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Parable of Talents

In Matt.25: 14-30, Jesus told a parable about the talents to be used in His vineyard. A man traveling to a far country called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. He gave five talents to one, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey. But he who had received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. Similarly, he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one talent went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time, the lord of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. To those who had gained five more talents and two more talents respectively, he told them, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord”.

He who had received the one talent, came and said, “Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine”.

His lord told him, “Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Though oughtest, therefore, to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury”.

This parable teaches us a very important lesson. Talent means an ancient unit of weight and of money. The Lord has delivered His goods to the members of His body. He then gives “talents” to them, according to their own ability, for trading. The Lord has entrusted His goods to the members of His body because He trusts them. All His goods belong to them because He is the Lord of the earth also. Secondly, He gives them, according to their ability, His talents. He does not distribute the talents in an equitable manner amongst His servants. He chooses to give more talents to some people, and to give lesser talents to some other people.

Talent means “material prosperity”. We are all His ministers/servants. The Lord has given us His talents, according to our own ability. He wants all of us to trade with His talents. After accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, all our material possessions belong to Him only, and we are supposed to use the same for the extension of His Kingdom on earth. Moreover, He has blessed some of us with more wealth or money after accepting Him.

Those ministers to whom He has given five talents are required to use the given material prosperity to bring in equal or more material prosperity for His body, and not lesser than the standard measurement fixed by Him. The talents and the additional talents are for His body only, and for us. If God has materially prospered you, you have to make use of your wealth for His body. In case any of His servants has misappropriated His talents, the Lord will judge them. They have to return the talents along with the equal quantity of additional talents.

Now His sword falls on those who are given “the one talent”. Nobody can have any excuse that he/she does not have any talent at all. There are great multitudes in the body of Christ who fall under this category. “The one talent” means such amount of wealth or money, which, if compared to those with five and two talents, would be lesser in quantity. It cannot be measured by human standards but by divine standards.

The person who has got the lone talent cannot tell God that God has not given him that talent. The person who has received the lone talent cannot take the plea before the Lord that he could not make use of it because he had received lesser than the other two persons.

What is wrong with the person who has received the lone talent? Jesus calls him, “Thou wicked and slothful servant”. He/she is in fact a shirker in the body of Christ. There are many who do not want to labor in the vineyard of God today with the lone talent saying that they have received only one talent. They have dug in the ground and buried the lone talent. They could have given the lone talent for some mission field or Christian organization if they do not want to get themselves involved in evangelical work.

If you use the lone talent for His vineyard, the Lord will definitely get the return in the form of that lone talent. In other words, your money or wealth used for His vineyard will bring about due blessings upon His body. As you minister to the servants of God who are directly involved in various ministries through the one talent, the servants of God concerned will get equipped to labor in His vineyard. The administration of this service, not only supplies the needs of the saints but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God (2 Cor.9: 12).

The judgment on the person who had received the one talent and who could not deliver the additional one talent is very terrible. The Lord does not expect more talents in return for the lone talent. The Lord will not only take away the lone talent from the unprofitable servant and give the same to another who has ten talents but will also order him to be cast into “the outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. Many people, on the second advent of Jesus, will lose their reward of ruling with Him but will find themselves in a place called “outer darkness”.

Majority of us must have “the one talent” given by our Lord. We are born-again Christians, filled with His Spirit. What about the one talent given to us by our Lord? Now the Lord Who had gone to a far country is about to come. By not making use of the lone talent, we should not find ourselves in “outer darkness”. This parable is a warning to us!

- Job Anbalagan