I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him

 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.  Therefore He said:  "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.  So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'  But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'  And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.  Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.'  And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in very little, have authority over ten cities.'  And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.'  Likewise he said to him, 'You also be over five cities.'  Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.  For I feared you, because you are an austere man.  You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.'  And he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.  You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.  Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?'  And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.'  (But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.')  For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.' "

- Luke 19:11-27

Yesterday we read that, after healing the blind man who cried out to him on the road,  Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.  But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."  Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."  And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.  Therefore He said:  "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.  So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'  But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'  And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.  Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.'  And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in very little, have authority over ten cities.'  And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.'  Likewise he said to him, 'You also be over five cities.'  Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.  For I feared you, because you are an austere man.  You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.'  And he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.  You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.  Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?'  And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.'  (But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.')  For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.' "  Of today's entire reading my study bible notes the following:  First of all, the parable illustrates the use of the gifts given by God.  In this story as told in Matthew's Gospel, rather than minas, the sum given is in talents.  (A talent -- ταλαντον in the Greek -- was a weight unit of measurement, and so the value varied depending upon whether coins were of silver or gold.  A mina was a silver ingot worth about 100 denarii, equal to 100 days wages for the average worker.)   So the sums that we're talking about here are a great deal of money for the average person.  My study bible says that it represents the goodness God's bestowed on each person.  The amount each receives is based on one's abilities (see Romans 12:4-7).  The ultimate reward, however, is one of impartiality:  "to everyone who has will be given."   But idleness is a kind of rejection of God; putting away the mina in a handkerchief is a sort of self-centered way of thinking about what one is entrusted with.  Putting the money into the bank instead represents other faithful people (perhaps via the Church) to whom one can turn for help to use gifts wisely, turning to expertise in this sense or entrusting it to those who will do something wise and good with it.  My study says that since help was available to him in the Church, the man had no excuse. 

I think it's important to note that this story is told by Jesus while they are on the road to Jerusalem, and approaching now very shortly their entrance into the City.  The disciples expect that the Kingdom is imminent; they're approaching the Holy City, as the Messiah is prophesied to do before He claims His kingdom.  So this story is meant as a sharp kind of warning, and a stern admonition for life as it will be after His Ascension, and that means the time in which we live now, as we await His Return and that promised fullness of the Kingdom on a day we really can't name.  We're each given blessings in our lives, and it's a question not of how many we have but of what exactly we do with them.  We've noted the "self-centered" nature of putting the talent into a handkerchief rather than depositing it in a bank, where at least someone will have a good idea what to do with it.  What's interesting here is the austere nature of the man who's described as the nobleman who's going away into a far country to receive his kingdom.  We don't think of Christ this way.  As this man isn't reaping what he's sown, it's a contrast to the parable of the Sower.  But both are compatible:  the Sower sows the seeds of the Kingdom, the Word, and it's up to us what we do with what we are given in life, what our circumstances are, our talents and capabilities.   So it's really an emphasis on our own responsibility for how we choose to live our lives.  One can't help but think also that this isn't only about gifts such as intelligence and talents, but even about the cross we bear in life, even about the afflictions we enter into in life and may be burdened with.  How we handle those things as well are just as important as how we handle the more positive things we're grateful for.  If we think outside of ourselves (the personal handkerchief), then we take all of it to God, we think about something beyond ourselves, the greater good, and how that means we live our lives and deal with all that is on our plate, all that we're given.  Finally, if we value what we have in life properly, we'll want to use it well, to the best advantage it can be used -- not only for our own little concerns but for the bigger picture of an entire cosmos, and a wise ruler (even if here he's pictured as an austere one) who really does care about everything we do and asks us to be aware of that too.  It's a calling to us of an awareness of relationship that exists for us whether we see Christ in the flesh or not before us, an admonition to always be aware of the One whom we truly serve, because His awareness is always going to be of us.  What matters here is not the amount we have, but how we think about it, what we do with it, and what and whom we truly serve.  Note that these efforts on behalf of a kingdom reward not only the ruler, but also ourselves!   I think it's important also that we remember Jesus has just received the notorious chief tax collector Zacchaeus as a "son of Abraham."  It's an affirmation that our talents for prospering are to be put to good use in service to Him, and that this is a very great thing!