Interpreting The Parable of the Pounds Luke 19:11-27

Interpreting The Parable of the Pounds
Luke 19: 11-27


I will reference three different commentaries to assist me in interpreting The Parable of the Pounds found in Luke 19: 11-27. I will answer the following questions: what is the main point the parable is teaching; what is the point Jesus is trying to make; what is the point the Gospel writer is trying to make and how does this parable apply to my life and the life of my church.
To begin, I will focus on the question of what is the main point the parable teaches. In doing so, I will answer four sub-questions to arrive at a conclusion. First, who are the main characters in the parable? Second, what comes at the end of the parable? Third, what is given the most space? Lastly, what is found in direct conversation?
According to Bruce Larson in The Communicator’s Commentary: Luke, the main characters in this story are the nobleman, his citizens and his servants.[1] Now, I refer to Matthew Henry for a discussion on the ending of the parable. Matthew Henry, in Matthew Henry’s Commentary, states that the ending is about the sentence passed upon the king’s servants upon his return. Matthew Henry states, “When his faithful subjects are preferred and rewarded, then he will take vengeance on his enemies.”[2] Since all three commentaries I am referencing focused their analyses on the return of the nobleman and the accounting of the servants for a bulk of the reading, this appears to be what receives the most space in the parable. In my opinion, what is found in direct conversation is a command, responses to that command and the outcome of those responses. Reflecting on the main point of the story, in The Communicator’s Commentary: Luke, the author states that, “the nobleman was given the kingdom and he returned to slay those who didn’t want him in power. As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the King and that in the last days He will return to His Kingdom”.[3] This is the main point Jesus was trying to make to His audience. Luke wanted to relay this important point to his audience, the Greeks and Gentiles.
In conclusion, this parable applies to me in that I need to keep busy, not idle, doing Kingdom work until Christ returns. George Bliss states in An American Commentary on the New Testament: Mark and Luke, that Christ’s intention in speaking this parable was, “primarily, to show that his kingdom would be seen only after a considerable interval and secondarily, to teach the chief disciples how that interval should be spent”.[4] In light of this, I believe I am faithfully to employ every gift and resource He has given me to invest in His Kingdom and to increase His Kingdom so that when He returns He will say to me, “Well done thou good and faithful servant”. On the same note, I think my church is to be about these same endeavors as a church body until he comes again.
[1] Bruce Larson, The Communicator’s Commentary: Luke, Vol. 3, ed. Lloyd J. Ogilvie, (Waco, Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1983), 275.

[2] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary In One Volume, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960), 1486.

[3] Bruce Larson, The Communicator’s Commentary: Luke, Vol. 3, ed. Lloyd J. Ogilvie, (Waco, Texas: Word Books, Publisher, 1983), 275-276.

[4] Bliss, G.R. and W.N. Clarke, D. D., An American Commentary on the New Testament: Mark and Luke, ed. Alvah Hovey, D.D., LL.D., (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1881), 279.