There probably is no passage used more frequently to justify the accumulation of earthly wealth than the Parable of the Talents.
In this parable, found in Matthew 25 and Luke 19, Jesus tells of a master who was going to be taking an extended trip into a foreign country. Before he left, he divided up his money among his servants and told them to invest it wisely until he returned. At his return some time later, these servants were rewarded or punished on the basis of how well they had done in the world of investing.
The logic used is simple. Because a key part of Jesus’ parable is about earthly investing, and because the rewards go to those who have done well at earthly investing, Jesus must therefore approve of earthly investing.
This logic has several problems. First, Jesus frequently uses earthly activities in his parables to teach a spiritual lesson. In Luke 14:31, for instance, He uses the example of going to war to teach a lesson about commitment. Does that mean he approves of us going to war? Or what about building a tower, sowing seed, or putting on a banquet? Does the fact that Jesus uses these activities in His parables prove that He is advocating their practice? Hardly. It is far more reasonable to believe that the earthly activity given in the parable is a type of some corresponding spiritual activity.
Second, does it seem reasonable that Jesus would forbid earthly investing in Matthew 6:19, give warning after warning about earthly riches throughout His teaching, and then turn around and promote earthly investing in one of His parables?
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Many theories have been suggested about what Jesus actually is trying to teach in the parable of the talents. Many teach, as mentioned earlier, that Jesus is giving us a lesson on how to handle earthly wealth. Others say that Jesus is teaching us what to do with our talents or abilities. Still others say that the point of the parable is that we are to be good stewards of our time, or of our children, or of the friends that we have been given.
I remember a group discussion about this parable one Sunday morning. Although no one seemed very sure about its meaning, many ideas were suggested, including some of the aforementioned ideas.
Then I raised my hand and gave my suggestion about the meaning of this parable. Jesus is teaching us that we should be good stewards, I reasoned, but He is not singling out one particular thing such as our money, our time, or our abilities. Rather, He is teaching us to be good stewards of everything we own, including our money, our time, and our abilities. I was pleased with my clever answer, and everyone present also seemed to accept it as satisfactory.
Years later, I began to recognize that although my statement was true (we should be good stewards of all we own), it isn’t at all the point Jesus is making with this parable. This explanation simply doesn’t fit the features of this parable as Jesus tells it.
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The key to understanding any parable is to identify the symbols used in the actual story, and then to ask the question, “What do these symbols typify?”
The primary symbols in this parable are the master, the servants, and the money. I think we all can agree that the master represents Jesus Himself. The servants, then, represent His followers, or us as Christians. (Luke 19:13–14 makes a clear distinction between the servants and the rest of the citizens of that country.)
But what exactly is it that the money represents? If we can answer this question correctly, then we are well on our way to understanding the entire parable. The following are some attributes of the money in Jesus’ parable, so these same attributes ought to be found in whatever it is that the money represents:
• Whatever it is that the money typifies, we know it is something Jesus gave to His followers, and to His followers alone. (The citizens did not receive any of it.)
• Whatever it is that the money typifies, it is something that must be increased during the time that it is in our possession. (Keeping it in its original condition was not at all satisfactory.)
• Whatever it is that the money typifies, it is something that must be returned to Jesus when he comes back for us.
With these characteristics as the criteria, let’s ask again: What does the money typify? Do any of the traditional answers fit, such as our abilities, our time, or our possessions? Not really. First of all, time, abilities, and possessions are given to all men, not just to Christians.
What about the idea of increasing these things? Will we be rewarded on the basis of how much we have increased our earthly wealth? I don’t think so. What about our time? If God gives us 70 years to live, are we supposed to somehow increase that to 80 years? Even if we could, we would still have less time left at the end of our lives than at the beginning, not more. How about our abilities? These can be increased, it is true, but generally those abilities we have gained during our lifetime start to fade away quickly in the last years of life.
When we examine the idea of returning these things to Jesus, the traditional answers don’t fit very well either. None of us will have any time, talents, or money that we can hand over to Christ on judgment day. All these things will be utterly worthless at that point!
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The truth about the meaning of this parable became suddenly obvious to me one day when I read a book that explained what the early Christians believed about its meaning. They did not believe that Jesus is teaching us how to use money, possessions, time, talents, or relationships. Rather, the money in this parable symbolizes nothing more or less than the kingdom of God (or the gospel of the kingdom, or the mysteries of the kingdom).
When I heard this explanation, everything suddenly snapped into place regarding the meaning of this parable. It began to make sense to me in a way that it never had before. The kingdom of God was something that Jesus gave to his disciples, but not to the other residents of this planet. It is something that we are expected to increase during the time that it is in our power to do so. And it is something that we must ultimately return to our Lord Jesus to do with as He pleases.
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Further confirmation that this interpretation is the correct one can be found in the explanatory verse of the parable itself.
For I say unto you, that unto every one which hath shall be given: and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him (Lk. 19:26).
This verse by itself doesn’t provide much clarification until we look at another passage that is a parallel passage to this one.
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath (Mt. 13:12).
So what is this verse talking about? What is this commodity that is being either given or else taken away? Let’s back up one verse to see.
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given (Mt. 13:11).
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It is obvious that the parable of the talents is given to provide us with a very important lesson on the subject of stewardship. But does the Scripture give any more clues that would shed some light on what kind of stewardship it is talking about, what exactly it is that we are to be stewards of? Here is one more passage that seems worth mentioning.
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful (1 Cor. 4:2).
Is this referring primarily to our stewardship of possessions? Or of our time? Or perhaps of our abilities? Again let’s back up a verse and see.
Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. (1 Cor. 4:1).
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