In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus told what we call The Parable of the Talents. It includes a man who is going on a journey of somekind and entrusts his property to three of his servants. To one servant the man gave five talents, to another the man gave two talents, and to the third the man gave one talent. The first servant multiplied his five talents into ten, the second servant multiplied his two talents into four, and the last servant kept his one talent.
When the man who had went on the journey had returned he demanded an accounting of what the three servants had done. As you can imagine, the man was pleased with the first two but not so much with the last who did not multiply what the man had given him. To the two who multiplied their talents the man said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (25:21 &23). To the third servant who did not multiply his talent the man said, “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap wher I have not sown and gather where I scattered? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest” (25:26-27). And instead of entering “into the joy” of his master, he was “cast…into the outer darkness.” (25:30).
Why did Jesus tell this parable? What point was Jesus trying to get across? Let me give you four points we can take away from this parable.
Everyone is given talent(s).
These talents, while they represent money in this parable, can also represent resources that we are given. What resources are we given? Time, possessions, our talent, and yes, even our wealth.
Our talent(s) are meant to be used.
The men in this parable were expected to take their talents and multiply them until their master returned. Likewise, until Jesus returns he expects us to use our time, possessions, talent, and our wealth wisely. Jesus expects us to use these things that he has given us to build his kingdom and serve him in everything that we do. Now you might be thinking you don’t have many resources to use? As one commentator put it: “The issue is not how much we have, but how well we use what we have.” We have until Jesus comes back to use what he has given us to serve him and build his kingdom.
Our talent(s) are God’s.
What was given to those servants did not belong to the servants, they belonged to the man who gave the talents to them. The same is true for us: what we have is not ours in the first place. We have what we have because God has given those things to us. That means we are not owners of what we have but caretakers. And by the way, how we use what God has given us, is a reflection of our attitude towards God.
There are consequences for how we use our talent(s).
The first two spent the time they had in their master’s absence to prepare for his return by multiplying what they were given. In return, they were rewarded. They were good and faithful over what their master had given them; therefore, they entered into the joy of their master. The third however, was wicked and slothful with what the master had given him. In response, he was cast into a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That means there will be weeping and torment. The point is that God rewards faithfulness. Are you using what God has given you to faithfully serve Him? Or, are you using what God has given you to serve yourself?