Parable of the Pounds: Talented?

I sometimes wonder whether we are so used to common interpretations of some parables that we no longer read them properly. We think we know what this means, therefore we miss other, possibly deeper, meanings. Take the Parable of the Talents, for example. It is easy to see this as about our talents, and how we do (or don’t) use them, and I’m not saying it’s not there. But I think there is more to it than that.

Found in Matthew 25:14 -30 and, slightly differently, in Luke 19:11-27, it is worth taking the time to read both versions properly. To start with, what is it that the servants receive from their master? Yes, we know it is money (talents in Matthew, pounds in Luke), but, importantly, it seems to remain his property. Matthew says that the master entrusted his property to his servants, in differing amounts, related to their ability. In Luke the nobleman gives ten of his servants a pound and tells them to trade with them until he comes. A note in my bible says that the word translated by pound was about 3 months wages for a labourer, so a substantial sum of money; the talent was worth more. The response of the servants is important, but so is the relationship between master and servant.

In both parables the master is trusting the servants with some of his property in his absence. In Luke, they are specifically told to trade with it, in Matthew, he entrusts his property to them, but with no specific orders. In both parables, the servants, except for the last one, trade with the money, making more. They prove themselves worthy of their master’s trust in them, and in Luke also prove themselves obedient servants. Whatever the relationship between master and servant was, and we are not told the details, it is one that is strengthened by this. The master has trusted his servants, and they have repaid that trust.

The last servant in both parables responds differently, and in Luke’s he is disobedient to his master’s orders. Matthew says that he hid the money in the ground and, on his master’s return, gives it back, saying that he knew his master was a hard man, and he was afraid. In Luke, it is the same story, except that he has kept it wrapped in cloth. In both parables, there is a similar answer: you wicked servant! The suggestion that the money could have been put in the bank to earn interest is not one that seems to have occurred to the servant. Both parables speak to a lack of trust between this servant and the master. The suggestion that the master is a hard man, reaping where he does not sow, comes from the servant directly; we have no evidence as to the truth of the matter. But, if the master was a hard person, that does not seem to have affected the ability of the other servants entrusted with the money. In both parables, the money is taken from him and given to the one who has 5 talents. The conclusion (Matthew 25:29 and Luke 19:26) is the same in both gospels. Those who have will be given more.

It is also important to note why Jesus told these parables. We may no longer have the original context, but we do have the context they are situated within in both gospels. Both Matthew and Luke tell this parable towards the end of their gospels: Matthew in a series of three parables about the kingdom, after Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem, and Luke just before the triumphal entry. It is as tensions are rising, and expectations about what would happen, what Jesus would do, are becoming more intense. In Luke, Jesus tells the parable precisely because people were anticipating the kingdom arriving immediately. So I think part of the meaning of this parable is to change those expectations. The meaning behind this parable in both gospels is linked very much to the coming of the kingdom.

But how does all this affect us? We know the kingdom is not coming immediately, and we know that this parable encourages us to use our talents for the spread of the kingdom. But look deeper. It is easy to view our gifts as just that: ours. What would change if we were to realise that these gifts were given to us by God? That our talents, our very selves, are not our own, but God’s? That the core of who we are and what we do is dependent on that relationship between us and God, just as it is between the servants and their master? If we find ourselves identifying with the third servant, who was afraid, that is no bad thing. To recognise our fear, to realise that how we see God may not be entirely accurate, is to be in a place where we can move forward in our journey. To be scared that all we have achieved might be taken from us can change once we recognise that it is not our achievements that matter, but God’s. We can see this as a threat: make sure you use your talents, or you’ll lose everything. Or we can see it as a promise, and a warning: all we have has been given by God, for the spread of the kingdom. That if we have we will be given more, not of material wealth, but of the treasure of heaven … which is, after all, God’s.