The Parable of the Ten Gold Coins

Today's Reflections

                                                                                 

 

The Parable of the Ten Gold Coins

Lk 19:11-28

¹¹While [people] were listening to [Jesus] speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God would appear there immediately. ¹²So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. ¹³He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ ¹⁴His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ ¹⁵But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. ¹⁶The first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’ ¹⁷He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’... ²⁰Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, ²¹for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding person; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ ²²He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding person, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; ²³why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ ²⁴And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.’ ²⁵But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’ ²⁶‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’ ”...

²⁸After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.

I WAS AFRAID OF YOU. Jesus’ parable declares that God’s kingdom will come despite opposition. Jesus alludes that his passion, death, resurrection, and glorification will reveal his kingship. What paralyzes the fellow citizens of the nobleman is that they despise him and do not want him to be their king. At the outset, there is rejection of Jesus’ mission.

The parable calls us to be open, to take charge of what is given to us, and to treasure and multiply what is entrusted to us. The Master will come back for an accounting. We need to be brave, to be faithful to him, and to follow him even in suffering. Only then do we cooperate in the fulfillment of the mission of the Messiah.

How do we treasure God’s gift of salvation?