For years, I had it in my mind this was a meal for thirteen that was relaxed and while full of symbolism was much like any other meal Jesus might have had with his disciples. They were, as was the custom, all reclined supporting themselves on cushions and not like most of the paintings portray them now sitting upright at a table. Everything had been set up ahead of time by two of his disciples outside the Twelve so there was no rushing around getting things ready. The table was set and everyone was looking forward to the meal that evening. But, according to Mark, as soon as they had…

Now we come to another parable with the common theme of others. The master puts responsibility in the hands of men and then goes away. He expects a return and by not getting what is rightfully his he punishes those who are unproductive.  Again, like we did last week, I want to use Matthew’s version of the parable in Matthew 21:33-46. Of course, this is a bit different from the parable of the minas in that these are not servants but tenants renting the land from the owner and while they are not unproductive they become arrogant about who owns the land and the produce. The end is the same.…

While there are differences between the way Luke tells the story of the ten minas and Matthew the story of the talents, there are many similarities. So, this morning I want to use Matthew’s account because I think he takes more time to create the context behind the parable – two whole chapters. In Luke’s account it says, “While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.” So, instead of that brief introduction to the parable in Luke, let’s look at the context of the parable…