This parable has two main purposes:
To teach stewardship. This means managing gifts and resources well while the man of noble birth (Jesus) is away (compare Matthew 25:14–30).
To correct the belief that the kingdom of God would start immediately when Jesus entered Jerusalem. Most Jews in the time of Jesus expected that when the Messiah (the Christ) came, God’s kingdom would be established physically on earth, with Jerusalem at its center (see Isaiah 2:2–4; 35:1–10; 65:17–25; Jeremiah 30–31; Ezekiel 37, 40–48; Micah 4:1–5).