The parable of the talents follows the parable of the 10
virgins. The 2 parables are connected
by a conjunction- the
word “for“ - a small but important
word that connects sentences, and
therefore thoughts. These two parables are really one story. Please
note that this man going on the journey in 25:14
is the same man who is the coming bridegroom in 25:1. Jesus is speaking about Himself. He is the key to the interpretation of this
parable.
The parable of the 10
virgins teaches us
that we must be prepared for the 2nd coming of Jesus. The parable
demonstrates that prolonged waiting for His second coming is difficult. We saw that all the girls had fallen asleep
at the time of the bridegroom’s coming. And yet there was a vital
distinction. Five foolish girls had
insufficient oil for their lamps and when the bridegroom came, they were unprepared to
go with him. The five wise girls also slept
because of tiredness, but in their hearts they were awake, and in everything
they were prepared for the bridegroom’s coming. They had oil for their lamps. They
were ready to go with the bridegroom when He suddenly arrived at midnight. That
is the big point of that parable. Are you
ready to go with Jesus when He comes?
If the parable of the
10 virgins addresses our
state of readiness to receive
Jesus, the parable of the talents
will deal with the matter of giving a personal account to the Lord
for the investment that He has
made in us.
THE PARABLE OF THE
TALENTS
Jesus is now speaking about that which will happen after the
cross (Matt.27:32ff) and after the
resurrection (Matt 28:1-10) and
after the ascension (Mk. 16:19; Lk.
24:50,51; Acts 1:6-11). He is
speaking about His return. He speaks about this most specifically in John 14:1-3. All the indications are that His return will appear
to be delayed, or long in coming (24:48;25:5,19).
Moreover his return will be at an unexpected hour (24:36-51). In our first parable He comes at midnight. That is late!
Who goes to a wedding party at midnight, at 24h00? But that is the point which Jesus makes. He
will return at an unexpected time, and the call is to be ready
to go with the bridegroom when He
comes. But now that He has come, what
will He do? The rest of this 25th chapter
deals with this by way of
(i) The parable of the talents (25:14-30) - the
examination of the works of those
that are
said to be His servants (ii) The
final judgement leading to the final
state of each person (25:31-46)
THE PARABLE OF THE
TALENTS
Vv. 13,14: “Watch
therefore, for you know neither the day nor hour. For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his
servants and entrusted to them his property“.
In our parable this man goes on a journey. In his absence he entrusts
his possessions to his servants (here douloi
– lit. slaves). The picture is clear. This man is Jesus. He is the owner of
this property. His property is the world and all that He has created. But in
all that, He has a particular object of affection – His bride. In the previous
parable He is the bridegroom of His bride.
His bride is His church. His church is the totality of all His elect
past, present and future. At His second coming that bride will be complete. He will now receive her to Himself. But He has
another work to do. He must separate true believers from false believers. This
parable is the lead-up to that final section on the final judgement.
How Will The Lord Jesus Determine
Who Constitutes His True Bride?
The answer is fruitfulness!
v.15 “To
the one he gave 5 talents, to another 2, to another 1, to each according to his
ability. Then he went away.” The bridegroom, who is now the master of the
house went away. This refers to
Christ’s ascension. But He leaves his house – the church with something – talents!
A talent was a monetary unit. A talent was roughly
equivalent to 6000 denarii’s. A denarius
was a standard wage for a day’s work, for a common labourer. Therefore 6000 denarii’s would amount to about 16.5
years of work, if you worked every day, 365 days a year, for a denarius! So
then, a talent is substantial money.
The English language has
taken the Greek word “talantos“
and created the
word “talent” or “gift”. By “gift” we mean the biblical
definition of a gift, which is not for personal use, but for the purpose of
glorifying God. This is what is meant by Ephesians
4:8 where we read, “When he (Jesus)
ascended on high, he gave gifts to men.” The ascended Lord Jesus by
His Holy Spirit gave varying gifts or talents into the hands of each one of his
bride - His people, His servants. This
is also what we read about in 1
Corinthians 12 – 14 where we read about the Holy Spirit’s sovereign
distribution of spiritual gifts in the church. These spiritual gifts are given
for the purpose of re-investment in the body of Christ. By means of these gifts
the church is greatly enriched. Glory goes to God when the church uses her
gifts for the mutual edification of the body of Christ and for the extension of
His kingdom. By the same line of thinking however it can also be said that the
church can be impoverished by the withholding of these spiritual gifts, so that
the church bears a poor testimony to her Lord. This is what Jesus speaks about
when He refers to the salt losing its saltiness and the when light of the church is hidden (Matt. 5:13-16).
The picture of the talents helps us to understand that these
gifts that Jesus entrusts to His servants are very valuable. It is essential
that these gifts or talents must work. They must be invested for a handsome return.
In the life of the church that means that we must be fruitful. That which He
has put into our hands must promote and improve the furtherance of Christ’s
kingdom.. Fruitfulness is the key!
Now note that the master of the house gave 5, 2 and 1 talent, each according to his ability.
The master knew His servant’s abilities well. Jesus knows each one of His servants well! He
knew what was in them, and He gave them according to what he knew they could
handle.
These three servants are illustrative of all of Christ’s
servants in every age. Every Christian is endowed with talents or gifts, but (here
is the point): not all have the same endowments (weight or intensity) of talents or gifts.
Romans 12:6 provides important perspective on
this when Paul speaks to the Roman
Christians, about “…having gifts that
differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them … in proportion to
our faith…”. So, for instance there
may be a number of people that receive a gift of teaching spiritual truth. But
God gives the ability or grace in terms of having this gift in the measure of
5, 2 or 1 talents. It is important that
we must not see this as unfair. And we should not envy those that have more;
nor should we look down on those that have less. Remember, we need to remember
here that with ability comes responsibility.
Those that have more will be held more accountable. In a similar
teaching in Luke 12:35-48, Jesus makes it very
clear that “everyone to whom
much was given, of him much will be required…”(v.48 )
Vv. 16 – 18: How The Talents Are Put To Use By The Three
Servants.
The first two servants worked well with the talents. They
effectively doubled what they had received. But the third servant avoided the hard
work of investing, selling and trading. He buried it for safekeeping. He did not squander the money as many do when
they come into possession of such money, but he did nothing with what he had been given.
V.19-25 The
Master Returns To Settle Accounts
a. The Master returns
after a long time.
Christ’s coming, though it should be expected at any time, is ‘after a long time’. This repeats the
theme of the delay of the master in 24:48,
and the delay of the bridegroom in 25:4.The
delay is deliberate. The commentator Lenski
says: “the delay thoroughly tests out
the faithful, and at the same time it gives the unfaithful a long
period to repent… many start well but do not hold out”.
b. The Master comes to
settle accounts. What
Jesus has placed in our hands is still His. He expects us to improve on that
which He has given into our hands. We use His talents and gifts to glorify Him
by building into His kingdom. Final
praise or judgment shall be extended
in terms of the spiritual returns we have invested and made
in the kingdom of God.
Please note in vv. 20-
30, that upon his return the master deals with each of his three servants (i) individually (ii) He rewards the labours
of the diligent servants. (iii) He condemns the lazy servant and exposes him
for who He truly is – a subject of hell.
Notice how that happens:
The faithful servants receive
praise and commendation and they ‘enter
into the joy of their master’ (25:21,23).
The reward of a life lived faithful service and stewardship
of God’s possessions is a life of joy.
Life in heaven will be filled with real
joy. The depth of that joy cannot be understood yet by us, as we live now. But, dear believer take hold of that promise,
of greater joy in the future kingdom by continuing to invest in this present
kingdom. If you plant generously now, you will reap and had received the least in terms of talents– even though the least was also plenty! But he did nothing with what
he had. Take note of the excuses that he makes. Essentially he blames the master
: “I knew that you are a hard man. It’s
your fault. I was afraid of you.” And then he accuses his master of profiteering
– reaping where he had not sown, collecting profits from situations in which he
has not worked etc.
Listen how the master deals with him. He does not accept his
explanation. Instead he lays bare the wickedness and evil of his heart. Jesus
is saying that it is wicked to waste your talents and opportunities to serve in
God’s kingdom. He therefore calls him wicked
and slothful/ lazy.
What did he do wrong? All he did was to do nothing in
preparation for the masters - Christ’s coming! Being prepared for Christ’s coming
means using that which He has entrusted to us, for the
extension of his kingdom. It’s called bearing fruit! Absence of fruit (although there is a
tree) is a certain sign of barrenness.
And now he is no longer considered a servant. In fact, he is ultimately
unmasked for who he really is. He is a pseudo Christian. He is a fake Christian,
and for this reason he now shall share
in the fate of the wicked. And so we read of the final verdict in v.30 “And cast that worthless
servant into the outer darkness in that place where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.” (see also Matt.
8:12; 13:42, 50). We will pick up on this next week
CLOSING DIAGNOSTIC
QUESTIONS
Have you believed the gospel?
Are you ready to go with
the Lord Jesus when He comes?
Are you obeying the gospel, by putting your talents to work
in the light of his coming and the account that you must give? (2 Cor. 5:10)
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