After the nobleman obtained his kingdom and returned (cf. Luke 19:12, 15), he decided to find out what his servants had done in his absence. The two fruitful servants used their mina / faith and produced a good harvest for the nobleman. In response, they were given authority over multiple cities. In the context of chief tax-collectors, they would conduct business as usual, except their responsibilities were extended over multiple cities, instead of just one or a part of one. This seems to indicate fruitful disciples of Jesus would be rewarded with greater responsibility in the Kingdom of God, but doing the same business they had done before Jesus’ return.
On the other hand, the wicked (G4190) servant didn’t have an increase, because he never used his mina / faith. Nevertheless, we have to wonder why the nobleman / Jesus says what is said in Luke 19:26. Is he finished with this servant? Does Jesus’ judgment mean the man’s salvation is lost? Some say he never was saved, but, if this is true, why did the nobleman / Jesus give him a mina / faith in the first place?
Notice that this servant is called wicked (G4190) in Luke 19:22. Thayer’s Lexicon defines this word as:
“1) full of labors, annoyances, hardships; 1a) pressed and harassed by labors; 1b) bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble. 2) bad, of a bad nature or condition; 2a) in a physical sense: diseased or blind; 2b) in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad.”
Understanding how the Greek is used elsewhere, is the man spiritually wicked, or is he really spiritually blind? It seems to me he could be either. Moreover, he could have had a poor Christian worldview – one full of labors and hardships, feeling harassed by what he perceived as his duties as a disciple of Christ. He may even have been in emotional pain, troubled over the duties he felt called to perform in the name of Christ. If this is a valid point of view, how should this man be judged?
Was his fruitlessness due to “wickedness” or “blindness”? It seems he had a distorted view of the nobleman, and the meaning of the Greek word (G4190) seems to offer an explanation supporting that point-of-view. If the man felt harassed by what he thought were his Christian duties, he was probably laboring in the flesh (implied by the napkin (G4676), with which he wrapped his mina / faith. He seems to be spiritually blind rather than spiritually wicked. He may have felt emotionally drained and troubled over the duties he felt compelled to perform for Christ.
If the man who had increased his mina by ten was given the wicked servant’s mina, it seems to me he was also given the responsibility to tutor the servant who had nothing to return to the Lord. The wicked servant simply didn’t know how to use the mina / faith Jesus had given him. It would be absurd to let the man have something of so great a value but didn’t know how to use it. It would be better to take it away, give it to the most proficient servant, and have that servant produce in the wicked servant what he simply didn’t understand properly up to the nobleman’s return.
In Luke 19:27, the nobleman refers to his citizens (cf. Luke 19:14) as his enemies. The nobleman / the Messiah claimed his enemies must be slain in his presence (Luke 19:27). In other words. they had to die, but is Jesus speaking of slaying them in a physical war? He certainly couldn’t be referring to the ‘slaying’ that took place in 70 AD, because the Romans did all the killing of the Jews at that time. Yet, in the parable it is the nobleman’s servants / Jesus’ disciples who do the slaying. If Jesus is speaking of killing off all those who rejected him in this life, over whom would his servants have authority? If we interpret this literally and suppose the time for slaying Jesus’ enemies is the time of the final judgment, Jesus’ servants seem to be given authority over ghost towns. What can we say of these things?
According to Paul, before his eyes were open to the claims of the Law, he was alive (cf. Romans 7:9), but when he really understood the gravity of sin, the Law slew him—even self-righteous Paul had to admit he was a sinner worthy of death (Romans 7:11). Rebellion against God must cease, but, when it does, it marks a new event in the lives of every individual. The Jew is born again (John 3:3, 5) and the gentile becomes a new creature (2Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:14; Ephesians 2:10; 4:24; Colossians 3:10; cf. 1Corinthians 15:22). What Jesus is referring to in Luke 19:27 is, after Jesus returned in 70 AD, his disciples were rewarded, according to their works, with authority over the cities of the earth to preach the Gospel. Gentiles were brought near, as the Jew who had been near was judged for rejecting their Messiah. Men who didn’t know Jesus were told about him, and some repented and became his disciples.
Luke 19:27 is not speaking of the end of time but is, rather, speaking of what occurred after the Jews were replaced as God’s servants to teach the world about him (cf. Matthew 21:43). This occurred with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, and that event is the “sign” the Apostles asked for to show that Jesus had come into his office as the Messiah (cf. Matthew 24:3, 30). At that time he sent out his angels to gather his elect from the four winds (Matthew 24:31; cf. Luke 19:27).
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