What does Luke 19:23 mean?

Jesus' parable of the ten minas (Luke 19:11–27) is a study in what people do with the understanding that He is the Christ. The "mina" the ten servants receive is basically the gospel. Two servants, who readily accept that their master will be king, invest their treasure wisely and earn great returns—they spread the gospel widely and bring many into God's kingdom. The third servant hides his treasure, afraid of losing what he has.

Here, the king is angry with the third servant. The very least the servant should have done is earn interest on the money. His inaction proves he is not loyal to the king. He has no place in the kingdom. The mina he was given is taken from him and given to the more loyal servant (Luke 19:24).

Jesus' audience has seen or at least heard of His miracles—how He heals and drives out demons. They understand on some level that He is the King of the Jews and/or the Messiah. Jesus is warning them they need to be responsible with that information between His ascension and His second coming. They need to spread the gospel and expand the kingdom of God. If they don't, they prove to love what little treasure they have more than Him. This is the case of the Pharisees and many of the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus' era (John 12:37–43). They understand who Jesus is, but they won't accept it. They forfeit rewards in eternity for human praise.

Jesus isn't asking us all to be great evangelists, just as the king didn't expect every servant to earn tenfold on their investments. The least the servant could have done is put the money in the bank and earn interest. The least we can do is accept Jesus as our Savior, let our changed life reflect our faith, and be ready with an answer as to why we have hope (1 Peter 3:15).