The Parables of Jesus: Pt. 12 The Parable of the Talents.

Good morning...

Psalm 67: 1-3 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah;  That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

We have yet another parable that shows both the Church and the nation Israel what we ought to be doing until Christ returns.  





Matthew 25:14-30 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus taught another parable to illustrate what the kingdom of heaven is like. In this case there is a wealthy man who has great authority. This man has plans to travel a great distance but while he is away he expects his servants to be productive in administering his affairs. 

Servants are put in charge of the wealthy man's assets.

Matthew 25:14-15 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 

The wealthy man delivered his goods to his servants according to each one's abilities. One servant was responsible for 5 talents, another one was given 2 talents and the last servant received 1 talent. 

The talents were silver and a typical talent of silver weighed between 60 to 80 pounds. Let us assume these talents were 60 pounds. At 16 ounces per pound each talent contained 960 ounces of silver. At today's prices of $14.77 per ounce that means each talent of silver was worth $14,179.  

Thus, this parable has each of the three servants being responsible for valuable financial assets belonging to the wealthy man. As soon as the assets were disbursed the wealthy man departed on his trip.

Two ways to manage the assets: one good and one bad.

Matthew 25:16-18 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. 

The first 2 servants proactively put the assets they were given to work in order to benefit their master. They traded them which is a business term meaning they exchanged them to increase their value. They put the silver to work to earn more silver talents for the wealthy man.

The servant who received only 1 talent of silver dug a hole and buried it in the ground. He was too lazy or indifferent to invest it so that it could grow like the first 2 servants did. 

The wealthy man returns and demands an accounting from the servants.

Matthew 25:19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 

The wealthy man finally returned after a long period of time had elapsed and he called his three servants to come and given an account of their activities with his resources. The word "reckoneth" is another business term that means to settle the accounts. It is like a business report at the end of a financial quarter. 

This is like a final day of reckoning that every man, woman or child will face at the of this life. 


Matthew 25:2-230 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 

The two servants who worked to increase their master's net worth came before him to tell what they had done. Both servants who gained extra talents heard their Master say "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." They received a promise to be a ruler over many things since he was faithful over a few things. Both servants were told to enter into the joy of their master. 

The last servant suffered an entirely different fate. 

Matthew 25:24-30 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This servant gave his assessment of his master whereas the other two servants simply stated what they were given and what they had gained. It is striking to hear him say that his master is a hard man reaping where he did not sow and gathering where he did not expend labor on it. 

This servant compounds the disrespect he had for his master by saying he was afraid of him and hid his talent in the earth. 

The wealthy man or master had a very strong condemnation of this servant. He called this servant wicked and slothful. Furthermore, he condemned this servant because he knew what his master's expectations were when he was given the talent of silver and he ignored them. 

This wicked and lazy servant had his one talent taken away and he was cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

In our next post we will look at the interpretation and application of this parable. I am pretty sure that many of you are already seeing the connection of this parable to the lives of individual born again Christians as we await our Lord's return. 

The wealthy man has great power and authority. He placed 3 of his servants in charge of his silver assets. All 3 servants were expected to put the silver to work to earn interest for the wealthy man.

2 servants did what their master wanted them to do and they received commendation, more authority and were allowed to enter into the joy of their master. 1 servant was wicked and lazy and he received strong condemnation and was cast into outer darkness. 

1 Corinthians 12:4-7  Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5  And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 

A born again believer in Jesus Christ has been blessed with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. In addition, the Spirit of God helps us use our God given skills and talents for His honor and glory. He also gives various gifts to us and we are responsible like the servants in this parable, to use them for God's eternal purposes. 

We can see that the right perspective is to readily and actively serve our Lord while He is in heaven. He will return one day and we will stand at the judgment seat of Christ. (Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 3). Are we living for that day? Are we ready to meet Christ? Do we have a joyous anticipation about His coming? 

Bob