Parable of the Minas (5) Third Servant

The third servant was different. He had guarded the mina carefully.

Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth (19:20).

This servant had done nothing wrong. He had cared for the coin that had been entrusted to him. The king complained that he could have taken the money to bankers and earned interest. This was a shallow claim. The bankers in Jesus time were notoriously ruthless, looking after the rich and robbing the poor. If a servant had entrusted the coin to a banker, he might not have been able to get it back. Hiding the coin was probably a safer option. Despite being innocent, this man was castigated as a wicked servant.

This servant represents Jesus. The cloth that he wrapped the coin in was a “suderion”. This is a cloth for snot, and for cleaning dead bodies. This pointed forward to Jesus death. He was innocent. He had done nothing wrong, yet he was convicted unjustly and placed among the wicked. His suffering would inaugurate the kingdom.

Jesus was explaining how the kingdom would come. He would inaugurate the kingdom by suffering on the cross. Like the third servant, Jesus had done nothing wrong, but he died.

The death of Jesus would be followed by suffering of the citizens of the kingdom. The parable ends with the citizens who had opposed the wicked king being killed. The king said,

But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me (Luke 19:27).

Jesus was warning that many of those who follow him would suffer as he did. Christians who standard in prayer against the usurped authority of the evil one will face persecution. Those who challenge the false authority of human political power will suffer tribulations before the kingdom comes into reality. Many of those who challenged the Roman empire were persecuted and died. It took 300 years for the empire to collapse, and many Christians would die.

The political and economic powers came together to destroy Jesus on the cross. However, Jesus destroyed the political and economic powers by dying on the cross. This is how the kingdom comes. God’s people will not impose the kingdom by seizing political power. As they suffer and endure in obedience to Jesus, the kingdom of darkness will collapse and retreat before their bright shining light.

This parable explained the coming of the Kingdom. It was also a warning to Zacchaeus and any other member of the political establishment. Once it was known that he had given money away, and would refuse to take more than he was owed, he would be a soft touch. His days as a tax collector were finished. By exposing the corruption and illegality of the tax system, he became an enemy of the political establishment. Zacchaeus would find himself in the same situation as the citizens who opposed the wicked nobleman. We do not know what happened to Zacchaeus, but we can presume that he would have had a rough time, the next time he met with his Roman controllers.