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Author: Stephen Weller
656 words, 3 minutes read time

A Given Responsibility

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-18

With the previous lesson we finished the section about the parable of the ten virgins. With this lesson we begin a new section about the parable of the talents.

^{Mt 25:14} For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

When I read “For it will be like a man going on a journey”, I was reminded of “A nobleman [who] went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom” of Luke 19, where we find the parable of the ten minas. Here we have the parable of the talents. In both cases, servants were given something to invest and something to care for while the master was away.

“For it will be like” points us back to verse 13 where we read, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” The “day nor the hour” refers to the time of the return to earth of the Son of Man from heaven. In our parable the “man” is a metaphor for the Son of Man and his “going on a journey” is a metaphor for the ascension of Jesus back to heaven. Before the man left he called his servants and put into their care his property and gave to each talents according to their ability; “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one.”

Jesus will soon die on the cross, rise from the dead and ascend into heaven, but before he goes he has been investing in his disciples to carry on the work of ministry, which is to enlist others and train them to be disciples; a process that is to continue until the return of Jesus. For each one of these disciples, they will be examined before the judgment seat of Christ to see how well they did with what was entrusted into their care.

Before leaving these two verses, we should look at what a “talent” is because it varies. In the Old Testament it was “a unit of weight equaling about 75 pounds”, but in the New Testament it was “a unit of monetary reckoning (though not an actual coin), valued at about 6,000 drachmas, the equivalent of about 20 years’ wages for a laborer” (ESV Study Bible footnote for Matthew 18:24). The amount of wealth given to these servants was thus considerable.

¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.

The investment and return on the investment of these talents is similar to investment and return on the investment of the mina of Luke 19. The first made ten mina from his mina and the second made five from his, but the third came and returned his mina without investing it. In this parable, the one given five talents used his to get five more and the one with two talents made two talents more, but the one with the one talent did not invest his in any profitable way.

Conclusion

God has created each one of us according to plan and gifted us to accomplish the assigned work. As in the parable of the ten mina and the parable of the talents, he expects us to use his given resources and do good works and bear fruit to his glory. What we did with his resources and our time will one day be evaluated and rewarded and will affect our assignment in heaven.