Rejected King, True Kingdom: Lessons from Luke 19

Well, as you know today, we're in the Gospel of Luke.

We're working our way through it. We're in chapter 19, verses 11 through 44

this morning. And actually, we're looking at the famous parable today of the 10 menas, if you will.

And it comes in a very specific historical situation.

And I want us to look at this because it's so important.

Jesus was actually approaching Jerusalem, and the people thought that the kingdom

of God was going to appear suddenly. we see that in verse 11.

And as we've seen in previous chapters that we've studied, there's this tension,

right, between the already of the kingdom and the not yet of the kingdom.

And it was a cause of great confusion in Jesus's day.

And he had declared, if you remember last time we were in this passage,

that salvation had come to Zacchaeus's house back in verse 9. Y'all remember that?

And his ministry of healing the sick and giving sight to the blind were rightly

interpreted as signs that the kingdom was actually in their midst.

But the crowds generally failed to understand, y'all, that the kingdom would

not come in its fullness immediately, but would grow slowly toward a final consummation when Jesus returned.

And so it was in this air, in this passage here, that heightened expectations

that Jesus actually took the opportunity here to tell the people a parable about the kingdom.

And in reality, the parable as we see it today contains two different stories.

One about a nobleman and his interaction with his subjects.

We see that in verse 12, 14, and 27 of chapter 19.

And also, there's a more detailed story about that nobleman's interaction with

his servants to whom he had given some money to invest.

So we're going to open up today looking at a rejected king, a rejected king.

The parable actually begins with an allusion to an incident that would have

been familiar to Jesus' audience here.

About 30 years earlier, before Herod the Great had died, he had split up his

many empire among his sons, giving Judea and Samaria to his son Archelaus.

But Herod's bequithals were ultimately subject to Roman approval,

and so Archelaus actually went off to Rome to have Caesar Augustus approve his appointment.

And before he left, though, there was a riot in the temple at Passover.

And Archelaus actually had over 3,000. You heard that right.

Over 3,000 Jews slaughtered. The Jews of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas

had not much cared for Herod the Great and his murderous ways.

Like, if you can think back, it includes, of course, the killing of the boys

in Bethlehem, right? In Matthew 2.

And they were even less thrilled about the idea of being ruled by his son.

And so what they did is they dispatched a delegation of about 50 men to Rome

to actually appeal, to make an appeal to Caesar for a different king.

They lost their appeal, by the way, as you see here.

And Archelaus became king, and his palace was in Jericho, the town that Jesus

had just walked through. And so the echoes, if we look at this in this parable, are clear.

A man goes off to be appointed king, verse 12, but he's pursued by a delegation

of people who oppose the idea of him ruling over them.

In verse 14, after all is said and done, the man actually receives,

according to the passage, his appointment. And then in verse 27,

he calls for his opponents to be slaughtered in front of him.

Wow, that's pretty ruthless, right? Don't miss this, okay? Hang with me.

In the same way, Jesus is about to take an extended trip of sorts in order to receive a kingdom.

He is going to Jerusalem where his kingship will be opposed by the Jewish leaders.

We'll see that later in chapter 23. And in the end, though, he will return after

an extended absence to inaugurate his kingdom that we've been studying about in Revelation.

And there will be punishment for those who have resisted his rule.

Obviously, Jesus is not implying that he is a murderous despot here, right?

Like Archelaus. That's not the point of the story at all.

Instead, we should understand, as we see in this first point here,

the parable to teach that if even mild opposition to a mid-level ruler results in punishment,

how much more will opposing the true king that we sang about this morning of

the universe result in devastation in the end, right?

That's the point of the parable. This part of the story is a warning,

in other words. And as we see in this next point as well, opposing him or opposing

Jesus will have awful consequences.

Jesus is going to go away, and when he returns, it says in 19,

verse 27, that will become a reality on the earth as we're studying in Revelation.

So I wanted y'all to see that and where this connects this morning in this parable.

So let's take a look for a moment while the king is gone.

It's on this next slide. While the king is gone, most of the parable here,

Eastwood, is dedicated to the events that took place while the master was away.

The attention here in the passage here turns from the nobleman's opponents to his 10 servants.

Each of whom is given a minna. Now, I know probably some of you have footnotes

in your Bible or whatever, if you have a study Bible especially,

but a minna was just roughly three months wages.

All right. So basically, he gave each of his servants roughly three months wages. Okay.

And to put to work in his absence, in verse 13, it says. In other words, to invest it.

And it's clear here from the tone of the charge that was given that the reckoning

in verse 15 that we see here was to be anticipated, right?

They weren't taken by surprise here at all. And the servant's responses actually

indicate that they were, in fact, fully expecting church to give an account

for their stewardship once their master came back.

The first servant, let's look at him briefly, has earned an astonishing 11-fold

return on his investment we see in verse 16.

The second servant, a still impressive five times for their minnas, right?

It says in verse 18, and the master is pleased with the servant's performance

and rewards them lavishly.

I don't know about you, but it looks like the master has been generous from

start to finish here, right?

And because they've been faithful with the menna they were given, they will be given what?

Entire cities. Do you see it? To take charge of verses 17 and 19.

And we can well imagine that a newly appointed king here with quite a few enemies

would need trustworthy men to actually govern his cities.

And these servants have proven themselves to be loyal and the reward that they

receive is extravagant.

And as we see in this first point, in comparison to the faithfulness,

but the principle here is that fidelity in small things, y'all,

translates to fidelity in much larger matters.

It seems to be there at the forefront of the nobleman's mind.

If you can be faithful with a little, you'll be entrusted with much, right?

And the other servant that is mentioned, he didn't fare so well, did he?

In fact, did he make an effort according to the passage?

No he did not make an effort but what did

he do with his minna he hit he protected it in a piece of cloth it says in verse

20 and while that was an effective strategy for protecting what he had been

given right according to verse 13 there he had been charged with actually putting the money to work.

Putting it to work, invest it. But when he was called to give an account,

Eastwood, this servant decided to defend himself, didn't he?

By what did he do? How did he defend himself? Who did he insult? He insulted the master.

I was afraid of you. See it there in verse 21, because you're a hard man.

You take out what you didn't put in and you reap what you did not sow.

So nothing in the parable here indicates that the master deserved this type

of characterization. In fact, as we already said, he appears in this passage

to be quite generous to his servants in verse 17 and verse 19, right?

Or even that the servant even genuinely believed what he was saying here.

But the master, he does not notice in the text, he doesn't bother to defend himself, does he?

You know what he does? He just turns the man's words back on him.

Wondering why the servant would not seek to placate such a ruthless employer, right?

And by giving him the return on investment that he expected in verses 22 through 23 there,

the money y'all, and probably the city that goes with it, as we see in this

passage, is taken away from that servant. And who's it given to?

The one who already has 10, it says in verse 24. And then the bystanders in

this story, they all start to object in verse 25.

The noble bone actually tells them that this is the way that it works.

As we see in this next point, those who prove faithful get even more.

Those who are faithless have even the little that they have taken away. Verse 26.

The parable, I think today, y'all, appears to make two points.

First is those who oppose Jesus's kingship will be met with judgment. That's the first one.

And number two, those who follow Jesus must be faithful in their service until he returns.

For we will all ultimately give an account for the way we've used what our master has given us.

We see that even in other places in the New Testament.

2 Corinthians 5.10, Revelation 22, verse 12, ties in what we're studying right on Sunday night.

Revelation 22:12

And the details of the story probably don't allow us to allegorize too much

with this on the servants, because you have on the one hand,

it seems as if the third servant here might represent Christians who are not

faithful with the opportunities God's given them.

After all, he's a servant of the household of the master, not somebody on the outside.

But the way that the master, if you look at the account here,

the way the master condemns him as a wicked man, it seems incompatible with

the believer's status in Christ, right?

And I think it's best as we look at this parable to just simply learn the lessons

that the parable is meant to teach us without attempting to apply every detail

to our current situation.

But the lesson of the parable, as we see in this next slide, seems to be this.

If you are a follower of Christ, every aspect of your life is a gift that's given to you.

For the purpose of investment. Come on. If you're a follower of Christ,

every aspect of your life, that means every aspect, right?

All things in your life is a gift given for you for the purpose of what?

Investment in God's kingdom. The place where you live, Eastwood,

the job where you work, your weekends,

what you do with your free time, the abilities and the education that you've

received, your money, your health, your family,

your interactions with people who do not believe in Jesus, even your suffering,

all of it is given to you and me as a stewardship.

You're not free. I'm not free to use those things for our own purposes or to

neglect them altogether.

Together too many christians i believe church adopt

the third servant's approach to the things that

the lord has actually given to them lazy or foolishly failing to put them to

use toward the interest of their master the audience i have to say today how

many today if you stop and think about it are pursuing their own kingdom versus god's kingdom.

If we look around, even in our churches, there is a disdain for the teaching

and preaching of God's holy word.

People don't have time for it. We don't have time to see what God Almighty the King says, do we?

It's all about us. It's all about our agendas.

Instead, we're challenged here in this passage that we must invest all that

we have in the priorities and the plans of Jesus.

After all, as we sang about earlier, you are my king, right?

Is he, does he call the shots in your life or do you?

Do you tell Jesus how he's going to fit into your calendar or do you scrap your

calendar and put him on there and let him take control of the pen?

And if you need a hint at what these priorities are, just look at verse 10 of chapter 19.

We all must live, church, like servants who will give an account when the king returns.

And some of us, I'm quite scared, are living our lives as if Jesus is never coming back.

Christians are those who've been brought into God's household completely by

His grace, church, and made servants of light when we were enslaved in darkness.

And now, though nothing of our own doing, of course, God has promised y'all

to richly reward us for our service to Him.

Jesus actually repeatedly uses versions of this idea that those who have much

will receive more and those who have little will have it taken away from them.

We see it, verse 26, in this passage. We see it back in chapter eight,

verse 18. We see it, Mark 4, 25.

And in a parable that's very similar to what this 10 minutes here,

it's also in Matthew 25, verse 29.

Matthew 25:29

Think about it today. We might daydream of God's blessings in terms of riches and ease.

But in those contexts, we see that the reward here is actually the opportunity. You know what it is?

The opportunity to enjoy more fruitful service to an understanding of the Lord.

As always, don't miss this church. The greatest blessing that the Lord gives

to his people is more of himself, more of himself.

Oh, it reminds me of that old Mylon LeFevre song and broken heart,

more, more like Jesus, more of you, Jesus, give me more, right?

More of you, you're beautiful to me. Well, let's take a quick look at the welcome

of the King in this next slide.

I got to calm down a little bit. I don't want to be falling out up here. The welcome of the King.

Luke's account of Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem actually follows on

the theme of kingship that was introduced in the parable that comes before it in Luke 19 here.

And just as the parable introduces us to a would-be king that we saw earlier,

Jesus actually approaches the city in verse 38, look at it, as the king who

comes in the name of the Lord, right?

In fact, his miraculous foreknowledge of the circumstances under which the disciples

would actually find a colt for him to ride, that it talks about in verses 29 through 34,

as one theologian puts it, it demonstrates a sovereignty over all that must

transpire in Jerusalem.

Jesus' prescience increases in proportion to his proximity, he said,

to the cross. That's theologian Edwards.

On his gospel according to Luke. So Jesus's decision, y'all,

to ride in on a colt, which is just a generic term for a male horse or donkey,

is actually an intentional fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah in chapter

nine, verses nine and 10 of Zechariah, where the future king is actually portrayed

as coming in what? Humility.

Riding a colt, and what is he bringing? Peace.

Listen to this. rejoice greatly daughter

zion shout daughter jerusalem see

your king comes to you righteous and

victorious lowly and riding on a donkey on a colt the foil of a donkey i will

take away the chariots from ephraim and the war horses from jerusalem y'all

we're kind of looking to revelation too here in this verse.

Listen, the war horse is from Jerusalem and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations.

His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth.

So the significance here of Jesus's choice, if you will, of mode of entry into

the city wasn't lost on those who actually witnessed it, y'all.

It's common to understand the choice of a donkey as a gesture of unusual humility.

But the Old Testament, the Old Testament rulers of Israel were known to ride

such animals, by the way.

First Kings talks about it. Second Samuel.

If the donkey has any symbolic significance, it's more likely as a gesture of

a king who's coming in peace.

As opposed to entering the city, listen to it, on a war horse as we see in Revelation 19.

And that brings us to the first point on this slide. The crowds,

church, understood that Jesus was entering the city as a king, like a king, in verse 38.

The Pharisees didn't approve of it, in verse 39.

The old Pharisees, right? The disciples, what did they do?

They actually threw their cloaks on the animal, put Jesus on it,

like a king on his throne, verse 35.

The people, what did they do? They actually threw their cloaks on the ground

in front of him in verse 36.

That's just a first century version of rolling out the red carpet, right?

And as the procession neared the Mount of Olives,

the crowds here that they began to to live out that command of Zechariah 9 9

by joyfully what praising God verse 37 and hailing Jesus as the king who comes

in the name of the Lord verse 38,

just y'all as the heavenly host cried out to praise God when Jesus came as a

baby all the way back in chapter 2 of Luke now we see the people declare as we see in this next point,

peace in heaven and glory in the highest as Jesus comes as the king. See it there in verse 38?

And it's in the next point, guys. Y'all can throw that up there.

I mean, it's right there. It's amazing.

And then we see the real life rejection of the king, the real life rejection

of the king in this next slide.

Just as the king in the parable of the 10 menace here was opposed, Y'all remember that?

So here, the Pharisees actually call on Jesus to rebuke his enthusiastic disciples,

right? Look at it, verse 39.

Maybe they have the theological objection to Jesus being identified as the Messiah,

or it could be that they fear maybe that Rome is going to crack down on such

a display of fervor and celebration over it. But in any event.

Jesus here responds, y'all, by saying that if the people are silenced, what's going to happen?

The stones will themselves cry out, verse 40.

Now, that should be understood ironically, right?

Jesus is saying that, basically, that even inanimate creation can see what's

happening here today, right?

The joy of that entry narrative here in the gospel, Luke, it passes quickly.

As is appropriate, by the way, given the fact, y'all, that Jesus is heading

where? Where's he heading? To the cross.

In verse 41, Jesus finally sees Jerusalem marking the end of that journey. And what does he do?

He begins to weep for the city like one of the prophets of old.

We look back to Jeremiah 9.

Y'all, even though he has been warmly received, as we see in this first point

on this slide, Jesus knows that most of the city's inhabitants will what? Reject him.

They'll not recognize the time of God's coming to them. We see that in verse 44.

And as we see in this next point, Jesus came to the city as a king on the way

to a cross, bringing both salvation for those who would recognize his kingship

and judgment for those who would oppose it.

But Jerusalem didn't know the things that make for peace, it says in verse 42, did they?

And so Jesus actually predicts something about them. Do you see it there in verses 43 and 44?

He predicts the total destruction of the city in very graphic terms.

They call to mind the conclusion of the parable of the 10 minutes,

doesn't it? Particularly verse 27.

Those words, these words did not come to pass in AD 70.

They did come to pass in AD 70 when the Roman army actually laid siege to Jerusalem

and destroyed it, right? Along with the temple.

Rejecting the king had and has, by the way, a terrible consequence.

But in case we get a picture in our minds that Jesus is somehow a vengeful tyrant,

I think it's helpful for us to remember that he spoke these words because they

were true, not because he was a sadist.

What did Jesus do again? Look at the text. Jesus actually wept over the terrible fate of that city.

To be sure, his was not the sorrow of powerlessness or impotence,

right? He's not saying, oh, how I wish there was something I could do about

this. That's not what he's saying.

In verse 42, it's clear that the people couldn't see because the truth was being hidden from them.

Judgment, y'all, don't miss this, had already been set.

Look on this next slide. But Jesus's posture toward the rebellious city was one of what?

Compassion. You know why? Because he does not perversely delight in the destruction of the wicked.

It tells us that in Ezekiel 33, verse 11. And by the way, neither should we.

Ezekiel 33:11

When's the last time we shed tears over the lost, over those who did not understand the gospel?

When's the last time we cried? When's the last time that this altar was wet

with tears for those that don't know Jesus?

For those of us who follow Jesus, we should rejoice, y'all, that God has sent us the King.

And his spirit church has opened our eyes to see how we can have peace with God.

But for us who follow Jesus, if we love the things that he loves,

if we care about the things that he cares about, then guess what?

We will have a similar response to

his to his right to people who actually persist in rejecting him man when you

see somebody that's living outside of god's will or someone who is lost even

it ought to break our hearts and bring us to tear tears to have compassion and

cry and weep over that soul.

When God's judgment, y'all, fell on Jerusalem in the form of the Roman army

in AD 70, it was terrible.

It tells us that in verse 43 and 44 of this passage.

When Jesus comes back, though, and judges the whole earth, it'll be far worse,

as we've seen in Revelation.

If Jesus went with compassion for this city, again, here's our question.

How much more should we weep over and then, y'all, go to the nations who don't yet know Jesus Christ?

They don't know this amazing love that we've experienced, this King who is the

true King, the eternal King of Kings.

I want you to think this morning, and I'm going to ask you to stand with me,

if you would, as your heads are bowed and eyes are closed for a moment.

I just want you to just think through a couple of things as we pray.

And Ms. Sharon comes to play in a moment.

If you are a follower of Christ, every aspect of your life is a gift given to

you for the purpose of investment.

Is that your perspective today, church, on your time, on your talents that God

has given you and your relationships that he's given you?

Is that your perspective? Do you see the gift that King Jesus has given you?

Are you investing those gifts? Are you investing every aspect of that into God's kingdom today?

If not, I challenge you today. Let the Holy Spirit get a hold of your heart.

Repent before God. Do what you need to do. If you need to come to this office

or pray, you don't have to talk to me.

I mean, I'm happy to pray with you. I'm happy to talk to you.

But man, do business with God where you are.

Move appropriately. Move in obedience to the voice of the Spirit.

Are you investing what God has gifted you with into God's kingdom?

Or are you building your own?

Think about it this morning. For what kind of Christian is Jesus' parable here warning?

What sort of Christian is it a wonderful encouragement to?

Y'all, are we celebrating the judgment of God upon lost souls?

Or are we actually weeping for those lost souls to come to Jesus?

Father God, I pray this morning, Lord, as you are lifted up today, Lord.

God, as you move in our midst, God, that we'll respond to you in faith,

love, and obedience today.

In Jesus' name. You continue to pray this morning.

Continue to obey the voice of the Spirit as He's calling you.