“You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ John 14:28.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
As we consider line by line and precept upon precept the Words of Jesus, for Jesus is the Word made flesh through whom and for whom I created all things, we now come to a passage that many just breeze over thinking it is merely about what immediately took place—His death and resurrection and return to the upper room for them to see, but there is always more in all My Word than the first layer, the unfathomable riches of Christ. Always go deeper by what you see in other Scriptures that give depth and explanation, building always on the cornerstone of Christ Jesus your Lord, the foundation of the world and of the church.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. Revelation 19:11-13.
He goes to My right hand and all believers in spirit with Him, but He is coming back to earth again not as the suffering servant but as the King of kings and Lord of lords to reign.
In the last Life Lesson we looked at His gift of the Spirit and of His shalom peace to you. His next words were:
“You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” John 14:28.
Listen to this parable and understand:
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. Luke 19:11.
Stop there for a moment, what were “these things” they were listening to? Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem and they passed through Jericho. It was there Jesus stopped and went to the home of Zaccheus, the wealthy tax collector who wanted to see Jesus so badly that he climbed a tree to watch him pass by. Jesus called him by name to come down from the tree, stating:
“Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 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.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:6-10.
Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost. He came bringing Salvation to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the descendants of Abraham. And so He then told this parable:
So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return.” Luke 19:11-12.
Jesus dwelt humbly among you, but He was and is a nobleman, the Prince of Peace, God Hero and Father Forever and on His shoulder dominion rests. His Kingdom will be vast and peaceful.
For a child is born to us, a Son is given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, God Hero, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-7.
He is of the royal line of David according to the flesh, and the Son of God according to the Spirit.
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1-6.
Jesus came preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17.
Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15.
He came ready to establish the Kingdom, but His people missed the time of their visitation.
When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, 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. 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, 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.” Luke 19:41-44.
But there were those who did follow Him, who became new creations in Christ, and to those He poured out the gift of My Spirit and entrusted to mission to them as the new born Church to go out to the whole world, beginning in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. He sent them into the world to preach the good news and to seek out and save the lost.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
So let us continue with the parable.
And he called ten of his servants, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’ Luke 19:13.
He gave them the Holy Spirit who gave them gifts for the benefit of all. But what about those that rejected Him? Let us go on with the parable.
But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ Luke 19:13-14.
The majority of the priests, scribes, and Pharisees rejected Jesus and refused to serve Him. They crucified Him declaring they had no King but Caesar and that His blood be upon them and their children. They rejected Him as Lord, as their beloved King. But He ascended to Heaven where He is seated at My right hand and received the Kingship. I crowned Him as King of kings and Lord of lords and gave Him the Name above every other Name, the Name to which every knee shall bow. And that is the only name given among men by which you must be saved.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11.
Let us continue with the parable, for this is a very unique parable as it is about the very end and not the interim. It takes you to the return of the risen Lord. Remember He alone is worthy to break the seven seals to the title deed to receive the Kingdom and reign on earth. I have given judgment over to Him for He is Son of God and Son of Man.
15 When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these servants, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done. Luke 19:15.
What you do with the gifts I have given you is up to you, but each of you has a special gift of which you should be a good steward by employing it in serving one another, 1 Peter 4:10, for you must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 2 Corinthians 5:10. Blessed is the one I find busy about My business when I return for you know not the day or the hour. You do not want to lose your reward, it has eternal consequences.
Now let us go to the judgment of the servants.
The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ 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.’ Luke 19:16-19.
These were good and faithful children who were ready for My return. But then there came the slothful one who blamed Me for his unfruitful life. But the standard you use to judge must be measured back to you and by your words you are acquitted and by your words you are condemned.
Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 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.’ He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless servant. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ 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.” Luke 19:20-26.
The measure you use is measured back to you.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:37-38.
And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. Luke 12:42-48.
And now let us finish the parable with a sobering warning.
But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.” Luke 19:27.
Do you know of what this is speaking? There is no way into the Kingdom except through Jesus for to enter all your sins must be gone and only the blood of the Lamb can do that. Jesus loves you and released you from your sins by His blood. But as Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders, you will die in your own sins if you do not believe in the finished work of Jesus.
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:11-15.
Now consider this passage about Jesus:
But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9.
And if you have read the revelation I gave to My servant Daniel you will find that evil will seem to take sway in before the end comes but all that reject Christ will not stand on the day of judgment and all evil will bow its knee to Jesus and cease, thrown forever in the lake of fire, and I give the Kingdom to believers.
“Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings. He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. But the court will sit for judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’ Daniel 7:23-27.
For those who have chosen Me I come with vindication.
I love you. I have shown you great and mighty things today but there is much more for you to find in the unfathomable riches of My Word.