Comments Luke 19:1-2 The Lord wants to introduce this man first to all, including his work and status. The job he holds is considered as a sinner's job, besides that he is rich, but the Lord just says plainly rich, but He did not tell how Zacchaeus gained his riches (Zacchaeus got to be wealthy).

Comments Luke 19:3 The sinner who has all things in life already, wants to see the beloved Son of God. He has heard about the work of the Lord and in his heart, he wishes to meet the Lord. When the verse uses small in stature also tells that he was smaller than normal, in human terms would call him dwarf figure.

Comments Luke 19:4 First let the reader imagine the picture of the little man running and climbing up on the tree, which is not easy for him to do, but the wish in his heart to see the Lord is greater than the difficulty he has, that is why he goes up there. The walking way had cliffs, it becomes one way to go to the next town; if the Lord travels straight He must pass that way and Zacchaeus knows very well the area, that is why he ran ahead and went up on the sycamore tree, just to be able to see the Lord go by.

Comments Luke 19:5 This is one of the verses in the Bible that tells that the beloved Son of God knows everything ahead. The beloved Son of God has already recognized this man on the tree waiting for Him, and also the Lord has seen His heart, the wish in his heart to meet the Lord makes the Lord invite Himself to visit the man's house.
"for today it behooves Me to abide in your house". In this place we can see certainly, the Lord has a purpose, the Lord wants to bless this man and the Lord gives him no chance to say no. The God of love and mercy uses the order for someone to receive Him into their house, He used the term you must take Me, we do not see this way of talking from the beloved Son of God.

Comments Luke 19:6 Pay attention to the portion that says, received Him rejoicing, when anyone in their heart accepts the Lord of life with gladness, the Lord is happy to be there as well, and here is the place to show the way this person is receiving the Lord of life; for the Lord Himself "rejoicing" here has more feeling than the word itself.

Comments Luke 19:7 In this verse it says clearly that the man is a sinner and the Lord of life has entered into his house, not only that He entered, but the Lord has stayed in his house more than just a meal itself; people murmured against the action of the Lord's mercy.

Comments Luke 19:8 We all have seen plainly, this sinner has regret in doing bad to anyone, he offers himself to pay back in the way that he knows the people would do, he has shown his sincerity in repenting of all his sins. This is all the Lord desires to see, when someone commits sin and wants to repent by their own conscience that the Lord has spoken in their heart, and here is an example.
Q: What is the difference between Luke 18:22 and this verse with Zacchaeus? A: To give all or half has no meaning, if you did not give it with true heart. Notice in this place Zacchaeus offers himself to give, he has not been told you must give, but by his own word he has said "if I have defrauded anything from anyone, I restore fourfold". This verse shows the heart of a man in repentance towards the sin that he has committed to the people, without expecting the Lord to pay back anything.

Comments Luke 19:9 Salvation in this verse did not mean regarding about all his household going to heaven but here it refers to the spiritual blessings of this earth. Salvation here took place not only for one person but for all his household as well, even in his household they did not do anything for the Lord yet, but when the owner of the house had governed his own properly, everyone receives a portion of the blessings.
"because he also is a son of Abraham". In reality, he is a son of Abraham even he is a sinner in the eyes of people, being a sinner did not take away the right of inheritance.

Comments Luke 19:10 The Lord knows who will be saved, but the Lord is still seeking for those who will be saved but did not know the Lord yet, the Lord will not let them be lost; He seeks them to save them. We can see how much love the beloved Son of God has for humans, not being saved by just coming to Him, but He Himself is seeking for them to be saved.

Comments Luke 19:11 We have the parable with the ten minas in this passage and the parable with the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. These parables have similarities in meaning but are distinctive parables spoken in diverse places and addressing different people.
"because He was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear". A lot of people have followed and listened to the beloved Son of God, and they all have seen miracle works, making them all believe that He is the prophet of the Lord who will come and announce the heaven time. That is why all believe the kingdom of God will suddenly appear in front of Him, and they all will be witness of it. The prophet in this place they considered as the messenger of the Lord God Most High, but they did not believe and thought that He is the beloved Son of God, besides, they cannot understand the Trinity of God, they were all just looking for the kingdom of God to appear on earth.

Comments Luke 19:12 "A certain nobleman" refers to the beloved Son of God Himself.
"went into a far country". The beloved Son of God has come down from heaven and came to the earth as a different country far from His own home in heaven. This portion of the verse here really means that the Lord Jesus went from earth back to His far country in heaven.
"to receive for himself a kingdom". When the beloved Son of God is resurrected, the Father Himself will give Him a new earth which will have only people that have faith and believe in the beloved Son of God, because there will be the kingdom of the beloved Son of God Himself where everything and everyone belongs to Him and Him alone.
"and to return". In this portion itself, when the Lord Jesus Himself has resurrected to receive all those that belong to Him to Himself, that is the time of His return, and then He will depart to His kingdom. At the resurrection (this is still resurrection time) Jesus receives those that belong to Him, but when He departs to His kingdom, He also will take all that belong to Him with Him for eternity. The new earth is waiting for Him, but He Himself is seated at the right hand of the Father, together but also in different dimensions. The Lord has His earthly resurrected body with Him, only Him has a human body, no one else there on the new earth has an earthly body. As the Bible has told also, at this time when He takes all those that belong to Him and go with Him, everybody will see Him.

Comments Luke 19:13 "And he called ten servants of his". Most people would believe this means calling the apostles, but He has called ten believers, deep in their heart, to do the work in preparing, nothing of this has been recorded in the Holy Book, but we still can find support as well. Some have made doctrines of this, ten servants as ten legions, but the Lord called true believers, and He has given them specific duties. As His apostles will go out to work, they will meet them, everything has been planned ahead before the work of spreading the Gospel begins. "Ten" is not a number specifically meaning ten believers, this "ten" means ten directions the Lord sent out and refers to the believers in these directions that the Lord calls to help the apostles.
"and gave them ten minas". Minas here is not money, but the knowledge and ability in connecting with the Spirit of Christ in giving directions, but not the Holy Spirit. When they meet the apostles the Spirit of Christ will stir their hearts to go in the right directions and find the apostles. As the Bible has mentioned in places, the apostles contact people that meet them, those are the ones that are mentioned here. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father Himself, which will convict right and wrong in the soul of humans, but most humans will reject this Spirit of God because they all will find the reason to do things in their way, the world has corrupted their mind, and the Holy Spirit cannot do the work within them, when the human soul rejects His warning. The Spirit of Christ is a gentle Spirit, His role is to link the heart with the mind in order to have peace and do according to His will, but He will also never force anyone to follow, it is the responsibility of the person to listen what the heart is telling them, and not let the ear hearing what people speak and convince what people talk, right or wrong has already told to the person but the listening ear will make confusion. The right or wrong has been told to the heart of the person by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of Christ in His gentle way will come to help the person to find peace and do according to the will of the Holy Spirit.
"Do business until I come back". The person who has received the Spirit of Christ will have a duty in their area to make people think what they have (the way they behave) to be different from others and when the time of work with apostles comes the people around will notice why this person does differently for the apostles.

Comments Luke 19:14 "But his citizens hated him". When the beloved Son of God came on earth, "his citizens" here are the Jews themselves, they are His people, but none of them want to be under Him. They all dislike Him and think that He is not a good King for them, that is why the verse said that they "hated him".
"and sent a delegation after him". As the Bible has told, the chief priests have gone to the outsiders and made false reports regarding Him, they keep following Him wherever He goes to gather information to be able to report to the outsiders what the beloved Son of God is doing and create doubt to all the people, the Bible has also told clearly about this.
"We are not willing that this man reign over us". This is what they told to the outsiders, the Romans. Everyone can see clearly, His own people do not want Him to reign over them, they would rather have an outsider rule over them; in this way we can all say, His citizens have betrayed Him to the outsiders.
Note that verses 12 and 13 relate to events after the resurrection and verse 14 relates to events before the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Comments Luke 19:15 "He was come back again" refers to the Spirit of Christ coming back on earth to do the work through His servants.
"And it came to pass, when he was come back again, having taken the kingdom". When the beloved Son of God is resurrected, He has received the kingdom from the Father and now He will reign over all His kingdom according to the plan of the Father. Q: What is the difference between this current kingdom and the kingdom on the new earth after the second coming of the Lord? A: It is not the same, but both kingdoms when the time comes will merge together. That is why this kingdom now is of the old times, it does not have the body, when both will merge together after the second coming of the Lord all will have the heavenly bodies.
Jesus is with the Father from the beginning, Jesus was born on earth, He was crucified, He rose again (resurrected), He went back to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, He will return again to receive His elect ones, then He will take them on the new earth where He will reign for eternity.
"that he commanded these servants ...". All His servants that received the knowledge and duty at this time, He will talk to them according to the gift He has given them, and what they have done with it. Did they talk with people that He guided them to meet and make them understand that He loves them all, repent and come back to Him? That is all He wants them to know, but His servants must do their duty in order for all these people to understand and come back to the Lord their God.
The Spirit of Christ always works with His servants; between the Spirit of Christ and His servants there is a bond, they will hear Him, and do His will, but the Holy Spirit Himself will look over all those servants and make sure that they all listen to the Spirit of Christ and make the work complete.
"he commanded these servants, ..., to be called to him". This happened after Jesus' resurrection and it is still continuing now until Jesus' second coming on earth.

Comments Luke 19:16 One of these servants of the beloved Son of God had success in trading for the Lord and brought more understanding to other souls. The souls that still had confusion in them had been helped by this servant and have become enlightened and ready to receive their king. The servant has completed his job well with trading.
"your mina has made ten minas more". The knowledge that the Lord has given to this servant is alive and made branches out. When the servant has done his duty, the branches will spread out as the verse has told; "made ten minas more" tells the knowledge has spread to ten more servants to go out with the knowledge ready to share as well, that why this servant has finished the job.

Comments Luke 19:17 When the servant has finished the work and has come back to report to the Lord, the reward of this servant who has been diligently doing the work, even he had small little authority, but the servant did not back off from the work, the Lord will grant him more authority and give him the duty to take care of part of His kingdom, which He is preparing at this time and this servant will be there. Note that this reward happens after this servant has departed. The ten cities are not cities of this earth. In the soul world we will all have work to do.

Comments Luke 19:18-19 The answer may look different, but the meaning is the same as in the verse 17, this servant receives the reward also. Do not forget as well, could these five cities be bigger, maybe double than the ones before, the Lord did not mention big or small cities, both use the same word cities, but the amount indicates more or less authority in management.

Comments Luke 19:20 As the verse has told all readers plainly, this servant has kept the Lord's knowledge hiding under his own fear and worry, but also under his own greed as well, because he did not want to do things that he does not know how much he could benefit, so he made a decision that is better to hid it away in a safe place.

Comments Luke 19:21 "for I feared you, because you are a harsh man". This servant has known the Lord well; he knows that the Lord is a harsh master, he claimed that he has fear, but that is just an empty talk, if he has real fear, he will go and do something with the things the Lord has given him. In his thought here, the Lord is a "harsh man", because he knows very well, the Lord has granted him something, and the Lord expects him to make things happen according to what the Lord has given him. But the Lord will not expect anyone to go out and do things that the Lord did not provide help for.
"you take up what you laid not down". Now the servant has accused the Lord God Almighty, that He wants to benefit from his work for His Own glory. But he did not think, he is an empty man from outside until inside the soul; without the Lord giving him any ability to do work, he is just an empty vessel, and he has the courage to accuse the Lord to taking advantage of his work.
"and you reap what you did not sow". The servant knows he has a duty to go out and use the knowledge the Lord gives to bring people to have knowledge about God Almighty, but he comes back to tell that the Lord wants to reap the things He did not plant, but think twice before you come to accuse the Lord God Almighty, who sows the seed in the hearts of the people, is not the servant who sows the seed, the Lord has put the seed in the heart, but He sent the servant to help the person to grow that seed. Can the Lord reap what the seed brings? As many Christians do as well, this servant did not think to whom he was talking with. What we are stating here is that the Lord has put the seed in the heart, and the seed is dormant until the Lord sends the servant to water by announcing the knowledge that the Lord has given to the servant. This work of the servant is like water for the seed, then the seed grows with the word, it does not stay dormant any longer. The Lord has sown the knowledge about God in the heart, when the eyes have seen the creation of the Lord, the heart will announce who the true Creator of all things is.

Comments Luke 19:22a Corresponding to the verse itself, the Lord will judge according to your own words, if you have promised to the Lord anything make sure that you keep that promise, because that promise will be used to judge you. When you make a commitment to serve the Lord in anything, even small thing, make sure you do it, even that thing is little in your eyes and others', but for the Lord Himself that little thing has become something important. And before you promise something to the Lord think if you can keep that promise or not, do not let your mouth move before that.
"you evil servant". The verse is clear here as well; when you promise to do things for the Lord and do not do, you are not a useless servant, but you become an evil servant.

Comments Luke 19:22b Because the Lord is a harsh master, if you are His servant you must use the most and make the benefit out of what the Lord has granted you. Do not go and hide the knowledge that the Lord has given you, that knowledge is a treasure which many will benefit. But instead of letting people benefit this servant tries to stop the Lord’s work.
“taking up what I did not laid down”. The Lord replied this way because all Christians assume similarly, they have come to the Lord by themselves. But they forgot to think that if the Lord did not provide the way, a person will not come to be a Christian, so, is that the work that the Lord has done or not? We should think as well when we read what the Lord has told us.
“and reaping what I did not sow”. First, we must think what reaping means in this verse. He reaps the souls that come to Him, that soul has been in the world for sometimes, has used the gift the Lord has given from birth, and also did benefit from all the Lord's creation, but the person never yet to thank you or acknowledge what the Lord has created. But if a person has never thanked the Lord or acknowledged what the Lord has created, that person has grown out of faith, but did not grow out of duty to worship the Lord of life. The benefit for the Lord is their soul if that soul returns to the Lord after the Lord's servant has ministered to that soul. But when the Lord said which "He did not sow," that soul has grown in faith from the servant's word but the soul must think as well, that servant got the word from the Lord Himself, the Lord did not come to talk to these people but His servant has used the Lord's word to minister.

Comments Luke 19:23a The bank here is the heart of all, when the Lord told why not put my money into the bank, the Lord did not mean every heart but the heart of the ones the Lord has communicated with the servant that are the right ones to do the work. The servant did not do the work on the ones that the Lord pointed out, but the servant goes and does the work on those that he feels are the right ones, but these are not the ones the Lord wants to use. This is the same as knowledge hidden in a piece of cloth because the servant did not give the knowledge to the right persons. If the Lord has pointed to someone and the servant did not give to that one, this is the same as hiding the knowledge away, the servant cannot do according to his own feeling but must do as the Lord commands.

Comments Luke 19:23b When the Lord comes He will expect that the work of the servant has been done according to His direction, and those that the servant worked with also will multiply the faith in them and that faith becomes witness for all they will meet, this is the part of the interest itself, the faith has grown to more after.

Comments Luke 19:24 The one that has the knowledge but did not use it according to the Lord's will, the punishment at first, the Lord will take all the knowledge away from his mind, his heart, and give it to the one that has more in all directions and still wish to have furthermore, because that person still wants to serve additionally and wishing to do for the Lord with all he has, that why he deserves to get even more.

Comments Luke 19:25 The rest of the servants always think they know more than the Lord, but they all forget whom they are dealing with now, not another servant like them, but the Lord Himself, and the Lord knows who deserves more, but those who did not get this portion speak out of jealousy.

Comments Luke 19:26a The one that has in this place is the one that even what they have they wish they can have more, that they can serve the Lord in more ways, that why the reward shall be given to them.

Comments Luke 19:26b When the Lord tells "him that has not", it does not mean he does not have any knowledge, he has knowledge, but he never does anything to increase that knowledge, not practice, not meditate and not pray, and the Lord will take away even that knowledge left in that person, according to what the verse has told that the Lord will do.

Comments Luke 19:27 At first, we look at the word "slay them"; in this place "slay them" it does not mean kill them but take all ability in thinking and speaking and leave them as empty shells. And when they are empty shells it is worse than being killed, because when they are killed their suffering is not there (they disappear, we talk about soul killing here). But by slaying them, they know the suffering and have knowledge of not to be there (slain and suffering) but never can use that knowledge in preventing the end, they will end up there.
Now we talk about "before me"; the Lord is there but His mercy is not there anymore, because the time for mercy has passed for those that will be slain in front of the Lord.
Q: What is the overall purpose of this parable from verses 13 to 27? A: When the Lord told this parable, let the one that reads think with the heart not with the head. When the beloved Son of God gives gifts to anyone, He also gives the ability to use those gifts as well, but if that person ignores the voice of the Lord and does not use the gifts as the Lord intends, at the end the Lord will require the payment from that soul regarding the gifts. If you did not use the gifts in working with the souls the Lord brings to you to tell them about the way they can be saved, the punishment of those souls also will be accounted for on your soul, because the Lord has already given way out for those souls by giving you the gifts and ability to help but you did not do the work, this parable has told about this.

Comments Luke 19:29 For verses 29 to 38 see Comments Matthew 21:1-9 and Comments Mark 11:1-10.

Comments Luke 19:39 Give attention to what the verse says, some Pharisees, not all of them have been against the Lord, but also at the same time they have already acknowledged the beloved Son of God as their teacher as we can notice from the verse, but also they want Him to rebuke those disciples that glorify the Lord. People that try to stop someone, those people that try to stop someone to glorify the Lord, have the darkness cover their hearts, and blind their eyes until they cannot see to glorify the mighty works of God, and blind their ears until they cannot hear the words people utter to glorify the beloved Son of God. As the verse says, among these Pharisees themselves only some that have acted wickedly, the leaders of people, the ones that people have set up to glorify God have acted oppositely.

Comments Luke 19:40 Give attention to what the Lord has told to these people, even you stop people glorifying God, the things that have no life will glorify the Mighty God. The beloved Son of God has come for them, do not stop yourself from receiving Him, if you do it the sin will be turning back against you when the stones cry out and glorify the beloved Son of God instead of humans. The sin that you have stop people will be turning back against you.

Comments Luke 19:41 This verse tells how much the Lord loves the city. The beloved Son of God saw the future of this city and how many people will perish in future time, the sadness has captured His heart, that is why the Lord of life is crying, over the loss of life in there, because they have not acknowledged the Savior this will come for them.

Comments Luke 19:42a They all have seen and heard the work of the beloved Son of God on earth already, the "things for peace" in this verse refer to the teachings of the beloved Son of God which will bring them to be saved and have peace of life eternal.

Comments Luke 19:42b Because you have closed your heart in receiving the Savior, your eyes become blind, and you will become darken heart and blinded eyes that still can walk but have been cursed at the same time. Because of this, it leads them until they had accused the Savior wrongly, and crucified Him, these are the leaders of religion that do it.

Comments Luke 19:43 This verse refers to the siege of Jerusalem in year 70 AD when the city of Jerusalem was captured and destroyed, both the city and the temple. When you read the history about the city of Jerusalem it is correct, the town has been destroyed, the enemy murdered the Lord's children around the town, not because the Lord did not want to help them, but they themselves have brought the destruction upon the nation, it is a warning for everyone after. If you forget your Lord, He will lift His hand away from you and the enemy will surround you, and they will have no mercy on you, as you can find out now in history. Take this seriously as a warning not just the Lord's children alone, but the whole earth will do to one another as these ruthless nations have done to His children.

Comments Luke 19:44 We will concentrate on the last part of the verse. His people have ignored their God and also His warnings, that is why all things which are written here happened to them.
"the time of your visitation". This "time of visitation" relates to the birth of the beloved Son of God. He has come to save them, but they have crucified Him, in their hearts they did not accept Him, they have blasphemed against Him since His birth until His death on the cross, they have betrayed Him.

Comments Luke 19:45 For verses 45-46 see Comments Matthew 21:12-13 and Comments Mark 11:15-17.

Comments Luke 19:47 For verses 47 to 48 see Comments Matthew 21:15 and Comments Mark 11:18.

Comments Luke 19:48 The rulers of His own people could not do things against the beloved Son of God, but that does not stop them from looking for another way. Even they have seen that people are listening to Him, that did not capture their hearts. Their hearts are blinded why people go to listen to the beloved Son of God. But their eyes have seen, and the sin they have committed against the beloved Son of God will be the reason why the whole nation will suffer.