Luk 19:22 | KingComments | STEP | Then comes the next slave before his Lord. He also calls Him “Master” and thereby acknowledges His authority, and he also speaks of “Your” mina. He thereby acknowledges that what he has received is of His Lord. But it is all just a lip confession. In their inner being, there is no connection between him and his Lord. Therefore, there has been no dedication to Him at all. There was nothing in his life that led people to glorify God. He put the mina he had received in a handkerchief. He did not intend to work hard for his Lord. So he didn’t do that. His conduct resulted from a totally false perception of his Lord. He did not understand anything of His grace, he never got to know Him. He was afraid of Him, and found Him exacting and unrighteous. He had his own view of that Lord and thought that you’d better not have to deal with Him. He did not face the fact that he would have to deal with Him anyway. Living for such a Lord seemed unbearable to him. There were a lot of things you were not permitted to do and there were a lot of things you had to do. It was all ‘not permitted’ and ‘had to’. In that view on his Lord, he did not want to be corrected either. He held on to it and it determined his life. With his statements about his Lord, the slave makes his own judgment. If he really was afraid of that Lord, and if it really was so that He was exacting and, to his judgment, dealing unrighteous, that should have led him to act differently from what he has done now. The Lord calls him a worthless slave because he has not done according to what he knew. He used his idea about Him as an excuse to do nothing at all with his mina. If he had been really scared, he would have given His money to a bank. Just thinking soberly would have led him to the conclusion that the money would at least have been a little bit profitable for Him. After all, it was His money and the task was to do business with it. The Lord does not blame him for not having done business. If he had no energy to do business, by bringing the money to a bank he would have acknowledged that his Lord was entitled to profit. Because he was led by selfish fear, he showed that there was no love for his Master ( ). He lacked not so much the power to act, but the right spirit or mind to act. He did not know grace. If we have a legalistic mind, we serve only ourselves. The worthless slave not only does not receive a reward, he also suffers loss. What he was entrusted, he loses because he did nothing with it. He never really possessed it because he had put it away. Yet he knew he had it, for he could give it to his Lord, but it was something outside of him, not in him. The external appearance, the beautiful appearance, is taken from him. What was for him a covering for his inner depravity is for the faithful, dedicated slave the decoration of the authenticity of the faith that is in him. That is why the faithful slave gets what the evil slave has abused. Those who stand by point out to the Lord that this slave already has so much. He already has ten and now he gets another one. The answer shows how much the Lord appreciates complete faithfulness and dedication and commitment. Such a person cannot be rewarded enough. From those who have no inner connection with Him, but only the appearance to possess something, also that appearance will be taken away. At the end of His parable, the Lord returns to the citizens whom He spoke of in the beginning ( ). He calls them here His enemies. He reminds us that they did not want Him to rule over them. For them, too, comes the day of retribution. For them there is an appropriate judgment. They must appear before Him like the slaves, but there is no conversation with them. They must be slain in His presence. His kingship is a righteous kingship. He rules in righteousness, both in reward and in judgment of evil.

‏ Luke 19:22

The Worthless Slave and the Citizens

Then comes the next slave before his Lord. He also calls Him “Master” and thereby acknowledges His authority, and he also speaks of “Your” mina. He thereby acknowledges that what he has received is of His Lord. But it is all just a lip confession. In their inner being, there is no connection between him and his Lord. Therefore, there has been no dedication to Him at all. There was nothing in his life that led people to glorify God. He put the mina he had received in a handkerchief. He did not intend to work hard for his Lord. So he didn’t do that.

His conduct resulted from a totally false perception of his Lord. He did not understand anything of His grace, he never got to know Him. He was afraid of Him, and found Him exacting and unrighteous. He had his own view of that Lord and thought that you’d better not have to deal with Him. He did not face the fact that he would have to deal with Him anyway. Living for such a Lord seemed unbearable to him. There were a lot of things you were not permitted to do and there were a lot of things you had to do. It was all ‘not permitted’ and ‘had to’. In that view on his Lord, he did not want to be corrected either. He held on to it and it determined his life.

With his statements about his Lord, the slave makes his own judgment. If he really was afraid of that Lord, and if it really was so that He was exacting and, to his judgment, dealing unrighteous, that should have led him to act differently from what he has done now. The Lord calls him a worthless slave because he has not done according to what he knew. He used his idea about Him as an excuse to do nothing at all with his mina. If he had been really scared, he would have given His money to a bank. Just thinking soberly would have led him to the conclusion that the money would at least have been a little bit profitable for Him. After all, it was His money and the task was to do business with it.

The Lord does not blame him for not having done business. If he had no energy to do business, by bringing the money to a bank he would have acknowledged that his Lord was entitled to profit. Because he was led by selfish fear, he showed that there was no love for his Master (1Jn 4:18). He lacked not so much the power to act, but the right spirit or mind to act. He did not know grace. If we have a legalistic mind, we serve only ourselves.

The worthless slave not only does not receive a reward, he also suffers loss. What he was entrusted, he loses because he did nothing with it. He never really possessed it because he had put it away. Yet he knew he had it, for he could give it to his Lord, but it was something outside of him, not in him. The external appearance, the beautiful appearance, is taken from him. What was for him a covering for his inner depravity is for the faithful, dedicated slave the decoration of the authenticity of the faith that is in him. That is why the faithful slave gets what the evil slave has abused.

Those who stand by point out to the Lord that this slave already has so much. He already has ten and now he gets another one. The answer shows how much the Lord appreciates complete faithfulness and dedication and commitment. Such a person cannot be rewarded enough. From those who have no inner connection with Him, but only the appearance to possess something, also that appearance will be taken away.

At the end of His parable, the Lord returns to the citizens whom He spoke of in the beginning (Lk 19:14). He calls them here His enemies. He reminds us that they did not want Him to rule over them. For them, too, comes the day of retribution. For them there is an appropriate judgment. They must appear before Him like the slaves, but there is no conversation with them. They must be slain in His presence. His kingship is a righteous kingship. He rules in righteousness, both in reward and in judgment of evil.