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"For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"
- Matthew 24:14-30
We are continuing the readings that cover Jesus' discourse to His disciples on both the destruction of Jerusalem that is to come (including the desolation of the temple), and on His second coming. These readings began on Thursday (see also Friday and Saturday's readings). In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued teaching in parables: "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" My study bible tells us that today's parable is an illustration regarding the use of gifts given by God. Even one talent was a great sum of money. Here, my study bible notes, ". . . it represents the goodness God has bestowed on each person. The amount each receives is based on that person's abilities (Romans 12:4-7). God does not show partiality in the ultimate reward, for all are invited to share the same joy (vv. 21, 23). The wicked and lazy servant (v. 26) could not evade responsibility for ignoring his talent, for idleness is as much a rejection of God as outright wickedness. Burying the talent in the ground (v. 18) is an illustration of using one's God-given gifts for earthly pursuits. The bankers (v. 27) represent other faithful people to whom the man could have turned to help him use his talents wisely. Since help was available to him in the Church, the man has no excuse."
Looking at some ancient commentaries, we can find interesting notes of interpretation of this parable. Origen, among others, teaches that the man who buries his talent in the ground says of his lord, "I knew you to be a hard man." Reading this quite quickly, we might assume the lord to agree. But if we look closely at the text, the lord only agrees "that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed." He does not agree that he's a "hard man." In other words, there's a parallel to Christ and those who serve Him; this lord in the parable receives all who have done work for him -- and yet it is such a full joy that he returns to them that they are recompensed incomparably beyond their individual profits when they "enter into the joy of your lord." It is, on the contrary, the one who sees the master as "hard" -- who views him with fear -- who fails to do anything but bury the talent in the ground. In another commentary on this passage, Cyril of Alexandria writes, "Surely those who are bound by fear and laziness will end up in the worst evils" (Fragment 283). Origen and others believe these talents to resemble our capacity to teach others, to spread the word, or to "sow in the Spirit." That is, whatever is sown in righteousness and reaped for eternal life, all that is "scattered and given to the poor" (Origen quotes from the Psalms as does St. Paul to make a similar point: see 2 Corinthians 9:9 and Psalm 112:9). All things "sown" in this way -- such "the word" given to those who are poor in many ways more than purely material -- are reaped by God. Origin says, "Reaping what he has not sown and gathering where he has not winnowed, he counts as having been done to himself whatever the faithful have sown or winnowed for the poor" . . . or "have done good to their neighbors" (Commentary on Matthew 68). So, all this comes down to the question of how we view our "talents" -- whatever they may be -- and how we sow so that the Master reaps the harvest. The possibilities are as limitless as God's creation of human beings with all kinds of capacities in which courage, love, zeal, generosity, and all manner of "good things" may be distributed or "invested" in order to reap. I take the words of Cyril with caution as he points out that to be bound by both fear and laziness can be a terrible thing; this is an "unprofitable" servant. Let us remember God's love, above all, and where that leads us.
