PARABLES - the Ten Talents

A MAN went into a far country and left his servants with a task, to make good use of his money. This parable isn’t about money. Though money, or the word used by the King James Version, “talents”, is the object the three servants are given, several things tell us it is symbolic of a greater ideal. One, Jesus is talking to His disciples, so this is an instruction to them. Two, He is facing the cross, so the instruction is pertinent to what’s happening.

There are also the consequences mentioned at the end of the parable. In Matthew 25 where it is told, verse 30, the last verse, Jesus says, “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Now, does that sound like how God would act about us and money? He isn’t concerned about money but had already promised those listening to Jesus in what is called the Beatitudes, Matthew 5 through 7, that the Father knows our needs and will provide them. Matthew 6:32. A being, human or supernatural, is only cast into “outer darkness” for unrepentant sin. Our Father in heaven is merciful. So this verse also tells us money is not the meaning.

We must also look toward several other things Jesus said because He is consistent. In the parable of the seed and the Sower, the seed does not represent money. I spoke of this at length on the blog. It is revelation, of the Father, of the Word. The terms thirty, sixty, and one hundredfold are symbols of Jesus as the Sacrifice, something the Pharisee sect refused to believe. They are not the multiplication of the return of giving, as some say. Neither is the often-quoted verse, Luke 6:38: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.” The previous verse, verse 37, talks about giving judgment as does the parable which follows it. This verse is, instead, the apostle James’ words in James 2:13. If we sow judgment, we reap judgment. Now, ask yourself: Where did the apostle James learn this from? He got it from Jesus.

Jesus’ words about money (everything He said was the Father’s words), don’t even include the tithe. Now, I hear the brakes squealing, but tithing ten percent of your income is an Old Covenant Law requirement picturing God’s tithe, which is Jesus. Jesus is the tithe and He fulfilled the tithe.

Having said all that, I am not telling you not to give and support church ministries, and ten percent is a great starting point, but if you can only give five percent or two percent, there is no judgment. God’s words about money are, once more, Matthew 6:32 and also Philippians 4:19. God promises that He knows our needs, and when we rely on Him, He will take care of us.

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

This devotional isn’t to talk about money or giving. Please be generous givers, as that is God’s heart. He gives and gives and gives to us. But returning to the parable of the talents, we must see the answer to its interpretation is in the verses which follow it. In Matthew 25:31, after Jesus proclaims the unprofitable servant will be cast into outer darkness, He goes on to talk about judgment of sin, specifically saying Satan and his angels. He then makes the statement that what they were given, they wasted. Instead of taking care of man, as they were created to do, they insulted Him, their Creator, by leaving men naked, hungry, and homeless. Worse, by killing them.

“Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” (Matthew 25:44-46)

He took our injuries personally and died to save us. This is Jesus’ (the Father’s) point. Jesus had come to die for our sacred honor.

Who is the one wicked servant who buried his money and called his master a hard man? (Matthew 25:24-26) Who is he who Jesus wanted His disciples to not become? The wicked servant saw Jesus in the wrong light and betrayed Him. He left Him naked and destitute so that He would die.

All of God’s Word should be seen in the light of His compassion. Where we read judgment, we need to reassess, because that is never God’s purpose. One woman, in a vision, spoke of Jesus and what we have titled “Judgment Day” as the worst days for Him. Because there, He will have to do what He does not want to do. He cried out in the Garden, not to escape death, although there was great pressure in those moments. He cried out, not because His Father abandoned Him. No, Jesus said, “My Father is with me (John 16:32).” He cried out for Judas.

“Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” (John 16:32)

Judas has been pictured by modern men with various intents, various reasons for His betrayal, but we see here in this parable how truly wicked he was. We see the betrayal of created beings, who chose sin over Truth. And we see in the telling of it, what Jesus gazed at in that moment. Who He gazed at. And what behavior He wanted those who followed Him to avoid. James 2 follows along these thoughts, in verse 13, saying mercy is superior. It is God’s way, and it should be ours. That is what the disciples were meant to learn, including Judas, and also, that they would have these words as revelation after He’d risen from the dead. Because they knew Judas, too, and Jesus’ heart for him would become theirs.

We are not in the church fighting people, neither the saved nor the unsaved. We are not warring over doctrine nor principles but continually growing and maturing in the stature of God. Within us is the Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from death and seated Him as King of Kings with the Father who is Greater than all. We must stand in compassion with Them. For God’s heart is ours or we’re no better than the one who buried the gift of the master in the soil and thought Him hard.

“For judgment without mercy—and I’m talking about judgment without a single hint of mercy—will be given to the one who shows no mercy. This judgment will be given to the one who didn’t give his best effort to show merciful compassion and help to the one who needed it. But there’s a far superior way to go—and that is s howing merciful compassion, which is ‘heads above’ and exults over showing judgment.” (James 2:13, Renner Interpretive Version)


----------
Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com