Luke 19:11-27

THE RETURN OF JESUS WITH HIS GLORIOUS KINGDOM

Luke 19:11-27. This wonderful, inspiring, conclusive, unmistakable, glorious parable was delivered to the multitude by our Savior, in front of the house of Zaccheus, Saturday evening before His crucifixion the following Friday. It is so plain that I do hope every reader will understand and profit by it, as many of the Lord's dear people have not yet received light on His second and glorious coming. We have no doctrine to give you. We are only endeavoring to expound the Word of the Lord as the blessed Holy Spirit reveals it. “And they, hearing these things, proceeding He spoke a parable, because He is nigh unto Jerusalem, and they are thinking that the kingdom of God is about to appear immediately.” That He will be crowned King of the Jews at the oncoming Passover, which is to open the ensuing Sabbath, they are all fondly and eagerly anticipating. Having waited three years, they see plainly that a momentous crisis is at hand. Having no light on the bloody tragedy looking Him in the face, they are vividly contemplating the coronation scene for which they have been praying ever since His mighty works had convinced them that He must be the Christ of prophecy. You will see plainly from this parable that the connection abundantly justifies the conclusion that the glorious coronation, which they regarded as at that time pending in a few days, is to take place at the second coming, it being His mission during His first advent to suffer and to die; but in the second, to conquer and to reign.

“Then He said, A certain nobleman went away into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” Herod the Great having died while the infant Jesus was in Egypt, Archelaus, his eldest son, succeeding him, went away from Jericho, as his father died there, to Rome, a great journey for that day fifteen hundred miles to receive the kingdom of Judea from the hands of Augustus Caesar, the Roman emperor, and return to reign over the Jews. But as the Jews didn't like him, they sent an embassy after him, beseeching the emperor not to crown him king. Consequently the emperor, to their unutterable surprise and disappointment, sent them no king; but turned Judea into a Roman province, sending them Coponius to serve as proconsul, thus taking away their kingdom indefinitely. Though he did not know it, God was in it fulfilling the prophecy, that “the scepter shall depart from Judah.... when Shiloh comes.” This transaction was vivid in the memories o? the people who heard Him, and forcibly illustrates the case, because at that time Rome ruled the whole world, and no king could reign anywhere unless the emperor crowned him. So all the kings of the earth had to go to Rome to receive their kingdom before they could return to their own country and reign. Now we all know that Jesus Himself is the nobleman, who, instead of reigning at that time, went away to heaven to “receive His kingdom, and return,” illustrating most conclusively the patent fact that the kingdom He is to receive in heaven is special, and, in some important respects, different from the kingdom of grace which He brought with Him on His first advent. Our Lord soon went away to heaven, and is still there. But He is certain to receive this kingdom from the hands of His Father and come back. This conclusion is irresistible, unless you flatly contradict the Savior. I believe Him without the shadow of a doubt, and am constantly looking out to see Him coming back in the glory of that kingdom which He went up to heaven to receive, and return to earth to reign, as this conclusion is irrefutable, from the fact that it was then exemplified throughout the world, all kings going to Rome to receive their kingdom from imperial Caesar, and return with their kingdom to reign over the land given by the emperor. The analogy of this parable clearly warrants the conclusion that our Lord has gone away to heaven to receive a kingdom, and return and reign over this world. More errors in interpretation arise from spiritualizing the literal, and literalizing the spiritual, than any other source. Lord, help us to leave everything where Thou hast put it! If it is literal, let it so remain; if spiritual, let us all say, Amen! Though our Lord certifies that His kingdom is not of this world, yet it by no means follows that it may not have dominion over this world. He rules all other worlds without a rival, and is going to cast out Satan and extend His glorious dominion over all this world.

“And having called his ten servants, he gave to them ten pounds, and said to them, Operate until I come.” Ten is a prominent representative number in the Bible, being a convenient multiple of hundreds, thousands, millions, etc. The mnaa, or mina, translated “pound,” was worth fifteen dollars. You see that he gave the money to his servants; i.e., his own people.

“And his citizens hated him, and sent an embassy after him, saying, We do not wish him to reign over us.” This was literally verified, right there at Jericho, in the case of Archelaus, within the memory of that audience. Hence the parable must have been very forcible with those people. N.B. The citizens here differ widely from his servants the latter being his disciples, and the former the people of this wicked world. How signally is this item of the parable verified this day! The people of the world are panic- stricken at the thought of Jesus coming back. They are glad He is gone, and hope that He will never return. Even the worldly Churches are so horrified at the thought of the Lord's return that they will not tolerate the proclamation from their pulpits.

“And it came to pass that he returned, having received the kingdom, and said that those servants to whom he had given the money should be called, that he might know what each one had accumulated. And the first came, saying, Lord, thy pound has gained ten pounds. And he said to him, Well done, thou good servant; because thou wast faithful in the least, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound has gained five pounds. And he also said to him, Be thou ruler over five cities. And another came, saying, Lord, behold thy pound, which I had laid up in a napkin; for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up what thou hast not laid down, and thou reapest what thou hast not sown. And he says to him, Out of thine own mouth I condemn thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knowest that I am an austere man, taking what I have not laid down, and reaping what I have not sown. Wherefore didst not thou indeed give my money to the bank, and having come, I would have received the same with the product?” “Usury,” in the E.V., is all objectionable translation of toko, which is from ticto, “to produce,” and has no such a meaning as unlawful interest, but simply the normal production of the money. Every investment, if judiciously managed, produces something. Money is no exception to commercial investments. The meaning of this passage is, that the man should have judiciously invested the money, instead of secreting it away where it brought no stipend to the proprietor. Of course, the estimation of his lord as an austere, unjust man was utterly false, the fault being in himself. Though a servant, you see that the lord denominates him “wicked,” thus showing up his character as a counterfeit disciple, parallel with the case of the tares growing among the wheat. Of course, these three reports sample all the balance, concerning whom we have no statement.

“And he said to the bystanders, Take the pound from him, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. And they said to him, Lord, he hath ten pounds. I say unto you, that to every one that hath, it shall be given; and from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath.” Here we see a beautiful recognition of the great law of spiritual thrift. Money is magnetic. If you have it and use it judiciously, it will attract from all directions and accumulate. It is so with everything. The soil of the frugal farmer is getting richer and more productive all the time; while that of his profligate, indolent, or injudicious neighbor is constantly wearing out and washing away. Thus, in both temporal and spiritual things, we see people moving with great expedition to diametrically opposite destinies.

“Moreover, these my enemies, who do not wish me to rule over them, lead them hither, and slay them before me.” Here we have the awful destruction of Armageddon, deluging the world with rivers of blood, and heaping it with mountains of the dead, “the great tribulation,” such as the world never saw before and will never see again. The flood was terrible, destroying all the world except one family. The plagues in Egypt, winding up with the desolations of the destroying angel, slaying the first-born in every home, and culminating in the destruction of Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea, was awful. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, a million of people perishing by sword, pestilence, and famine, and a million more being sold into slavery, was an ordeal terrific in the extreme. Yet the indescribable calamities of all former ages will not be comparable to the unutterable woes which shall come upon this densely-populated earth in the last days. God made this world and has the sole right to rule it. With the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews, B. C. 387, the last vestige of the Theocracy evanesced from the earth, human rule supervening, and being perpetuated in all lands down to the present day; but destined to be overthrown and utterly exterminated in the great tribulation, when the enemies of our Lord, who are opposed to Divine rule and conservative to human government, shall all be slain. (Daniel 7:9) Here you see the adumbratory light on the Divine administration which shall cover the whole earth in the glorious coming kingdom, flashing out in the case of these two samples of our Lord's service of those who shall prove faithful during His absence, diligently investing and utilizing His pound, which is committed to all of His servants. You see that the one who had quintupled his money, received the same loving congratulation as the mall who had centupled the pound committed to his care. However, we find each one rewarded according to his industry and thrift the ten-pounder receiving the government of ten cities, and the five-pounder only five. Certainly the natural conclusion is very plain and simple. Our Lord is going to rule this world, in the glorious coming kingdom, through the instrumentality of His transfigured saints, among whom we find an endless diversity of reward.

Of course, none but carnally-minded people will apprehend the administration of the Millennial Theocracy from a selfish standpoint. In the realm of grace, the more we have, the more there is for others. After the multitude ate the loaves and fishes, there was vastly more left than all they began with. Even so in our Lord's glorious kingdom, the more you receive, the more will be left for others. O what a thrilling inspiration to diligence, application, humility, frugality, industry, and perseverance! Let every one resolve to gain ten pounds, and receive the government of ten cities and the intervening country. I certainly would recoil from the responsibility of explaining away this plain and unequivocal parable of our Lord. O what a privilege to be one of His servants, and receive the pound from His hands, with all the encouragements of heavenly bliss and eternal felicity, on the one side, to inspire indefatigable energy, assiduity, and heroism; and on the other side, the awful incentives of hell and damnation to goad us up, and keep us, on precipitate wing, for truth, righteousness, holiness, and heaven! I certainly pity the exegete who shall undertake to emasculate, enervate, and explain away the lesson of this beautiful and unmistakable parable.

“Saying these things, He was going before them, marching up to Jerusalem.” Four times it has been my privilege to travel that same road from Jericho to Jerusalem. O how fond memories, on the wing of inspired history, did fly back to the days of yore, when Jesus walked along that road, accompanied by His disciples, and followed by the thronging multitude!