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The Parable of

THE MINAS

Luke 19:12-27

     It happened to three different men in three different parts of the world, in three different periods of the earth’s history.  Each received a holy vision from God, wherein they were blessed with special knowledge, abilities, and faculties which they were instructed to magnify.

     The first man became a missionary and traveled far and wide, preaching the Word of God.  In most cities he and his Christian followers were persecuted, and eventually he was martyred.  However, before he died, he left a trail of seeds sown in wisdom, accompanied with miracles of healing and many acts of mercy.

     The second man loved his family dearly, and devoted his life to using his abilities to bless the lives of his friends, neighbors, and loved ones.

     The third man became a cloistered monk and spent his life in a monastery.  Having taken a vow of silence, he devoted himself solely to meditation and prayer.

     For each man, his day of reconciliation with God was different. 

     To the first one, Christ said, “Well done, good servant.  You have shared your gifts with friends as well as strangers.  I give you authority and guardianship over ten cities.”

     To the second man, He said, “Well done, good servant.  You have shared your gifts with your family and friends.  I give you authority and guardianship over five cities.”

     To the third man, He said, “My son, why did you put away your Gifts and keep them to yourself?  You could have raised up for Me more souls at My Second Coming.”

THE MINAS    (Luke 19:12-27)

     “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.  So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas (three months’ salary), and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’  But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’  And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.  Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’  And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’  And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’  Likewise he said to him, “You also be over five cities.  Then another came, saying, “Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.  For I feared you, because you are an austere man.  You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’  And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.  You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit, and reaping what I did not sow.  Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that 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 him who has ten minas.’  (But they said to him, “Master, he has ten minas.’)  For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  But bring those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.”