The parable of the minas (Luke 19:11-27) depicts how the saved ones should serve the Lord so that they may inherit the coming kingdom. In verse 12 the Lord Jesus says, “A certain man of noble birth went to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.” This man of noble birth signifies Christ the Savior with the highest status, the status of the God-man. The Lord Jesus is the only One whose birth was noble, because it was the birth of a God-man. The word “went” signifies the Lord’s going to heaven after His death and resurrection (Luke 24:51; 1 Pet. 3:22), and “return” signifies the Savior’s coming back with the kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14; Rev. 11:15; 2 Tim. 4:1).
The man of noble birth “called ten of his own slaves” and “gave them ten minas, and said to them, Do business until I come” (v. 13). In the parable in Matthew 25:14-30 the slaves are given a varying number of talents according to their individual ability. Here the parable emphasizes the common portion given equally to each slave based upon the common salvation. However, the point of both parables is the same: the faithfulness of the slaves will determine their portion in the coming kingdom as their reward.
Luke 19:15 says, “It came about that when he came back, having received the kingdom, he said that those slaves to whom he had given the money should be called to him, that he might know what they had gained doing business.” Then the man of noble birth rewarded the slave who used the mina to gain ten minas and also the one who used the mina to gain five (vv. 16-19). But he took away the mina from the slave who had laid it away in a handkerchief and then gave it to the slave with the ten minas (vv. 20-24). The taking away of the mina signifies that the Lord’s gift will be taken away from slothful believers in the coming kingdom. Giving the mina to the one who has ten minas signifies that the gift of faithful believers will be increased in the coming kingdom age.
Finally, the man of noble birth said, “These enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me” (v. 27). This signifies that all the unbelieving Jews, who rejected the Lord Jesus and did not want Him to reign over them (v. 14), will perish.
In the parable of the sheepfold Christ is the door, the pasture, and the shepherd. In John 10:9 the Lord Jesus says, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out and shall find pasture.” Some misinterpret the Lord’s word and think that He is the door to heaven. According to this understanding, if we do not have Christ, we do not have the entrance to heaven. This interpretation is mistaken. In verse 9 the Lord Jesus speaks about going in and going out. If the door is the door to heaven, this would mean that Christ is not only the door for us to go into heaven but also the door for us to go out of heaven. Surely this interpretation of Christ as the door is not correct.
Christ is the door of the Old Testament sheepfold. The sheepfold signifies the law, or Judaism as a religion of the law, in which the sheep, God’s chosen people, were kept until Christ came. When the pasture is not available in the wintertime or in the night, sheep must be kept in a fold. Before the Lord Jesus came, God’s people were in the night. Therefore, God used the law to keep His chosen people and guard them in custody and ward until Christ came. Old Testament saints such as Moses, David, and Daniel were kept in custody in the fold. Hence, the Old Testament with the law as the center was the sheepfold in which God’s chosen people were kept as they waited for the time when they could come out of the fold and come into the pasture.
All the Old Testament saints entered the sheepfold through Christ. This means that Christ was the door of the Old Testament sheepfold so that God’s chosen people could enter the fold and be preserved there. But now Christ is the door for the sheep to come out of the fold. This is the reason verse 9 speaks of going in and going out. First, God’s people in the Old Testament went into the fold. But when the Lord Jesus came, it was time for them to go out of the fold. Therefore, Christ as the door is both the entrance and the exit of the sheepfold.
Through the door the sheep are brought out of the fold and into the pasture. Christ is the door through which the sheep are brought out, and He is also the pasture to which they are brought. The pasture signifies Christ as the feeding place for the sheep. When the pasture is ready, there is no further need for the sheep to remain in the fold. To be kept in the fold is transitory and temporary. To be in the pasture to enjoy its riches is final and permanent. Before Christ came, the law was a ward, and to be under the law was transitory. Now, since Christ has come, all God’s chosen people must come out of the law and come into Him to enjoy Him as their pasture (Gal. 3:23-25; 4:3-5). This should be final and permanent.
The pasture is a place full of tender grass; that is, the pasture is a place full of the supply of life. When the sheep are in the pasture, they do not lack food. Today our pasture is the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit. In our daily Christian life we should have the sense that we are in the pasture enjoying Christ as the rich supply of life.
Christ is not only the door and the pasture but also the Shepherd. As the Shepherd, Christ “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3). He is the first one out of the fold and walks before His sheep. The sheep know His voice and follow Him (v. 4). As the Shepherd Christ takes the sheep out of the fold through Himself as the door and to Himself as the pasture.
In John 10:10 the Lord Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly,” and in verse 11 He says, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” In these two verses two different Greek words are used for life. In verse 10 the Greek word is zoe, which is the word used in the New Testament for the eternal, divine life. In verse 11 the Greek word is psuche, the same word for soul, which means the soulish life, the human life. As a man the Lord Jesus has the psuche life, the human life, and as God He has the zoe life, the divine life. He laid down His soul, His psuche life, His human life, to accomplish redemption for His sheep (John 10:15, 17-18) so that they may share His zoe life, His divine life, the eternal life (10:28), by which they may be formed into one flock under Himself as the one shepherd. As the good shepherd Christ feeds His sheep with the divine life in this way and for this purpose.
Christ is our door, our pasture, and our Shepherd. As the door He is our freedom, as the pasture He is our life supply, and as our Shepherd He is leading, guiding, and directing us in the divine life. This life is related to the door, the pasture, and the Shepherd. As long as we have Christ as life within us and we enjoy and experience Him as life, we shall have Him as the door, the pasture, and the Shepherd. If we take Him as our enjoyment under His dispensing, we shall be freed from any kind of bondage or hindrance that comes from the “fold” of religion, we shall feed on the riches of His life, and He will be our Shepherd, protecting us even as He feeds us.