Parable of the Talents, Pt 1.
Today's Bible Reading: Matthew 25:14-30
Supporting Passage: Matthew 24
The great thing about writing is you get to decide what content to put in and what to leave out. In this series, the choice of which parables to include is entirely up to me. I can write about all my favorites and leave out the ones that make me squirm.
And let me tell you, I really want to leave this next parable out. I don't like it at all. It's scary and makes me uncomfortable. But that is why I am choosing to write about it. I'd rather wrestle with it than avoid it. And I don't want to do it alone, so I'm taking you along for the ride!
The parable in question is the Talents. It's about a master who entrusts his servants with three different amounts of money.
When he returns from a journey, he finds that two of his servants have been working hard. They doubled the amount of money they were given. The master is pleased and rewards them.
But the third servant takes a different approach. He was afraid of the master, so he buried his money in the ground for safekeeping. When the master finds out, he is furious. He berates the servant and throws him "into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 25:30, NLT).
Whoa!
This parable seems straightforward, but even scholars struggle to interpret it. In my research, I've come across many different views and opinions. As I add my own into the mix, I want humility to guide me. I don't have all the answers.
As always, it's important to know the context of this parable before diving into it.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives five long speeches called "discourses." He begins his final speech in Matthew 24, right before the events of his arrest and crucifixion. It is sometimes called the eschatological (or "end times") discourse because Jesus talks about the future.
When you hear the phrase "end times," what images pop into your mind? Our imaginations on this topic have been so shaped by pop culture that it is hard to separate fact from fiction. This is one of the places where humility is needed. People way smarter than me disagree about whether the events described in Matthew 24 have already happened or will happen in the future. But I believe that at least part of this speech is Jesus looking forward to the great day when God's kingdom comes fully to earth—the day when heaven and earth become one.
The disciples are anxious to know when this day will come (24:3). But Jesus is adamant that no one knows (24:36). So while we wait, it is not our job to make charts and graphs or speculate how tragedies might connect to end times.
I understand the temptation to want to make predictions. We see how broken and messed up the world is, and we long for the day when Jesus will set it right. And so, like the disciples, we can't help but ask, "When, God? When??"
But instead of focusing on the "when," Jesus has something else for us to do while we wait. He wants us to extend his kingdom to all the broken places in this world. What we do here and now matters. And so at the end of his speech, Jesus tells a series of parables about being ready for his return. One of these parables is the Talents.
Part of what makes this parable scary is the fate of the third servant. We immediately think the third servant is doomed to hell. And even worse, he is sent there because he hasn't worked "hard enough."
Over the next few weeks, we will explore what this parable has to say about our responsibility to use the gifts God has given us. But as we do, it is important to keep two things in mind.
First, while judgment is a real thing, the parables are not meant to give a literal description of hell. Jesus told stories with twist endings to shock his audience into a new way of thinking. And this story is quite a shocker!
Second, parables are never told in isolation. They are part of the larger story of Jesus' whole life. He entered into a messy world to save sinners because he knew we couldn't do it by ourselves. Jesus came to love us, not shame us.
The parable of the Talents is about the wonderful opportunity Jesus gives us to build God's kingdom today. But he knows we won't always get it right. As Jesus told this tale, he was hours away from facing the cross so that nothing could ever separate us from God. As NT Wright puts it:
When Jesus speaks of someone being thrown outside, where people weep and grind their teeth, we must never forget that he was himself on the way into the darkness, where even he would sense himself abandoned by God (Matthew 27:45–46).
Jesus journeyed into the darkness because he didn’t want anyone left out.
Questions to Ponder:
Take some time to read the parable of the Talents and write down any initial thoughts you have.
Why do you think Christians sometimes get caught up in trying to predict when the "end times" will occur? How do you think Jesus wants us to spend our time instead?
What parts of this parable scare you or make you uncomfortable? As we wrestle with it this week, how can you remember to keep Jesus' love and mercy at the forefront?
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