it has not disappeared. But we also know and see the impact of the Son upon this old world. We know that this present darkness is temporary and shall be shattered. We see already the power of Your work among Your people, and we rejoice! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Then another came and said, ‘Lord, look, this is your Mina, which I have reserved in a cloth.’

Luke 19:20

There are those times in our lives when we say things that do not even make sense to us when we say them. But there are also those who think their own intentions are always best regardless of any advice to the contrary.

This servant addresses his ‘contribution’ by first assuring his master that the Mina in question was the same one he had been entrusted with. He reveals that he had gone to some effort to ensure that there had been little chance of loss of his master’s money. Of course, by minimizing the chance of loss, he had also completely removed any chance of gain by way of this grant.

Heavenly Father, thank You for all of the wonderful things You have blessed us with. And may we never miss those blessings by seeking for things we do not need. Godliness with contentment is indeed great gain. I will praise You by risking wealth to gain good fruits. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.