Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. [1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)]
Jesus told several parables regarding the day of His return. The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids stresses being ready before that day occurs and the Parable of the Sheep and Goats describes the separation of obedient followers from unbelievers and pretenders in the final judgment. It is between those two that we find the Parable of the Talents about serving our Master until the day of His return.
Before going on a lengthy journey, the master entrusted his slaves/bondservants with his wealth during his absence. He divided his fortune among the servants according to their ability. Each received no more and no less than what they could manage. The first servant received five talents, the second two, and the third only one. Although the master gave his wealth to his servants, it still belonged to him. Although absent for a time, he retained the rights to both his servants and money. They were only caretakers of what they were given. While unsaid, it was understood that the master expected his servants to wisely invest the talents during his absence. If he hadn’t wanted the talents utilized, he would have taken the safest (and least profitable) way of protecting his money by burying it (as did many in Jesus’ day).
Rather than a coin, the talent (tálanton) was a unit of measurement for precious metals like gold or silver. Weighing about 75 pounds, a talent of silver was worth about 6,000 denarii, roughly 6,000 days (or 20 years) of wages in Jesus’ time. Based on today’s average daily wage, one talent would be the equivalent of $1,344,000 in 2024! Jesus often used hyperbole in his parables and this was no exception. The generous and trusting landowner had entrusted 600 pounds of denarii—the equivalent of over $10,000,000 today—to his servants!
After a long time, the master returned and asked his bondservants for an accounting. Because they immediately put the master’s money to work by investing it, the first and second servants had doubled their master’s fortune. The master praised their faithful stewardship and rewarded them with more responsibilities. The third servant, however, simply hid his one talent in the ground. Rather than accepting responsibility, the man claimed he was afraid of losing it and blamed his idleness on his master by calling him a harsh man. The word translated as harsh was skléros and was used to describe someone unyieldingly harsh or stern, even violent. But, there is nothing in this parable to indicate the master was anything but reasonable to his servants. Remember, the servant was given only what he was capable of handling so there was no excuse for his inaction. By doing nothing, the “wicked and lazy servant” had robbed his master of service and increase!
In this parable, the master represents Jesus, the journey represents His absence until He comes again, the two productive servants represent faithful disciples, and the third servant represents a false/unfaithful disciple. This third man may have lived in his master’s house but, by calling his master skléros, it’s clear he neither knew or loved him! Those who know and love God will serve Him faithfully but, those who don’t, won’t! Like the third servant, they ignore, waste, or misuse God’s gifts and are nothing but “worthless” servants! Jesus concludes this parable by saying that the worthless servant was thrown into the “outer darkness” where there would be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”—a clear reference to hell.
Because the English word “talent,” meaning natural aptitude or skill, comes from the Greek tálanton, it’s easy to think that’s all that Jesus is speaking about. The parable’s tálanton, however, are far more than that; they represent everything and anything by which we can glorify God. Along with our natural talents, they include the gifts of the Spirit along with our time, senses, contacts, reason, skills, influence, strength, privileges, advantages, money, possessions, faith, health, experiences, interests, knowledge, and anything else we possess!
Like the servants, we each have been blessed with a different number of “talents” according to our ability. Nevertheless, even the servant who received only one talent was given a fortune! The issue, however, isn’t how many talents were bestowed or returned—the servant who returned four talents received the same reward as the one who returned ten. The issue is how well we use the “talents” we’ve been given! May we never forget that, while given to us, they belong to the Lord and we are but caretakers of His blessings!
Paul told the Romans, “Each of us will give an account of himself to God.” [14:12] This parable makes it clear that, when Jesus returns, there will be a day of reckoning—a day of both reward and punishment. Right now, we live in the time between Matthew 25:15 and Matthew 25:19—between the day our Master departed and the day of His return. A day of reckoning, however, will come and He will ask us to give an accounting of how we used His talents. Will He say, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”
We see in God’s kingdom there simply is no room for drones, only for working bees. [Brian Bell]
Mornings, I read a short devotional from Streams in the Desert, a devotional by L.B. Cowman. Compiled between 1918 and 1924 and first published in 1925, it consists of portions of inspirational sermons, tracts, church bulletins, hymns, devotions, and poetry Mrs. Cowman collected through the years. Each day’s reading begins with a portion of Scripture and a recent devotion began with Psalm 4:1: “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” Because the devotional uses the King James Translation and I usually read the NLT, I didn’t recognize this verse; nevertheless, I had a good idea what it meant.
The Israelites had been away from Israel for less than two months when they arrived at Rephidim. With no water to drink, the people complained, questioned whether the Lord was with them, criticized Moses, and then threatened him. Fearing for his life, Moses asked God what to do. Instructing him to strike a rock with his staff, God promised that water would come gushing out and, as promised, it did. The miracle was memorialized by the name given to this location, Massah (meaning testing) and Meribah (meaning quarreling.) Unfortunately, that was not the last time the Israelites tested the Lord and quarreled with Moses.
At first, it seems that the “Parable of the Unforgiving Servant” should be called the “Parable of the Forgiven Servant.” After all, the king forgave his servant’s debt of 10,000 talents—the equivalent of billions of dollars. While the first part of the parable illustrates the value and extravagance of God’s forgiveness, it takes a dark turn in the second part when illustrating the reciprocal nature of His forgiveness—something the servant learned the hard way!
Jesus told several parables about the Kingdom of Heaven and, in Matthew 18, He compared it to a king who wanted to bring his accounts up to date with the servants who owed him money. The parable is pretty straight-forward; the king symbolizes God, the servant each one of us, and the debt our sins. One servant owed the king ten thousand talents but was unable to pay. There were serious consequences for not paying debts so the king ordered that the servant’s home and possessions be sold off and that the man and his family be sold into slavery until the debt was paid.
The Israelites were camped on the east side of the Jordan River, in view of Canaan, when Moses addressed them. After spending the last forty years as nomads in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula, can you imagine their excitement at the thought of finally having a place to call their own and their eagerness for a new beginning in a new land? There must have been some apprehension, as well. They weren’t naïve; they knew there would be conflict, battles, and even loss before Canaan was conquered.
