And he said to him, Well [done], thou good bondman; because thou hast been faithful in that which is least, be thou in authority over ten cities.
The master returns as king, and answers the first servant's report with rule over ten cities rather than a bonus. Two questions follow: what was the "very little," and why does so small a trust bring so large a reward?
Jesus told this parable to correct people who expected the kingdom to appear at once.
Christ was going away to heaven to receive the kingdom from God there. He was not about to take it from man now and in this world. So it is clearly a picture of the Lord's return at the second coming, after having received a kingdom. But He goes further. Meanwhile His servants are to keep busy until He comes... This is not like the Gospel of Matthew, where the Lord gives different gifts to different servants. That is equally true. But here the servants are tested morally, and each is given the same sum.
Every servant started with the same sum. So the difference in the results measures the man, not the gift.
The pound represents the opportunity for service given to each professed disciple. In this all are alike. The use each makes of it is seen by what each gains. And according to the servant's use of his opportunity, so will be his place and service by and by... Now is the time of testing in service. He who does not use his opportunity will lose it forever. The one who has used his opportunity best will have the greatest opportunity later.
Commentators set this verse beside a similar parable in Matthew 25 to show what each one measures.
In Matthew 25 the question is being faithful, during the Master's absence, with the talents He may have entrusted to us. Nothing is said there about the degree of faithfulness. So each of the faithful servants receives the same reward — being ruler over many things and entering into the joy of his Lord. In Luke 19 each of the ten servants receives the same amount, but not the same reward. The difference there is in the degree of each servant's faithfulness. So their rewards differ. The one who has gained ten pounds receives authority over ten cities. The one who has gained five pounds receives authority over five. The reward corresponds exactly to their faithfulness.
The gap between the small trust and the large reward says something about the Master Himself.
Diligence had marked his conduct with his Master's trust. His Master warmly commended him as a good servant... What a Lord is ours! Such a reward for faithfulness in so small a matter. For diligence with this tiny sum he was given rule over ten cities in the coming kingdom. No Lord is so easily pleased as the Christ of God, and none rewards so generously devoted service to His name... He whom we serve notices both the quantity and the quality of what is done for Him.
The cities are a matter of reward, and reward is never how anyone gets in.
Our walk down here does appear to decide our position in the kingdom. We read of those who have authority over ten cities, and others who have authority over five cities (Luke 19:17, 19). This is a matter of reward. But our entry into the kingdom has nothing to do with our works.
Later in the parable, this same man still holds the ten pounds he made. The master never took the earnings back.
The man had gained the ten minas for his master. It rightly belonged to his master when he brought it to him, yet the servant was still holding it. The master let him keep it! What we gain honestly for the Lord we really gain for ourselves. How far He is from being a harsh master! Indeed, this man was rewarded with all he had gained. He also received the Lord's commendation, authority over ten cities, and the mina that the other man had no proper respect for. Whoever values what God gives receives more. Whoever places no value on His grace loses even the little he could have used to gain more.
No servant can take credit for what earns this praise.
The word "Well done, good and faithful servant" sounds sweet in the ears, and sweetest of all to the one who knows that only by His grace can we be either.
- Same start. Every servant received one pound. The trust is equal, so only the trading differs. The parable tests the servant, not the size of his gift.
- Small trust. The pound is the opportunity for service given now. This is the time of testing, and unused opportunity is lost for good.
- Exact repayment. Ten pounds gained brings ten cities; five brings five. The reward answers the degree of faithfulness, not the amount entrusted.
- Large reward. A tiny sum handled well brings rule over cities in the coming kingdom. The servant keeps his earnings too.
- Grace throughout. Works never buy entry into the kingdom; only position there is reward. And the "Well done" is sweetest to the servant who knows his faithfulness came from grace too.
And the second came, saying, [My] Lord, thy mina has made five minas.
The second servant comes back with five, gained from the one coin his master left him (older translations call that coin a pound, and the writers below use that word). The first servant gained ten from the same start, which raises the question of how the Lord rewards work that is real but not the greatest.
Every servant in this parable started with the same sum. So the gap between ten pounds and five says something about the servants, not about the Master's gift. This sets Luke's parable apart from the similar story of the talents in Matthew 25:
In the parable in Matthew 25 our Lord gives to every man according to his own ability. God had formed the vessel for the purpose. In Luke much more rests on man's responsibility; in the talents it is more God's grace. So in Luke you find ten cities and five cities in reward. In Matthew both are alike, and each servant hears, "Well done, good and faithful servant... Enter into the joy of your master." Luke is about responsibility, and reward according to work.
So what is this pound that every servant holds? One writer describes it as the treasure the Lord left in the world:
The pound is that great treasure which the Lord brought into the world. It is the knowledge of God in His grace... The Lord brought the true knowledge of God from heaven into the world, but He did not take it away when He returned. He left it here. He has committed it to us.
The second servant, then, had nothing less to work with than the first. He held the same treasure.
The rewards match the gains, but the highest praise goes to one servant only:
One had traded well and gained ten pounds; another had traded and gained five. Each was to have authority over cities in the kingdom, matching what he had gained. But the master gives his greatest approval to the one who had gained the most. To him, and him only, does the master say, "Well done, good servant."
Still, the Master does not overlook the five. He names it, credits it, and rewards it:
The second man's account showed five pounds. His master granted him rule over five cities. The One we serve notices both the quantity and the quality of what is done for Him. So Romans 16:12 tells us of Tryphena and Tryphosa, who laboured in the Lord, and of the beloved Persis, who laboured "much" in the Lord. In the same way, Nehemiah 3 tells us of many who helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, but singles out some as working "earnestly." All who want to please the absent Christ should think about that "much" and that "earnestly."
Five pounds gained, five cities given. The proportion is exact, and it shows that rewards will not be the same for all:
In Luke 19 each of the ten servants receives the same amount, but not the same reward. The difference there is in how faithful each servant was. So their reward differs, matching that degree of faithfulness. The one who has gained ten pounds receives authority over ten cities, and the one who has gained five pounds, over five cities. The reward corresponds exactly with their faithfulness.
The cities mean real place and real authority in the coming kingdom:
This large sphere of authority is because of faithfulness "in a very little". That is, the servant has proven trustworthy, and in the millennial kingdom he will have this degree of public prominence.
A smaller reward is not a smaller welcome. The same grace saves every servant, and what differs is the reward, not the fullness of the joy:
It is essential to hold that the very same grace which pardoned the thief on the cross was needed to save Paul of Tarsus. Yet it would be a grand mistake to think that the thief will have the same reward in glory... The vessels that are to hold the blessing may not all be the same size. But the little cup will be as full as the big one, filled, if I may say so, with the same materials of joy and blessing.
- Same start. Each servant received one pound. The five and the ten measure the servant's diligence, not the Master's gift.
- Same trust. The pound is the knowledge of God in His grace, left here for His servants. The least servant holds what the greatest holds.
- Same reckoning. The Master notices both quantity and quality. He names and credits the five, though only the first servant hears "Well done."
- Matched reward. Five pounds earns five cities. That is real authority in the coming kingdom, given for faithfulness "in a very little."
- Equal fullness. Rewards differ; love does not. The little cup will be as full as the big one.