“He
said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow. Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him, and give it to him who has the ten minas.’ “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him. But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’” Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
Luke 19:22-28
Luke 19 [19.] “So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’
Luke 19 [22.] “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow. Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him, and give it to him who has the ten minas.’
Luke 19 [25.] “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him. But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’” Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
Luke 19 [29.] When he came near to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the mountain that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples, saying, “Go your way into the village on the other side, in which, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, whereon no man ever yet sat. Untie it, and bring it. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say to him: ‘The Lord needs it.’”
Meaning:
These verses conclude the parable of the minas. A nobleman had gone away to receive a kingdom, leaving each of ten servants a mina to trade with (Luke 19:11-14). On his return two servants reported gains and were rewarded with authority over cities, but a third brought back the mina he had wrapped in a handkerchief, saying he feared his master as “an exacting man” (Luke 19:15-21). Now the king answers him and deals with the citizens who rejected his reign. Matthew’s parable of the talents ends in a similar way (Matthew 25:26-28).
- “Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant!”
The king does not accept the servant’s description of him, but he uses it to show that the excuse condemns itself. If the servant really believed his master was demanding, he should have worked all the harder. Jesus taught, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:37). The servant is called wicked not because he stole or wasted the money, but because he did nothing with it.
- “Why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank?”
Even the least effort, putting the money with the money-lenders to earn interest, would have been better than nothing. The servant had not lost his master’s money, but he had failed to use it. Faithfulness is not measured only by avoiding harm but by doing good with what God entrusts to us.
- “To everyone who has, will more be given”
The bystanders protest that the first servant already has ten minas. The king’s reply states a principle Jesus taught more than once: “Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has” (Luke 8:18; Mark 4:25; Matthew 25:29). Those who use what God gives receive more. Those who neglect it lose even what they had.
- “Bring those enemies of mine … and kill them before me”
The parable ends with severe judgment on the citizens who said, “We don’t want this man to reign over us.” In the setting of the parable this was how kings of that time treated rebels. Jesus uses it to warn that rejecting him is not a neutral choice. Within days he would weep over Jerusalem because it did not know the time of its visitation (Luke 19:41-44), and he later foretold the city’s destruction (Luke 21:20-22). The letter to the Hebrews says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
- “He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem”
Having told the parable, Jesus walks ahead of his disciples towards the city where he will be rejected and crucified. The King who will one day judge is first going to suffer.
The Significance of Luke 19:22-28
- Using what God has given
Every believer has received gifts from God. The parable warns against fearful idleness and encourages bold, faithful use of what we have been given.
- A call to welcome the King
God is patient, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). The time to welcome Jesus as King is now.
Cross-References:
Luke 8:18: "For whoever has, to him will be given" The same principle in the parable of the lamp.
Matthew 25:26-28: The unprofitable servant in the parable of the talents.
Hebrews 10:31: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." The seriousness of rejecting the King.
Conclusion: The king judged the idle servant by his own words, took away his mina and gave it to the one who had ten, because those who use what they are given receive more. The rebellious citizens who refused his reign were destroyed. Jesus then went ahead to Jerusalem, the King who would suffer before he returns to judge.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible