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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Luke 19:26-27, Killing the Unfaithful

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

//Today's verses conclude Jesus' parable about the nobleman who went away into a far county, and left silver pieces to ten slaves. One of them was unfaithful, and didn't invest the money to earn more. From this unfaithful servant, the nobleman takes even the one silver piece that he has and gives it to another.

Then Jesus concludes the parable with this lesson: If you don't want me to be king over you, then come here and die in front of me.

Harsh, eh? What is Jesus talking about? The answer lies just a few verses later, when we realize this parable has been a lead-in to Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. As Jesus tops the Mount of Olives and looks down on Jerusalem, he weeps over what is to be their fate:

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." --verses 41-44.

This, of course, happened 40 years later in the war of 67-70 CE when the Romans overran Jerusalem. In Luke's parable, Jesus is looking ahead to the destruction of Jerusalem and warning his listeners that if they cannot accept him as king, they will soon be slaughtered.

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