Bible Study Thread: Luke

[paradox3]

Summary: Luke 19: 11 - 27

Jesus told a parable because they were nearing Jerusalem and because they supposed the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

A nobleman went to a distant country to obtain royal power for himself and then return. He summoned ten of his slaves and gave them ten pounds (ten mina), instructing them to do business with the money until he returned.

The citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying they we did not want him ruling over them.

When he returned, having received royal power, he had the slaves summoned so he could find out what they had gained by trading.

The first had made ten pounds so the nobleman put him in charge of ten cities. The second had made five pounds so the nobleman put him in charge of five cities. The third slave only had his original pound, wrapped up in a piece of cloth. He explained he was afraid because the nobleman was a harsh man, taking what he did not deposit and reaping what he did not sow.

The nobleman demanded to know why the slave did not put the money in the bank, where it would have earned interest. He asked the bystanders to take the pound from the slave and give it to the one who had ten pounds. He said, "I tell you, to all who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."

Then he ordered the slaughter (in his presence) of all those who did not want him to be king.

 

[paradox3]

Reflection: Luke 19: 11 - 27

Luke gives us Jesus telling this parable immediately before the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The parallel story in Matthew places it afterwards.
The Matthew version with the talents is much more familiar to me.

The Gospel according to Luke has some unusual stories and this is certainly a strange one!

The nobleman is indeed a harsh man. His business practices are questionable; his judgement is swift; and his tolerance for those who oppose him is non-existent.

What does it all mean? It seems like more than a lesson in making good use of the resources entrusted to us. (This is the way we usually interpret the story of the talents in Matthew.)

Is it a warning about end times and final judgement? Is the nobleman meant to be God? If so, God is sounding like a bit of tyrant in this text.

Or is the nobleman presented as an example of what not to do? Earlier, Luke introduced us to an unjust judge and a dishonest manager. In her book, Amy-Jill Levine encourages to consider that such characters might have been placed in the narrative as bad examples.

Maybe the message is that God can make use of anything for the sake of the kingdom. Or is this too much of a stretch?

 

[Mendalla]

It is a bit of a paradoxical. After all the talk about giving up to follow him, he drops this:

“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

And the killing of the enemies thing? Yeah. Now, I'm guessing the bolded part is using the minas as a metaphor. Those who have faith will be given more faith type of thing. Killing the enemies also metaphorical? Means that his enemies will be "swept away" when the day comes, figuratively if not literally killing them?

 

[Carolla]

‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

Sounds like Doug Ford has taken a page from this playbook! Sorry - not meaning to derail, but surely seems like what's going on in our province at the moment but with a miserly spirit toward those who have less.


Okay - back to scripture - to me it's a lesson that faith is something meant for sharing & growing (joyfully? generously?) , not for fearfully holding it close by, untrusting of its source.

 

[unsafe]

Todays scripture

Luke 19:11-27 GW

A Story about a King
11 Jesus was getting closer to Jerusalem, and the people thought that God’s kingdom would appear suddenly. While Jesus had the people’s attention, he used this illustration. 12 He said, “A prince went to a distant country to be appointed king, and then he returned. 13 Before he left, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten coins. He said to his servants, ‘Invest this money until I come back.’

14 “The citizens of his own country hated him. They sent representatives to follow him and say to the person who was going to appoint him, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

15 “After he was appointed king, he came back. Then he said, ‘Call those servants to whom I gave money. I want to know how much each one has made by investing.’

16 “The first servant said, ‘Sir, the coin you gave me has earned ten times as much.’

17 “The king said to him, ‘Good job! You’re a good servant. You proved that you could be trusted with a little money. Take charge of ten cities.’

18 “The second servant said, ‘The coin you gave me, sir, has made five times as much.’

19 “The king said to this servant, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

20 “Then the other servant said, ‘Sir, look! Here’s your coin. I’ve kept it in a cloth for safekeeping because 21 I was afraid of you. You’re a tough person to get along with. You take what isn’t yours and harvest grain you haven’t planted.’

22 “The king said to him, ‘I’ll judge you by what you’ve said, you evil servant! You knew that I was a tough person to get along with. You knew that I take what isn’t mine and harvest grain I haven’t planted. 23 Then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.’ 24 The king told his men, ‘Take his coin away, and give it to the man who has ten.’

25 “They replied, ‘Sir, he already has ten coins.’

26 “‘I can guarantee that everyone who has something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don’t have much. 27 Bring my enemies, who didn’t want me to be their king. Kill them in front of me.’”



unsafe says ----The Spiritual message behind this parable is when People are called and receive Jesus and receive the power that He bestows on His Followers He will provide all the tools necessary to complete the task they are called to do ------

The King is Jesus here -----and it is about trust in His servants to do the right thing ---He left them to their own devices to see if they would sow what they had to advance the Kingdom and not be slothful but doing nothing with the resources they were given ----

It is about the King --Jesus --- testing His servants in whether they are Faithful and trustworthy to do the right thing will the little they have been given ---if you can't be trusted will the little then even the little will eventually disappear and you end up with nothing ------God will give more to those who are faithful with the little God gives us -----

It is about the King --Jesus ---who will reward His Faithful servants ----not by letting them sit down and relax but by giving them bigger tasks to promote the Kingdom because they have proven that they are Faithful with the little and He can trust that they will serve Him well in their advancement in serving Him -------

2 servants were faithful and one wasn't -----so to the servants that were faithful more was given ------the other servant because of his slothfulness and his uninterested plan to serve faithfully and do anything to advance the profit of the Kings Kingdom lost everything ----



verse ----- 27 Bring my enemies, who didn’t want me to be their king. Kill them in front of me.’”

unsafe posting here ------This is some commentary on this verse -----read more here -----

https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/25759/eVerseID/25759/RTD/jwn

John Wesley's Notes -----Luke 19:27 ----He went before - The foremost of the company, showing his readiness to suffer.

People's Commentary ------Luke 19:27 Those my enemies. This portrays the fate, not of church members, but of those who would not have the Lord reign over them. It embraces all the impenitent. Compare Matthew 13:49 21:44 25:30 2Th 1:8-10.

 

[paradox3]

I have quite a bit of difficulty viewing the King in the story as either God or Jesus, although these seem to be common interpretations.

Ordering the slaughter (in his presence) of those who did not want Him to be King does not fit with my view of a loving God. Or what I believe about Jesus.

The third slave in the story was clearly not repenting and he actually criticized the nobleman for taking what he did not deposit and reaping what he did not sow. But he seemed to have grounds for his criticism. What if he is the hero of the story?

He has ended up with nothing. Maybe that is okay. On other occasions Jesus has told the disciples to go out into the world with nothing. And he has told them to deny themselves in various ways.

I dunno . . . this one is a puzzle. Some say parables are meant to disturb us. Maybe I am meant to give this some more thought.

 

[paradox3]

Okay - back to scripture - to me it's a lesson that faith is something meant for sharing & growing (joyfully? generously?) , not for fearfully holding it close by, untrusting of its source.

So you would say the minas (pounds) represent faith?

 

[Carolla]

Yes, that's what I was thinking. It's interesting that the version unsafe posted is titled "A Story about a King" whereas my bible titles the section "The Parable of the Pounds" - difference in emphasis.

 

[paradox3]

@Carolla The titles that are given to the various parables can be intriguing in themselves.

For example, do we say "The Prodigal Son" or do we call this parable "The Prodigal and His Brother"?

A difference in emphasis for sure and it probably affects how we read the story.

 

[paradox3]

Back to the Parable of the Pounds for a minute.

What did the first two slaves do to increase their money ten-fold and five-fold, I wonder? Although they receive praise from the nobleman, nothing has been said about their business practices. What if like the nobleman, they reaped what they did not sow? Took what they did not deposit?

They are richly rewarded with power (ten and five cities to rule respectively). But Jesus is generally not about power.

Is this really about the kingdom of God? Would the kingdom of God not be more egalitarian?

Jesus told this parable because the disciples supposed the kingdom was to appear immediately. Perhaps Jesus was suggesting otherwise by telling this story.

 

[paradox3]

Summary: Luke 19: 28 - 40

After telling the parable about the ten pounds, Jesus went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

When he came to the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples to the next village to find a colt that has never been ridden. "Untie it, and bring it here," said Jesus.

They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it. They set Jesus on the colt.

As Jesus rode along, people kept throwing their cloaks on the road. As He came down the Mount of Olives, the multitudes began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice. They were saying, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven."

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd wanted this stopped. But Jesus said, "I tell you, if these were quiet, the stones would shout out."

 

[paradox3]

Refection: Luke 19: 28 - 40

As told by Luke, there are no palm branches in the story of the entry into Jerusalem. The gospel writer gives us cloaks spread out over the road and on the colt ridden by Jesus.

There are no children either. And they don't appear in Matthew, Mark or John. Where did the idea of children singing Hosannas come from? We must get it from our hymns. Someone once said that we Protestants get a lot of our theology from our hymns. Here is an example: (VU 122)

"All glory, laud and honor to you Redeemer, King
To whom the lips of children, made sweet hosannas ring."

As for the palm branches . . .

Only John mentions them. And John doesn't say anything about cloaks.

In Matthew, there are cloaks and branches (not specified).

In Mark, there are cloaks and leafy branches they had cut in the fields.

So I am thinking the Palm Sunday story I have in my mind is a conflation of the four gospels and a few hymns.

 

[Redbaron]

Well, 'Cloak Sunday' doesn't really sound as good... People waving their cloaks around? That could be dangerous...
But your point is a good one. We get most of our images of what happened from a combination of sources, and while that mix provides a smooth story, it may not reflect what actually took place.

 

[Mendalla]

I think my image of Palm Sunday has been permanently warped by Lloyd-Webber and Rice. The Hosanna scene from JC Superstar is the first thing that came to mind.

The Palm Sunday story is one that I wrestle with a bit. It rings true in a way but had it been as big and public as commonly envisioned, you would think that a non-Christian source like Josephus might have taken notice. So I tend to think it's a bit exaggerated for effect. Perhaps it was just a smaller group of people who had already been following Jesus. Enough to make some noise but not enough to be noticed over the general hub-bub of Jerusalem at Passover.

 

[Mendalla]

Sharing my earworm.

 

[Mendalla]

Final stray thought.

Could this be a "mockery" of a traditional Roman triumph, specifically that awarded to Titus after the sack of Jerusalem? I mean, of we interpret other passages in terms of those events, why not this one?

 

[paradox3]

I think my image of Palm Sunday has been permanently warped by Lloyd-Webber and Rice. The Hosanna scene from JC Superstar is the first thing that came to mind.

Just watched the clip. I remember the "Hosanna" song (yes, an earworm) but I never actually saw JCSuperstar.

Interesting interpretation of Jesus and the crowd.

 

[Mendalla]

Just one more thing (yes, I'm a Columbo fan, why do ask? )

If the entry into Jerusalem is a mockery or echo of a Roman triumph, what is the victory being celebrated? A Roman triumph was a celebration of a successful military campaign, honouring the general or emperor who commanded the campaign. But that's clearly not the case with Jesus.

 

[paradox3]

@Mendalla Who were the characters opposing Jesus in the film clip? I was thinking maybe Roman soldiers but none of the biblical narratives have them present at the scene.

John and Luke both place Pharisees in the crowd but they are almost an afterthought.

P.S. I was always a big Columbo fan myself.

 

[Mendalla]

Who were the characters opposing Jesus in the film clip? I

The bass is Caiaphas. Forget who is his companion in that scene.