Shownotes
Welcome to Day 2604 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Day 2604 – The Road to Jerusalem: Jerusalem: The End of the Road or Just the Beginning
Putnam Church Message – 04/06/2025 Sermon Series: The Road to Jerusalem Message 1: Jerusalem: The End of the Road or Just the Beginning? Last week, we finalized our Old Testament Orientation series. Our focus was on What We Know: Preparing for the New Testament. We wrapped up with a complete overview of the series. This week is the first of three Easter messages about The Road to Jerusalem. Today, we will explore Jerusalem: The End of the Road or Just the Beginning? The passage we will be covering today is Luke 19:11-27. This is the Parable of the Ten Servants. Opening Prayer Let’s start by reading verses 11-13: 11 The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin immediately. 12 He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. 13 Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver,[a] saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ Introduction There is a sense of excitement when you get close to reaching your destination. Whether you are traveling by car and you see the city limits sign, or traveling by air and the airplane begins its descent, or traveling by boat and you sight land in the distance: whatever your mode of travel, it always feels good when you reach the end. No matter how long the trip is or how tired you are or worn out from the road, your adrenaline kicks in, and you experience a lift as you near your destination. That is how the disciples must have felt in today’s passage. For over three years now, they have been following Jesus. For six months, they have been heading towards Jerusalem. Now, at last, they were near Jerusalem. They were in Jericho, only seventeen miles away. The end of the road was in sight. During this time, the disciples have come to understand that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is the Promised One, the Great Deliverer prophesied about in the Scriptures. He is the One who God sent to deliver his people. The crowds are swelling, more and more disciples are joining the band, and now they are heading to Jerusalem, the Holy City, with Jesus the Messiah in their midst. Talk about excitement growing as you near your destination! But this is more than just an adrenaline boost at the end of a journey. In all their excitement and enthusiasm, the disciples fully believe that the kingdom of God is about to come immediately. They believe Jesus will enter Jerusalem and take his rightful place as King. They have seen his power and his miracles. They know that he is well able to deliver them from the Romans. The people are already rallying to his side, and they expect nothing less than complete liberation from their enemies. Jesus has already told his disciples something very different will happen when they reach Jerusalem. He has told them numerous times that he will suffer and die when he gets to Jerusalem. But somehow, they could not take it in. Luke later tells us that when Jesus spoke about these things: “But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about.” (Luke 18:34) The parable we are looking at this morning is the last recorded teaching of Jesus before he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And Luke not only tells us the parable. He also tells us why Jesus told this parable. We read in verse 11: “The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin immediately. ” (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. The disciples won’t understand much of this until after Christ has suffered, died, and rises again, but afterward, they will remember his teaching, and then they will understand.- The main characters of the parable
- The King(12)
- The servants(13)
- The subjects(14)
- Five lessons to learn
- Christ will return as King over all(15a)
- When Christ returns, there will be an accounting(15b)
- The greater your faithfulness to Christ, the greater your reward(16-19)
- A true believer will yield spiritual fruit in their life(20-26)
Transcripts
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Day: /:Sermon Series: The Road to Jerusalem
Message 1: Jerusalem: The End of the Road or Just the Beginning?
Last week, we finalized our Old Testament Orientation series. Our focus was on What We Know: Preparing for the New Testament. We wrapped up with a complete overview of the series.
ill be covering today is Luke:Opening Prayer
Let’s start by reading verses 11-13:
11 The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin immediately. 12 He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. 13 Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver,[a] saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’
Introduction
There is a sense of excitement when you get close to reaching your destination. Whether you are traveling by car and you see the city limits sign, or traveling by air and the airplane begins its descent, or traveling by boat and you sight land in the distance: whatever your mode of travel, it always feels good when you reach the end. No matter how long the trip is or how tired you are or worn out from the road, your adrenaline kicks in, and you experience a lift as you near your destination.
That is how the disciples must have felt in today’s passage. For over three years now, they have been following Jesus. For six months, they have been heading towards Jerusalem. Now, at last, they were near Jerusalem. They were in Jericho, only seventeen miles away. The end of the road was in sight.
During this time, the disciples have come to understand that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is the Promised One, the Great Deliverer prophesied about in the Scriptures. He is the One who God sent to deliver his people. The crowds are swelling, more and more disciples are joining the band, and now they are heading to Jerusalem, the Holy City, with Jesus the Messiah in their midst. Talk about excitement growing as you near your destination!
But this is more than just an adrenaline boost at the end of a journey. In all their excitement and enthusiasm, the disciples fully believe that the kingdom of God is about to come immediately. They believe Jesus will enter Jerusalem and take his rightful place as King. They have seen his power and his miracles. They know that he is well able to deliver them from the Romans. The people are already rallying to his side, and they expect nothing less than complete liberation from their enemies.
e was talking about.” (Luke: begin immediately. ” (Luke: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. The disciples won’t understand much of this until after Christ has suffered, died, and rises again, but afterward, they will remember his teaching, and then they will understand.
The main characters of the parable
The King(12)
g and then return. ” (Luke:The King represents Christ, who will not complete the kingdom right away as the disciples suppose, but instead, he will go away for a while and then return. When Christ returns, he will bring the kingdom in its fullness. In the meantime, the disciples will experience the kingdom of God within their own hearts as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Just like the Israelites were a nation of priests who brought all nations back to God, we, as believers, extend that calling to bring all nations into God’s Kingdom, which will be finalized when Christ returns. The Global Eden that is established is God’s kingdom.
The servants(13)
while I am gone.’” (Luke:The nobleman tells the servants to “invest it” until he returns. He expected them to turn what they had been given into profit. Notice that they are putting the money to work for him, not themselves. In other words, this money is given as a trust. It is not their money to do with as they want.
How about the servants? The servants are a little trickier to identify because we have two different types of servants here. In the verses to come, Jesus describes two servants, each of whom returns a profit and a third of whom does not. The third servant appears in the parable as one who loses his kingdom reward.
Jesus portrays a similar situation to what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3, where our works are tested at the last day. Paul writes: 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. (1 Corinthians 3:14-15)
The subjects(14)
m to be our king.’” (Luke:Notice Jesus says they hated the King. In the original language, it is even stronger than that. In the original, it implies that their hatred was habitual. They were continually hating him. They hated him so much that they even sent a delegation after him, saying, “We don’t want you to be our King! We don’t want you to rule over us.”
The subjects appear to represent unbelievers who do not profess faith in Christ. They are certainly not hypocrites, at least as far as faith in Christ is concerned. They may or may not be openly antagonistic towards Christianity but make no claims of Christian faith for themselves.
You might wonder about some of the more minor characters in the parable? What about the delegation in verse 14 or the bystanders in verse 24? One mistake people often make with the parables is trying to find a correspondence to each detail in the parable. But parables weren’t meant to line up every detail with something else. Sometimes, the details are necessary to carry the story along and hold the parable together. Therefore, it is not essential to determine the precise meaning of the silver, the number of servants, and so on.
It is interesting, however, when you look at the delegation in verse 14. The delegation part of the story would have reminded the listeners of Herod Archelaus, who ruled over Judea after Herod the Great died. Archelaus first had to travel to Rome to receive his authorization to rule. The people didn’t want him as their King, and they sent a delegation after him saying so. So, the delegation in verse 14 is an example of Jesus inserting a real-life, contemporary detail into the parable to make it more striking and memorable to his listeners.
So then, these are the leading players in Jesus’ parable:
1) Jesus Christ, who goes away and returns as King;
2) Those who claim to serve and follow him
3) Those who make no such claim at all.
Five lessons to learn
What are the lessons Jesus would have us draw from his parable? Here are five lessons Jesus would have us learn from the parable of the ten minas.
Christ will return as King over all(15a)
d king, he returned.” (Luke:The Bible tells us that Christ will return as King. He has always been King, but all will acknowledge his Lordship this time. Philippians 2:9-11, Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
There is a message for the disciples in this parable, too. Jesus will not return immediately, as the people supposed. Jesus teaches an interval of time in the parable. The master goes to a distant country and then returns.
Also, Paul writes in Romains:When Christ returns, there will be an accounting(15b)
Secondly, when Christ returns, there will be an accounting. God gives us gifts and expects us to use them for his glory in building His Kingdom. He gives you your life and tells you: ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ And when he comes back, there will indeed be an accounting. Look at the rest of verse 15: he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were.
One day, Christ will ask you: “What have you done with your life? How have you used the gifts I entrusted to you? What fruit have you born for me?” Notice that each servant appears individually before the Master to give an account of their actions. Each must produce evidence that they have faithfully handled what was entrusted to them.
The disciples thought Jerusalem was the end of the road, but it was just the beginning. And it’s the same for us. When you come to Christ, that’s not the end of the road – you are just getting started! God wants us to live a whole life of good works for Him in building His kingdom so it will be ready for Christ return.
Will Christians be accountable for how we lived at the last day? Scripture seems to indicate that is the case. Scripture teaches that Christians will be considered first! Notice, even in the parable, that the good servants are judged first, followed by the wicked subjects. Accountability for the believer, however, is far different than judgment for the non-believer. It is an evaluation of your life rather than condemnation for your sin.
The greater your faithfulness to Christ, the greater your reward(16-19)
The third lesson is this: the greater your faithfulness (loyalty) to Christ, the greater your reward. Many passages in Scripture teach that there will be rewards in God’s earthly kingdom, the Global Eden. The greatest reward will be the satisfaction of seeing Christ glorified through our lives, seeing people who have come to salvation, people who were helped along the way, and a life lived to the glory of God.
One of the wonderful things about the Christian life is that it is open to everyone equally, with no barriers. There is nothing to screen you out, unlike the Olympics, where only those with the best athletic ability can participate. You can have as much of Christ in your life as you want. The most significant rewards of heaven are open to every believer. It is not a matter of giftedness. It is a matter of faithfulness (loyalty) to Christ. How are our investments in the kingdom going?
ties as your reward.’ (Luke:Notice the disproportion between the service and the reward. The first servant merely increased ten times. That was hardly anything for a king to get excited over. And yet he gives the servant charge over ten cities! 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 is not obligated to give us any rewards. When a servant serves faithfully, he is merely discharging his duty. And so, God’s rich rewards are another example of God’s amazing grace. This should be a great encouragement to us. Be faithful to God in even the smallest things; he will reward you greatly.
It only makes sense when you think about it. Life works this way, even in the ordinary things. It is the faithful worker who gets the promotion. How much more does this apply to spiritual things in God’s kingdom!
A true believer will yield spiritual fruit in their life(20-26)
you didn’t plant.’ (Luke:First, notice that the third servant had no return on his investment. (no fruit) He hid the silver away and did nothing with it. The third servant is judged here for the lack of faithfulness. (loyalty) It’s not that he misused the silver or for wrong ends. He didn’t use it at all!
Secondly, notice how the third servant accuses God here. He calls the king “a hard man.” It is a word that means “severe or strict.” Many people think of God this way, but it is far from the truth. Romans 8:32 tells us: Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? God is loving, kind, and gracious. The master in the parable was not hard or severe. He rewarded the faithful servants beyond their wildest dreams! Don’t think unworthy thoughts of God.
Thirdly, notice how the third servant makes excuses for himself. He accuses the master of taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’ The servant says, “I was afraid to make any profit, because I thought you were going to keep it all for yourself.” Well, he was wrong there, wasn’t he? Just look how the master rewarded the other two servants! Still, the third servant tries to use this as an excuse for his lack of faithfulness.
some interest on it.’ (Luke:The master judges the servant according to his own words. He gives the servant the benefit of the doubt here.
ave will be taken away. (Luke:This is a paradoxical saying. The parable’s context refers to using what God has given to you. When we apply it spiritually, we could say it this way: “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.” The law of planting and harvesting is at work here. It’s a sobering thought. If you are not living faithfully for Christ, utilizing your talents and abilities, and all that God has given you, no matter how small they may appear in your mind, then what you do have may be taken away. Use what God has given to you, no matter how insignificant or mundane they may seem at times.
Don’t misunderstand. We are not saved by our good works or anything we produce for Christ. We are saved by faith and faith alone, loyal to the one true God. However, those who are genuinely saved will produce fruit for God. The one who is not faithful (loyal) to Christ has no assurance of salvation. All that God has given us – life, love, and opportunity – could one day be taken away if it is not used in kingdom building.
Those who do not submit to Christ will be condemned(27)
working against me. (Matthew: man to be our king!” (Luke:Even if he were a hard, severe, unfair ruler, he would still be King, and we would still have to deal with him as such. But Jesus is so different from how the third servant described the master. Jesus is a loving, wise, gracious, and just King.
here in front of me.’ (Luke: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 that kind of thinking. Yes, the kingdom will come fully when Christ returns. But in the meantime, we are to work, serve, and use the lives God has given us for his glory.
The lessons from Jesus’ parable are clear: Christ will return, and there will be an accounting. Those faithful (loyal) to Jesus will be rewarded beyond measure, but those who have wasted what God has given them will be judged and found wanting. The kingdom will come, but not yet. Jerusalem is not the end of the road. It is just the beginning.
Closing Prayer
passage for next week is Luke: