Talents and the Kingdom Economy

Parables are meant to provoke discussion, to be perplexing, to stir up questions and ideas. This week’s parable, the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30) hits all the marks¹.

As we start, remember the parable’s location in the gospel of Matthew. It is still the week between when Jesus enters Jerusalem and his trial, crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus is speaking to his disciples, not to the crowds and not to the Jerusalem elites.

The parable begins conventionally enough. A man is going on a journey and he summons his slaves to give them instructions and in this case money, talents² We and the disciples and Matthew’s audience have heard other parables that began similarly, so we think we know what’s going on. The master is Jesus or God and the slaves are Jesus’ or God’s followers. The slaves are given money proportionate to their ability. What “ability” is important to the master? Two of the slaves make shrewd investments and double their master’s money. The third buried the money, which was evidently a reasonable action in those days. The master returns and the two slaves who doubled their money are praised. Now we wonder, what is the third slave going to say and how will the master respond?

This is where the parable begins to get weird. The slave says, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” This does not sound like he is describing either Jesus or God. If everything in the earth belongs to God, how can God reap or gather something that is not theirs? Nowhere in the gospels does anyone call Jesus “harsh”. He is accused of all sorts of things, but “harsh” isn’t one of them.

So now the audience might be wondering, how is the master going to respond? It was not very long ago, this same week, Jesus said “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matt 22:21). Maybe he will expand upon that teaching. Earlier in the gospel, Jesus told the disciples to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt 10:16), does that apply here?

Instead the master confirms what the third slave said, “But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest.”

Then it gets even more confusing, as the master says, “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” That sounds familiar and it is. In Matt 13:12 Jesus says, “For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”

What is going on? This doesn’t sound like what Jesus taught just before he came into Jerusalem³. Remember the parable about the king who forgave the slaves debt? Or the parable of the laborers in the vineyard.

If you read some commentaries you will get a variety of suggestions about how to understand this parable. Some think the parable simply mirrors the values of the time and we should mostly set that aside and focus on the dominant message of using our efforts for the kingdom of God. ⁴ Some say that most, if not all of Jesus’ parables function as prophetic statements about the nation of Israel’s fate if they do not repent⁵. Others see this parable as an “allegory of the parousia” that refuses to be tidily categorized.⁶

I’m going to respectfully disagree with them. I think the surrounding parables give us the key to understanding this one. Remember, Jesus is talking to his disciples and he is talking about life after he is no longer on earth. Just before these parables in chapter 24, Jesus tells the disciples that no one will know when he will return. Then he tells these parables. The sequence of parable begins in 24:45-51 with a parable about wise and wicked slaves. One who takes proper care of the household and one who behaves badly. This is a fairly straightforward parable.

Next is the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids. This parable is a little weird. The parable, while set in a familiar social event, describes a particular event that is odd. No bride, delayed bridegroom, bridesmaids that don’t share, midnight shopping trips. The parable seems to be urging us to take proper care, to be ready for Jesus return, to be wise even in odd circumstances. Both parables have a message of using what we have wisely. Then we have this parable.

I think the master in this parable is not Jesus or God. I think this parable is about the imperial economic system where masters actually do take what is not theirs. In this system masters have the capacity, the wealth to use the system to make more money. What’s more they don’t have to do the work themselves, they can delegate it and go off somewhere. (And what is he doing while he’s gone? Visiting his other properties? On a trip? Relaxing somewhere? Hanging out with other elites?) The money given to the slaves is a lot of money. Seventy five, thirty and fifteen years of wages respectively. When he returns the master gets the equivalent of 150 and 60 years of wages from the first two slaves. Those who have, benefit from the system. They know how to “leverage their assets”. In this society, keeping what you have safe is for the lazy and losers.

Right before he is thrown into the “outer darkness” the third slave has his talent taken away and given to the first slave. “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” The rich get richer… But wait? That sounds familiar.

In Matthew 13:12 when Jesus says, “For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” This statement is made to the disciples in the context of understanding parables. Some, the disciples, have been given the ability to understand “the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.” Others have not. See what Jesus did here?

This parable is a caution. What are we supposed to have an abundance of? Money or Wisdom? Those with the eyes to see and ears to hear will be able to recognize the unfair and oppressive imperial economic system. Yes we need to wisely use our abilities for the kingdom of God. And also, we don’t want to be sucked into the lucrative but soul crushing economy of the empire. Do we have the courage of the third slave to resist participation in a corrupt system? If “wise” investing, good stewardship isn’t faithful use of our resources, what is?

Jesus surprising answer is the topic of the next parable. Stay tuned.

1. There is a similar parable found in Luke 19:12-27, the parable of the pounds so you may wish to read the parable of the Talents to refresh your memory. ↩︎
2. Talents are a type of coin, worth about 15 years of wages for a laborer. M. Eugene Boring, “The Gospel of Matthew” in The New Interpreter’s Bible, volume VIII, Abingdon Press, p 453 ↩︎
3. Matthew 18-20 ↩︎
4. Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading, Warren Carter. Orbis Books, p 487 ↩︎
5. This refers to the nation of Israel at the time of Jesus, and is not a condemnation of the nation of Israel at other times. Jesus and the Victory of God, N.T. Wright, Fortress Press, p184-5, 328,632. ↩︎
6. Boring, 453. ↩︎