The Parable of the Talents

The disciples ask for signs
In Matthew 24:3, the disciples privately asked Jesus to tell them about the sign of his returning and the end of the age. He told them to expect wars, false prophets, famines, earthquakes, etc. Things that will happen but are not the signs of his imminent return. Then he told them about the abomination that causes desolation standing in the holy place, which is written about in Daniel, and which is the sign of his imminent return. He followed that with the 'parable of the 10 virgins' and the 'parable of the talents', both of which describe what the kingdom of heaven will be like on the day he returns. They include the time between his ascension and his return, showing the reason for what will happen on that day.

A wealthy man is about to go on a journey, but he wants his wealth to increase while he is away. So he splits his money between his servants for them to trade with and increase his wealth by the time he gets back.

Some of his servants do well, but one servant is lazy and does nothing but sit on his master’s money.

When the man returns, he praises and rewards the servants who did well, but he scolds and punishes the one who did nothing.

• The man who is going on a journey represents Jesus.
• The servants represent born-again believers.

• The man’s journey represents Jesus ascending into heaven.
• The time between the man's departure and his return represents the time between Jesus' ascension and his second coming.
• The man's return represents Jesus' second coming.

• Jesus’ disciples being ready at all times for his return.
• What Jesus’ disciples need to be doing in order to be ready for him.
• Not letting the long delay in his return cause laziness.
• Jesus doing his work through his disciples (parable of the Talents).

Note: Where the NIV uses the word ‘wealth’, other bible translations use the words ‘money’, ‘goods’, ‘property’, ‘substance’, and ‘possessions’.

ALL of his wealth to ALL of his servants
The man entrusts ALL of his wealth to ALL of his servants, and he trusts each of them to use it to make a profit for him. The verse doesn't say that he told them to make profits with it, but the verses following his return make it clear that that's what he expected.

ALL of his wealth?
The man departed having “entrusted his wealth” to his servants. He didn't entrust them with part of it. He entrusted them with all of it. If it was only part of his wealth, the parable would say, “some of his wealth” or words to that effect, but it doesn’t. This is important as we’ll see later.

So what was the man's wealth?
Verse 18 tells us that one of the servants dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money. So it was the man’s money that he entrusted to his servants, and not other forms of wealth, such as land.

ALL of his servants?
The parable says that the man “called his servants”. It doesn't say that he called some of his servants, so we have to assume that he called all the servants he had, and that he only had three. That’s important because, if it wasn’t all of his servants then, since the man represents Jesus, it would mean that only some of Jesus’ servants receive his wealth, and the rest are left to do whatever they like. So the man divided his wealth between all of his servants.

What is the wealth that Jesus has entrusted to us?
The man in the parable entrusted his servants with his money. Real money carries the issuing government's power and authority to use it to buy things. If I have lots of money, I have the power and authority to buy anything I want. If I only have a small amount of money, I still have the power and authority to buy stuff, but not so much. The money itself is the power and authority to do it. If you give me a £10 note, you have given me the power and authority buy something I want. If I give it back, I no longer have that power and authority, and I can't buy it.

The wealth that Jesus gave us is his power and authority. That's Jesus' power and authority in this world, not his heavenly power and authority. He hasn't given us that, but we are able to use his power and authority in this world, for his gain. He has entrusted us with it, and he trusts us to use it profitably for him.

He gave us other things too, such as forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life, but those are not things that we can use to make profits for him. We just have them. His power and authority are things that we can actually use to make profits for him. And he expects us to use them.

The wealth that Jesus has given to his disciples is the power and authority to do his works in this world, just like he did when he was here himself. After Jesus ascended into heaven, he didn't stop doing the works that he did when he was here on Earth but, since then, he has been doing his works through his disciples - body the body of Christ. Miracles, healings, deliverances, spreading the good news of the kingdom of God (the gospel), prophesying, forgiving sins, raising the dead, teaching, etc. He still does it all, but, since he ascended into heaven, he’s been doing it through his people. He has entrusted his people with his earthly wealth – that is his authority and power to do his works on his behalf.

When Jesus was on Earth, he called the 12, and then he discipled them. He did it at that time. Since he ascended into heaven, he’s been doing the same things but he’s been doing it through his disciples – the Body of Christ.

When he was here, he preached the kingdom, healed people, cast out demons, raised the dead, performed miracles, prophesied, etc., and since he ascended into heaven, he’s continued to do the very same things but through his disciples – through those who are born-again. Through the Body of Christ.

When he sent out the 12 and the 72, he gave them the power and authority to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons. They forshadowed what was to come.

In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus said to his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”. (NIV). Jesus effectively told his disciples to go and do the same things that he had done with them.

Discipling someone requires someone to disciple. In telling his disciples to “make disciples”, he was telling them to get and disciple people. What he effectively told them was to do was the work that he had been doing with them for a few years. That command has applied to his disciples ever since he gave it, and it still applies today. For us, it’s to evangelise and teach.

By telling the disciples to go and make disciples, he gave them the authority to do it.

When the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost, he gave them the power to do it.

That’s the wealth that Jesus has given us, his people. It still applies today, every bit as much as when he first gave it to the disciples, and he trusts us to use his wealth profitably for him. We have his authority and power to do what he told the disciples to do when he was here on Earth. We are so wealthy!

He gave us other free gifts like forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life, but those are free gifts that we just have. His authority and power are free gifts that we can, and should, actually use to do his work here on Earth.

But we are not on our own. We can't do it on our own. Jesus is with us, as he told the disciples right after giving them the command - “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV).

The New Testament is a new system
The new testament is not just a change of covenant. It is a change in the way that God works here on Earth. In the old testament, God chose a nation to be his people, and he dealt with them as a nation. He communicated with them through a few individuals. In the new testament, he chooses individuals to be his people, and he communicates with each of them individually. Jesus set up the new system when he came.

Because he is no longer here in the flesh, he doesn’t usually go out and call people any more, although it is known to happen. He no longer preaches the good news of the kingdom of God like he did when he was here. The system that he set up by his life, death, resurrection, and ascension is his people taking his physical place on the Earth, and doing what he did when he was here. We can’t do it without him, of course, and he is always with us to move in people’s hearts when we continue his works here on Earth.

It’s like a business. The owner has employees to do the work and make the profits for him. The man who went on a journey was like a business owner. His servants were his employees, and he relied on them to work and make profits for him. Like that man, Jesus relies on us, his servants, to do his work and make profits for him. Jesus is the business owner and we, his people, are the employees. Unless his people do his work, he won’t usually make any profits. That’s the system that Jesus set up by coming to Earth, calling and training disciples, and giving them the authority and power to continue his work.

So what are the profits?
God's sole purpose in creating creation was to bring a people together as a bride for his son, to live with him eternally. That purpose has not changed one bit. It is still ongoing and it will continue until it is completed. The only reason why this world still exists as it does is because that purpose is not yet complete. It is still ongoing. He is still bringing people into the Body of Christ for that one purpose, and he uses us, his people, to do it.

That's the profit. Bringing people into the Body of Christ is the profit. Rescuing lost souls is the profit. And he has entrusted us with his power and authority (his wealth) to do it.

Many ways to be involved.
There are many ways that he uses us in that work. Obviously evangelism is a main one, but there are many more. Everything that helps to build the church upwards (spiritually) and outwards into the harvest fields are all parts of bringing to fruition his very purpose for this creation. And he uses each of us, personally, to do it. He is the head and we are his body (his voice, hands and feet) in this world to bring about the very reason why he created creation itself.

Talent (Greek talanton)

Most commentaries say that a ‘talent’ was a measure of weight like our ounces and pounds, or a measure of size/volume. Whatever it is, it is a measure, and nothing to do with the English ‘ability’ meaning of the word, although the English word ‘talent’ was derived from this parable.

Different servants, different amounts
The man didn't give every servant the same amount of his wealth. He gave different amounts to each of them according to their abilities. He knew his servants, he knew what they were capable of, and he entrusted each of them with an amount of his wealth that was suitable for him.

In the same way, Jesus knows each of us individually, and he knows what each of us is capable of. Our capabilities can be affected by things like whether or not we are bringing up children, whether or not we have plenty of free time, whether or not God has endowed us with a surplus of money, whether or not we are relatively new Christians, whether or not we have grown sufficiently in Him, whether we are shy or outgoing, etc. Each of us is different, and he entrusts each of us with the amount of his wealth that we are capable of using profitably for him.

Of course he does give us abilities when he wants us to use them - when we are capable of using them. It is very unlikely that he would anoint someone as an evangelist when the person is bringing up 2 or 3 small children with another on the way, but he would give someone the ability to preach and evangelise when life doesn't have anything to restrict it. He also fixes things that might impair a person from doing what he wants. Smith Wigglesworth had some sort of impaired speech, but God fixed it so that he preached and evangelised all over the world, with great signs and wonders following. He sometimes calls people to leave jobs, move to other places, and such, when their circumstances are able do those things, and he creates circumstances and opens doors for people to do his works.

Like the man in the parable, Jesus entrusts his work to his servants according to their abilities. He opens the ways for people, arranges circumstances, and instils in people the abilities they'll need. It all relies on a person being willing to use the wealth that he has entrusted them with.

Right now, every born-again believer has some of the Lord's wealth that he has entrusted to them to use for his purpose. Some are big 5-talent things, some are small 1-talent things, and some are in between, but everyone has some of Jesus’ wealth that he trusts us to be using for him right now - today.

Big and small works are ALL profitable!
There are big jobs and small jobs. Some of the bigger ones are things like evangelists, pastors, teachers, prophets, etc., and some of the smaller ones are things like encouraging, providing what’s needed, and supporting in many ways. In a selling business, salesmen are the frontline jobs, and book-keepers, storemen/women, cleaners, etc. are supporting jobs. The Body of Christ is a lot like that.

Some jobs in Christ are on the front line and some are supporting roles, but all of them are profitable in the winning of souls for Jesus. All of them work together to turn a profit on the wealth that he has entrusted us with.

At the end of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that all authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to him so go and make disciples. His authority on Earth, with the power of the Holy Spirit, is the ‘wealth’ that he has entrusted us with. And he trusts us to use it to win those who are lost. He may put us on the front line or he may have us supporting the front line. Wherever he puts us, he has given each of us the measure of his wealth that we need to do what he asks of us.

Each of us can know what he has given us his wealth for
The servants in the parable knew what to do with the wealth that they had been entrusted with. Jesus has given every one of us his wealth (power and authority) to use in this world for his gain, and every one of us can know what it is that he wants us to be doing today. He doesn't ask most of us to do the work of major ministries like teaching, pastoring, evangelising, healing, working miracles, etc. Some will be asked to do those things, but he asks many of us to do the smaller things such as various helps, bringing up children (that's huge anyway), praying, studying His word, growing in Him, encouraging, sharing what he as given us (time, money, shelter, encouragement, etc.), or even making the tea for the Sunday services.

God the Holy Spirit, who lives within each one of us, witnesses to us what he wants us to be doing. For instance, we all know that we ought to pray often because his word tells us to pray – “When you pray…” (Matthew 6:5), not if you pray. And we know that we should be reading his word frequently. He guides us through his spirit, especially if we truly submit ourselves completely to him. If he wants us to move into a significant ministry, he will lead us into it.

In a recent gathering, someone asked how to know if what he was thinking of doing is a prompting by the Holy Spirit or just his own mind. Isaiah 30:21 says, Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it”. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with changes. The Lord often wants us to make changes. But if the change is not of the Lord, the Spirit will prompt us. If we don’t move away from his will for us, we won’t be prompted. If we have an inclination to do something for the Lord, and the Holy Spirit does not witness to us not to do it, then it’s good to do it. The Holy Spirit will let us know if a change is not God’s will.

Paul was intending to visit certain towns in Asia, but several times the Spirit prevented him from going. It was the Holy Spirit who prompted Paul. Perhaps something just didn’t feel quite right about the trips. In the end, the Holy Spirit gave him a dream, which sent him to Macedonia instead. Paul was sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He heard that voice. Prior to that, the Lord had sent Paul to preach the gospel and, as far as we know, he just went where he thought it would be good to go. No doubt he committed each step to the Lord, and just kept going. The Spirit, that voice, didn't intervene until the Lord wanted Paul to do something that he hadn't intended to do. Paul didn't intend making any changes to what he was doing. From his point of view, he wasn't turning to the right or to the left. It was the Lord who wanted him to change direction. If Paul had continued straight ahead, he would have moved away from God's plan.

We need to be ever sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit within. If we commit our intentions to the Lord, he will let us know if he doesn’t want us to do whatever it is. If he doesn’t let us know, then it’s good to do it.

Whatever the Lord has given us to do, we must be doing it to the best of our ability. After all, we are doing it for Him! Whether it is just learning and growing, reaching out in various ways, or helping in various ways, we must do it, and be doing it, when the Lord returns, or when we depart this world. We must ensure that we are ready, by doing God’s will at all times.

Our lives on this Earth are not the natural life with Christianity tacked on. I think a lot of people live like that. The lives of born-again believers are the other way round - living sacrifices for Jesus, with what’s needed in our natural lives tacked on. The priority in our lives must be Jesus. Being a disciple is not merely an add-on to the natural life in this world.

Jesus has entrusted each of us with a portion of his wealth - with a portion of his power and authority - so that we can be doing whatever it is that he is trusting us to do. He trusts some to reach out to those who are lost. He trusts others us to minister within the kingdom. And sometimes he trust us to do both.

He has given each of us things to be doing for him today, and he has given each of us his wealth – his power and authority - to do them. He trusts each of us to use what he has given us to the best of our abilities. Our lives are primarily about doing God’s will. Everything else in life is secondary.

Matthew 9:35 largely encapsulates what Jesus did while he was here on Earth. It says, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness”. Then he sent the out 12, and the 72, to do the same, except teach in the synagogues. In the same way, Jesus has entrusted us with his power and authority, his ‘wealth’, to do the same. Whether on the front lines or behind the scenes, he expects each of us to be using the wealth he has entrusted to us.

On this topic, Spurgeon wrote, “If we cannot trade directly and personally on our Lord's account, if we have not the skill nor the tact to manage a society or an enterprise for him, we may at least contribute to what others are doing, and join our capital to theirs, so that, by some means, our Master may have the interest to which he is entitled.”

• Jesus has entrusted each of us with a measure of his power and authority – his wealth on Earth.
• He trusts us to use it profitably for his gain.
• Each one of us ought to make sure that we know what he has trusted us to be doing for him today – and be doing it.

While the man was away, two of his servants did very well with his money, but one of them didn't even try. Instead he buried it in the ground so that he wouldn't lose any of it.

On his return, the master found that two of his servants had traded well and doubled his money for him, but one had been lazy and hadn't done anything at all with the money. The master commended the first two for making profits. He told them that he would set them over much, and he told them to enter into his happiness. But he scolded the other one, calling him wicked and lazy. And he ordered that servant's money be given to one of the others. Then he ordered that the servant be cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's not a good outcome for the guy’s laziness!

Servants part of the same group
The three servants were all part of the same group – the master's servants. The master knew them all, and they all knew him. And, when he returned, the master had one of the group thrown into outer darkness because he hadn't done what he should have done. As a group, they had made a good profit. The master gave them 8 talents of money in total, and he received 15 talents of money back. But he didn't judge by what the group had done as a whole. He judged each servant only by what the servant himself had done.

The consequences of a servant knowing the master, but not doing what the master wanted, were drastically different. Doing the master’s bidding resulted in a servant entering into the master’s happiness, but not doing the master’s bidding resulted in the servant being cast into outer darkness. That’s quite a difference!

Born-again believers are all part of the same group - the Body of Christ. We know the master, Jesus, like all the servants knew their master and, like the master's servants, we know that Jesus expects us to live according to his will. When he returns, or when we depart this mortal coil, we need to ensure that we are not seen in the same light as the lazy servant - because it can happen!

On that day, Jesus won't be heard saying, “Which group were you a part of? Ah yes, the Light Church in Bradford. That church did very well for me, so enter into my happiness thou good and faithful servant.” He won't be saying things like that at all. He won't be judging according to what the church or group we were associated with did. He will only judge by what each of us did personally with the wealth he entrusted to us.

James 2:14-26 talks abut faith and works. In verse 17 God tells us that “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” and in verse 26, “faith apart from works is dead”. All of the servants had faith in their master. They all knew him personally, and they knew that he would return. But one of them thought he’d be ok if he didn’t do what was asked of him, because he could still return the money, and his master wouldn’t have lost anything. He was wrong.

Faith is given to us by God. We believe in him because he gave us faith to believe in him, and not because we created our own faith. We can’t make ourselves have faith that saves. We can believe something intellectually, and have faith in that intellectual belief, but that’s not the faith that God gives us. The faith that we have is within us, within our spirits. It is God-given. And yet he tells us that faith by itself is dead. And because God has given faith to each of us, we each need to ensure that we use the wealth that he has entrusted to us to do his works here on Earth. The lazy servant only discovered that when it was too late.

That's what this parable is about. God has given each of us the means (his wealth; his authority and power) to serve him well. And it warns us to take care that we are true servants of his, who actually serve him by doing what he wants us to do. It warns us to be ready for him, whenever he returns. And it warns us not to be like the lazy servant. He was in the right place at the right time, but he hadn't done what was required of him. We need to ensure that we don’t just sit on the wealth we have received, like the lazy servant did. He wasn’t ready when the master came back, and he suffered to consequences. When the master returned, it was too late do anything. The same thing happened to some of virgins in the 'parable of the virgins' (Matthew 25:1-13). They weren't ready when the bridegroom appeared, and they suffered the consequences. Both parables teach us that, when Jesus returns, it will be too late for us to start to get things right if we have spent our lives being lazy and not doing God's will.

God's purpose
God has no other purpose for this entire creation than to bring a people to himself for eternity – a bride for his son. That's the only reason why he created this creation, and it is the only reason why we and the world still exist right now. That purpose hasn't changed one bit. Everything we have is given by God for that one purpose - clothing, finance, food, work, possessions, life itself. It is all for that single purpose. He gives us everything we need to be a part of that purpose.

Because of that, we are hugely blessed that he involves us in the work of bringing his purpose to fruition. He could have made it so that he brings us into his kingdom, and we just sit around waiting for his return, or for the call. But he chose to fulfil his purpose by involving us in bringing it about. And that’s a huge! Wow!

Jesus said that he was doing his father’s work. Since his ascension, so are we! He actually involves us in bringing about his sole purpose for creation! And because he chose to do it this way, he actually needs us be doing it.

Individually, he has a purpose for every member of the body of Christ, and each of us ought to know what it is. If we don't already know, we can find out by prayerfully asking him, while considering what we have within us, our circumstances, what he has given us, etc. He has entrusted each of us with a part of his wealth (authority and power), and he trusts us to use it as he intends. He trusts each of us to live according to the purpose he has for us individually – according to the path that he has unfolded for each one of us.

To repeat Spurgeon, “If we cannot trade directly and personally on our Lord's account, if we have not the skill nor the tact to manage a society or an enterprise for him, we may at least contribute to what others are doing, and join our capital to theirs, so that, by some means, our Master may have the interest to which he is entitled.”

We may be members of a great church that evangelises, grows, and does great works, but we won't be judged by what our church did. We will be judged by what we did as individuals, according to how we used the wealth that the Lord has entrusted each of us with. If we are not called to be on the front line and “trade directly”, as Spurgeon put it, then we ought to provide all kinds of helps to those who are, thereby using the ‘wealth’ that we have to make a profit for the Lord in the furtherance of his purpose.

Cells and Saints

• All cells in the body perform the function they are created for.
• All saints in the Body of Christ have a function that the Lord wants them to be doing.

• There are no spare cells in the body, waiting to be given something to do.
• There are no spare saints in the Body of Christ waiting for something that the Lord wants them to do.

• A cell that isn't performing diminishes the function of the body as a whole, even though most of the body is unaware of it.
• A saint that isn't doing what the Lord wants them to be doing diminishes the function of the Body of Christ even though most of the Body of Christ is unaware of it.

• A cell can go bad and affect others around it, sometimes resulting is something really bad like cancer.
• A saint can come up with some false teaching and affect other saints around, sometimes resulting in major false teachings leading people astray.

Just as each cell in the human body has a function to perform, everyone who is born again has a function, or functions, to perform. And just like there are no spare cells in the human body, waiting for something to do, there are no spare saints in the Body of Christ waiting for something to do. Everyone of us can be doing what the Lord has given us to do – right now.

If we know that he will be coming back next week, then we would undoubtedly get busy turning his wealth into profits for him as much as we can in the short time that’s left. That's what the five virgins tried when they heard that the bridegroom was coming. It didn't work for them. But if we think it will be a long time before he returns, we may be tempted to take it easy and not do much at all with what he has entrusted to us. He will not be pleased if we only get to it when we discover that there are only a few days left. We will be rewarded according to what we do for him during our born-again lives.

The man’s servants knew what the master required of them. Two of them did what was asked, and they were greatly rewarded, but the lazy servant didn’t do anything except sit on his master’s money. He was given the authority and power to do what was required, but he chose not to do it. Instead, he came up with a lame excuse which didn't wash with his master, and he paid the price.

So let each of us prayerfully seek to know and understand what the Lord is trusting us to do for him – today. And let each of us prayerfully strive to be a trustworthy servant, and make good use of the wealth that he has entrusted to us. Amen