The Parable of the Talents
Excerpt
Jesus illustrates the nature of the kingdom of heaven once again with a story about a master with good and bad servants (Matthew 25:14). Again, the master goes away for a while and then returns (Matthew 25:15, Matthew 25:19). In this parable the servants are given money to invest wisely. On “talents” see comments under Matthew 18:24. The NIV margin suggests somewhat too small a sum. If one talent equaled sixty denarii, a conservative estimate since the denarius was an average minimum daily wage, then at the current (1991) American average five-dollar minimum wage for an eight-hour workday, the talent would be at least equivalent to $2400 (and it might have been much more—see comments under Matthew 18:23–35). Not all servants are given the same amount, since each has different capabilities and gifts. F. D. Bruner comments, “In the kingdom of Christ not all are created equal.” Nor is everyone expected to perform at the same level of competence, but all are expected to do their best as faithful stewards. The first two servants go to work at once, and each earns a hundred-percent yield on his investments (Matthew 25:16–17). The servant given only one talent makes no investment at all, though he does safeguard the money for his master’s return (Matthew 25:18; cf. b. B. Meṣ. 42a). He has no chance of making any profit but, unlike the others, risks no loss. Yet as the unfolding story will demonstrate, to make no commitments on religious matters is really to make a damning commitment by default. More
Blomberg, Craig. Matthew. Vol. 22. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992. Print. The New American Commentary
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