The Parable of the Talents
What is going on in this parable? Over the years I’ve heard the same message from the pulpit… “Don’t squander the gifts of God like the third servant.” Now, as a young man this seemed to make sense to me, if God gives you a gift you should use it for the advancement of His kingdom. Fine. I’m more than okay with that, but what exactly does that have to do with the Parable of the Talents?
If you read verses 24 – 30 you start to get a different angle on the story, and one that has been all but ignored when this parable has been used in sermons I remember from years past. Let’s look at what is going down with the third servant:
24“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. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26“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? 27Well 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.
28” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For 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. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Wait a minute! The man calls his master out in verse 24, telling him that he was “harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.” This doesn’t line up with the usual explanation given for this parable, so I’d like to flip it around.
First off, we know that Jesus was talking to 1st Century Jews like himself, and in the prior verses, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Christ was warning that we will not know the day of His return, so that we must be prepared for it. *
So, it would make sense that a continuation of a Kingdom theme would be present. Christ, in my estimation, is not at all talking about investing money or gifts (Usury was in fact illegal for Jews at this time). He is talking about His kingdom, and the first two servants took that call out into the world, He is as well making an argument against the nation of Israel and it’s teachers, the Pharisees.
The third servant represents Israel. Israel was given a great honor, they received the blessing of God through His covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1 – 3). They had been given the chance to a be a blessing to all nations, but had failed. When the servant sees the master he calls him out for “harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.” This seems to be an instance of a Jew pointing out that God was harvesting from the Gentiles as well, and not only those from the nation of Israel.
The master then agrees with the servants assumption, he has in fact been gathering where he had not scattered seed. He goes on to call the servant lazy and wicked, rebuking him for not taking the call of the Kingdom of God seriously.
This is my understanding of the parable, what do you think?
* We will not get into the various other interpretations of the Parable of the Ten Virgins at this time. Also, I have read interpretations that verse 13 does not belong with verses 1 – 12, but as a beginning to the parable in verses 14 – 30. Not only do I disagree, but I would be hard pressed to force that understanding to fit. Without that final verse the previous twelve make very little sense, and have been diluted down to almost no meaning.
Thanks to Joe Skillen and my dad for emailing back and forth with me on this topic, sharing with me their wisdom and knowledge.
