Wicked and Slothful Servants

Jesus Christ told this parable to a crowd of people who were gathered together in Jericho, which was the same crowd that grumbled against Jesus when he told Zacchaeus that he was going to go to his house. They said, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”:

“A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 

The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 

Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 

And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’” (Luke 19:12-27 ESV)

So, what’s the lesson here for us from this parable today? The first verse that came to my mind was, “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14), which comes from another parable that Jesus told, which has a similar and parallel message to this one, with a parallel and similar result: “Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” (see Matthew 22:1-14)

But it would appear here that the servant who buried his talent, and so his one talent was taken away from him, was not included among the Lord’s enemies who did not want him to reign over them, who the Lord then had slaughtered. But was he not among the slaughtered? For read the same parable in Matthew 25:14-30. There the Lord’s response to the servant who buried his talent was, “You wicked and slothful servant! … cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:26-30 ESV; cf. Matthew 22:1-14)

And this also goes right along with what Jesus said in John 15:1-11. “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (v. 2). “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (vv. 5-6). “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (v. 8).

So, what is the message to us today who profess faith in Jesus Christ? A profession of faith in Jesus Christ alone is not enough to secure us salvation from sin and eternal life with God. Yes, not one of us can be saved of ourselves. We can do nothing in our flesh to earn or to deserve our own salvation. It is the gift of God to us, as is our faith, which is persuaded of God and not of our own doing. But that gift is salvation from our slavery (addiction) to sin so we will now walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and so we will serve him with our lives (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 6:1-23).

We cannot, and we should not, give lip service only to God while we continue to live life to please ourselves and not to please God. For when God gives us the gift of salvation from sin, and he gives us spiritual gifts and spiritual assignments as his body parts within the body of Christ, he expects that we will walk in freedom from slavery to sin in walks of obedience to his commands and that we will bear much fruit (talents/gifts put into practice) for his heavenly kingdom, and for the salvation of human lives, too. For we are to be his witnesses in taking the gospel to the people of the world.

So, those who are telling you that all you have to do is to pray a prayer to receive Christ or that all you have to do is to “repent and believe,” which is not usually biblically defined, but who don’t tell you that God requires that you forsake your lives of living in sin and for self, and that you now follow him in obedience to his commands, they are either willfully lying to you, or at least they are failing to tell you the “whole truth and nothing but the truth” which you need to know and to put into practice, by the Spirit, if you are going to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Jesus, Lead Me  

An Original Work / July 22, 2011

Jesus, lead me all the way.

Be my hope and be my stay. 

Gently lead me where I should go,

So Your Spirit, I want to know.

Open up my heart to You.

Fill me with Your love and truth.

Make my heart want to obey.

Be my Lord today. Gently lead always. 

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;

Be transformed in my heart today,

As I turn from my sin and pray.

Make Your will known to my heart.

May I not from You depart.

How I long to hear You now,

As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.

https://vimeo.com/113559147