Throughout His ministry – now going on three years – Jesus has battled the expectation that He will be a political Messiah, one who fulfills all the prophecies of a triumphant ruler who will lead Israel over its enemies.  The expectation stems from a misunderstanding of Old Testament prophecies about His second coming.  His followers don’t realize that some Messianic prophecies apply to His life now while some apply to when He comes back.  They just know He’s the Messiah, so they expect Him to eventually show Himself and enable Israel to throw off the shackles of Rome. 

This expectation is why Jesus has oftentimes told those He’s miraculously healed to keep the news to themselves.  He knows the more people know about His miracles, the more will clamor for Him to set up His kingdom and lead Israel to glory.

What’s amazing – though probably discouraging to Jesus – is that even His closest followers – who have heard Him describe His kingdom several times in terms that make it clear that it’s not of this world – fall into this trap.  They’ve been with Him from the start and they know He’s never once said anything political or given any indication that He wants earthly power, but they still think the big day is coming.  And the fact that He’s told them on THREE different occasions that He will someday be executed doesn’t dampen their expectations.

The group is now on its last leg traveling from Jericho to Jerusalem for Passover.  They’ve just heard Jesus refer to Himself as the Son of Man (19:10), a Messianic title from the book of Daniel.  They assume that since they’ll be in the holy city on the biggest holiday of the year when the city will be packed with people, it will be the perfect time for Jesus to usher in His kingdom.  Glory is just a few days away.

To address this, Jesus does two things.  He tells a parable that resets their expectations and He makes an entrance into Jerusalem that shows very clearly and publicly who He is and what His intentions are (and aren’t).

Parable of the Ten Minas (11-27)
Luke helpfully explains that the parable Jesus is about to tell is for the purpose of resetting the expectations of His followers who think glory is just around the corner. 

The name of the parable is the Parable of the Ten Minas.  It’s very similar to the Parable of the Ten Talents in Matthew 25:14-30, with some notable differences.  In the Talents parable, the master gives each servant a different and much greater amount of money and nothing is said about him being a ruler who goes to claim a kingdom or having citizens who hate him.  In that parable, the message seems to be that each follower of God is given different abilities and it’s the follower’s responsibility to make the most of what he’s been given for the benefit of the kingdom of God.  Here, there are ten servants instead of three (although only three report to the nobleman) and each receives the same amount of money (and it’s a much smaller amount than in the Matthew parable).  The message of this parable is more about readiness and understanding the nature of the kingdom.  This parable also includes a reference to coming judgement that’s missing in the Talents parable.

The first thing to notice about the story is the nobleman (who represents Jesus) goes to a far country to receive a kingdom (the kingdom is here but he has to travel somewhere else to receive his authority – much like a Roman ruler in Israel having to travel to Rome to receive his commission).  This is Jesus’ answer to those who think He’s going to claim His kingdom in a matter of days.  The Messiah is about to go away and it’s going to be some time before He returns.  He’s going to a distant country and will be gone for a while.

What’s interesting about this part of the story is that it’s the only part that directly speaks to Jesus’ followers about His kingdom not being of this world and not appearing now.  The rest of the parable focuses on the servants’ behavior while He’s gone.  The point of the parable is to reset His followers’ expectations but most of it is really about readiness.  Perhaps the focus on readiness indirectly teaches the same lesson that glory and triumph are in the future, not now.

The nobleman gives each of his ten servants (who represent Jesus’ followers) one mina each and tells them to engage in business with it until he returns.  A mina represents roughly 100 days of wages.  It’s not nearly as much money as the talents mentioned in the other parable.  That he tells them to do business with the money implies that he wants them to give him a return on his investment.  They have until he comes back (at an uncertain time in the future) to make the money multiply. 

The nobleman is not overly popular with his people (they hate him) and they send a delegation after him to tell the authority (presumably the king who will grant rule to the nobleman) that they don’t want this man to rule over them.  [These citizens represent the Jews who reject the Messiah.]

Their gambit doesn’t work as the nobleman receives the kingdom and returns.  Once he does, he demands an accounting from his servants who were entrusted with his money.  We only hear about three of the ten servants.  The first two proudly report on their performance.  The first one turned one mina into ten and the second turned one mina into five.  Both are commended by the nobleman and rewarded.  Three things to note about the interactions with these two servants.  First, both are commended and called faithful (the second is implied).  Second, they are both given much greater rewards than what they presented to the nobleman. Third, their rewards aren’t the same.  What we can gather from this is that we’re all called to be faithful and our faithfulness will be rewarded – and rewarded to a much greater degree than we can imagine.  That said, our rewards won’t all be the same.  There will apparently be degrees of reward in eternity.  It’s hard to understand how this will play out, but it goes along with the justice and punishment that will be realized on the last day.  Not everyone lives the same or achieves the same for the kingdom in this life.  Thus, in the next life the rewards for those lives won’t all be the same.

The third servant is the only one who feels the need to explain his actions.  The first two simply reported on their performance.  This one realizes he doesn’t look good by comparison and so defends himself.  In his explanation, he shows a skewed perspective of the nobleman.  He says the nobleman is harsh, unfair, and unjust.  And because of this, the servant was scared to lose the mina entrusted to him and so hid it and did nothing with it.  He seems to imply that he knew he wouldn’t personally profit from any increase in the funds and yet would be punished if he lost it – it was a no-win situation from his perspective.  He essentially says his lack of action is the nobleman’s fault.  He gladly gives the mina back to his master with the assumption that the nobleman will be happy not to have suffered loss. 

The nobleman’s reaction is harsh.  He uses the servant’s own words against him.  He tells the servant that if he (the nobleman) is ruthless like the servant says, then wouldn’t he expect a profit on the money he entrusted to the servant?  He then says the servant could easily have invested the money with the bankers (probably moneychangers) and made a small – and seemingly risk-free – return.  That would have taken virtually no work by the servant, but he apparently was too lazy to even do that.  The nobleman calls the servant wicked – the opposite of the first two slaves.

The nobleman then does something very interesting.  He says the one mina the servant has will be taken from him and given to the one who has ten minas (presumably so that he will invest it and increase the return to the nobleman).  The nobleman says that to those who have, more will be given; but to those who don’t have, even what they have will be taken from them (a repeat of what Jesus said in 8:18).  The diligent will be given more responsibility and resources; the lazy and wicked will have their resources taken away since their under-utilization of them made it as if they didn’t have them at all. 

It’s important to think through this section of the parable.  The mina represents God-given resources the believer has in this life.  Since that’s the case, the removal of the mina from the wicked slave and its transfer to the faithful slave must represent actions in this life, not eternity.  If that’s correct, then the message of this part of the parable seems to be that for those who faithfully utilize what God gives them, more opportunities for utilizing those gifts will come about.  For those who don’t utilize what God gives them, the opportunities for using them go away.  Said another way, when we’re faithful with what God gives us, God gives us more opportunities to be faithful; when we’re unfaithful (or lazy and indifferent), God stops giving.  It’s why someone with a generous spirit seems to regularly find needs to meet while someone with a selfish spirit rarely runs across needs at all.  Or why certain people routinely have conversations about their faith while others never seem to have it come up.

Nothing is said about what happens to the lazy servant, but the implication is that he loses his place in the household.  In the Parable of the Talents, the lazy slave is eternally damned.  The servant showed himself to be worthless, so he no longer has a position in the kingdom.

The parable ends with the nobleman calling for the people who sent the delegation to derail his rule.  He has them executed in front of him.  This shows the nobleman’s return isn’t all about commendation and reward; he brings judgment too.  This is a direct warning to the Jews who reject the Messiah.  Their rejection has eternal ramifications.  [We’ll also find out that it has near-future ramifications when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and laments its coming destruction that results from its rejection of Him – 19:41-44.]

Lessons From the Parable

• The Messiah’s kingdom is not of this world and is not fully realized in the present.  He isn’t here to deliver Israel from Rome, He’s here to seek and to save that which is lost.  His kingdom won’t be fully realized until He returns.
• Since the Messiah’s kingdom is not of this world, His followers must live with an otherworldly focus.  The servants’ works are temporal; the rewards eternal.
• All servants will stand before their master alone.  No one answers for another’s stewardship, and no one is rewarded for another’s work.
• All servants will give an account and must not take that truth lightly.
• We’re called to be faithful while the Lord is gone and ready for when He returns. Our stewardship may last a short or long time as we don’t know when the Master will return.  But we’re required to be faithful even when it seems like there’s no cost for wasting time.
• We’re each given different abilities (parable of the Talents) but we’re also given many of the same resources (time in a day/month/year, scripture, power of the Holy Spirit, opportunities to serve – one mina each).
• Everything we have is from God and belongs to Him – we’re stewards, not owners (note that all three servants refer to “your mina” when reporting back to the nobleman).
• Our stewardship reflects our view of our Master – if we’re lazy and indifferent, it shows we have a skewed perspective of God and His kingdom.
• Jesus calls the third slave wicked because he did not love his master enough to work for him.  It was easier to bury the money and then go about his life.  Stewarding the money took work – burying it did not.
• The rewards for faithfulness will far outweigh the costs and benefits of stewardship.  Our God is an extravagant rewarder.
• We don’t need to worry about trying to guess when the Lord will return, we’re simply to be faithful.  We’re called to be faithful and ready, not accurate in our projections.
• Along with reward, Jesus brings judgment when He returns.  Those who reject Him will be eternally punished.

Triumphal Entry (28-40)
The second part of this text both tempers Jesus’ followers’ expectation of glory and inflames it.  He enters Jerusalem in a way that publicly proclaims His Messiahship while also showing clearly that He’s not a political deliverer.

Jesus resumes His trip to Jerusalem.  Verse 28 refers to Him going up to Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is on a hill, and the Bible always refers to people ‘going up’ when they travel there.  There’s likely a spiritual element to the description.  It’s the spiritual center of Israel and where God dwells.  Anyone who goes there ascends both geographically and spiritually.  The ascent to Jerusalem is why Psalms that are sung on the way (Ps 120-134) are called Psalms of Ascents.

As to the actual geography, the trip from Jericho to Jerusalem is roughly 17-18 miles and the road rises 3000 feet on the way.

Interestingly – and somewhat unbelievably – Luke (along with Matthew and Mark) says nothing about the raising of Lazarus that John records as happening shortly before Jesus enters Jerusalem (Jn 11).  The miracle likely takes place between verses 28 and 29.

As Jesus approaches Bethpage and Bethany – two towns that sit a short distance from Jerusalem – He instructs two disciples to go into the village (Matthew tells us it’s Bethpage – 21:1) and bring back a colt that has never been ridden.  He essentially tells them to steal it (they’re not to ask permission before taking it) and to tell anyone who asks that “The Lord has need of it.”

The disciples do so and find the colt just as Jesus told them and they are in fact asked by the colt’s owners what they’re doing.  They tell the owners, “The Lord has need of it” and apparently that’s enough and no one tries to stop them.  It’s possible that this is arranged beforehand, but the intention of the story seems to be that this is a mark of Jesus’ authority.  The owners may have no idea what’s going on before the disciples arrive, but once they hear that Jesus is the one who needs their colt, it’s enough and they don’t question the disciples’ actions in taking it.  [Matthew records that the disciples bring back both a colt and a donkey (21:7) – perhaps the donkey is brought to calm her foal who’s never been ridden – Luke and Mark likely leave this fact out because it’s not germane to the story.]  Once they bring the donkey back, the disciples spread their garments on it so Jesus can ride.

This is the first time Jesus is said to ride rather than walk at any time in the gospel accounts.  He and the disciples have walked from Galilee, so He certainly doesn’t need a donkey for the last mile or two into Jerusalem.  Jesus is for the first time very publicly claiming to be Messiah.  That this is so out of character from the rest of His ministry (12:15-21) shows how important it is to Jesus that as many as possible know He is in Jerusalem and thus will witness His sacrifice.  [Symbolically it makes sense that Jesus is crucified during Passover – but it also ensures that Jerusalem is packed with witnesses for His death.]

Jesus on the colt fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9-10 – Jesus is the King of Zion coming gently and mounted on a donkey.  He comes to the city not as a military leader but as One offering salvation – a point missed by most who are about to celebrate His coming.  [Contrast this picture of Jesus with His second coming described by John.  Both involve Him riding, but the animals are a bit different.  Unlike His entrance to Jerusalem here, He will NOT come gently and humbly the second time, and He will NOT come to offer salvation (Rev 19:11-16).  The choice is still available – man can accept Jesus mounted on a colt or face Jesus mounted on a white horse]

It’s easy to miss the picture here.  Jesus very publicly fulfills messianic prophecy by riding a colt, but this is NOT a picture of a conquering hero.  No king would ride a colt into a city he plans to rule.  This isn’t an impressive entrance.  By coming this way, Jesus makes it very clear – again – that He doesn’t come to establish a kingdom.  A grown man riding a colt doesn’t intimidate anyone.  Apart from His followers’ praises, the entrance very publicly proclaims humility and gentleness.  [What’s interesting to speculate is how the Romans see this.  Watching a man ride a colt into the city while his followers praise him like a king must confuse them.  It may also alarm them at a time when they’re already on high alert because of the history of rebellions during Passover.]

His disciples and the multitudes coming into the city begin to celebrate His entrance.  Moving from Bethpage into Jerusalem involves a descent from the Mount of Olives.  He rides on the colt downhill and the people with Him begin to lay down their garments and palm branches (per Jn 12:13) in the road in front of Him.  As He continues the crowds begin to shout, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  Matthew records that they shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  [Hosanna is a Greek form of the Hebrew words translated “O save!” – see Ps 118.  The word is used more as an exclamation of praise than as prayer in Jewish worship.]  The use of the term Son of David shows that many think He is the promised Messiah.  John records (12:12-13) that crowds come out from the city and join the celebration with the crowd that is coming along with Him.

Verse 37 says they celebrate because of all the miracles they have seen.  Included with the miracles would be the raising of Lazarus (more on this below).

This celebration and the reasons behind it speak to why it is that so many will shockingly turn on Him in just a matter of days.  They expect a Messiah.  When they get instead a condemned criminal bound for crucifixion, their praise turns to angry approval of His execution.  And while His disciples won’t join in calling for His execution, they will desert Him at His arrest and trial.

It’s not entirely clear at first what is different about this day and why Jesus is celebrated as He enters Jerusalem.  This is either the third or fourth Passover of Jesus’ ministry (Jn 2:13-25, 5:1, 6:1-4), and the fourth or fifth feast that He has observed in Jerusalem (Jn 2, 5, 7:1-10, 10:22).  While most of His ministry has been in Galilee, His early teaching before the death of John the Baptist was in the area around Jerusalem.  The people here are familiar with Him and presumably would not see His coming as a momentous event.  He has ministered in the city numerous times and not been hailed as Messiah, yet here He enters to a king’s welcome and stirs up the entire city. 

Several factors may explain this:

• Raising Lazarus was a highly public miracle that boosted Jesus’ profile even higher than it had been.  The miracle took place in Bethany – a short distance from Jerusalem.  The day before entering Jerusalem, Jesus dines with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany (Jn 12:9-11) and a great multitude comes to see both men (this concerns the religious leaders so much they scheme to kill Lazarus – probably hoping it will take this time).  This same multitude is involved in the celebration when Jesus enters Jerusalem (Jn 12:17).
• This is the only time Jesus deliberately makes a very public entrance.  He has spent other Passovers in Jerusalem but has never tried to make public His approach to the city before.  And those who know the scriptures see His coming on a colt for what it is – fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. 
• Passover is traditionally a time when Messianic fervor runs high.  Passover speaks of deliverance and looks forward to the time when the Messiah will deliver Israel from all its enemies permanently.  Any Passover has the potential for setting off celebrations or riots in the name of nationalism and here Jesus deliberately acts in a way to set off the crowds.
• Those following Him seem to sense that something big is about to happen (19:11).    They have been told numerous times to keep His identity a secret but now they can finally proclaim Him to the world. 
• It is God’s time for Him to be recognized as Messiah.  No reason to hold off now.  Jesus knows His ministry is nearly over and the cross looms; now is the time to fully show Himself to the world and make His sacrifice as public as possible.  Also, He knows such a public and celebratory entry is an even more direct threat to the priests and scribes.  By coming this way, He forces them to confront Him and what He represents.

Pharisees – proving yet again to be the theological killjoys they always are – rebuke Jesus for accepting praise as the Messiah.  Jesus simply tells them that if the people quieted down, the rocks themselves would praise Him.  It’s an amazing statement and surely one that infuriates the religious leaders even more.  Jesus no longer leaves any mystery as to His identity.  The time of masking who He is through indecipherable statements or parables is over.  “I’m the Messiah; the Son of God.  I’m worthy of all praise and it would be a crime against God to NOT praise Me.”

Concluding Thought (Phil 2:5-11; Heb 12:1-2)
Our glorious Savior emptied Himself, took the form of a human, disdained all earthly rewards, and – for the joy set before Him – endured the cross.  He will someday return and reward His followers who likewise lived for something more than the rewards and temptations of this world and looked to His kingdom instead of their own.  So let us live as He lived; let us lay aside any obstacle that stands in our way and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race God sets before us.