The Grace Commentary – Your free verse-by-verse Bible commentary Luke 19

Luke 19:8

Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”

(a) I will give. No one told Zaccheus to give half his stuff away. It was a spontaneous and joyful act made in response to grace. When you meet the Giver of all good things, it makes you generous.

(b) Give back four times. Under the old covenant, thieves were required to repay double what they stole (Ex. 22:3–4). In offering to repay four times what he had cheated out of people (Luke 19:8), Zacchaeus went twice as far as the law required. It was a generous offer, but it was an old covenant offer. Jesus wanted Zacchaeus to have a new covenant understanding of abounding grace, so he told him a story about turning minas into cities (see Luke 19:12–27).

Luke 19:9

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.

(a) Salvation has come to this house. Jesus was not saying, “Zac, you just bought yourself a ticket to heaven.” He was saying, “The Savior has been welcome in your house.”

(b) A son of Abraham. Jesus was not implying that Zacchaeus was a Jew, which was obvious, but acknowledging that he had become a believer like Abraham (Rom. 4:3, 11).

Luke 19:10

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

(a) The Son of Man; see entry for Matt. 8:20.

(b) Lost. Through the prophets God had promised that he would search for his lost sheep and bring back the strays (Eze. 34:11, 16). To be lost means you belong to someone who values you. The lost sheep belongs to the shepherd (Luke 15:4), the lost coin belongs to the woman (Luke 15:8), and the lost son belongs to the father (Luke 15:24).

Luke 19:11

While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

(a) They were listening. Jesus and his disciples are visiting the home of Zacchaeus where Jesus has been speaking about salvation. “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9).

Because Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, those listening are convinced that the kingdom of God will soon appear in power. They expect Jesus to march into Jerusalem, reveal himself as the Messiah, and finally overthrow the Romans. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus tells them a parable to show that what they are expecting is still a long time away.

(b) Parable. The Parable of the Minas is sometimes known as the Parable of the Pounds or the Ten Servants. It is similar to the Parable of the Talents. Both parables describe a man who entrusts money to his slaves before going on a long journey. A key difference between the parables is that the man in the story of the Minas goes away to be made king. When he returns, he orders the execution of those who opposed his coronation.

Both parables are sometimes misused to frighten believers. “You must use your gifts and abilities for God, or you could lose everything when he returns. If you’re not faithful with what God has given you, you could get kicked out of the kingdom.” This kind of message promotes dead works and end-times anxiety. But Jesus is not trying to scare believers. He’s describing the different ways people respond to God’s grace. Some receive it and are blessed; others reject it and are lost.

(c) The kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven refers to the reign of God revealed through his Son. In this present age, it is expressed through the body of Christ, the church. See entry for Matt. 3:2.

(d) Near Jerusalem. Jesus is a day’s walk from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is his final destination and the climax of his ministry.

(e) They supposed. Jesus’ followers, much like John the Baptist, expected him to come in judgment with a winnowing fork and fire (Luke 3:17).

(f) Appear immediately. The arrival of God’s kingdom in power and glory was foremost on the minds of the Jews. But when asked about the coming kingdom, Jesus usually gave evasive answers (e.g., Luke 17:20) or told parables about masters and noblemen going away for a long time.

Luke 19:12

So he said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.

(a) A nobleman went to a distant country. The story of a nobleman who travels to a far country represents Christ’s imminent death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. Just as the nobleman returns as a king, the Son of Man will return to earth in power and glory (Matt. 25:31, Mark 8:38).

(b) To receive a kingdom for himself. After his death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God, Jesus was made King and given a name above every name (Acts 2:36, Php. 2:9). On earth, he had been known as the Son of Man. But Jesus is the Lord of all and the eternal King of kings (1 Tim. 1:17, 6:15).

Luke 19:13

“And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’

(a) Ten of his slaves. In the Bible, the number “ten” often signifies completion. The whole Law of Moses is summarized in the Ten Commandments. To have ten slaves is to have the complete number. Like the ten virgins, the ten slaves are waiting for someone, just as humanity waits for the Lord’s return.

In the Bible, the number “ten” can signify completeness. In the creation account, the phrase “God said” appears ten times. The Law of Moses is summed up in the Ten Commandments. Pharaoh finally released the children of Israel after ten plagues. To have ten slaves is to have the full number. As in the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the ten slaves represent “all of us” or humanity as a whole.

(b) Slaves. Some Bible translations wrongly translate the Greek word doulos as “servant.” However, Jesus is talking about slaves. A slave is someone who owns nothing but is owned by a master. See entry for Matt. 18:23.

The mina is the star of this story. It represents the absent master (it’s his money) and his work (he earned it). In a deeper sense, it symbolizes the grace freely given to us through the finished work of Christ.

Grace is God blessing us simply because it delights him to do so. Sticking with the monetary metaphor, grace is like currency that flows from the high-born to the lowly to lift us up. Grace is Jesus, the heavenly man, raising Zacchaeus, the thief, out of sin and welcoming him to the table of friendship (Luke 19:5).

(d) Minas. Mina is a transliteration of the Greek word mna. Some Bibles say “pounds,” which is a rough reflection of a mina’s weight, but it does not reflect its value.

A mina was both a unit of weight and a form of currency, and its value varied across cultures and times. In the New Testament era, a mina was worth 100 denarii. Since a denarius was equivalent to a day’s wage for a laborer (Matt. 20:2), a mina represented about 100 days’ wages, or roughly four months’ pay. A mina was a generous gift, though not nearly as valuable as the bags of gold doled out in the Parable of the Talents (see entry for Matt. 25:15). The humble mina was not gold, but it was a golden ticket with the power to deliver slaves from their bondage.

(e) Do business with this means “put this money to work.” It is not the slaves who are to work, but the master’s money. “See what you can earn with this while I am gone,” says the Good News Bible.

In the parables of the Minas and the Talents, the money represents the master’s labor. The master has worked, and the slaves reap the benefits. Similarly, Jesus has done the work, and our part is to receive what he has paid for. We do not need to work for salvation, sanctification, or security. In the economy of grace, everything we need for life and godliness is freely supplied by God (2 Pet. 1:3). We bring nothing to the table.

At first glance, the Minas is a straightforward story about a man giving his money away. What his slaves don’t yet realize is that they are being set up. Any slave who does business with his master’s money is guaranteed to prosper. The only way he can lose is if he refuses to put the money to work. In the same way, God’s grace is living and fruitful. Share it, sow it, or put it to work, and it will multiply. Wherever grace is received, it reproduces the supernatural life of God and releases the favor of heaven.

Luke 19:14

“But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

(a) His citizens hated him. Jesus was the king Israel’s leaders did not want. To Pilate they cried, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). When Pilate fastened a sign to the cross reading “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” they protested, “He’s no king of ours” (John 19:19–21). They preferred Caesar because his empire reflected their vision of a world ruled by law and punishment. They rejected the Son of God, who offered a kingdom built on forgiveness and grace. In their world, law-keepers came first, and sinners were shut out. But in Jesus’ kingdom, sinners were welcomed and tax collectors were befriended.

(b) Sent a delegation. Jesus may be alluding to an event that took place shortly after he was born.

After the death of Herod the Great, his son Archelaus traveled to Rome to be confirmed as king of Judea. However, the Jews sent a delegation to protest: “We don’t want this man to be our king.” They preferred a Roman governor to another hated Herodian. Caesar ignored their plea, and Archelaus was appointed ethnarch or ruler of most of his father’s former kingdom (see entry for Matt. 2:22).

Archelaus had a winter palace in Jericho that had been built by his father. It was a massive complex of wings and frescoed halls that covered seven acres. It also featured a sunken garden, a pool, and an artificial mound with a staircase going to the top. This notable building may have been visible from the very spot where Jesus was telling his story.

PDE: I read about the palace here: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jericho-the-winter-palace-of-king-herod

(c) We do not want this man. The master in the parable had enemies, and this created a dilemma for his slaves. What if their master was not appointed king? If they backed the wrong man, they could end up on the wrong side. Perhaps the smart thing to do was to hide the master’s money and see how events unfolded. This was the choice of the faithless slave (Luke 19:20).

Those who traded in their master’s name faced hostility from his enemies. Likewise, those who share the message of God’s grace encounter opposition from the same religious spirit that opposed Jesus. Preach grace, and you will hear that you are confused, unbalanced, and dangerous. You may be warned, scorned, or pushed aside. Refuse to conform, and you risk being marginalized, ostracized, or branded divisive. You will hear that you are leading people astray. Some will call you a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a Jezebel, an instrument of Satan, or even an antichrist. Believing they are doing the Lord’s work, religious leaders will publicly name and shame you. Such is the price paid by those who deal in the free grace of God.

Further reading: “The High Cost of Free Grace”
https://escapetoreality.org/2019/07/18/the-high-cost-of-free-grace/

Luke 19:15

“When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done.

(a) When he returned. Just as the nobleman returned as a king, Jesus will return to earth in power and kingly glory (Matt. 25:31, 2 Th. 1:7).

When will Jesus return? In the Parable of the Minas, the master returns after an unspecified time, but in the Parable of the Talents, the master returns after a long time (Matt. 25:19). The “long time” phrase appears repeatedly in the eschatological parables. No one knows when Jesus will return, but Jesus said he would be gone a long time, and his word has proven true.

(b) After receiving the kingdom. His enemies crowned Jesus with thorns, but God crowned him with glory and honor and granted him a kingdom (Luke 22:29).

(d) What business? The king asks what his slaves have done with his money. “Did you put it to work as I asked?” He does not ask how much they have earned, as some translations suggest. Nor does he ask if they were successful. He simply wants to know whether they were faithful. This distinction can be hard for us to grasp.

When Jesus returns, he will not ask us about our numbers or results. Instead, he will ask, “What did you do with my grace? Did you put it to work? Did you walk in my favor and blessing? Did you share my love with others?”

Luke 19:16

“The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’

(a) “Your mina achieved amazing results,” says the slave. God’s grace bears fruit when we act on it and put it to work. Consider the apostle Paul, arguably the most productive man in the New Testament. He preached in many nations, planted multicultural churches, and wrote letters that still speak to us today. As Paul said, “I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). Only God’s grace can produce results that endure.

(b) Ten minas more. The temptation is to marvel at the slave’s productivity: He turned one mina into ten! But the slave doesn’t see it that way. He boasts in his master’s gift: “Your mina made ten more.” Like a first-time investor getting in on the ground floor of the Next Big Thing, he’s blown away by the 1000 percent return. It’s a ten-bagger stock. “Look what your mina did!”

The slave’s delight is shared by all who trade in, do business with, and rely on the grace of God. Grace is powerful. It raises the dead and opens blind eyes. Grace turns thieves into givers, sinners into saints, and slaves into kings. Consider Zacchaeus (Luke 19:8). In the morning, he was hated and friendless, but by the afternoon, he was the most popular man in town. All this was thanks to the love and grace shown to him by the Lord.

Luke 19:17

“And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’

(a) Well done, good slave. The slave was not good because he polished the silver or did the things that slaves normally do. He was good because he obeyed his master and did business with his master’s gift. He did not let his mina sit idle, but he put it to work. In doing this, he enabled others to experience the master’s blessings. When we share the love of God with others, they encounter the Master and are blessed (John 13:34, 15:12).

(b) You have been faithful. The slave is not commended for being profitable, productive, or successful. He’s commended for being faithful, for trusting his master, and for doing what was asked.

Where does the slave’s faithfulness come from? It comes from his generous master. Because the master trusted him with his money, the slave learned to trust his master. In the same way, God’s goodness inspires us to trust him. We love him because he first loved us, and we believe in him because he first believed in us (1 John 4:19). Grace and faith are needed to be fruitful, and both are supplied by God (Eph. 2:8).

(c) Faithful. The original adjective pistos is related to the verb peithō, which means “to convince, win over, or persuade.” The faithful slave is the one who is persuaded that the master is good and trustworthy. He represents the believer who takes Jesus Christ at his word, who believes that he has provided everything we need, and that he is coming again.

See entry for Faith.

(d) A very little thing. The good news of God’s grace is small like a seed, but it imparts life to all who receive it.

When we are faithful with God’s grace, great things happen. Consider Barnabas. At a time when no one wanted anything to do with Saul, Barnabas extended the hand of friendship (Acts 9:26–27). Barnabas showed grace, and because of him, Saul became the apostle Paul, who planted churches all over the Roman world. He also wrote a fair chunk of the New Testament. If Barnabas had done nothing, God would still have done great things through Paul. But Barnabas would have missed out on the blessings that grew from their friendship. See also the entry for Luke 16:10.

(e) Authority over ten cities. God’s grace bears much fruit.

It has been said that good Christians become mayors and governors in eternity. While it was the practice of Roman emperors to reward soldiers with stolen land, Jesus is not a Roman emperor. Jesus is not saying that those who work hard in this life will be rewarded with cities in the next. Jesus is not talking about worldly authority at all.

To the natural mind, there is no connection between minas and metropolises. But the God who hides forests in acorns knows no limits. Jesus is saying that those who are faithful with God’s gifts can expect exceedingly great results. “Look what your mina did,” said the slave, and the king replies, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Those ten minas are merely the firstfruits. This will snowball, and you’ll be amazed at the impact your mina has.”

The Apostle Paul understood the multiplying power of grace. After Paul received his grace-mina, he put it to work in a city called Corinth (see Acts 18:1–11). At first, nothing happened. Then a man named Crispus and his family put their faith in the Lord. Soon, many Corinthians embraced the gospel. After a year and a half, Paul’s mina had grown into the Corinthian church. One mina, one city.

Paul carried that grace-mina wherever God opened doors. He planted churches, and those churches helped plant other churches. Soon the gospel was bearing fruit all over the known world (Col. 1:6). One mina, many cities. And it didn’t stop there. Paul’s message of grace reached nations and traveled the hallways of history all the way to you. Millions have been blessed because Paul put his mina to work. One mina, hundreds of cities.

Not everyone is called to be an apostle, but everyone can put their grace-mina to work. We do this by sharing the good things that God has given us and by investing in the lives of others. What does your grace-mina look like? The manifold grace of God comes in limitless varieties (1 Pet. 4:10). It includes wisdom, revelation knowledge, and all the other spiritual gifts of God. It also includes your God-given abilities, desires, and the passions he’s written into your DNA. It is your art, your message, and your personality. It’s the way you move, think, talk, and sing. It is your ability to listen, to learn, and to see what others miss. It’s how your heart breaks and your head works. It’s the fingerprint of God on your soul and the hand of God on your life. These are the unique expressions of your Father’s character through which he reveals his goodness to others.

Luke 19:18–19

“The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

(a) Your mina, master. Like the first slave, the second slave gives all the credit to the master’s mina (see entry for Luke 19:16). “Your money earned a big return.” This is one smart slave. He knows he didn’t do a thing. All he did was put his master’s gift to work.

(b) Five cities. Again, the reward is totally out of proportion. Five cities for five minas?! In a world of scarcity, such a reward makes no sense. But God’s kingdom operates by different rules. His grace is super-potent beyond all human understanding. Jesus invested his grace-mina with a few unschooled disciples, and within one generation, there were Christians and churches all over the world. That’s the power of grace.

How does one mina become five cities? Those who share the riches of God’s grace with others bear spiritual offspring, and those who have many children will have many grandchildren and so on. Just as faithful Abraham became a father of nations, those who are faithful with God’s grace become fathers and mothers of cities.

It should be clear that the faithful slaves are slaves no longer. The master’s minas have lifted them from bondage and promoted them to full partners and co-regents. Such is the power of grace. Grace breaks the chains of sin and seats us with Christ at the right hand of God (Eph. 2:6). Sin condemns us to slavery, but grace makes us kings (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:10).

Luke 19:20

“Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief;

(a) Master, here is your mina. Unlike the faithful slaves, this man disobeyed his master by failing to put his mina to work.

The faithless slave makes two errors of judgment. First, he shuns his master’s gift. Even when those around him are profiting from their master’s generosity, he remains unmoved. Does he not see the fantastic returns his fellows are getting? Then, when his folly is exposed, he refuses to acknowledge his mistake. His master is doling out cities, yet he does not fall to his knees in repentance. “Lord, I misunderstood. Give me another chance!” Instead, the self-righteous man tries to justify his disobedience.

(b) Handkerchief. The faithless slave didn’t even want to touch his master’s gift.

The faithful and faithless slaves represent the saved and the unsaved. Those in the saved group receive grace and put it to work. They rely on it, bet their lives on it, and are blessed. Those in the unsaved group, however, refuse grace. They don’t need it and don’t want it. Giving them grace is like casting pearls before swine. They’d sooner dig a hole and bury grace than accept that they are lost without it.

Luke 19:21

for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’

(a) I was afraid of you. The slave fears his master. He represents those who have bought into the lie that God is ruthless, hard, and not to be trusted. These skeptics will not be “fooled” by the good news of grace. If God gives us good things, they think, there must be a catch or a price to pay. Either they will reject grace, or they will try to pay for it with sacrifices and service.

(b) You are an exacting man. “You are a hard, demanding man.” In truth, his master is a generous man who gave him money. But in the warped mind of the faithless slave, the master is ruthless and unreasonable. His generosity looks like greed, and his kindness feels like cruelty.

The slave’s accusations are shockingly slanderous. His master is a giver, yet he calls him a thief. His master is generous, yet he paints him as a tyrant. Incredibly, he tries to justify his refusal of the gift by claiming it was stolen.

Luke 19:22

“He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?

(a) By your own words. Our words reveal our hearts (Matt. 12:34, 36). The foul lies that spew from this slave’s mouth reveal that he despises his master and wants nothing to do with him.

(b) You worthless slave. The original adjective ponēros is sometimes translated as “wicked” (e.g., Matt. 18:32). The slave is wicked because he disobeyed the king and aligned himself with the king’s enemies.

The faithless slave is on thin ice. By disobeying his master and portraying him as evil, he is implying that the master is unfit to wear the crown. To justify his rebellion, he invents a cockamamie narrative and casts himself as a victim of tyranny. Obviously, it’s nonsense. But rather than argue with a fool, the wise king lets the servant condemn himself with his own words.

Luke 19:23

‘Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’

With interest. The king exposes the slave’s hypocrisy. “If you think I’m a usurious man, where’s my usury?” The slave can say nothing, for his own words have condemned him.

What happens to the worthless slave? He has his mina taken away (see next verse), but there is no further mention of him. Since he is a rebel, he might share the fate of the king’s enemies, meaning he will face the death penalty (see Luke 19:27).

In the Parable of the Talents, the worthless slave is sent out into the cold and dark (Matt. 25:30). He represents Israel’s leaders who enjoyed the good things of God (the law and the prophets) but rejected God’s Son and never entered the kingdom (Matt. 23:13).

Luke 19:24

“Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’

(a) The bystanders are the officers of the law, attendants, and various courtiers.

(b) Take away the mina away. Those who scorn God’s grace will find themselves without it (Heb. 12:15). Like those who’ve tasted the heavenly gift and turned away from the gospel, they are truly lost (Heb. 6:4–6, 2 Pet. 2:21).

(c) Give it to the one. The king does not take back his mina because God does not take back his gifts (Rom. 11:29). Instead, the mina is passed to the slave who was good and faithful.

Luke 19:25

“And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’

(a) And they said. The bystanders are offended by the Master’s generosity. “You gave money to this undeserving slave, then you rewarded him with ten cities, and now you’re giving him more?!” They remind us of the vineyard workers who complained when the latecomers received a full day’s wage (Matt. 20:11–12). They are like those who grumbled when Jesus dined with Zacchaeus the sinner (Luke 19:7). They represent the self-righteous who cannot stand that God blesses the unworthy simply because he loves them.

(b) Ten minas already. These grumblers can’t count. The first slave already has eleven minas—his original mina plus the ten more (Luke 19:16). Give him this extra mina, and he will have twelve.

Luke 19:26

“I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.

(a) Everyone who has. When we share God’s grace with others, he gives us more grace.

If God has given you a gift, such as wisdom, prophecy, or teaching, and you use it in a way that brings glory to God, he enlarges your gift so that more people might experience his favor. Grace that is put to work generates an exponential return.

(b) More shall be given. Whoever receives God’s grace will bear much fruit and will get even more grace until they have an overflowing abundance of grace.

Some make much of the slaves’ faithfulness, as though we could faith our way into positions of heavenly influence. But the story begins and ends with grace. At the beginning, the slaves are given a gift, and at the end, they are given more. “More shall be given.” Who gets more? It is those who share what they have been given. When we share God’s grace with others, grace grows. And this is something that Zacchaeus needed to learn.

After dining with Jesus, Zacchaeus promised to return stolen funds and give half his wealth to the poor (see Luke 19:8). We can imagine Jesus’ response. “Half your wealth, huh? And what are you going to do after that?” Zacchaeus had a good heart, but limited vision. You can only give your wealth away once, or half your wealth twice. In contrast, the grace of God is an inexhaustible resource that never runs out. The more you give it away, the more it comes back to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

If Zacchaeus had been a farmer, Jesus would have told a story about seeds and harvests. But Zacchaeus was a businessman, so he told a story about capital and returns. He did it to show Zacchaeus that God’s grace is better than man’s charity because it’s deeper than the ocean and as boundless as the sky. When you give what God has given you, it comes back to you multiplied, so you can give more, bless more, and draw others into the blessing of God. Zacchaeus planned to turn one mina into half a mina. Anyone can do that. But those who co-labor with God can turn minas into cities (see entry for Luke 19:17).

(d) Shall be taken away. This isn’t about punishment or losing your anointing or God withdrawing his fellowship. This is about choices and consequences. In the parable, the slave did not want the gift, so it was taken away from him. In the same way, those who reject the good things of God lose what they have. The Jews had the law and the prophets to point them to the Messiah, but they rejected Jesus when he came. For this reason, they lost their privileged position and found themselves outside of all that God was doing (Matt. 8:12).

The Parable of the Minas is about how grace turns slaves into kings. It’s about Jesus, the man of high birth, distributing the blessings of heaven to those bound by sin. It is a good story—it’s the redemption story—and it ends with a bombshell.

Luke 19:27

“But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”

(a) These enemies of mine represent Israel’s leaders who violently opposed Jesus and did not believe he was the Son of God. In the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, they are represented by the murderers who kill the heir (Matt. 21:38).

(b) Slay them. The order is given, but is it carried out? Are the king’s enemies slain, or are they forgiven and sent on their way? In the Parable of the Unforgiving Slave, the king orders his slave to be sold only to change his mind and set him free (Matt. 18:25–27). As with some of Jesus’ other parables, we are not told what happens next, and we are left asking questions. Did the king’s enemies repent? Or did they die with their mouths full of slander?

The picture of Jesus in the Parable of the Minas is that of a king who gives everything he has so that others might share in his life. Yet not all receive. Some hate the king and want nothing to do with him. The king gives them a mina, but they hide it away. He gives them forgiveness, but they nail him to a cross. He offers them freedom, but they say, “We prefer Caesar.” And when he offers them eternal life, they choose death. God has gone to extraordinary lengths to save us from the consequences of our choices. His will is that none should perish, but to reject the Author of Life is to reject life itself.

And so ends the parable of the little mina.

In the next verse, Jesus, the high-born man from heaven, sets out on his final journey to Jerusalem (Luke 19:28). He has distributed his minas of grace, but now the time has come for his departure. In Jerusalem, he will be rejected and killed by those who hate him. He will then ascend to heaven to receive his crown. And after a long time, he will return to see what we have done with his gifts.

Luke 19:29

When He approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples,

Bethany was a village about two miles from Jerusalem; see entry for John 11:18.

Luke 19:38

shouting:
“BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

(a) Blessed. In the original language there are two verbs that are translated as bless. One verb (makarios) means to make fortunate, happy or prosperous (see entry for Luke 1:48). The other (eulogeo) means to praise and speak well of. The latter verb is used here. The Judeans praised the Son of David. In the same way, God speaks highly of his children (Matt. 25:34).

(b) The King. Many people in scripture recognized Jesus as the king who reigns over an everlasting kingdom. These people included the magi (Matt. 2:2), the disciples (Luke 19:38), the palm-waving people of Jerusalem (John 12:13), Paul and Silas (Acts 17:7), the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:32-33), and the seventh angel (Rev. 11:15). However, during his earthly ministry, Jesus rarely referred to himself in such royal terms (see entry for Matt. 21:5).

Luke 19:41

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,

Wept. In his time on earth only two things made the Son of God cry: the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35) and the thought of Jerusalem’s destruction. The original word (klaio) means to sob and wail aloud. For Lazarus Jesus shed tears, but for Jerusalem he wailed and sobbed, and with good reason. See entry for Luke 21:23.

Luke 19:42

saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

Jerusalem was doomed because the people and their rulers did not recognize the time of God’s coming. They didn’t recognize Jesus (Acts 13:27). They shut their eyes to the Prince of Peace even as he walked among them. If the Jews had embraced him and his gospel of peace they would not have been crushed by the Romans.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies,” but the Jews hated their enemies. Jesus said, “Pray for those who persecute you,” but the Jews fought and murdered their oppressors. By persecuting Jesus the religious Jews showed they were more than ready to engage in the politics of violence as practiced by the Romans. They weren’t interested in a new kingdom built on love and forgiveness. They were driven by hatred and a lust for power. The idealistic Zealots murdered all who got in their way, while the “law-abiding” Pharisees persecuted the Christians and tried to kill the apostles (Acts 5:33). And these were the “good” citizens of Jewish society. Judea was also wrecked by homicidal Herodians, lawless gangs, and bloodthirsty warlords who emerged in the years following Christ’s resurrection.

Luke 19:43

“For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,

A barricade against you; see entry for Luke 21:20.

Luke 19:44

and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

Level you to the ground. Jesus pointed to the temple and said, “Those stones are coming down” (Luke 21:6). It was a strange prophecy, because why would the Romans, those curators of art, want to destroy one of the wonders of the ancient world?

Josephus records that after the AD70 siege of Jerusalem, Titus ordered the temple’s demolition. Although it was a notable landmark, it had been the cause of so much trouble that it had to go. We can be sure the order was carried out because Simon, one of the rebel leaders, went to ground during the last days of the siege only to emerge some time later “in the place where the temple had formerly been” (Wars, 7.2.1).

By the end of AD70, the temple that had stood, in one form or another, for 586 years was no more. Indeed, most of the city was leveled to the ground save for a part of the wall and a few towers that the Romans kept for themselves.

Further reading: AD70 and the End of the World

Luke 19:45

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling,

Drive out. This was the second time Jesus cleared the temple. The first time happened at the beginning of his public ministry (John 2:13–17). On that occasion, Jesus drove out the livestock with a homemade whip and he overturned the tables of the money changers. Evidently, the merchants had moved back in, so Jesus cleared them out again. Mark adds that Jesus also stopped those who were carrying merchandise through the temple (Mark 11:16).

The temple precinct was a massive 35 acre complex. For Jesus to put a stop to all trade and through-traffic would have required a coordinated effort involving his disciples. But shut it down he did. The religious leaders were alarmed. Since Jesus had become a threat to their business, they resolved to kill him (Mark 11:18, Luke 19:47).

Luke 19:46

saying to them, “It is written, ‘AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.”

Robbers. The original word (lestes) means armed brigands of the kind who robbed and beat the traveler on the road to Jericho (Luke 10:30), and who also menaced Paul in his travels (2 Cor. 11:26). Two such brigands were crucified beside Christ (Matt. 27:38), and Barabbas was also a brigand (John. 18:40).

Luke 19:47

And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him,

(a) Teaching in the temple; see entry for Luke 20:1.

(b) The chief priests; see entry for Matt. 2:4.

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Luke 19