The Gospel Story by R. Cox — Parable of the Talents
Matthew 25: 14 — 30
The apostles had asked for a sign of the Second Coming. Our Lord surely was giving them a clue in this parable, as in the Ten Virgins:
it would be a long time before his return to judge mankind. Part of his technique was in training them to think things out for themselves; that was why God had given them minds. His teaching was meant to develop man naturally, as well as supernaturally. Knowing, too, how he framed and reconditioned his lessons to suit his audience, the Ten Virgins could have had a personal message for Mary, and the Talents likewise for Martha. The essential requirement of the Virgins is oil, the love of God; the essential of the Talents is working for God. Mary the contemplative, Martha always doing things.
This parable is fundamentally the same as the Pounds, spoken in the house of Zacchaeus at Jericho (in Luke). Our Lord keeps the same imagery of trading, so suitable to a convert publican like Zacchaeus, but gives it a more spiritual tone, more suited to his apostles. A talent was the largest unit of money in use; it represented sixteen years wages, sixty times the value of the 'pound' in Luke's parable. Large sums are in question here; Jesus is speaking to the first men of his kingdom, who will have the handling of the infinite treasures of his grace. But even these great riches are small compared to the reward paid for faithful service; it is sharing in the very life of God himself.
God distributes his graces differently to men 'according to their several abilities' (1 Cor. 12); Peter was chosen to rule the kingdom, not John. But it is not so much the difference that is emphasised, as the obligation on all to work in the Lord's service. Men must use the sum entrusted to them, not let it lie idle; they must have Cod's interests at heart, not their own. This is obvious in the case of the third servant, who has the most prominent part in the parable. He did not spend it in riotous living, like the prodigal he did not waste it dishonestly, like the steward he was not in debt, like the unmerciful servant. He was not bad, merely negative.
He did no wrong; he did nothing at all. And that is why he was condemned. God's accounting is different from man's: 5 + 5 =10,
2 + 2 = 4, but 1 + 0 = 0.
Our Lord may have been pointing the lesson of this third character at Judas. The malice of this servant was in mistrusting, not his own abilities, but the justice and generosity of his master; Judas, too, shut his mind and heart to the goodness and love of Jesus; that is why he finally despaired. God does not want men that are careful of their own personal security; they must be prepared to take risks, if they do not invest their spiritual credit, he gives it to others who will.
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