Single lesson
The Ten Minas
Luke 19:11–27
Jesus told this parable because the people with him were expecting God’s kingdom to appear straight away as he came near Jerusalem. This lesson helps students notice that setting and trace how the parable answers it.
Before you teach
In this passage, Luke explains why Jesus told the parable. The people supposed that God’s kingdom would be revealed immediately, so Jesus spoke about a nobleman who went away to receive a kingdom and then return. The story includes servants, money entrusted to them, and citizens who rejected the nobleman’s rule.
Students will be able to identify why Jesus told this parable in Luke 19:11 and explain from the passage that the nobleman’s servants were expected to act faithfully while he was away and that his rule would be answered at his return.
Welcome: Why this parable now?
6 minAsk students to listen for the reason Jesus tells this parable. Read Luke 19:11 aloud first. Write two phrases where everyone can see them: “near Jerusalem” and “they supposed that God’s Kingdom would be revealed immediately”. Explain that Jesus is answering that expectation by telling a parable, an illustration with a point.
Luke 19:11
Read and explain: The nobleman goes away
9 minRead Luke 19:12-14. Explain the basic parts of the story only from the text: a nobleman goes to receive a kingdom and return, gives ten servants ten mina coins, and tells them to conduct business until he comes. Also note that some citizens reject his rule. A mina here is a money amount given for responsibility.
Luke 19:12, Luke 19:13, Luke 19:14
Discuss: Three different responses
9 minRead Luke 19:15-23. Compare the first two servants with the third. The first and second report gain from the mina and are commended. The third kept the mina laid away in a handkerchief and gives fear as his reason. Notice the nobleman’s reply: even by the servant’s own words, he should have acted with the money entrusted to him.
Luke 19:15, Luke 19:16, Luke 19:17, Luke 19:18, Luke 19:19, Luke 19:20, Luke 19:21, Luke 19:22, Luke 19:23
Make and respond: Mina comparison cards
10 minStudents make three small cards labelled First Servant, Second Servant, and Third Servant. Under each, they add what was given, what was done, and what happened next from the passage. Then discuss two everyday responses to responsibility such as using, ignoring, or hiding what has been entrusted. Keep the comparison tied to the wording of the parable.
Luke 19:13, Luke 19:16, Luke 19:18, Luke 19:20, Luke 19:24, Luke 19:26
Closing: Return, reward, and judgement
6 minRead Luke 19:24-27 carefully and calmly. Point out that the parable ends with gain for one servant, loss for another, and severe judgement on enemies who rejected the nobleman’s reign. Invite students to summarise the main teaching in one sentence: the kingdom is not presented as appearing immediately, and people’s response to the ruler matters when he returns.
Luke 19:24, Luke 19:25, Luke 19:26, Luke 19:27, Luke 19:11, Luke 19:12, Luke 19:15
Questions to explore
What reason does Luke give for Jesus telling this parable at this moment?
Look closely at Luke 19:11 and repeat both parts of the situation: where Jesus was and what the people were supposing about God’s kingdom.
Luke 19:11
What is the difference between what the first two servants did and what the third servant did with the mina?
Compare the reports in Luke 19:16, Luke 19:18, and Luke 19:20, then notice the master’s response in Luke 19:17, Luke 19:19, and Luke 19:23.
Luke 19:16, Luke 19:17, Luke 19:18, Luke 19:19, Luke 19:20, Luke 19:23
How does the ending of the parable show that the nobleman’s return matters?
Use Luke 19:15, Luke 19:24-26, and Luke 19:27 to describe what happens when he comes back to servants and to those who rejected his rule.
Luke 19:15, Luke 19:24, Luke 19:25, Luke 19:26, Luke 19:27
Make, think or respond
Mina Comparison Cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pens or pencils
- scissors
- Bible text
Try it together
- Cut or fold paper into three cards.
- Label them First Servant, Second Servant, and Third Servant.
- For each card, write three short lines: what was entrusted, what the servant did, and what happened at the nobleman’s return.
- Place the cards in order and explain to a partner which response was praised and which was judged.
- As a group, name two everyday kinds of responsibility and compare them with the different responses in the parable without adding details not found in the text.
This activity helps students trace the servants’ different responses and the outcomes described when the nobleman returned.
Adapt for your group
- For younger or less confident readers, prepare the three card headings in advance and let students copy short phrases directly from the verses.
- For older students, ask them to write a one-sentence explanation of how Luke 19:11 shapes the meaning of the whole parable.
An optional closing prayer
“Lord Jesus, please help us listen carefully to your words, understand why you told this parable, and respond faithfully to what you entrust to us.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Luke 19
11 As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that God’s Kingdom would be revealed immediately.
12 He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
13 He called ten servants of his and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
15 “When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business.
16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’
17 “He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
18 “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.’
19 “So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’
20 Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief,
21 for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’
22 “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down and reaping that which I didn’t sow.
23 Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’
24 He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.’
25 “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’
26 ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him.
27 But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’ ”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.