Introduction
Last week we spent our time on the passage which runs from verse 9 of chapter 18 to verse 10 of chapter 19 and it included the parable of the tax collector and Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray. And then, after that parable, we read that some people were bringing babies to the Lord Jesus so that he could touch them. When the disciples rebuked the people, the Lord told them to let the little children come to him because the kingdom of God belongs ‘to such as these’. And he added that anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little children will never enter it. After that, there was the story of the rich ruler who wanted to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life. He said that, ever since he was a child, he had obeyed God’s law. But what else should he do? And after that story, the Lord spoke of his death and resurrection in Jerusalem. And then he healed the blind man and brought salvation to Zacchaeus.
So, it was another long passage. And that’s because we’re going through Luke’s gospel at a fast pace, taking large chunks at a time and trying to see connections between the various parts. And what connected the various parts of last week’s passage? It was the idea that eternal life in the kingdom of God is not for those who are like the proud Pharisee in the parable, who was confident of his own goodness. And it’s not for those who are like the rich ruler who thought he could climb up to God by his good deeds. So, it’s not for those who think they have something to offer to God or to give to him in exchange for eternal life. Eternal life in the kingdom of God is for those who are like little children. Just as little children rely on their parents for everything, so we’re to rely for salvation on God’s mercy towards us in Christ Jesus. And so, it’s for people like the tax collector in the parable and the blind man in Jericho who asked for mercy. And it’s for people like Zacchaeus who received salvation from the Lord the way a child receives gifts from his parents.
And, of course, God is our loving heavenly Father, who gives and gives and gives and gives. He gives us all that we need through Christ who suffered and died for us before rising from the dead.
That’s what we were thinking about last week. Today we’re looking at the passage which runs from verse 11 of chapter 19 to verse 19 of chapter 20. It includes the account of the time when the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the back of a colt and his disciples hailed him as their king. And immediately afterwards, the chief priests and teachers of the law questioned his authority. They said: ‘Tell us by what authority you are doing these things’ and ‘Who gave you this authority?’ So, the king has come, but not everyone was ready to welcome him. And on either side of that there are two parables. The first is the parable of the nobleman who was going to a distant country to be appointed king; and he gave some money to his servants and told them to put it to work. However, as well as mentioning his servants, the parable also mentioned some of his subjects who hated the nobleman and they did not want him to rule over them. That was the first parable. And the second is the parable of the rebellious tenants who mistreated the landowner’s servants and who killed his son so that they could keep the land for themselves.
And so, what connects all these parts? God sent his Only Begotten Son into the world to be our king. But instead of welcoming him, and yielding their lives to him, many of the people he met rejected him. They did not want him to be their king. And it’s the same today: although Christ is the King over all, many people, if not most people, refuse to believe in him and they will not submit to him. But he is our King and we’re meant to serve him in our daily lives by using whatever he has given us for his glory.
19:11–28
And so, let’s turn to verses 11 to 28 of chapter 19 and the first parable of the passage.
Luke explains in verse 11 that he told them this parable because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. I’m sure I’ve explained before that the kingdom has already come and it’s yet to come. The kingdom has already come and it’s yet to come. It’s already come because the Lord Jesus is the King and he had come to establish his kingdom on the earth by preaching the good news and by healing the sick and by casting out demons and by dying on the cross and rising again for his people. And from his throne in heaven, he’s extending his kingdom throughout the world, calling men and women and boys and girls into his kingdom through the reading and preaching of his word. His kingdom is like mustard seed because it’s growing; and it’s like yeast, because it penetrates and influences everything for good. So, his kingdom has already come.
But it’s yet to come, because for the time being there are many who do not believe and who are against him. And so, we’re waiting for the day, when Christ the King will come again in glory and with power to overthrow his enemies and to bring his people into the new and better world to come, where we will reign with him for ever.
To distinguish these two periods, we can talk about the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory. Right now, the Lord Jesus is building his kingdom of grace in the world. But we’re waiting for the kingdom of glory to come, when all people everywhere will see his glory and bow to him.
And it seems from what we read in verse 11 that some people thought that the kingdom of glory was going to appear at once. It was going to come immediately. They thought the Lord was going up to Jerusalem to overthrow his enemies and to set up his kingdom on the earth. That’s what some people were thinking. And so, the Lord told them this parable so that they would understand that the kingdom of glory is not going to appear at once or immediately. And in the meantime, while we wait for his appearing, we should serve him, using whatever he has given us.
And so, in the parable a man of noble birth, or a nobleman, went to a distant country to have himself appointed king. This was fairly common in those days, when Israel was part of the Roman Empire. Men like Herod the Great and Herod Antipas went to Rome to be appointed by the Roman Emperor as king over parts of Israel. And so, in the parable, this nobleman went off to be made king. And afterwards, he would return.
Before he left, he called in ten of his servants and gave each of them a mina. As you can see from the footnote in the NIV, a mina was worth about three months’ wages. So, it was a decent sum of money, but it wasn’t a fortune. As one of the commentators says, it was a trial amount to see what they would do with it and whether or not they would prove to be faithful. So, the nobleman told them to put the money to work until he comes back. He’s not telling them they have to make a massive profit. He just wants them to do something useful with it.
We’ll skip over verse 14 for now, and we’ll turn to verse 15 where it says he returned and he called for his ten servants to see what they did with the money he had given them. Although the NIV says that he wanted to know what they ‘gained’ with it, the Greek really means he wanted to know how they got on. How did it go for them? Again, he’s not so much interested in whether they made a massive profit, but whether they were faithful.
Instead of telling us how all ten did, the Lord tells us about three of them. The first did well and managed to earn 10 more minas from the one mina he had received. And the noblemen said: ‘Well done, my good servant! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ A mina was a small amount to the nobleman. As one of the commentators says, it would scarcely buy a barn. But what a reward! This servant is put in charge of 10 cities. The nobleman has honoured his servant beyond all proportion to what he had done.
The second servant came in and it turns out he had made five minas from the nobleman’s one mina. He was given charge over five cities.
Then in comes the third servant. And all he did with the money was wrap it in a cloth and set is aside for safe-keeping. In other words, he did nothing with what his master gave him. Why did he do nothing with it? He claimed it’s because he was afraid of his master. He said his master was a hard man. But was his master a hard man? There’s nothing in the parable to suggest that he was a hard man with his servants. In fact, his generosity towards the other two servants suggests otherwise. He appears as a good and generous master, not a hard master.
In verse 22, the master is not admitting he’s hard. He’s merely quoting what the third servant had said about him. And if he really were a hard master, then we’d expect him to punish this servant. But he did not punish the servant. He merely took back his money.
And when he took back the money, he gave it to the first servant. The people standing around him protested that the first servant already had 10 minas. He doesn’t need another! But that’s just how generous the master is. He’s happy to give away what he has to his faithful servants. He’s happy to give and give and give to them.
Since this is a parable, then it’s not really about a nobleman and his servants. It’s about something else. So, what’s it about? It’s about the Lord Jesus. The nobleman represents the Lord Jesus who was soon going to leave his disciples and go to a far away country. In fact, he was going to go into heaven to be installed as King over all. And one day, and we don’t know when it will be, he’s going to return. He’s going to come back to earth. And when he comes back, he’ll call together his servants: all of his people who believed in him. And he’ll want to know what we did with the gifts and talents and skills and knowledge and money and possessions that he gives to us in this life. In the parable he gave each of his servants the same amount. In real life, he gives his people different gifts and he distributes his gifts unevenly, giving more to some and less to others. But he gives something to everyone. And while we wait for him to return, we’re to use what he has given us. We’re to be faithful with it. Just as the master in the parable was not looking for a profit, but faithfulness, so the Lord is not necessarily looking for success from us, but for faithfulness with what he has given us.
So, think of what he’s given you. Think of the gifts and abilities, the talents and the skills, the money and the possessions which he’s given to you. Instead of doing nothing with the gifts he’s given you, or instead of using them selfishly and for your own benefit only, he wants you to make use of them and to use them for his glory. Or think of the roles and responsibilities he’s given you as a spouse or as a parent or as a child and in your place of work or in your home or in the church. He wants you to carry out those roles and responsibilities for his glory. That’s what you’re to do while you wait for Christ the King to return.
But then there’s also verse 14 and verse 27. In verse 14 he mentions some subjects who hated the nobleman. So, these are not his servants, but his subjects. They hated him and didn’t want him to rule over them. And what happened to them when the nobleman returned? He gave an order for them to be rounded up and killed. The Lord is referring to the Pharisees and to the chief priests and to the teachers of the law and to everyone else who refused to believe in him while he was on the earth. And he’s referring to people in every generation who refuse to believe in him and who will not submit to him as their king. For now, he puts up with them. But the day is coming, when he will come again in glory and with power. And on that day, he will overthrow his enemies and send them away to be punished for ever.
19:29–46
We come now to verses 29 to 46 and the account of the time when the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the back of a colt and his disciples hailed him as their king.
The Lord was approaching Jerusalem. And he sent two of his disciples ahead of him to fetch a colt or young donkey, which they will find there. And he told them that if anyone asks them what they’re doing, they should say that the Lord needs it. The two disciples did as he told them to do and sure enough, the owners of the colt asked them what they were doing. And they replied as the Lord told them. Presumably he had made some kind of prior arrangement with them and the owners of the colt were waiting for this day to come, when strangers would arrive and take their donkey.
And the disciples brought it to the Lord and threw their cloaks on it to make a kind of saddle. And the Lord sat on the donkey and continued his journey towards Jerusalem. Luke tells us that people put their cloaks on the road. Matthew and Mark, in their accounts of this event, tell us that crowds of people not only spread their cloaks on the ground, but they also placed palm branches on the road. And as the Lord travelled along, the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God joyfully. And they said: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ and ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’
Who is the king who comes in the name of the Lord? They’re referring to the Lord Jesus, aren’t they? He’s the king who comes in the name of the Lord God Almighty. He’s God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King. And how do they know he’s God’s King? They know it, of course, because of all the things he had said and done. By proclaiming and providing freedom for his people, he demonstrated that he is their Saviour–King. However, his decision to ride towards Jerusalem on a colt or young donkey was another sign that he’s God’s King. In the Old Testament book of Zechariah, we read the following words in 9:9:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
God was announcing to his people in the days of Zechariah the prophet that he was going to send his Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King to save them from their enemies. And he went on to say that this king’s rule will extend from sea to sea. And when he comes, he’ll come riding a colt, the foal of a donkey.
And that makes him an unusual king, doesn’t it? Kings in ancient times rode on the backs of war horses. And war horses strikes terror in the hearts of those who see them, because they’re so large. But no one is afraid of a donkey. We let our children ride on donkeys on the beach. But as God said through Zechariah, God’s King will come gently. And the Lord Jesus did come gently, didn’t he? He came gently, because he came on a donkey and not a war horse. And he did not come to raise an army and to start a war. He came to Jerusalem to die. He came to give up his life on the cross to pay for all that we have done wrong; and he came to shed his blood for our forgiveness. He came to rescue us from our sin and misery in this world and to give us eternal life in the world to come. And, according to what we read in verse 38, he came to establish peace in heaven. He established peace in heaven because his victory for us over sin and death is also a victory over Satan and his demons in the heavenly realms. And all of God’s people will enjoy perfect peace and rest in the presence of God in the life to come. And his death on the cross for the salvation of his people leads to glory to God in the highest.
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd told the Lord to silence his disciples. They did not want them to hail him as their king. But the Lord answered that even if he silenced them, the stones would cry out. So, the disciples acknowledged him as their king, while the Pharisees did not. Their hearts were harder than stone.
And the Lord’s heart is tender, isn’t it? Luke tells us in verse 41 that as he approached the city of Jerusalem, he wept over it. And he wept over it, and over the people in it, because he knew the suffering which would fall on them because they rejected him as their king. Peace was offered to them, but they would not receive it. And he says that the days will come when their enemies will build an embankment against them and will encircle them and will hem them in on every side. He’s referring to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans which took place in AD70. He said that their enemies will dash them to the ground; and the enemies will destroy the city so that one stone will not be left standing on another. The city will be flattened. And this death and destruction will come on them because they did not recognise the time of God’s coming to them. God had come to them in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. But they did not recognise his coming. They did not understand. Instead of receiving him, and believing in him, they rejected him. And therefore the time will come when they will suffer the wrath of God. And because of the suffering that would come on them, the Lord Jesus wept for them. He was tender-hearted towards them. If only they have believed in him, they would have been had peace. But because they rejected him, judgment will fall on them.
And what happened to Jerusalem in AD70 was a kind of foretaste of the great and terrible day of the Lord, when Christ will come again to overthrow his enemies and to punish them for all that they have done wrong. The Lord will come one day to judge the world. And so, all people everywhere are commanded to repent and believe the good news of salvation so that they need not fear the judgment to come.
The Lord Jesus then went up to the temple in Jerusalem. And when he was there, he began to drive out those who were selling. That is to say, they were selling animals to the people who came to the temple to offer sacrifices. Instead of bringing an animal all the way from home, the people would wait until they reached Jerusalem and would then buy an animal to offer to the Lord. The problem was that the sellers moved their business into the temple. And therefore they turned the temple into a noisy market place, full of people who were buying and selling instead of praying. And since the Lord calls the temple ‘a den of robbers’, then presumably they weren’t conducting their business in an honest way. And so, the Lord drove them away.
The priests and Levites were meant to guard the temple. They were meant to keep it holy. They were to keep anything impure away. But clearly they neglected to do what they were supposed to do. But here comes the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour–King, and he cleanses the temple in order to guard its holiness. And that too is a foretaste of what will happen when Christ comes again in glory and with power, because he will not let anything impure enter the City of God in the new heavens and earth. He will protect it from impurity. And only his own people, who have been washed and cleansed by his blood, will be allowed to enter it.
And the Lord not only cleansed the temple, but he also taught in the temple. Every day he was teaching there. But once again we see the opposition to him. Just as there were people in the parable of the nobleman who did not want the nobleman to rule over them, so there were people in the temple who did not want the Lord Jesus to rule over them. And so, they were trying to kill him. They were trying to kill him, but they could not manage to do it because of all the people who gathered around the Saviour.
20:1–8
Now we come to verses 1 to 8 of chapter 20. One day, when the Lord was teaching in the temple and preaching the good news of the gospel, the chief priests and teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. But they had not come to learn from him, but to examine him. They wanted to know by what authority did he do these things; and who gave him this authority. By referring to ‘these things’, they probably mean by what authority did he cleanse the temple and teach in it. What right did he have to drive out the sellers and to teach the people? Well, we know he got his authority from God the Father, because God the Father had sent him into the world as God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King. But instead of answering them directly, he answered them by asking a question of his own. He asked them about John the Baptist. Who gave him the authority to baptise? Did his authority come from God in heaven or from men on earth? And Luke tells us that they discussed the question among themselves. They said to themselves that if they say it was from God in heaven, then he will want to know why they did not believe John. But if they say it was from men on earth, then the people will be angry with them, because everyone else understood that John was a prophet, sent by God. They don’t want to admit that John had been sent by God. But they don’t want to deny it either. So, instead they said nothing. And since they would not answer his question, the Lord replied that he would not answer their question either.
But just as they did not believe in John, so they did not believe in the Lord Jesus. They would not listen to John and they would not listen to Jesus. John had come from God. And the Lord Jesus had come from God. But they would not welcome either one. And they would not submit themselves to God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King who had come to save.
20:9–19
And finally we come to the parable of the tenants in verses 9 to 19 of chapter 20. And this parable is a summary of the whole of the history of God’s people up to that point.
A man planted a vineyard and rented it to some farmers before going away for a long time. In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, God likens his people to a vineyard which he planted in the Promised Land. And that suggests to us that the vineyard in the Lord’s parable represents the people of God. And the tenant farmers in the parable stands for their leaders.
In the parable, the landowner sent a servant to the farmers at harvest time to collect his share of the crops. That’s the way things worked in those days: landowners would rent their fields to tenant farmers; and the rent the farmers paid was some of the crops. But instead of handing over a portion of the harvest, the farmers beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. The landowner therefore sent another servant. And they beat him too and treated him shamefully and sent him away with nothing. The landowner is remarkable patient and therefore sent a third servant. And they wounded him and threw him out. And the landowner was still patient with them. But instead of sending a servant, he decided to send his son, whom he loved. He thought: ‘Perhaps they will respect him.’
Since this is a parable, and the vineyard stands the people of God and the farmers are their leaders, who are the servants and the son? The servants stand for the prophets. Throughout the Old Testament period, the Lord sent his prophets to his people again and again to declare the word of the Lord and to command his rebellious people to repent and to return to him: men like Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah and Jeremiah and so on. But the leaders of the people would not listen to them. In fact, they beat and murdered some of them. Just as the farmers treated the servants shamefully, so the leaders of Israel treated the Lord’s prophets shamefully. But then, finally, the Lord sent his Son, his beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Surely they will respect him?
Well, in the parable, when the farmers saw the son, they decided to kill him. And they killed him because he was the heir. Someday the land would be his and they did not want him to rule over them. And so, they killed him. And when the Lord God Almighty sent his Beloved Son into the world, what did they do? The leaders of the people — the Pharisees and chief priests and teachers of the law and the elders — killed him. They arrested him and falsely accused him and persuaded Pilate to crucify him. Though everything he said and did demonstrated that he was God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King who had come to save his people from their sin and misery in this world, they did not want him to rule over them. They would not submit to him. And so, they killed him.
‘What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?’ the Lord asked? He’ll come and kill them, won’t he? And he’ll give the vineyard to others. And the Lord means that he punish the Pharisees and chief priests and the other leaders for their unbelief; and he’ll hand over the leadership of his people to others who will believe in him. He’s probably thinking of the apostles. They will become the leaders of God’s people.
The Lord went on to quote from Psalm 118, which is about a stone which the builders rejected, but which has become the capstone. So, we’re to imagine builders on a building site and they’re building a great building. They’re building a temple. And here’s a stone which they take and throw away. It seems useless to them. They don’t want it. But in the end, that stone, which they cast away, is placed as the capstone, or the top stone, on the top of the building. And so, that stone was lifted up above all the others. And that stone stands for the Lord Jesus. He was rejected by the leaders, who crucified him. But afterwards, God the Father raised him from the dead and exalted him to the highest place so that he is now above all, he rules over all, he is Lord of all. Once he was despised and rejected; now he sits in the place of honour as king over all. Those who reject him will be broken to pieces and crushed. That is to say, they will be punished. But his people, who believe in him, will be raised with him to everlasting life in the new heavens and earth, where they will reign with him for ever and for ever.
Conclusion
The Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem as King. But he did not come to raise an army and to start a war; he came to suffer and die on behalf of his people to make a lasting peace between God and us.
Many people in those days rejected him. They did not believe in him and they would not submit to him. They were like the rebellious subjects in the first parable. And they were like the rebellious farmers in the second parable. They were the Pharisees and the chief priests and the teachers of the law and the elders. And there were many other, ordinary people, who did not believe. And it’s the same in every generation. The good news is proclaimed to all and everyone is commanded to believe in Christ the King and to submit to him. And there are many in every generation, if not most in every generation, who refuse to believe in him or to submit to him. In the end, when he comes in glory and with power, they will be sent away to be punished like the rebellious subjects in the first parable and like the rebellious farmers in the second parable. But all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ can look forward to his coming. We can look forward to his coming, because his coming will mean our full salvation, when we are set free from our sin and misery completely and we’ll enjoy perfect peace and rest in the presence of God for ever and for ever. And while we wait for that day, we’re to serve Christ our King in our daily lives, making use of all that he has given us to bring glory to his name.
Sermons and Stuff 