Luke 19:11-27 - Citizenship 101
Citizens Who Hate Their Leaders
Doug Partin – The Christian Church – Jan 15, 2017
The political campaigns of last year taught me one thing. There are lots of citizens who hate their leaders; and to be quite honest, I think the campaigns are to blame. Instead of spending all their resources to convince citizens to support them, they spent most of it convincing citizens that their opponent was so terrible for one reason or another that they should never vote for them, and if they were to do so they were being un-American.
There are some who really wanted Trump as president, but most of the people that I talked to were voting against Clinton; and quite a few voted for Johnson or some other third party candidate not so much as really wanting them president, but because they were voting against the Democratic and Republican candidates.
It has set up our nation for not only a lot of “hate” speech against our leaders, but a lot of “hate” speech and behavior against those who voted for Trump. The facebook video that showed a disabled man who voted for Trump tied up and beaten is a prime example. But it is not an isolated case. And while the behavior has rightfully been decried, the attitude was not.
There are plenty of people who are saying “Trump is not my president,” and who are so angry that those who supported Trump are growing more and more afraid to say they did for fear that they will be accosted. And to be fair, there are also those who are acting just as bad on the other side.
Although far removed from our political climate, the people of Israel, in general, hated King Herod. They saw him as a representative of Rome, which had invaded their land, and oppressed the people. And their religious leaders were not much help in the matter, as they were always stirring them up. Not to the point of open rebellion, but to the point that every time they gathered for a religious festival, Rome put their troops on notice just in case the rebellious attitude was enflamed to the point of seditious behavior.
The Scripture read earlier in our service is a well-known parable. A parable is a story that uses an easy to understand situation to reveal a not so easy to understand spiritual truth. And this particular parable as a rather dark side to it that most people don’t even notice.
When teaching on the “spiritual truth” that Jesus was trying to reveal, most preachers focus on the slaves that the nobleman equipped to make investments while he was away, and his treatment of them upon his return. This aspect of the story does make up the bulk of the parable, so it is not surprising that most teachings drawn from this parable are about the importance of making good financial investments.
But notice the context. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, and they were near it. We know from the flow of Luke’s gospel that they were headed to celebrate the Passover, a feast that was used to remember when God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. And many hoped that God would do it again, but this time they would be freed from Rome.
Luke tells us that those listening to Jesus supposed that the Kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. In their mind, the Kingdom of God meant self-rule. It meant being free to live by their laws and customs without interference. In other words, these people thought that Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to claim His throne and establish the Kingdom of which He spoke of so often.
The majority of Jesus parables were about the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden in a field, like a pearl of great price, like leaven mixed into flour, like a mustard seed, like a net cast into the sea… He taught a lot about the Kingdom of God, but those traveling with him thought that He was talking about an earthly kingdom.
They did not realize that Jesus’ citizenship, like our own, is in heaven. He came from that distant country to receive a kingdom for Himself, but He, like the nobleman in the parable, returned to His homeland. Just as the Nobleman asked his slaves to be about his business until he returned, so Jesus did the same when He issued the great commission. A task for which He had equipped His disciples.
Have you ever considered that sharing the gospel is how we are supposed to “do business” until Jesus returns? And that those we are supposed to share the gospel with, don’t want to hear it because they do not want Jesus to be their Leader.
Notice that in verse 14, the citizens hated the Nobleman so much that they sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to reign over us.” Believe me, the Jewish religious leaders were praying to God for a Messiah, but when Jesus arrived, they told God that this is not the Messiah they wanted. They wanted a leader to vanquish the Romans not one who taught them to love their enemies.
Yet, the Nobleman in Jesus’ parable invested in these citizens who hated. Why? Because the Nobleman wanted these citizens to understand that under his reign, they would prosper. In the story, it was in financial terms, but spiritually speaking they would invest love, hope, forgiveness, and faith. Some had more to invest than others, but all had something that they could invest.
You may not be a Billy Graham, hosting revivals where thousands respond to the gospel, but you might be a mom or a dad, a brother or a sister, a friend, and you might invest in one of them in a way that they come to the Lord.
It is vital that we invest what we have been given, how little or much that may be, in those who hate the Lord. They need His mercy, they need His grace, they need His forgiveness.
The Nobleman rewarded the salves who invested well, and punished the ones who did not. I want you to understand thatJesus will act toward His disciples as did the Nobleman to his slaves because Jesus wants those who hate him to know of His love for them.
Most teachers end their lesson at verse 26. “I tell you that everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away from him.” It is an important point. Jesus really wants investments to be made; and if you are not investing, he’ll take what you have and give it to someone that will invest it. Why?
Verse 27. It is in this verse that we learn that the Nobleman wanted the citizens who hated him to have a change of heart while he was away and come to love him. That is why his slaves were rewarded or punished for the success of their investment. To fully understand this parable, you have to realize that the nobleman knew the fate that awaited those who remained his enemies. He knew that they would be brought before him and slain. This is not what the Nobleman wanted.
The Nobleman stayed away for a long time, not because he couldn’t have come back sooner, but because he wanted his slaves to influence all that they could. The Nobleman was angry at his slaves who refused to invest. What they had was taken from them and given to those who were being successful. Why? Because Jesus does not want any to perish.
The truth is that many will continue to hate him and many will perish; but there will be those who respond, there will be those who are saved, and we are to invest the gospel while Jesus is away.
Prayer: Lord, Help us love the world, just as you do. Amen.