PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

Content:

The particular talent invested in the parable is money. In modern English, this fact is obscured
because the word talent has come to refer mainly to skills or abilities. The gifts we receive from God
include skills, abilities, family connections, social positions, education, experiences, and more.

God does not endow people with identical or necessarily equal gifts. If you do as well as you can
with the gifts given to you by God, you will hear his “Well done.” Not only the gifts, but also the
people have equal worth. At the same time, the parable ends with the talent taken from the third
servant being given to the one with ten talents. Equal worth does not necessarily mean equal
compensation. Some positions require more skill or ability and thus are compensated accordingly.
The two servants who did well are rewarded in different amounts. But they are both praised
identically. The third servant, however, buried his talent and did not enjoy the gains of his
predecessor. When called on to account for his behavior, he claims that fear prevented him from
embracing his talent.

Everyone has talents but not everyone uses their talents. In the Parable of the Talents, it appears
that Jesus is stressing the importance of a person using their talents. A talent is useless unless it is
used. There is no one that has no talents. This includes those in the church and those outside of
the Body of Christ. Even an unsaved person has been given talents, which are God-given abilities
but we can also say that talents are all of these three things: time, talent, and treasures.

In Jesus’ day, a “talent” was a very large sum of money. The NIV (New International Version –
English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica [formerly the International Bible
Society]) translators had good reason to translate the Greek term “talents” as “bags of gold” (Matt
25:15, NIV). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible
scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available.

Context:

One of Jesus’ most significant parables regarding work is set in the context of investments (Matt.
25:14-30). The meaning of the parable extends far beyond financial investments. God has given
each person a wide variety of gifts, and he expects us to employ those gifts in his service. It is not
acceptable merely to put those gifts on a closet shelf and ignore them. Like the three servants, we
do not have gifts of the same degree. The servant who received one talent was not condemned for
failing to reach the five-talent goal; he was condemned because he did nothing with what he was
given. This parable concerns money. It depicts investing, not hoarding, as a godly thing to do if it
accomplishes godly purposes in a godly manner. In the end, the master praises the two trustworthy
servants with the words, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave” (Matthew 25:23). In these words,
we see that the master cares about the results (“well done”), the methods ("good”), and the
motivation (“trustworthy”).

A talent is a monetary unit that is worth about 20 years’ worth of wages for a person’s labor.

This parable is given in Matthew 25:14-30:

[“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his
property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his
ability. Then he went away.“]

God has placed each one of us on this earth for the express purpose of using our talents…not for
ourselves but for the glory of God and this frequently includes helping others financially. Since a
talent is considered the wages earned in a 20 year period, it is like He is saying that we have been
given time and money to use to accomplish His will. A servant does not use his talent only for
himself.

[“He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents
more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one
talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.”]

The first two servants used their talents, thus multiplying them, but the one who had a talent did not
use it but simply buried it or hide it. It could be said that he or she hide if from the world and from the
Master but the point is that it wasn’t really his or her talent but it was “his master’s money.”

[“Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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.’”]

The first two servants used their talents and when a person uses their talents, God gives them more
to use. What you don’t use you lose and these servants used their talents for the Kingdom and that
is why their master says to both of them “Well done, good and faithful servant…I will set you over
much and now enter into the joy of your master.” They will be given much responsibility in the
Kingdom because the Master could trust them.

[“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, so I was afraid,
and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 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? 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. So take the talent from him and give
it to him who has the ten talents. 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. And cast the
worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.”]

Tragically, Christ will return and take away even the little that a person has in talents and abilities.
Some scholars believe that the unprofitable servant will be cast into hell because it is often
described as a place where there “will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” and that this servant was
never truly saved. He or she may have professed faith but they really never possessed faith. One
thing for sure is that this servant buried his or her talent and didn’t use what God gifted them for or
the money that they were blessed with. They hid it which means that they didn’t use it or they hid
the fact that they were Christians from the world and were ashamed of their faith and didn’t publicly
proclaim that Christ is their Lord and Savior.

When we come to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14, we ought to look closely enough to
ask an obvious question:

[“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his
property.”]

You see it, don’t you? I mean this literally: You see “it,” don’t you? “For it will be like a man going on
a journey…” Perhaps, to understand this parable, we first need to grapple with what “it” is. What is it,
exactly, that will be like a man going on a journey? In studying this parable, we should see that it’s
only one small part of a long lecture given by Jesus on a single occasion. This lecture, starting in
Matthew 24:4 and continuing to Matt 25:46, is his answer to his disciples’ questions in Matt 24:3.
When will the temple be destroyed? What is the sign of your coming? What is the sign of the end of
the age? We could even probably include Matthew 23 as a part of this discourse, as it provides the
setup for the judgment pronounced in Matt 24:1-2. But even if we consider only chapters 24 and 25
as making up this speech, we’ll be off to a great start. So, now that we’ve realized this parable is
merely one point in a longer speech, what help can we get from the rest of the speech about what
“it” is?

The immediately preceding paragraph tells another parable, also about two groups of subordinates,
one faithful and the other unfaithful—just like the parable of the talents. And this preceding parable
begins like this:

[“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the
bridegroom.”] (Matt 25:1)

So we have the same set up, except there is no “it.” The subject, the thing which “will be like” the
story that follows, is: the kingdom of heaven. But what does he mean by “the kingdom of heaven,”
and how it will be like a man going on a journey?

Backing up further, the next paragraph speaks of a faithful and wise servant who receives a reward
(Matt 24:45-47) in contrast to a wicked servant relegated to a place of weeping and gnashing of
teeth (Matt 24:48-51). This is very closely connected to what happens in the parable of the talents.
And Matt 24:45-51 uses more straightforward language than what we find in the parable of the
talents. The difference between the faithful servant and the foolish servant lies in how they each
treat their Master’s household. For the one who treats the Master’s people and other servants well,
there is a reward of greater responsibility over “all his possessions.” For the one who beats his fellow
servants and abandons his duties, there is an assurance of removal, destruction, and torment.

Backing up even further, the next earlier paragraph highlights the fact that the Son of Man will return
at an hour his own followers do not expect. Because of this uncertainty, they must always be ready
for him (Matt 24:44).

So the “IT” in Matt 25:14 is the kingdom of heaven. The parable continues the theme of the Master’s
return at an unexpected time. The Master’s judgment of his servants is based on how his servants
treat his people. So what is the meaning of “Talents”? So when Jesus tells a story about a man
going on a journey, calling his servants, and entrusting to them his property, we must understand
that his property, the “talents” he leaves with them, is the people of his kingdom. These “talents” are
a metaphor of the people of God. The members of God’s household. Our fellow servants and co-
heirs in the kingdom.
In telling this parable, Jesus is not primarily concerned with whether you use your personality traits
and unique skill sets to help the Christian community. He is much more concerned with how you
treat the people themselves. Are you investing in them or burying them? Are you putting them to
good use? Are you putting them to work so they can help recruit even more people into the kingdom,
or are you making decisions from fear of losing the people you already have? Are you multiplying
their efforts for the sake of his glorious kingdom?

Do this, and great will be your reward when your Master returns and calls for accounting. Fail to do
this, and your fears will find you out.

Comparison:

 A rich man delegates the management of his wealth to his servants, much as investors in
today’s markets do.
 The severe consequences to the unproductive servant, far beyond anything triggered by
mere business mediocrity, tell us that we are to invest our lives, not waste them.
 More pointedly for the workplace, it commends putting capital at risk in pursuit of earning a
return. Sometimes Christians speak as if growth, productivity, and return on investment were
unholy to God. But this parable overturns that notion. We should invest our skills and
abilities, but also our wealth and the resources made available to us at work, all for the
affairs of God’s kingdom. This includes the production of needed goods and services. So are
the entrepreneur who starts a new business and gives jobs to others, the health service
administrator who initiates an AIDS-awareness campaign, and the machine operator who
develops a process innovation.

Many lessons can be gleaned from the Parable of the Talents. Just as applicable today as it was
thousands of years ago, this parable explains the role of opportunity, hard work, and accountability
in our everyday life. A few key takeaways are outlined below:

 We Must Put Our Talents into Action - First and foremost, the Parable of the Talents teaches
us that we are put on Earth to work. This is evident not only in this particular parable, but in
several other Bible stories. God rewards those who put considerable effort into bettering their
lives and the lives of those in their community. He does not command us to bury our talents
and sit back, awaiting salvation. Rather, we are commanded to use what we have to make
the world a better place.
 We Will Eventually Be Held Accountable - Hiding out sometimes seems like the most
prudent approach, especially in today's terrifying world. We've all been the third servant at
some point. How often have you failed to speak up for somebody who is hurting, instead
choosing to keep quiet? Have you spared yourself the hard work of sharing God's word?
Sometimes, it feels like you can get away with such behavior with little consequence — but
that's exactly what the third servant thought. In reality, you will someday be held accountable
for your contributions, or lack thereof. Like the first and second servant, we should recognize
the opportunities we receive, and make the most of them. Even seemingly small blessings
can make a big difference when properly handled.

Culture:
The Parable of the Talents is given by Jesus right after He talks about His second coming and that
no one knows the day or the hour and so a believer must be using their talents to the best of their
abilities as if Jesus will be returning today.

The Talents’ parable has typically been interpreted by the Western church as being about proper
investment: Jesus’ disciples are urged to use their abilities and gifts to serve God—without
reservation and without fear of taking risks. Western [ancient Mediterranean culture] audience would
applaud the first two slaves for trading and investing well, an ancient audience would have approved
of the third slave’s behavior and condemned that of the first two slaves because they profited at the
expense of others.

The scenario played out in the Talents’ parable (Matthew 25:14–30)—of a master leaving his
property in control of his slaves—was not uncommon. In the ancient world, greedy people who did
not want to get accused of profiting at someone else’s expense, which was considered shameful,
would delegate their business to slaves, who were held to a different standard.

The parable of the talents took place of the context or biblical culture of the coming of Jesus, the
return of the Son of Man, destruction of the temple, and the Judgement.

References and Secondary Sources:

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Mean?: Looking at Matthew 25:14–30 with ancient eyes. Retrieved from

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parable-of-the-talents-mean/. Retrieved on February 24, 2020.

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Blessings. Retrieved from https://www.geneva.edu/blog/everyday-living/cultivating-gods-

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2020.

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Krol, P. (2018, April 13). Context Matters: The Parable of the Talents. Retrieved from

https://www.knowableword.com/2018/04/13/context-matters-the-parable-of-the-talents/.

Retrieved on February 24, 2020.

Matthews, A. and Pennington, J. (2014). The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). The

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testament/matthew/living-in-the-new-kingdom-matthew-18-25/the-parable-of-the-talents-

matthew-2514-30. Retrieved on February 24, 2020.

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