Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Calling All Bible Scholars!!

I couldn't sleep tonight. Well, really GOD would not ALLOW me to sleep tonight because He kept poking at me and stirring some questions up in me so I would have no other choice but to drag my butt out of bed and go read His Word for the answers. But instead of answers, I just got more questions!!

And Ya'll, my head hurts from trying to figure it out, so I'm calling on you, Sweet Internet Friends, to help me answer the following question because, HELLO!, it's 2:45am and I have kids that do not care that I was up pondering scripture in the wee hours of the morning, they just want breakfast!

But first you have to read the verse that made my head split open and caused my brain to fall kersplat onto my freshly mopped floor.

Luke 19: 11-27

The Parable of the 10 Servants

11 The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was
nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the
Kingdom of God would begin right away. 12 He said, “A nobleman was called away
to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. 13 Before he left, he
called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of
silver,[b] saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ 14 But his people hated
him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’
15 “After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to
whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were. 16
The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times
the original amount!’ 17 “‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good
servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will
be governor of ten cities as your reward.’ 18 “The next servant reported,
‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’
19 “‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will be governor over five cities.’
20 “But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money
and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. 21 I was afraid because
you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops
you didn’t plant.’ 22 “‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own
words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and
harvests crops I didn’t plant, 23 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank?
At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 24 “Then, turning to
the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant,
and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’ 25 “‘But, master,’ they said,
‘he already has ten pounds!’ 26 “‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those
who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do
nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 27 And as for these
enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.’
(emphasis mine
)



So here's the question:What in Sam Hill does verse 27 mean?? Please OH PLEASE would someone explain it to me? Because I really don't think it means that Jesus wants us to walk up to Him and execute people right in front of Him "in His name", so to speak. And if that's what it means, I'm a little troubled by it because it would seem to contradict everything else He taught us.



Someone please come to my rescue before I pop a blood vessel in my brain.

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2 Comments:

At 12/13/2007 6:40 AM, Blogger Shelley said...

First of all, I don't really know the answer, but here's a guess: The entire story is a metaphor for the Kingdom... and the crowned king is Jesus. He gives each of us talents to invest in the Kingdom -- some of us do and some of us don't (probably based on our beliefs of whether we think God is a "hard man" to deal with or not).

In this analogy, those who do nothing are eternally separated from the king (executed in front of him, so to speak).

I read it as more the final day of judgment rather than how we, as believers, as supposed to treat others.

It raises the question for me about faith and works. Obviously, according to this passage, works is extremely important -- what you do with what has been given to you. And, on another note, it seems to reiterate what Ed said last weekend, "It's all about the money."

Not scholarly by any means, but there's what I'm thinking. Hope that helps.

 
At 8/15/2008 9:20 AM, Blogger Karen said...

Minnie, Minnie, Minnie, you need to be blogging!!
Can't wait to see you.

 

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