Jesus has wept over Jerusalem, he has warned the Pharisees, prophesied against the corrupt temple and he means for the judgement declared at the end of this parable to be taken seriously.
Now, for a long time, people have attached their thought regarding this parable to the parousia, or the final coming of Messiah. This is not, however, what Luke has in mind, nor Jesus. Luke does believe in the parousia of course...Acts 1v11...but that's not whats going on here.
The story is about a king who comes back to see what his servants are doing with what they have been given. He tells this story, like most of the stories he tells, so that they will recognize what he is doing in his ministry and what it means. The hidden meaning behind Jesus' long journey to Jerusalem Luke has been leading us along. The long awaited return of Israel's God to Zion...it's happening and this is what it looks like. Jesus was not just proclaiming it, He was embodying it...the blind see, the lame walk, good news is preached to the poor, the captives are set free...
Malachi talked about, 'The Lord, whom you seek' coming suddenly to the Temple, bringing fiery judgment. Zechariah talked of God coming with all his holy ones. "It's happening!" is Jesus' message "The Kingdom of God is near! Repent!" Who will be able to stand before him? But it can't look like this can it?
For ten chapters now Jesus has been warning that if his call is not heeded, judgment will fall on the nation, the city and the temple. God Himself is coming and the servant who hid away the things God entrusted to him will be found out. And in a word that will make cringe most post-modern readers with romantic, universalist, Jesus is my boyfriend and he loves everybody to the nth degree ideas about our king...he calls out those who opposed his rule, not just to be executed...but to be slaughtered right in front of Him. Jesus has tapped into something here...the parable is based on the events in the life of Archaleaus, the older brother of Herod Antipas. Jesus is implying that another unwanted King is coming back to power, not another wicked king, but the true King, the King with a message and a reality of grace and peace, the King who was rejected because the builders wanted to keep the kingdom for themselves.
So here's your three point sermon from this parable...
1. For everyone who thinks the Kingdom is coming immediately, and it is coming, it comes with judgment as well as mercy.
2. At Jesus' arrival to Jerusalem, the city that's already rejecting Him and His message, God's judgment is already being prepared. If they won't receive Him and His kingdom-message...there's nothing else that can be done.
3. Jesus' journey and the return of God Himself after the long exile are brought firmly and dramatically together. Jesus is not just talking of God, God's Kingdom, God's return to Zion, he's embodying it...concealed within His own Messianic mission, is the mission of God himself, in human form returning to the last city and temple dedicated to his honor and setting right at all levels, those things that have gone so terribly wrong.
While we still await the final parousia, we would likely do well to meditate on these things and let the Spirit lead us into a brighter future...Go in the grace and favor of the Lord, give all glory to God and please...be a profitable servant, a holy child.
ref. Luke for Everyone
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