Yesterday’s message in the The Road to Jerusalem series was called Jerusalem: The End of the Road or Just the Beginning? The message was taken from the Parable of the Ten Minas found in Luke 19:11-27.

This parable is the last recorded teaching of Jesus before he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Jesus told it “because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.” (Luke 19:11) The disciples thought that Jerusalem was the end of the road for them. Jesus now tells them it is just the beginning. He has work for them to do. We looked at the main characters in the parable and who they represent, and then drew the following five lessons from the parable:

1. Christ will return as King over all

Christ himself will return. He will not send some representative in his place. He will not come just as a spiritual presence in the world. His return is different from his resurrection, and it is different from the giving of the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches the visible, personal return of Jesus Christ.

2. When Christ returns there will be an accounting

God shares his resources with us; he gives us gifts, and he expects us to use them for his glory. He gives you your life and tells you: “Put this to work until I come back.” The disciples thought that Jerusalem was the end of the road, but it was really just the beginning. When we walk with Christ to the cross, and die to ourselves there, it is only the beginning, for then we are finally set free to live a life of service for him. Then we are finally able to produce good works through his Spirit that will have lasting value.

3. The greater your faithfulness to Christ, the greater your reward

There are many passages in Scripture which teach that there will be rewards in heaven. So what will these rewards be? The greatest reward will just be the satisfaction of seeing Christ glorified through our lives, seeing people who have come to salvation, people who were helped along the way, a life lived to the glory of God.

God’s rewards far exceed any service we can possibly give to him, especially when you consider that even the little we have to begin with is a gift from him! God’s rich rewards are just another example of God’s incredible grace. This should be a great encouragement to us. Be faithful to God in even the smallest of things, and he will reward you greatly.

4. A true believer will yield spiritual fruit in his or her life

The third servant produced no fruit. He tucked the mina away in a cloth and did nothing with it. It’s not that he used the mina wrongly or for wrong ends. He just didn’t use it at all! The master took his mina away from him and gave it to the one who had ten minas. Applying this spiritually, we could say: “Everyone who bears fruit for Christ will be given more, but the one who bears no fruit, even what he has will be taken away.” It’s a sobering thought. If you are not living for Christ, if you are not producing for him in this life, then all that you have, all that God has given you, all that you have worked for will be taken away. Nothing will last. Nothing will be saved.

5. Those who do not submit to Christ will be condemned

The subjects in the parable hated the king. There are many who do not follow Christ today who would claim that they do not hate him. But Jesus said there is no middle ground. You cannot serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.

Man’s rebellion against God is summed up in the subjects’ words: “We don’t want this man to be our king.” You cannot rebel against God without consequences. The parable ends on a somber note. After dealing with the three servants, the master speaks, “But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them — bring them here and kill them in front of me.” (Luke 19:27) Those who do not submit to Christ will be condemned on the last day. There will be no excuses, no defense, no escape.

CONCLUSION: Jesus and his disciples were at long last approaching Jerusalem. The disciples thought it would all end there. The kingdom of God was going to come with power, and they would enter into rest. Jesus told this parable to correct their thinking. Yes the Kingdom will come fully when Christ returns. In the meantime we are to work and to serve, to use the lives God has given us for gain, to allow Him to work through us to His glory. Jerusalem is not the end of the road — it is just the beginning.

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