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Luke introduced this parable by giving us the reason Yeshua told this parable: To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Yeshua told this parable. Obviously, it’s wrong to be confident in our own righteousness and look down on everyone else.

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The first man was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a group of religious elites. They were very serious about practicing Judaism, very committed to practicing Judaism.

The second man was a tax collector. In first century Israel, the Romans forced the Jewish people to pay them taxes. Jewish tax collectors did that work for the Romans. They were rewarded by being allowed to keep some of the tax money for themselves. The tax collectors were considered to be traitorous collaborators of the despised Roman invaders, corrupt men who got rich off the impoverishment of the Jewish people. Tax collectors were known for being more interested in enjoying what money can buy than practicing Judaism.

So, Yeshua gave us two men at opposite ends of the spectrum of religious practice: one was very religious, very serious, very committed to practicing Judaism, and one was not committed to practicing Judaism.

First Yeshua introduced us to the Pharisee. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”

The Torah never command the Jewish people to fast on a weekly basis. However, weekly fasting became part of the practices of the Pharisees. It’s not easy to fast once a week. This Pharisee fasted not once a week, but twice a week. And he was meticulous about giving 10 percent of everything that came to him.

This Pharisee was very religious, very serious, very committed to Torah-observance. And he was sure that he was religiously superior to most other people, especially the robbers, evildoers, adulterers and tax collectors.

Now for the tax collector: even though outwardly he hadn’t been serious about practicing his religion, inwardly the Spirit of God had been working in him. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” These actions – standing at a distance from the place for prayer, which indicates a sense of unworthiness; beating his breast, which indicates heart-felt remorse; not looking up to Heaven while praying, which indicates shame; along with his short, prayer – acknowledging that he was a sinner and not worthy of God’s help, but nevertheless asking God for help based on God’s mercy – these actions reveal a man who was humble and repentant and whose heart was tender toward God.

Yeshua explained the meaning of the parable. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. Justified means to be considered to be just; to be considered to be righteous. To be justified before God means that someone who was not righteous, who was not right before God, has turned to God and and is right before God. God considers him to be righteous. As a result of being justified before God, he is righteous. He is redeemed. He will live forever.

The tax collector represents humility and true righteousness. The Pharisee represents the opposite: pride and false righteousness.

What is pride? It’s thinking too highly of yourself. It’s thinking better of yourself than you are. It’s thinking that you are superior and worthier than others when you aren’t. It’s thinking that God thinks better of you than He really does.

What is humility? It’s the opposite of pride. It’s knowing who you really are: a person who sins; who is deeply flawed; a person who does not deserve anything from God other than judgment; a person who realizes that God is much greater than he is and that he is in the greatest need of God’s mercy; a person who, if he does have superior giftings, has those giftings by the grace of God, and doesn’t take credit for those giftings; and he doesn’t look down on others who have been given lesser giftings.

The lesson of this parable? The moral of the story? Yeshua gave us that too. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. People are inclined to be proud, selfish, self-centered; thinking more of themselves than they should; thinking less of others than they should; thinking less of God than they should. Religious people, maybe especially religious people, are inclined to be proud. Religious people, who think they are better than they really are, whose religion is focused on external observances and not on internal, spiritual realities; religious people who think they are right with God when they aren’t, are headed for humiliation and ruination.

Before that happens, they need to humble themselves. They need to realize they are deeply flawed; they are sinners who don’t deserve anything from God other than judgment. They must understand that God is so much greater than they are and they must submit to Him. They must realize that whatever good things they are or have, comes from the grace of God; and those who have other gifts or lesser gifts, have their gifts from God, and therefore they are not to be looked down on.

And those who humble themselves should be confident and happy that a time is coming when they will be exalted. The God who has justified them will elevate them to a very high place. He will transform them into glorious beings, eternal sons and daughters, kings and queens, friends and companions and heirs of the highly exalted God.

So, who are you in this parable? The Pharisee? Or the tax collector? Look deep within yourself. Be brutally honest. And let Yeshua’s words penetrate your heart: All those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

He went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return.

In the first century, the Roman empire controlled many kingdoms. In order to become a king, the emperor might ask a potential king to come to Rome to receive his approval in order to become the king of his kingdom. Or, a king might send his son away from him for a time, to govern an area, and when the king was ready to make his son a king, bring his son back and appoint him king.

This future king had servants. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. Each of the ten servants received one mina. A mina was about four months of salary for an average worker. The money entrusted to these servants was a significant amount.

 

“Put this money to work,” he said, “until I come back.”

Next Yeshua introduced us to another group: those who would be the subjects of the future king. But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, “We don’t want this man to be our king.”

 

He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

The first one came and said, “Sir, your mina has earned ten more.” “Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.”

The second came and said, “Sir, your mina has earned five more.” His master answered, “You take charge of five cities.”

Then another servant came and said, “Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.”

His master replied, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?”

Then he said to those standing by, “Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.”

“Sir,” they said, “he already has ten!”

He replied, “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

Then Scary Yeshua ended the parable with these words: 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.”

This parable of the ten servants and the ten minas is easy to understand. Now for the truths that are harder to understand.

Yeshua is the man of noble birth. He would be the future king. He would not become king right away and rule over Israel and the nations. First, He would go to His Father, the High King of Heaven, and be appointed by the High King as king over Israel and the nations.

The path Yeshua would travel to go to the High King was the path of crucifixion, followed by resurrection and ascension.

Yeshua would not immediately return to Earth. He would remain in Heaven with His Father for a time. We are still in that period when King Yeshua is at the right hand of His Father, the High King.

The ten servants are Yeshua-believers. We are King Yeshua’s servants. We are to serve Him, not ourselves.

The mina that the servants were given are the time, talents and treasures given to us to work for the King while He is away.

While Yeshua is gone, we are to use our time, talents and treasures to produce things that serve Him and His interests, that benefit Him, that advance His kingdom.

There are two main things that benefit Him: Evangelism and building His Community.

There are believers who will work harder at this than others. Some will work very hard. They are focused like a laser beam on telling others the Good News and growing Messiah’s Community. That is the servant who grew one mina into ten.

There are those who will work hard serving the King’s interests, but not as hard as those who work the hardest. That is the servant who was given one mina and returned five minas.

And there are so-called believers who really don’t know Yeshua won’t do anything to serve Him. That is the servant who believed the king was a hard and unfair man and laid away his mina in a piece of cloth.

These are people who call themselves Christians, Messianic Jews, believers, followers, but refuse to be involved in Gospel proclamation. They have their reasons: it’s too scary. They might be embarrassed. They might be rejected.

And they refuse to be involved with building up Messiah’s Community the way Yeshua expects them to. Don’t misunderstand me: They might “go to church,” “go to a Messianic Synagogue,” sing some songs, put some money in the offering plate – but volunteer a significant amount of time, talent and treasure to serve Messiah’s Community? Sacrifice their interests to advance Messiah’s interests? No way.

The servant with five minas was rewarded with the rulership of five cities. That was a powerful and wealthy position. That was a great reward. Those who work hard to serve the Lord by proclaiming the Good News and growing Messiah’s Community with the time, talents and treasures given to them will be greatly rewarded.

The servant with ten minas was rewarded with the rulership of ten cities. That was a more powerful and wealthier position. Those who work the hardest to serve the Lord with the time, talents and treasures given to them will be given the greatest rewards.

People think that small responsibilities aren’t important and big responsibilities are important. However, God works by this principle: Those who have been faithful with small responsibilities will be given greater responsibilities which leads to greater rewards. Don’t think that your responsibilities, although they seem small, aren’t important. They are important.

Clean your room. Do your chores. Do your homework. Show up to work on time. Put in a full day’s work. Read the Bible every day. Talk to your God throughout the day. Look for opportunities to tell others about Yeshua. Find something to do at Shema to serve your brothers and sisters. Do these things with diligence and you will be given more responsibilities and greater rewards.

The useless, wicked servant who didn’t know the king and laid away his mina in a piece of cloth received no reward. Those who will not use their time, talents and treasures to tell others the message of salvation and grow Messiah’s Community reveal they never knew Yeshua and were never His servants. Make absolutely certain that is not you.

The mina that the wicked, useless servant was given and which was taken from him and given to the most productive servant teaches us the way God works. To everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. Those so-called believers, the so-called Christians, Messianic Jews will lose all of the time, talents, treasures they had been given. They will forfeit the little life they had. They will not be given eternal life. Whatever rewards they could have been given, the honors and privileges they could have received, the pleasures they could have enjoyed, will be experienced by those who worked hard at serving the Lord.

The subjects who hated the future king and sent a delegation after him to say, “We don’t want this man to be our king” – were those in the time of Yeshua who rejected Him. And they are also those who have lived for the past 2,000 years, and who live today, who have rejected Him.

On the great and awesome Day of Judgment, they will appeared before Scary King Yeshua to be judged. They will be condemned and sent to Gehenna, Hell, the Lake of Fire, where they will be destroyed.

Serve the Lord, and serve Him with gladness. Serve Him by being actively involved in telling others the Good News, witnessing, making those evangelistic opportunities happen. Get filled with the Spirit and you will want to witness. You will make witnessing opportunities happen.

And pour your time, talents and treasures into serving the Lord by serving His people in a local community of Yeshua-believers like Shema. You won’t regret it. You will be rewarded – more for those who work the hardest, give the most of the time, talents and treasures.