The Parable of the Talents
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?" (Matthew 24:45)
Last week, we examined this question. In studying the parable of the faithful and wise servant, we discovered that the master rewarded faithfulness and punished unfaithfulness. Jesus exhorts that we must also be ready (Luke 12:40) for His return. So what does it mean to be faithful and wise? How can we "be ready" for our Master's return?
Jesus answers these questions in a parable:
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey." (Matthew 25:14-15)
In biblical times, a talent referred to a unit of weight and later, to a unit of coinage. To those listening to Jesus' parable, a talent would have seemed a huge amount of money. A single talent was roughly equivalent to 6,000 denarii. To put this into perspective, in Matthew 20:2 we see a single denarius representing the wages paid to laborers for a full day's work. This would make the value of a talent equivalent to nearly 20 years' labor. Put in today's terms, a talent might equate to well over $250,000 USD.
It is interesting to note that the master gave to his servants each according to their ability. This distinction may or may not be significant. On another occasion Jesus told a similar parable, recorded in Luke 19:11-27; in this parable, each servant is paid the same amount--ten minas. While the value of ten minas (approximately 3-4 months wages), is considerably less than that of a talent, it would nonetheless have represented a significant amount of money to all who heard Jesus' words. What would one do with such a sum of wealth?
"The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money." (vv. 16-18)
Two of the three servants wasted no time in investing the money they had been given. By the time their master returned, both had doubled the amount they had been given. The third servant, however, opted for the ultimate in conservative investment strategies. To those listening to Jesus that day, this might have seemed quite sensible. Hiding money in the ground was not uncommon in that day, nor was the notion that it was among the most secure places for valuables. Even today, we see people doing the same thing with their valuables.
At last, the master returns home:
"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' "The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" (vv. 19-23)
Though the amount of money entrusted to the servants was different, the master rewards both equally, based on their faithfulness to the task. Again, this may or may not be significant, as the related account in Luke 19:11-27 shows the servants being rewarded proportionally according to their returns. In any event, Jesus' response to the widow's offering (Mark 12:41-44, cf. Luke 21:1-4) reminds us that the faithfulness of those who have been given little can easily exceed that of those who have been given much. Indeed, God rewards the faithful, even for the insignificant (Matthew 10:40-42, cf. Mark 9:41).
We return to our text in time to greet the third servant brushing the dirt off the talent his master gave him so long ago:
"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest." (vv. 24-27)
In observing the harsh response of the master, it is significant to note that he returned only after "a long time" (v.19). In John 5, the same Greek words found here are used to describe a man who suffered an ailment for some 38 years (John 5:6; cf. John 5:5, Matthew 25:19). Clearly, the master was gone for a considerable length of time. So the prospect of doubling the money given to each servant would most likely not have involved a particularly risky investment strategy. Had the master only been gone for a week or two, burying the money might have been a wise approach. For the servant to have buried the money for such a long period of time, however, was clearly irresponsible. Even though the servant was able to return the same amount of money he had been given, the value, or purchasing power, of that money would have been less than what it was originally. Inflationary pressures would have driven up costs during the period while the master was away. Hence, by not investing the money, the servant had unwittingly squandered away a portion of what he had been given.
Another point in understanding the master's response is found in verse 26. The master asks rhetorically, "So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?" Note that the master is not agreeing with the servant's characterization of himself. Here, the master is simply judging the servant according to his own words (cf. Luke 19:22). Though he claims to know the will of the master, the servant fails not only to accomplish it, he fails to even attempt it! The issue here is not a lack of results, but rather, a deliberate effort to subvert the will of the master by a servant who himself claims to have known better.
Applying what we learned in our previous study (Luke 12:47-48), we see that the servant faces severe punishment for failing to act on what he knew. The master responds:
"'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" (vv. 28-30)
From a distance it seems the master adds insult to injury by taking the talent from the servant who had one and giving it to the servant who now has ten. And what are we to make of the master's statement that those who have will be given more? The answer is simple and straightforward when viewed from the perspective of the master. The master did not give the talents to his servants as a gift--he gave the talents to his servants in order that they might carry out work on his behalf (cf. Luke 19:13). In giving the talent to the servant who has ten talents, the master is simply reallocating his assets to maximize the return on his investment. The faithful servant proved himself trustworthy, and so the master entrusts him with more (cf. Luke 16:10).
As we learned in our earlier study, the Kingdom of God is about bearing fruit. Those who bear fruit are often rewarded on earth--not merely as a bonus for having done well--but in order that they might bear even more fruit (John 15:2). Those who are given Kingdom resources to do a job are expected to do it. If they prove unfaithful in their task, the Master has every right to reallocate His resources accordingly.
In applying this parable to our lives, it's not hard to make the connection between the "talents" given to the servants, and the talents or abilities that we possess. In fact, the use of the English word "talent" to refer to a special aptitude or ability can be traced back to this very parable in Matthew 25:14-30. While some may appear to have varying degrees of talent, every human being is talented. God has created us in His image (Genesis 1:27), each with a unique set of skills and abilities for use in His kingdom (1 Corinthians 12:1-11). And so, we come to a very personal question: What are you doing with the talents that you have been given?
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?"
Who then is the wise and faithful servant? The one who invests the resources they have been given by the Master. Are you?
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Copyright © 1998-2000 Tim A. Krell. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV), Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.