- Jun 29, 2019
- 652
- 170
- 60
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
From one angle, the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 has to do with the consequences of slothfulness and the rewards of hard work. But there seems to be a subliminal message as well: those who have the most will get more.
In a sense, the Parable of the Talents gives divine cover to those who get more, simply because they have more. It could explain why if people have money to invest, they may give it to Warren Buffett who as an investor has more money than most. It could also explain why some governments will give taxpayer money to corporations because they are “too big to fail,” despite the mishaps and blunders that put them on the brink of failure despite all the money they have. The government is not considering what they did to amass such money...they may have borrowed it, or they may have sacrificed the golden goose for things which don’t have a chance...the government just considers how big they are.
The Parable of the Talents may also have to do with luck and making the most of it. It may also have to do with making use of resources given to you.
What of the Parable of the Talents? A man plans to go on a journey and entrusts to servants his property. To one he gives five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he goes away. The one who had received the five talents goes at once and trades with them, and he make five talents more. The one who received the two talents makes two talents more, doing the same thing as the one with five talents. But the one received the one talent goes and digs in the ground and hides his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants comes and settles accounts with them. He tells the one who got five talents more, “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.” He tells the one who got two talents more, “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.” The one who only received one talent says, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.”
What was he afraid of? Commentators say he was afraid of losing the one talent he had by venturing to invest it and then lose it, lest the wrath of of his master be aroused. Reminds one of the expression “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” but in a sense it also plays to the adage that the less a prudent person has, the less likely he would risk losing it.
Bur how does his master react? He says “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 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.” The master told him to do what a prudent man would also do, which is to the extent he didn’t have much to lose, he should have invested it in something safe. He wouldn’t have gotten as much return on his investment as the others got with theirs, but in putting the one talent in a bank he would have gotten something.
What else does the master say? He says, “So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Sounds like taking from the poor to give to the rich. Isn’t that what some governments do, giving tax credits to the wealthy while taxing the poor in full?
Perhaps there is a divine basis for this Parable. God in Genesis commanded man to be fruitful. Those who become fruitful have fulfilled what God wants from them. The contrast between gain through fruitfulness and gain through sloth can be illustrated by what Cain and Abel each give God as an offering...Whereas Abel offers a sheep from the flock he raised, Cain offers a root from the ground, that he had nothing to do with growing except perhaps to plant the seed. Unlike Abel with his sheep, Cain didn’t give it daily care.
God praises Adam, but He castigates Cain, saying to him in Verse 7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” That is, if he applies himself more, would God not praise him like He did Adam?
Adam made himself more useful; Cain did not. The man with the five talents made himself more useful; the man with one talent did not. Would the man with one talent act as the man with five talents if he had them? Probably not, since the Parable states that each was given according to their ability. The fact that his master has him start out with five times as many talents as the man who had just one, is that not a qualifier in his otherwise Horatio Algiers-like rise, to some extent?
Seems that under God, hard work does pay off, and so does getting a boost!
In a sense, the Parable of the Talents gives divine cover to those who get more, simply because they have more. It could explain why if people have money to invest, they may give it to Warren Buffett who as an investor has more money than most. It could also explain why some governments will give taxpayer money to corporations because they are “too big to fail,” despite the mishaps and blunders that put them on the brink of failure despite all the money they have. The government is not considering what they did to amass such money...they may have borrowed it, or they may have sacrificed the golden goose for things which don’t have a chance...the government just considers how big they are.
The Parable of the Talents may also have to do with luck and making the most of it. It may also have to do with making use of resources given to you.
What of the Parable of the Talents? A man plans to go on a journey and entrusts to servants his property. To one he gives five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he goes away. The one who had received the five talents goes at once and trades with them, and he make five talents more. The one who received the two talents makes two talents more, doing the same thing as the one with five talents. But the one received the one talent goes and digs in the ground and hides his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants comes and settles accounts with them. He tells the one who got five talents more, “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.” He tells the one who got two talents more, “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.” The one who only received one talent says, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.”
What was he afraid of? Commentators say he was afraid of losing the one talent he had by venturing to invest it and then lose it, lest the wrath of of his master be aroused. Reminds one of the expression “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” but in a sense it also plays to the adage that the less a prudent person has, the less likely he would risk losing it.
Bur how does his master react? He says “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 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.” The master told him to do what a prudent man would also do, which is to the extent he didn’t have much to lose, he should have invested it in something safe. He wouldn’t have gotten as much return on his investment as the others got with theirs, but in putting the one talent in a bank he would have gotten something.
What else does the master say? He says, “So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Sounds like taking from the poor to give to the rich. Isn’t that what some governments do, giving tax credits to the wealthy while taxing the poor in full?
Perhaps there is a divine basis for this Parable. God in Genesis commanded man to be fruitful. Those who become fruitful have fulfilled what God wants from them. The contrast between gain through fruitfulness and gain through sloth can be illustrated by what Cain and Abel each give God as an offering...Whereas Abel offers a sheep from the flock he raised, Cain offers a root from the ground, that he had nothing to do with growing except perhaps to plant the seed. Unlike Abel with his sheep, Cain didn’t give it daily care.
God praises Adam, but He castigates Cain, saying to him in Verse 7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” That is, if he applies himself more, would God not praise him like He did Adam?
Adam made himself more useful; Cain did not. The man with the five talents made himself more useful; the man with one talent did not. Would the man with one talent act as the man with five talents if he had them? Probably not, since the Parable states that each was given according to their ability. The fact that his master has him start out with five times as many talents as the man who had just one, is that not a qualifier in his otherwise Horatio Algiers-like rise, to some extent?
Seems that under God, hard work does pay off, and so does getting a boost!
Last edited: