The Parable of the TalentsMy Understanding: Matthew 25 contains three messages: 1. The Parable of the Ten Virgins, 2. The Parable of the Talents, and 3. The Sheep and the Goats. All three stories share a common thematic element. They all have to do with the choices we make in life, with how we live our lives while we are on the face of the earth, and with eternal judgment at the end of time when Jesus returns for his bride and we receive our rewards.
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
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. 25 So 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? 27 Well 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. 29 For 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. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The story of the ten virgins depicts two groups of people – those who are prepared and are ready to meet the Lord when he returns and those who are not. Though this second set of virgins may have had the appearance of being ready, or they thought they were ready, they, in reality, never made the appropriate preparation for their husband and his coming kingdom, and so, when he came to get them and found them not ready, he shut the door. When they tried to get him to open the door for them, he said, “I never knew you.” So, the lesson to be learned from this is to be prepared and to keep watch.
In the story of the sheep and the goats, it tells us of Jesus’ coming kingdom when he comes to judge and to receive his bride. He will separate the people as a shepherd separates sheep and goats. In other words, there are two divisions of people in all three of these messages – those who have genuinely believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and those who have not truly believed, although they may have had an appearance of faith or they may have believed in a false gospel and thought they were saved when they were not.
In the story of the sheep and goats, Jesus illustrates what it means to be in genuine relationship with him – whatever we do for our brothers and sisters in Christ, it is as though we do it for Christ. Jesus expects that we will minister to the needs of his saints and all mankind in a manner as though we are doing it for Jesus. Those who demonstrated genuine love and compassion for their fellow Christians and for mankind were blessed by God and received an eternal inheritance. Those who saw the needs of their fellow man and yet did nothing to help them were cursed by God and told to depart from Jesus’ presence. These would go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous – those who ministered to the needs of others – would go to eternal life.
In the parable of the talents, a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted his property to them. Talents were units of money, yet the idea is much broader than just our stewardship with our finances. Property is “something of value that is owned; the right to own, possess, or use something; and/or a characteristic quality or distinctive feature of something” (Encarta). God owns everything, so if he has entrusted us with his property, that includes everything from land, people, money, jobs, houses, time, talents, spiritual gifts, resources of various kinds, family, health, etc. Most importantly of all, when we invite Jesus Christ into our lives to be our Lord and Savior, he is entrusting us with his Son and with his salvation, including with the gospel message, which we are to give out.
One servant multiplied his five talents and gained five more. Another servant multiplied his two talents and gained two more. To both of these servants the man said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Yet, the third servant took his one talent and he buried it in the ground, and offered some kind of flimsy excuse for his actions. The man said to him, “You wicked, lazy servant!” Then, the man took the talent from the man who had buried his talent and gave it to the one who had ten talents. And, the man commanded that the wicked and lazy servant be thrown “outside into darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Jesus told these stories because he wanted those who would believe in him to understand the cost of following Jesus Christ. So many preachers and teachers of the word today are giving out a false gospel message that says that we don’t have to repent and we don’t have to obey and that God will be pleased with us no matter what we do, but that all we have to do is “believe.” These three stories alone blow that false gospel message out of the water. Jesus is talking about his eternal kingdom. He is letting those who would profess faith in him know what it means to truly believe and to truly be a follower of Jesus Christ.
To be a follower of Jesus Christ means that we are faithful with what God has entrusted in our care and that we treat others in a way fitting with how we should treat Jesus Christ, and, in fact he says that what we do to or for others we are doing it as though we were literally doing it for him. As well, it means making the appropriate preparations. We cannot pray some prayer to receive Jesus Christ and expect to have our free ticket into heaven if we are not willing to go the distance with Jesus Christ and to truly follow him in all things.
This is not works-based salvation. This is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as we cooperate with that work. And, it is the proof that true faith actually exists within our lives (See the books of James and I John). Repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ are essential in genuine believing faith. A life lived out in faith in action is also essential to true faith in Jesus Christ. This does not mean we will live in sinless perfection or that we won’t have highs and lows. God knows each one of our hearts and only he can be the judge of our hearts. Yet, if we go into faith with the Lord Jesus with the attitude that he does it all and that nothing is required of us, then we need to stop reading books written by men and we need to go back and read the scriptures, because the word of God tells a different story.
So, if you are reading this and you have bought into the lie that you can “believe” in Jesus without it costing you your life, then please go back and read the scriptures, especially the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and the books of James and I John. Jesus taught that if anyone was to come after him and to be his follower he must die to himself and he must put aside his own selfish will and desires and he must be willing to follow the Lord Jesus Christ wherever he leads him. We can’t bear fruit in keeping with repentance and true faith in Jesus Christ if we have not died with Christ to our old way of lives, if we have not buried our sins with Christ, and then risen with Christ victorious over sin and death. Believing in Jesus Christ is a radical transformation of our lives. It is not cleaning up our old lives so we become nicer and better people. It means that our old selves die and we become completely new individuals who are sold out to following Jesus Christ wherever he leads us. So, if you have not done so, I pray you will turn from your sin and that you will turn to walk in fellowship and obedience to Jesus Christ today so that when he returns you will be among those to whom Jesus says, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Jesus Paid It All / Elvina M. Hall / John T. Grape
… your sins… they shall be as white as snow… Isaiah 1:18
I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”
For nothing good have I whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white in the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
And now complete in Him my robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side, I am divinely blest.
Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots and melt the heart of stone.
When from my dying bed my ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,” shall rend the vaulted skies.
And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down all down at Jesus’ feet.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
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