THE POUNDS

The Pounds

Luke 19:11-28

The opening verse of the paragraph marks the occasion upon which this parable was uttered. "And as they heard these things, He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God was immediately to appear." That introduces us not only to the occasion of the parable, but also to the intention of our Lord in its utterance.

Luke said, "As they heard these things." What things? Luke was continuing his narrative. Jesus and His disciples were in Jericho, and they had heard what had happened in connection with Zacchaeus, that Jesus had invited Himself to his house. They had seen Him go in, and had waited while He was inside in that private interview. How long it lasted no one can tell. They had seen Zacchaeus come forth from that guest chamber with Jesus, and had heard Zacchaeus declare the result of the interview as he said he gave to the poor, and restored fourfold what he had exacted wrongfully. Then they had heard Jesus say, "Today is salvation come to this house . . For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost." They heard these things, and He went on, and added something, spoke another parable. Those are the things referred to, especially the last sentence, "The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost."

Luke tells us the reason for this parable. He was nigh to Jerusalem. We are in the last period of the ministry of our Lord. "His face was steadfastly set to go to Jerusalem." He was travelling nearer to the city of the great King, as He Himself called it, coming near to the center of the national life, and to all the things that were to happen to Him, about which He had been talking repeatedly to His disciples since Caesarea Philippi. Evidently there was a strong feeling among His disciples that something was going to happen because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and they expected the Kingdom of God immediately to appear, so to correct a current expectation that the Kingdom would come immediately, Christ outlines in parabolic form the facts of its present rejection, the interval of its delay, and its future arrival.

What then was the subject He intended to illustrate? The complete 11th verse gives us the reason of its uttering. "He was nigh unto Jerusalem," and the time of year was near to Passover. There were larger crowds then in Jerusalem than at any other time. Josephus tells us that two million people more than the average and ordinary popula­tion came to the city. The circumstances attending the utterance of the parable were all highly pertinent to the subject of the Kingdom. First, as the Lord approached the city of Jericho, where the parable was spoken, He had healed a blind man — one of the great miracles predicted by Isaiah in connection with the Kingdom (Isa. 35:5), and wrought in re­sponse to the man's appeal to Him as the regal "Son of David" (Luke 18:35-43). Second, while passing through Jericho (Luke 19: 1), He meets and becomes a guest in the home of a rich and notoriously dishonest Jewish tax collector (Luke 19:1-10). The meeting brings about the remarkable conversion of Zacchaeus, and this "son of Abraham" at once, in accordance with the law of the ancient Theocratic Kingdom (cf. Exod. 22:1), proceeds to restore "fourfold" all that he had wrongfully extorted. At the same time he promises to give to the poor half of what he had rightfully ac­quired — an impressive reminder of Old Testament prophecies of the Kingdom when social wrongs shall be set right and "the crooked shall be made straight" (Isa. 40:4).

"They all were looking for a King,

To slay their foes, and lift them high.

He came a little baby thing,
That made a woman cry."

Even now the same thing is apparent. They were mistaken in their ideals. They felt He was there for the purpose of setting up that King­dom. Because of that, Luke declares clearly that He uttered the parable of the pounds.

The audience to which the parable was spoken is a matter of importance. Who were the persons that "heard these things"? Prob­ably both the multitude and the disciples. The healing of the blind had attracted a crowd: Luke 18:43 speaks of "all the people." Luke 19:3 speaks of "the press" which compelled Zacchaeus to climb into the tree in order to see Jesus; and Luke 19:7 says, "they all murmured" when they saw He had accepted the hospitality of the despised publican. But the disciples also were undoubtedly present, for they were with Him when He came from Jericho to Jerusalem (Luke 18:31). And the parable itself indirectly suggests the presence of two classes of persons in the distinction made between the "servants" of the nobleman and his "citizens" (Luke 19:13-14).

The imagery of the parable was undoubtedly drawn from actual events in the political history of the times. It was a regular proce­dure for native princes to journey to Rome to receive their right to rule. For this purpose, during our Lord's youth at Nazareth, the son of Herod the Great, Archelaus, went to Rome. He was so hated of the Jews that they sent a delegation after him to protest against his enthronement, but to no avail. And upon his return Archelaus rewarded his supporters with certain cities and took vengeance on his enemies. Josephus says that his great palace was built at Jericho, perhaps not far from the home of Zacchaeus where the parable was first spoken.

But the immediate historic background was not Herod, but Archelaus, whose palace was at Jericho. He had gone to Rome, leaving his palace, and the interests of his tetrarchy, or his kingdom as he wished it to be called, to his bond-slaves. He left Philippus in charge, with money to trade for the maintenance of revenue while he was away. While away, a deputation of fifty Jews was sent after him, to make a protest against his becoming king. When they arrived in Rome they were received by a company of eight thousand Jews, and they made their protest, and were so successful that Archelaus never received that title; and afterwards he was deposed from the tetrarchy, and he did not go back there.

Our Lord therefore took a common incident, and used it, of some­one going away to receive a kingdom, and that coming of his citizens saying they would not have him which is the nation of Israel. Of course this does not mean that Jesus went away to receive a Kingdom, and did not gain it. When Archelaus came back, he called for an account undoubtedly, and our Lord enlarged upon that. But that is the figure behind the parable. Taking this incident, our Lord applied it in a remarkable way to Him­self to show that what they were expecting, would not then take place. He was then going to Jerusalem, and they thought He was going to establish a Kingdom according to their ideas. He wanted them to see it would not be. He was going away to receive a Kingdom, and He was leaving responsibility with His servants for the period of His absence. That was the place of the parable and the figure employed; and that was the purpose for which He uttered the parable. It was to teach them that they were wrong in expecting the Kingdom of God immediately to appear.

Let us consider now some of the parabolic details as our Lord used them to set forth certain aspects of His own relation to the King­dom of God (Luke 19:11-27).

First, the nobleman (Christ) goes into a far country (heaven) for a twofold purpose: to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return (Luke 19:12).

Second, two classes of people appear in the parable: those called "servants" and others called "citizens"; and although both are said to be "his," i.e., Christ's (Luke 19:13,14), yet their relationship to Him is quite different.

Third, to each of the ten servants He gives an equal amount of money and commands them to "occupy," or more literally, "trade," until He returns (Luke 19:13); and they accept the responsibility.

Fourth, the "citizens" of the nobleman "hated" him and officially repudiated his regal claims, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us" (Luke 19:14); an accurate forecast of Christ's rejection by Israel and their cry, "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15).

Fifth, having received His Kingdom rights in heaven, Christ will bring that Kingdom to earth at His Second Coming; at which time His first regal action will be to reward His servants according to their services during the period of His absence (Luke 19:15-24).

Sixth, also at the return of Christ and His assumption of the throne, He will execute judgment upon the citizens who rejected Him at His first coming (Luke 19:27). The implication is very clear: the nation of Israel will maintain officially its enmity until the return of Christ.

Seventh, the parable gives "the definite assurance that the interval between the departure and the return of the Lord is only an interim." The length of the interim is not here given; though in the similar parable of the talents the same interval is stated as "a long time" (Matt. 25:19). But there is no warrant for pressing this ex­pression into a definite revelation of the twenty centuries of our present era. For, according to the imagery of both parables, the Lord returns within the lifetime of the same servants to whom He had com­mitted the money. And therefore, while the interval of time is left indeterminate, the language seems intended to keep every generation expectant and watchful for the coming of the Lord and His predicted Kingdom.

Finally, it is of the utmost importance to observe that neither this parable nor the parable of the talents was given until after the re­jection and death of Christ had become historically certain, and also after the revelation that there would be a Second Coming of the King. In the progress of revelation there is perfect synchronization with the movement of history.