Last Day's Essentials-8

The Parable of the Ten Minas

Luke 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

Now, this is the word of Jesus to the waiting church, "Occupy till I come." We are not to sit back and say, "Well, the Lord is coming; there’s no sense of finishing my education. Well, the Lord is coming; there’s no sense of not entering into this business venture...or, let’s just wait, because the Lord is coming." We are not to plan our lives, "Well, let’s go out and charge everything, because the Lord’s coming, and we won’t have to pay for it." We are not to plan our lives predicated upon the Lord’s coming in a particular span of time. But we are to occupy until He comes. Yet, anticipating Him to come at any moment, never getting so involved that I’m not ready to drop things in a moment’s notice. Because that I may have to do. I am to use the time that I have wisely in my serving the Lord. I am to occupy until He comes, but never to just sit down and say, "Okay, Lord, we’re just going to wait now here until you come. Oh, praise the Lord." And just have a glory hallelujah meeting as we’re waiting for the Lord to just come and rapture us. Never! We’re to occupy, we’re to keep busy until He comes.

And...

δέ

de

deh

A primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and, etc.: - also, and, but, moreover, now [often unexpressed in English].

He (Jesus) called...

καλέω

kaleō

kal-eh'-o

Akin to the base of to urge on; to “call” (properly aloud, but used in a variety of applications, directly or otherwise): - bid, call (forth), (whose, whose sur-) name (was [called]).

His (Jesus)...

ἑαυτοῦ

heautou

heh-ow-too'

(Including all the other cases); from a reflexive pronoun otherwise obsolete and the genitive (dative or accusative) of baffling wind; him (her, it, them, also [in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons] my, thy, our, your) -self (-selves), etc.: - alone, her (own, -self), (he) himself, his (own), itself, one (to) another, our (thine) own (-selves), + that she had, their (own, own selves), (of) them (-selves), they, thyself, you, your (own, own conceits, own selves, -selves).

ten...

δέκα

deka

dek'-ah

A primary number; ten: - [eight-] een, ten.

servants,...

δοῦλος

doulos

doo'-los

From to bind; a slave (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency): - bond (-man), servant.

and delivered...

δίδωμι

didōmi

did'-o-mee

A prolonged form of a primary verb (which is used as an alternate in most of the tenses); to give (used in a very wide application, properly or by implication, literally or figuratively; greatly modified by the connection): - adventure, bestow, bring forth, commit, deliver (up), give, grant, hinder, make, minister, number, offer, have power, put, receive, set, shew, smite (+ with the hand), strike (+ with the palm of the hand), suffer, take, utter, yield.

them (Jesus Believers)...

αὐτός

autos

ow-tos'

From the particle αὖ au (perhaps akin to the base of to breathe unconsciously through the idea of a baffling wind; backward); the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the compound of him) of the third person, and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other persons: - her, it (-self), one, the other, (mine) own, said, ([self-], the) same, ([him-, my-, thy-]) self, [your-] selves, she, that, their (-s), them ([-selves]), there [-at, -by, -in, -into, -of, -on, -with], they, (these) things, this (man), those, together, very, which.

ten... see above.

pounds,...

μνᾶ

mna

mnah

Of Latin origin; a mna (that is, mina), a certain weight: - pound.

and...

καί

kai

kahee

Apparently a primary particle, having a copulative and sometimes also a cumulative force; and, also, even, so, then, too, etc.; often used in connection (or composition) with other particles or small words: - and, also, both, but, even, for, if, indeed, likewise, moreover, or, so, that, then, therefore, when, yea, yet.

said...

ἔπω

epō

ep'-o

A primary verb (used only in the definite past tense, the others being borrowed from to utter, pouring forth and make known one's thoughts.); to speak or say (by word or writting): - answer, bid, bring word, call, command, grant, say (on), speak, tell.

unto...

πρός

pros

pros

A strengthened form of in front of; a preposition of direction; forward to, that is, toward (with the genitive case the side of, that is, pertaining to; with the dative case by the side of, that is, near to; usually with the accusative case the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the destination of the relation, that is, whither or for which it is predicated): - about, according to, against, among, at, because of, before, between, ([where-]) by, for, X at thy house, in, for intent, nigh unto, of, which pertain to, that, to (the end that), + together, to ([you]) -ward, unto, with (-in). In compounds it denotes essentially the same applications, namely, motion towards, accession to, or nearness at.

them,... see above.

The man of noble birth obviously represented Jesus. Because His followers thought the kingdom was to be set up immediately, Jesus said the nobleman in the parable had to go to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. He would have to leave them before the kingdom would be set up. Before leaving, he called 10 of his servants and gave them 10 minas, 1 apiece. A mina was about three months’ wages, so its value was considerable. They were to invest the money while he was gone. Another group of people, His subjects, did not want him to be… king. Obviously this group represented the religious leaders in particular and the nation in general.

Occupy...

πραγματεύομαι

pragmateuomai

prag-mat-yoo'-om-ahee

From business, matter, thing, work; to busy oneself with, that is, to trade: - occupy.

till...

ἕως

heōs

heh'-oce

Of uncertain affinity; a conjugation, preposition and adverb of continuance, until (of time and place): - even (until, unto), (as) far (as), how long, (un-) til (-l), (hither-, un-, up) to, while (-s).

I (Jesus)come...

ἔρχομαι

erchomai

er'-khom-ahee

Middle voice of a primary verb (used only in the present and imperfect tenses, the others being supplied by a kindred [middle voice] word, ἐλεύθομαι eleuthomai or ἔλθω elthō; which do not otherwise occur); to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively): - accompany, appear, bring, come enter, fall out, go, grow, X light, X next, pass, resort, be set.