Matthew 25b

 This third parable is not about female bridesmaids but about male slaves. In some ways, it is reminiscent of the first parable which is about faithful and wicked slaves, but it is stepped up a notch. This is a parable about the trust of the master and the faith of the slaves in a situation where the master goes away on a journey. The master has placed not only the household maintenance in the hands of his servants, but also certain sums of money that they are expected to put to good use. It should be said up front that in the First Century Roman world, slaves who were overseers of an estate often were able to make money, both for the master and for themselves. So, this is not an exaggerated context that Jesus uses here to craft his story.

25: 14-15a.  “For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 

 What is the “it”? Go back to 25: 1 which begins: “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this.” “It” is the kingdom of heaven. The word ‘talent’ is simply a transliteration of the Greek which, for example, in the case of ‘five talents’, is pente talanta. A talent was the weight of a particular kind of money, and it was a large sum whether silver or gold coins. We are talking about thousands of dollars in today’s terms. The amounts with which each slave has been entrusted are different but notice that they were distributed according to the master’s evaluation of each slave’s ability. 

25: 15b-18.  At once the one who had received the five talents went off and traded with them and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 

The first two slaves with the larger sums acted quickly (‘at once’ or ‘immediately’) to put their money to work so that when the master returned, they would have something with which to honor the trust he had in them. Maybe the master will return soon, maybe not. They take no chances. The other slave did not act quickly, but ‘went off’ and buried his master’s money. 

 There is a slight suggestion here that this slave may have been calculating the odds of the master failing to return at all (John F. Walvoord, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come, 1974, pages 198-199). By burying the money in private, there would be no record of the gift, and if the master did not return, the slave could dig it up and treat it as his own possession. This is interesting, but the evidence is only circumstantial.   

25: 19-23.  After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 

 The parable turns on the delay in the return of the master: it was ‘after a long time’. This is probably a hint that the return of Jesus may also be a long time; and so it has been.  

 The return on investment is not unusual for the times, especially considering that the money has been invested for a long time. The master is pleased with the first two reports. He gives fulsome praise (remember this) and offers to share his ‘happiness’ or ‘joy’ with the slaves. In fact, he promotes both of them to more important duties. What character traits does the master seem to have?  

 Also notice that the master is no less pleased with the second slave who doubled what he had, even though his sum was less than half of that of the first slave. Though the differences in outcome are great (a factor of 4 verses 10), the master had already made his own evaluation of the capacities of the two slaves and he expected no more from the second slave. Both built on the sum that had been entrusted to them. No unfair comparisons are made.

 To both the slaves, the master just says Eu, which means ‘good’ (as in eu-topia, eu-phenism, and eu-phonics). Then he adds a compliment for both, saying, ‘you are a ‘faithful’ (piste, same word used for ‘faith’ throughout the New Testament) and ‘trustworthy’ (agathe, meaning ‘truthful’ or ‘reliable’) servant. The use of the word for ‘faith’ may give a bit of credence to Walvrood’s suggestion that the third slave did not have faith that the master would return; or perhaps he hoped that he would not.      

25: 24-25. Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 

 Jesus is making up this story, so he can shape it however he wants. One doesn’t usually make an excuse beginning with an insult to the boss and thus appearing to blame him for one’s own error. I do not think, though, that Jesus means for us to suspect the character of the master. Ask yourself: Does the master’s behavior so far fit with the accusation of the third slave?

 Consider this: The master knew his slaves well enough to parcel out assignments suited to their abilities. The master wasn’t dismissive of their efforts, but instead he showed his satisfaction with what the first two did. The master did not require more than could be expected when the second slave produced only 4 talents while the first slave had produced 10. Both were equally rewarded. Based on that information, does Jesus portray the master as a ‘harsh man’, looking to extort more than he has a right to expect? This master did not harvest in a place where he did not sow. He is not a thief.

25: 26-30.  But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Jesus does portray the master as capable of anger. He calls the third slave both poneros and okneros. The first means wicked, bad, or even criminal, and the word is found often in the Gospel according to Matthew, applying to ‘bad fruit’ (Matthew 7: 17-18) as well as to ‘evil ways’ (Matthew 12: 35). The second word occurs only once in Matthew, and means ‘slow, slothful, or idle’. The slave has taken the easy way out that required only digging a hole. Again there is a hint of an evil motive, and it has been suggested that the slave may have hoped that the master would not come back and he could keep the money. 

 The fact that the master repeats the slave’s words does not confirm the slave’s character sketch. He repeats the claim for a good reason. If that is indeed what the slave really thought (notice the comment: ‘did you’), then what should have been the smart response? The slave should have at least put the money with the trapezitais, a word not meaning ‘banks’ as we know them since there weren’t any in those days. Instead, the word refers to a money changer or broker who loans the money out for the depositor and collects interest.

 The judgment may seem harsh or unfair, but Jesus is only repeating a judgment that he himself has already made. 

  “Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ He answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets[b] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand’ (Matthew 13: 10-13).

 Do you think this is unfair? Take it up with Jesus. What it does is confirm that discipleship is not a position but rather discipleship is an action. The more you work at it, the more you receive. When people don’t work at discipleship, even what they have is lost. The logic is clear; for example, with regard to Bible Study. If you learn how to read the context, then you can add to that the matter of finding meaning in the structure of the passage. And, it applies as well to doing acts of mercy and justice. When you help to provide meals for the hungry, you begin to change your attitude toward the needy. That opens up new possibilities for service which were not obvious to you before. 

 This helps make sense of the saying of Jesus: “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (Matthew 13:52).

 The final judgment of this ‘worthless slave’ is consistent with the overall context of Matthew chapters 24 and 25. This began with questions about destruction, the return of Jesus, and the end times when God judges the world. Thus, in Jesus’ telling of the parable, the meaning of ‘be prepared’ becomes clear. You don’t know the time that Jesus will return to establish the kingdom of heaven here on earth; therefore, while you wait, be actively at work as a disciple. If you want to know what kind of work, look at the example of the life of Jesus which included learning Scripture, praying, witnessing about God’s love, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and calling out the sins of the oppressors. For us, this is a life of faithful service growing in the Lord and providing a return on his trust in us.

 That the topic all along has been the return of the Messiah and the final judgment of mankind is confirmed in the fourth and final parable that Jesus tells. Next week, prepare to have your worst fears confirmed.