PENnED

The Parable of the Talents
Matthew 25:14-30

Last Sunday we talked about The Parable of the Ten Virgins. Some of you may have already forgotten about that. Today I’m reminding you about that parable because it is closely related to The Parable of the Talents, which is the basis of the sermon today.

Sometimes we come across passages in the Bible that are closely connected to each other. Such is the case of the apocalyptic passages we find in chapters 24 and 25 of the Gospel of Matthew. The editors of the New Revised Standard Version or NRSVUE have divided them into 10 passages each with each own heading.

Now that is like a 10-course meal in a Chinese restaurant. The only thing is that it doesn’t end with the usual fortune cookie. The last passage, which will be our text next week, is not all sweet, but like the fortune cookie, it tells us what our fortunes will be. It is about judgment which can be sweet or sad. But I promise, I’ll do my best to help all of us escape judgment or damnation.

So how are The Parable of the Virgins and The Parable of the Talents connected? Let me point out what I think is the connection between the two:
The Parable of the Talents picks up the question that the conclusion and application of The Parable of the Ten Virgins raises:

13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

The Parable of the Virgins, which reminds us to be always aware that the Lord is coming again, also reminds us that his coming has been delayed and that we don’t know the day or hour of his arrival. Therefore, as the parable teaches us, like the wise virgins, we are to be always prepared and ready for his arrival. What the parable, however, has not really answered for us is, ‘What must we do to get ourselves prepared and ready,’ or ‘What does it mean to keep awake and be ready for the Lord’s arrival? The Parable of the Talents answers that.

What does it mean to keep awake?

To keep awake does not mean to never sleep. If you remember, the wise virgins also slept just as the foolish ones did.

5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’

What does it mean then to “keep awake” while we’re waiting for the Lord’s coming? The Parable of the Talents answers that question in a more comprehensive way.

The thing however is, the question raised in the previous parable is answered by Jesus telling another parable! And like any parable, we are faced with the same challenge: interpreting a parable. And that’s not easy, especially because we have a tendency to say things it does not really say.

Having said that, we must try our best because it is extremely important that we interpret this parable correctly and apply it appropriately. The reason is because it is very important that we understand why “The Grand Wedding Party” at the coming of Jesus, the bridegroom, will be open to some but closed to others. Yes, we now know that we are to “keep awake” to be ready enter the coming Kingdom of heaven, but what does it really mean? ‘What does it mean to “keep awake”?’

To answer that question, Jesus begins by saying,

14 “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them…”

Keeping awake has to do with what we must do for our Master who has gone away. The man, the master, is going on a journey. Now if that gives us the idea that Jesus has in mind his own going away, we are correct. The fact Jesus that keeps talking about his coming in chapters 24 and 25 obviously implies that he is going away first before his coming again can happen. And indeed, at the very beginning of the next chapter, 26, he predicts his death:

1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Jesus died, but that’s not the final stage of his going away. When he rose from the dead, in John 20, he said to Mary,

17 … “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

This is the same truth that we proclaim when, at the Lord’s Supper, we recite the Memorial Acclamation: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.”

So, while the Master is gone, the slaves are to get busy doing his will. Indeed, they must do his will. It is not an option for a slave who has no ownership rights of her own, even for a bond-slave (which is probably what is meant by the Greek word, δοῦλος, here) who willingly and voluntarily offered herself to be a slave for her chosen master.

Strong’s Greek word studies tells us that “doúlos (‘bond-slave’) is used with the highest dignity in the NT – namely, of believers who willingly live under Christ’s authority as His devoted followers.” 1 And that, my friends, is a good reminder of our own master-slave relationship: Jesus our Lord is our Master; we are his slaves; and serving him is not an option! He owns everything; we do not own anything. Everything belongs to him, and so we owe everything to him, including our lives, and without him we are nothing! Serving Jesus, our Master is not an option; it is a must!

Keeping awake has to do with being trustworthy with what the Master has entrusted to us.

In this parable, the master entrusted his property to his slaves. We can better understand that if we know exactly what that means. And to know what that means we want to know what is included in the “property” that Master has entrusted to us.

The parable does not tell us in detail what that property is. But we know that whatever is given to the slave, who has no right of her own, belongs to the master. Therefore, anything the slave has is her master’s!

But in this parable, the slaves are given something specific: talents. And what they do with the talents will prove their trustworthiness or lack of it. It will also serve as our guide as we get busy doing things with whatever our Lord and Master has entrusted to us.

I’m sure you have already heard this before: talents in this parable are not special aptitudes or abilities or skill, although I think it can be applied broadly as to include them. Talents refer the weight of gold or silver or bronze that were used as currency or medium of exchange in Jesus’ time.2

So, what did the servants do with their talents so that they were declared by their master trustworthy?

The “good and trustworthy” slaves doubled their talents

At once 16 the one who had received the five talents went off and traded with them and made five more talents. 17 In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents.

Again, we’re not given the details of what or how they did it but the two slaves who were given 5 and 2 talents, respectively, doubled the weight of the money! Now that’s a pretty good investment compared to last year’s S&P 500 Annual Return, which was only 26.89, or the last 10 years’ return at 138.8%. So today, we may consider this the two guys’ investment strategy as moderate—not conservative nor aggressive. They may not have the same amount or weight of money, but both have the same exact rate of return: 100%!

I don’t think we should insist that we all have the same “rate of return” for whatever it is that our Master has entrusted to us. I think the principle here is that we are to use whatever our Master has given us in a way that would please him.

The master is pleased with the two slaves so that at his return he commends them with the same commendations, entrusts them with more, and both are given what I believe to be the ultimate joy that a slave can experience:

‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

On the other hand, what the slave who was given one talent and what he does with it tells us what not to do with our own, whatever that “talent” might be.

The wicked and lazy servant hid his one talent

Why does the servant who is given one talent hide it?

First, he does not really know his master that well. His own words betray his wrong view of his master. When the master returns and the day of reckoning has come, he said to him,

“Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’

Calling his master “a harsh man” is an unfair judgment, especially because a bond-slave is one who willingly gives herself to a master. Why would a person do that? There must be great reasons why people would give themselves as slaves to a master. When you’re poor and starving, would you rather die, or give yourself as a servant to a master who is known for goodness, kindness, and generosity?

The wicked and lazy servant, on the day of reckoning, tries to judge his master. And his judgment lacks understanding for even if the master reaps where he did not sow or gathers where he did not scatter, he does not reap and gather for himself. In fact, he does not get his talents back; instead, he gives them back to his slaves who are good and trustworthy and productive! Indeed, the one talent that was given to him is taken away from him and given to the one who has the most talents:

28 So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

But although a bondslave is regarded to have the highest dignity among slaves, it is not his place to judge his master. He doesn’t get to do that. That’s not the role of a slave. It is the master who is the judge.

And thus, the master condemns the wicked and lazy slave:

26 But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.

Second, the master judges him not because his talent did not yield 100% like the investment of the two other slaves’ but because he is not wise enough to do something about it so that it grows even just a bit, like when it is invested with a banker.

The language of the master seems to say something like what might happen today if you invest your money in a bank: they offer the lowest return of investment. Nevertheless, if you don’t know how to invest, say in stocks, perhaps the safest and surest way to grow your money is to put in a savings account that yields about 4% annually. But 4% is better than 0%!

Going back to the wicked and lazy slave, it looks like the master would have given him the same commendation as the good and trustworthy slaves who doubled their money, if he invested his money in a no-sweat “investment for dummies”: with a banker. But he did not. Why? He does not really know his master and what he can do for him, and because he is a lazy servant. And the way he judges his good, kind, and generous master, makes him wicked!

And so, the master condemns him:

30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

While “the good and trustworthy” slaves are welcomed to the “joy of (their) master, “the wicked and lazy” and “worthless slave” is banished from the presence and joy of his master and to a place of utter darkness and painful sadness and terrible regret.

Does the Lord know you? Do you know the Lord?
But doesn’t that look like we are to work for our salvation so that unlike the wicked and lazy and worthless servant we will not be condemned and thrown into the dreadful outer darkness?

No! Although we may be tempted to get some help by interpreting this parable with the help of other with Scripture texts that, like Ephesians 2:8-10, that might be considered clearer or straightforward on the role of faith and work in our salvation, we do not have to do that. We have enough in this parable and the previous one to make sense of the basis for reward and judgment which seems to have to do with work trustworthiness, laziness, and wickedness, respectively.

In other words, the parable seems to say that those who are good and work hard will be rewarded with eternal joy in the presence of God; on the other hand, those who are lazy and wicked will be condemned and thrown into hell. But we have to understand that this parable of the talents is closely connected the previous parable of the virgins. There, in the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaid, the young women who had no oil for their lamps and were unprepared for surprise coming of the bridegroom, were pleading for the bridegroom to open the door that was shut: ‘Lord, lord, open to us’ (v. 11), But the Lord replied,

“Truly I tell you, I do not know you’” (v. 12)

That statement reminds us of what Jesus said in Matthew 7. After warning his disciples of “false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” and who they will know by their fruits or lack thereof (vv. 15-20) he said,

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you who behave lawlessly.’

In other words, to be “known” by Jesus is the root and foundation on which anyone who calls Jesus “Lord, Lord” grow from, and like a tree, they will grow and bear good fruits. Doing the will of the Father in heaven is something that only the true children of God can do! Work alone without such relationship with God would not do. Salvation or entering the kingdom of heaven is not based on works, it is based on faith and our relationship with God who gave us his Son so that through faith in him we may be saved from sin and eternal damnation.

Such faith grows out of our knowledge of God who has revealed himself through his son, our Lord Jesus, who is represented by the in the Parable of the Talent. And that’s why we should not be surprised that the lazy and wicked slave does not really know his master. He judged him as a harsh man and one who exploits his slaves. The truth, however, is that he is a good and generous master who does not get his talents back but instead gives them away to those who are good and trustworthy and whose faith in their master is shown through their faithfulness to him!

So, the questions we may ask ourselves are these: Does the Lord know me? Do I know the Lord?

The fullness of the kingdom of God that our Lord will inaugurate when he returns is a place of indescribable joy. To be in the kingdom of heaven and be in the presence of our good, kind, and generous Master and King will be fullness of life made perfect. Our Lord and Master has given himself to us—he lived and died for us–and he provides everything we need to serve and please him. And serving him is not just for his glory and honor but also for our own benefit because he, as Master, owns everything and does not need anything. And that is why he gives it all back to us and shares his joy with us now and more so when he comes again!

Maranatha! O Lord, come!

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1 String’s Greek: 1401. δοῦλος (doulos) — a slave (bibleapps.com)
2 The Four Coins Jesus Knew – CoinsWeekly; see also v. 27, “money” is used for talents