The parable of the talents
From Matthew 25:19-30, we look at Jesus’ parable of the talents, a story for his disciples and for us, to show us what it means to be entrusted with God’s work. The parable speaks of a landowner, who before going away entrusts his workers with talents that are equal to their abilities. Upon returning, the landowner finds that some of the workers dutifully invested their talents, while one servant with the least talents did nothing with his talent. Instead, he chose to hide it in the ground. At this, the landowner curses the worker calling him, “wicked” and “lazy”.
Too severe a response, you believe? To properly respond to this parable, we must look into the meaning of each element of this parable.
It is commonly held that Jesus is the landowner who has hired us/believers as his workers. If the land that the land owner owns is the kingdom of heaven, then we know that Jesus owns everything in the kingdom. We, the believers, are the workers but it’s apparent that not all believers are equally gifted. Indeed, God will give us different gifts based on our abilities, but he will judge us not on our gifts but what we do with those gifts (as we learn from this parable).
In the parable, the landowner leaves for an indefinite amount of team, without informing his workers of when he would return. This is much like how believers don’t know when Jesus is bound to return but we are sure that there will be a day that he returns to settle accounts. Like in the parable, the workers were entrusted with something precious, each based on their own abilities, but if they failed to use them, Jesus would judge them accordingly at the end of time.
Based on this understanding of the parable, we find four key points:
God expects us all to multiply - everything God made is expected to multiply, much like his very first command in Genesis; his workers are no different. He expects his workers to increase by multiplication through fruit of spirit, fruit of souls and our church community. What if we don’t do fulfill this precious calling? Think of Mark 11:12-25 where Jesus curses the fig tree for not producing fruit.
God expects us to invest - God expects us to invest in order to multiply, so we must invest in building up believers, witnessing non-believers, and loving all. At times, we are reluctant to invest because we focus on what is being taken away, but we must consider what would come from our investment (Matthew 6:21).
To fail to invest is a sin - like the worker who was entrusted with one talent, we see that failing to invest in our God-given talents is a serious offence against God. If we are given something valuable from God to be used before Jesus’ return, are we then not expected to do that?
We can’t out-give God - think of the story of the rich young ruler in Mark 10. Jesus assures us that if we leave behind all our earthly treasures to follow him, we will be rewarded a hundred fold (Mark 10:29-30). If you’re wondering what to invest first, consider your life as an investment for God’s work.
Heavenly Father,
We thank You and praise You for how You love us, sending your Son Jesus to die for our sins. We thank You that You entrust us with talents in order to further the kingdom of Heaven here on earth. Father, help me to understand my talents and how they can be used as an investment in Your kingdom. If there is resistance in my heart, take it away, Lord and give me a renewed heart that is submissive to Your will.
In Jesus’ mighty name,
Amen.