Does Jesus really order his enemies to be killed in Luke 19:27, or does this verse have a different meaning in context?
Jesus does make this statement. In The God Who Wasn’t There, Luke 19:27 is held up as an example of Jesus’ attitude toward those who disagree with him. In this chapter of Luke, Jesus is responding to his audience’s impression that Christ’s Kingdom would be coming immediately. In the parable Jesus tells to address their desire for a Kingdom now, the King character (which obviously is meant to be Jesus) ultimately says to his followers, “But these mine enemies, that did not want me to reign over them, bring them here, and slay them before me.” Jesus is clearly reassuring his disciples that their enemies will be killed — he’s only saying that it will not be happening immediately. Some critics of The God Who Wasn’t There have alleged that because Jesus uses a parable to make this statement, he wasn’t making this statement. But Jesus often spoke in parables, and the meaning of this one is abundantly clear from the text.
