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We have been studying the prophecies of Jesus that He made late on Tuesday in the last week of His life. They concerned the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of His Second Coming. The emphasis is not on a time table but on being ready when He does come. This lesson continues along the same lines.
At first glance we seem to have an "unfair" situation. "Give to those who have and take away from those who have not." The Master is a hard man. "He reaps where he has not sown and gathers where he has not harvested." But lets remind ourselves that this is a parable, a vehicle to convey a truth. We must not get caught up with the vehicle and loose the truth. What then is the truth that Jesus was teaching in this parable?
Indeed, what was the "truth" that Jesus was teaching in this parable? For sometime now, Jesus has been speaking of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and His Second Coming. He had tried to impress them with the need to be ready. Now He realizes that in the meantime, life must go on. Fields must be planted, the word must be sown, fruit must be harvested, souls must be saved. This is a parable about the Christians dedication to this work. Be dedicated and be diligent for two reasons. For the glory of God and for the good of others.
In the parable, the Master is Christ, absolute owner of His church. The servants are Christians, born in His house, brought with His blood and employed in His work. There are three parts to this parable:
First, the trust committed to the servants. The Master was called away on a long journey. Before he left, he entrusted his property to the servants. To each was given according to his ability. Notice a few things about this. All had a job, no one was idle. Not all were given the same amount of responsibility. Some were in charge of 5 talents, some 2 talents and some, 1 talent. It all belonged to the Master, no one had anything of his or her own. Matthew Henry says, "We are all stewards of His Grace." Paul writes in Eph. 4:8, "When He ascended on high, He gave gifts to men."
Notice what the talents were symbolic of. They were symbolic of His Spirit, His Gospel, His Promise, His Power and His Love. The "talent" in silver was worth about 1,400 dollars in today's money. Some he gave 5, some 2 and some only one. Each according to his ability. Divine Providence seems to make a difference in our abilities, however, all of us have at least one talent with which we are entrusted. It is God's prerogative to give to every man as He wills. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, when He had instructed the Disciples, He went straightway into Heaven as the Master in the parable, left immediately on his journey.
Secondly, how did the servants treat that with which the Master had entrusted them? The first two groups were diligent. They went and traded. They invested their talents. As soon as the Master had gone, they became tradesmen. A tradesman is described as one who, having made his choice, takes pains to learn his trade and make it his business. He spends all his energies and time in the advancement of it and lives upon the profit it generates. Now, were these men successful?
They doubled their holdings, their return was according to their investment. The ones with 5 talents, made 5 talents more. The ones with 2 talents, made two talents more. To whom much is given, much is expected. Talents are not only gifts, they are responsibilities. Now, what about the third group, those with only one talent? They went and hid the talent because they were afraid it would be stolen. Notice they did not mis-use it, nor did they loose it on a poor investment. Neither did they squander it on riotous living. They simply hid it, perhaps under a basket. Matthew Henry says that talents are like manure, good for nothing in a heap, must be spread to do any good.
So what happened on the Day of accounting? To the first two groups, he congratulated them and made them rulers over many things. Christ has honor in store for those who honor Him by the faithful use of their talents. Paul says in II Tim. 4:8, that it is a "crown". John, in Rev. 3:21 calls it a thrown and in Rev. 25:34, a kingdom. Notice the third group attempts to apologize for what they did, saying, at least, we didn't loose it.
The third group was "afraid" of the Master. He was a "hard man. This was a common excuse in Israel. Ezek. 28:25 says, "The way of the Lord is not equal." The Lord never promised equality in anything accept in salvation. We tend to blame others for our failures. Adam blamed Eve. "The woman you gave me, made me do it." It is so easy to excuse ourselves and blame others for not using the talents that God gives us.
How did the Master accept this roll as a "hard man"? He appears not to dispute the fact that he expected them to be diligent and make use of the talents that he had given them but he is not sure that that is why they hid their talents. He says to them, "If you did think that I was a hard Master, why did you not put my money in 'users' hands were it would have at least earned interest?" This was a common practice in Jesus' day as it is today, to lend money and charge interest.
Now the Masters judgment of this group needs careful interpretation. The judgment was, "Take the talent from them and cast them into outer darkness." We must look upon these talents as gifts of the Spirit. The first talent is the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. To this third group, this was all they received. They had the ability to accept Christ, but did not for whatever reason. Failure to accept Christ when enlightened by the Holy Spirit is the only unforgivable sin, therefore the judgment is eternal darkness where men will weep and gnash their teeth. The other two groups accepted Christ and were given other talents which they used for the glory of God. For this they were rewarded, even to the determent of those who didn't.
Any other interpretation of this is apostasy in relating this to ones salvation. If we relate this to ones "sanctification" or spiritual growth, we can assume that the judgment of the last group of being cast into darkness, as being the state of the backslider, separated from communion with God and the lost of the joy of their salvation, but not the lost of their salvation. The reward of the first two groups is the joy of faithful service to the Lord and the additional opportunities for service given to those who faithfully discharge their first duties.
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