Talents

Christ Conversation Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus Stories: The Parable of the Talents www.christconversation.com

[Matthew 25:14-30, ESV] “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Lead In . . .

The parable preceding this one is the one the ten virgins awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom.

The key word: watch. Be ready and prepared for the Bridegroom. The stress is on being ready internally: how prepared is your soul? Do you have a direct connection to the Bridegroom or are you assuming a relationship because you know the Bride? Are you filled with the oil of the Spirit?

The Parable of the Talents This is often a misunderstood parable:  Partly because we do not understand the cultural and economic milieu of Palestine in 30 AD.  Partly due to our extreme form of individualism when applying Scriptural teaching.

While researching this parable I came across this quote applied from this passage of Scripture.  How would you interpret the common usage of this quote?  Is the common usage a proper understanding of this parable?  Taking this quote at face value, how would it shift the emphasis in applying the teaching of this parable?

Why Would a Landowner Give His Servants All His Goods to Manage?

Remember Joseph? The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham? He was sold into slavery then resold to Potiphar, a man of great wealth and an officer of Pharaoh.

Genesis 39:1-6a relates the success of Joseph and the ascension to power in Potiphar’s household.

In New Testament times and in the Roman Empire, slaves could earn wages, bonuses and acquire property.

Servants understood this. How could a servant gain money? By showing responsibility in running things efficiently and by earning the Master a good ROI. In this system, the servants had motive for doing well with that which they were given. BY doing well, they would prosper and gain economic freedom.

Talents Talents are not your innate gifts and skills you possess.

Talents in this passage is currency. Cash. Material wealth. And, in this case, lots of it.

The talents do not belong to the servants. They are not the natural gifts with which they are born. The talents belong to the Master. All the proceeds belong to the Master. They are not gifts. They represent opportunity to multiply what the Lord entrusts to us.

Distribution of Talents The Lord is merciful. The Lord understands the abilities, the skills and the maturity of His servants. As such, the talents are distributed according to the abilities of each servant. No servant will be overcome by the weight of the responsibility – the responsibility will match their ability.

But here is the key: Every servant knows that there must be increase. That which has been placed in your care by the Lord cannot, must not, in no way can lie idle. It MUST be used for increase.

Increased investment leads to greater talents. This is clearly the point in verses 21-23.

HOW TO INVEST While the parable of the ten virgins focused on inner preparedness, this parable centers on outward actions in light of His return.

Contextually it seems verses 31-46 explain those that invested and those who did not:     

Feed the hungry Give water to the thirsty Welcome the stranger Clothe the naked Visit the sick and the imprisoned

Is this not in keeping with what the Lord said he came to do in Luke 4:18-10?

Those who are cast out at the Lord’s return will have failed to use the talents that would have advanced the purposes of the Lord and His kingdom.

Does This Parable Mean We Will “Go to Hell” if We Do Not Invest?

Look at the heart of the servant who refuses to invest.

He insults the Lord. He excuses his lack by blaming the Lord. He has no desire to please the Lord or gain, even for himself, more talents and greater reward.

Is this a servant in name only, not in heart? Is this a servant dwelling in the household yet not given to its furtherance? “Spiritual indolence is as serious a sin as active wickedness.” (Pulpit Commentary on the quote)

While the profitable servants are invited into the banquet of the Master (thought to be what ‘entering my joy’ means) the unprofitable one is left out in the darkness – and even the one talent is taken from him.

Calvin writes: But it is asked, What is meant by what is added, Take from him the talent, and give it to him who hath ten talents? For every kind of trading will then be at an end. I reply, We ought to keep in remembrance what I formerly mentioned, that those who insist on explaining, with exactness, every minute phrase, are mistaken. The true meaning is, though slothful and unprofitable servants are now endued with the gifts of the Spirit, yet they will at length be deprived of them all, that their wretched and shameful poverty may redound to the glory of the good. Now these slothful persons, Christ tells us, hide either the talent or the pound in the earth; because, while they consult their own ease and gratifications, they refuse to submit to any uneasiness; as we see very many who, while they are privately devoted to themselves and to their own advantage, avoid all the duties of charity, and have no regard to the general edification. When it is said that the master of the house, after his return, called the servants to account; as this ought to impart courage to the good, when they understand that they do not lose their pains, so the indolent and careless, on the other hand, ought to be struck with no small terror. Let us therefore learn to call ourselves daily to account, before the Lord come, and make a reckoning with us.

Regarding light and darkness, many commentators cross reference Matthew 8:12, “while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The NLT translates: “But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

In context of Matthew 8, the NLT seems quite reasonable.

To press the question of hell, I am hesitant. I agree with Calvin that people try to press every point of a parable into a full doctrine are misguided. There is a main point here: God has granted us grace, redemption, forgiveness and mercy. He has filled us with His Spirt and commissioned us to go into all the world as His ambassadors. Advance the kingdom. Go! He will return one day and call us into account. Have we invested these talents? Have we lived a life unto

ourselves rather than toward others? Have we not sought to implement the heart of God in our activities?

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This is the point of the parable.

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Be it hell or be it loss of knowing the great joy of the Lord, matters little – at least to me.

Entering heaven with nothing after all my works have been burned away will be a sad commentary on my life in Christ.

Was the servant in the household or of the household?

For many in Reformed theology, the teaching that we are justified by faith alone, in Christ alone has become an excuse for lacking full investment of the talents given. The fear of appearing to say that one gains heaven by works exerts an improper influence over what it means to live an increasingly sanctified life and formed life in Christ.

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Since Reformed theology holds that those who are authentically redeemed cannot lose such status, it is hard to interpret the servant here as redeemed in actuality versus form.

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Going back to the Matthew 8 passage: Jesus taught that many Gentiles would come to sit at the banquet table in the Kingdom – the same table where sits Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yet, those that reject the Messiah and lean into their heritage as sons of Abraham to get them into the feast – they will find themselves outside in the dark. Jews by circumcision of the flesh, but not Jews by circumcision of the heart, Paul argues:

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A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. Romans 2:28-29 (NIV)

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My understanding about hell is not formed from the passages that are inherently story-like. I draw my understanding from more didactic, straightforward teaching.

So from this parable, I am hesitant, very cautious, about teaching hell. I know to I need to teach, from this parable, INVEST THE TALENTS CHRIST HAS PLACED IN YOUR HANDS. FURTHER HIS KINGDOM. LIVE LIFE TOWARD CHRIST, EXPECTING HIS RETURN AT ANY TIME.

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