PRAYER PRACTICE
Spoken Prayer
Out loud,
pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the
Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God
through the passage.
DAILY READING
DEVOTION / REFLECTION
Well Done, My Good Servant
by Tom Richards
Today we
read about Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus and the Parable of the Ten
Minas. I would like to focus on the
Parable of the Ten Minas in this post. Jesus told this parable “because
he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going
to appear at once.” This is very
timely as he is in the last days of his ministry and is moving ever closer to
his suffering and crucifixion.(In Luke 19:28 we start reading about his
triumphal entry into Jerusalem). Jesus
makes some key points in this parable to the Jews of his day and to us as well.
Jesus was clearly the “man of noble
birth” in this story who goes on to become king.
When he talks about the “man of noble birth” going to a distant country
to be appointed king this was similar to the practice of the Herods who went to
Rome to be appointed rulers over the Jews. We know that Jesus ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of
the Father and will return as king some day in the future. Do we ultimately recognize Jesus as our
king?
Jesus was rejected. In verse fourteen we read how the “man of noble birth/king” was
rejected. We can read in the bible how
Jesus was rejected and ultimately crucified. We can also read history and observe the current times to see that this
rejection has occurred since his time on earth to this day. Are we ever guilty of
thinking/saying/acting like “We don’t
want this man to be our king”?
Jesus is going to return!
This is a very short, but important statement in verse twelve and we see
it fulfilled in verse fifteen. Jesus
speaks to the issue of his own return in Matthew 24 and specifically in Matthew
24:44 “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour
when you do not expect him.” Are
we ready for Jesus’ return?
Jesus has work for us to do until his
return. In the parable the “man of noble birth” gives
his servants ten minas. “Put this money to work, he said, until I
come back.” Jesus gave us
work to do as well, not to earn our salvation but because of our salvation
which is a gift from God. What kind of
work does Jesus ask us to do? Certainly participating
in the Great Commission comes to mind as well as loving God with all of our heart,
soul, strength and mind and our neighbors as ourselves. Are we good stewards of the Gospel? Do we demonstrate our love for God and
neighbor?
Father, help
us to see not only Jesus but ourselves in the Parable of the Ten Minas. Help us to be like the most faithful servant
in this story and to long to hear Jesus say to us “Well done, my good servant!” Amen
