Okay, up till now Jesus talks about giving aid to the poor and the maimed and the weak, how money gets you nowhere and how it is best to be a pacifist, even saying that "him that taketh away thy cloak, forbid him not to take thy coat also" (Luke 6:29).
So what in the hell is Jesus talking about in Luke 19? It seems to be a complete reversal of all this.
In Luke 19: 11 this disturbing story starts. He tells a parable supposedly reflecting how the apostles are to behave in Jesus absence in the time between his death and the coming of the kingdom.
A man is appointed ruler over a kingdom. "He called his ten servants and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, 'Occupy till I come.' But his citizens hated him" Okay so the king returns later and "he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, so that he might know how much every an had gained by trading." The first two servants present more money and are rewarded with land accordingly. The last servant presents the same pound that was given to him, explaining that he was fearful of losing it for the lord of the kingdom is and austere man, who "takest up what thou not layest down and reapest that thou did not sow" (Luke 19:21). The king calls the servant wicked saying that the servant should have at least given it to the bank that the master could have made money by usury (lending with interest something forbidden in Europe later on and associated with the Jews).
Then it gets ugly. The master "said unto them that stood by, 'take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds... For I say unto you, that unto every one which hath shall be given and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those my enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me" (Luke 19: 27).
This isn't turning the other cheek! This isn't letting someone steal your cloak and coat. This is so extremely the opposite that it is more the insane than the first exaggerations. The king (supposedly a metaphor for Christ) demands that his servants make money for him, 'reaping what he did not sow,' and then takes the last pound from the servant, suggesting that he be slain even though he rightfully returned the pound, just not with interest.
Is this the beginning of venture capitalism? The justification that the lords of wall street make so much lucre off the products of the labor of others? Or is this just another superlative statement about the importance of this Christ character, that even though he tells you to be a pacifist, if anyone wont accept a tyrant who rules in Christ's name that you should put him to the sword?
I don't understand it. I think the trading story is just a metaphor for how devoutly everyone on earth should serve this person, but this I find troubling as well.
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