The Parables of Jesus: The Talents

Matthew 25:14-30:

 [14] For even as a man going into a far country, called his servants, and delivered to them his goods; [15] And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every one according to his proper ability: and immediately he took his journey.

[16] And he that had received the five talents, went his way, and traded with the same, and gained other five. [17] And in like manner he that had received the two, gained other two. [18] But he that had received the one, going his way digged into the earth, and hid his lord's money. [19] But after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reckoned with them. [20] And he that had received the five talents coming, brought other five talents, saying: Lord, thou didst deliver to me five talents, behold I have gained other five over and above.

[21] His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. [22] And he also that had received the two talents came and said: Lord, thou deliveredst two talents to me: behold I have gained other two. [23] His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant: because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. [24] But he that had received the one talent, came and said: Lord, I know that thou art a hard man; thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and gatherest where thou hast not strewed. [25] And being afraid I went and hid thy talent in the earth: behold here thou hast that which is thine.

[26] And his lord answering, said to him: Wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strewed: [27] Thou oughtest therefore to have committed my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received my own with usury. [28] Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents. [29] For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away. [30] And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Now and forever. Amen.

In the last post, we went through the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. This parable was principally about being ready at all times for the coming of Christ, whether that be His second coming at the end of time, or His coming at the time of our deaths: we must always be ready to go before Him for judgment.

This parable is a continuation of the same teaching, but instead of focusing on our readiness, our anticipation of Christ's coming, instead it focuses on the quality of our preparation. The parable begins with, "a man is going into a far country", other translations render it "foreign country", and this refers to Jesus' ascension into heaven of His body. For, although Christ's Divine Nature is not foreign to heaven, Jesus' human nature is, as it is a creation of the earth. "After a long time", He returns, and He exercises judgment over His servants. The phrase, "after a long time", refers to all that interval of time between His ascending to heaven, and to that time of our judgment.

Before the man goes on his journey, he gives to his three servants five talents, two talents, and one talent. The Church Fathers have interpreted this in various ways, but I would like to highlight two. First, using the symbolism of numbers, the five refers to the five bodily senses. Thus, according to the same fathers, it can be interpreted to mean that to the servant who received the five talents was given knowledge of the external world, knowledge of the earth, of the world around him. The two refers to the powers of understanding and action--understanding being a distinct idea from knowledge. One can have knowledge without understanding. Finally, the one refers, according to the fathers, to understanding only--that is, understanding without action.

Second, attached to this gradation is the phrase, "to everyone according to his proper ability." What this means is that the reason each servant is given a different number of talents (by the way, a talent was a gold coin, in case you hadn't heard that before) is because they each have varying capacities, differing abilities. Moreover, the significance of this is that God gives to each one of us according to our own capacities. So, if we find that we have less, we should be humble and recognize that this is because our abilities are less than others. However, it also means that to him who has greater capacity, he also has greater responsibility, because he is then given more over which to be responsible.

The significance of the "doubling" of the talents is this: that he who received the five talents, or knowledge of the outer world, used that same knowledge to gain knowledge of the spiritual, or Divine world. He who received the two talents, or understanding and action, used these powers to gain understanding of the same Divine world, and also to grow in those spiritual virtues which are proper to holiness. Finally, he who received the one talent, understanding only, took no action to grow his understanding--to take his understanding and deepen it. Rather he buried it in the earth, which is to say that he didn't put it to use for God, for His Kingdom, but instead used it exclusively to meet the ends of his earthly life in the pursuits of worldly gain.

When the time of judgment arrives, when the lord returns, the two who doubled their talents give back to the lord all of the money, both the original amounts they were given, as well as the amounts they gained in addition. They recognize that all of it belongs to the lord, not just that which he originally gave to them. This is why he calls them "faithful" servants, because they did not attempt to appropriate for themselves that which did not belong to them. For this, they are allowed to "enter into the joy" of the lord. Do we recognize that all the gains of our lives do not truly belong to us, but to God, whether they be gains in knowledge, gains in understanding and wisdom, gains in prestige, gains in wealth, gains in progeny, etc.? Are we prepared to give it all to God, or do we seek to claim some of it for ourselves?

When the wicked servant comes to the lord, and explains why he didn't do anything with it, the lord calls him both wicked and slothful. He calls him slothful because the servant, recognizing in the same way as the other two servants did that whatever gains he makes with the gold won't belong to him anyway, so why bother? And this is what makes him wicked also, because he is filled with pride. He is a servant of the lord, but does not actually serve the lord, but instead serves himself by freeing himself from the burden of working to build up the wealth of his lord. This makes him wicked, because we are all called to serve, both to serve God and to serve each other. If we see no gain in it for ourselves, that doesn't matter, we are still called to serve.

This really clarifies the Catholic position on "faith and works." The lord, when he exercises judgment on the good and faithful servants, rewards them both with the same reward: heaven. It doesn't matter that one doubled up his talents to ten, and the other only doubled his talents to four, the reward is the same. Why? Because it's a gratuitous reward. They are servants, and don't have to be paid for doing what is expected of them. Yet the lord does pay them, with great reward, because they were good and faithful. And He does expect us to work. For, if we do not, if we fail to be good and faithful, if we fail to produce fruit from what we've been given, then we will not receive the reward. Thus, salvation, which is itself a gratuitous gift and cannot be earned, will still not be granted to those who are "slothful and wicked" servants. So, we believe that works are necessary for salvation, not because of a legal contract with God, as though God owes us heaven for the work we've done, but rather because God has told us that if we don't do anything with the gifts we've been given, if we are wicked and slothful, then we will be thrown into the outer darkness.

Indeed, the wicked servant even admits that he believes his lord is severe, and fails to act anyway. And the lord, too, says, "that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strewed. Thou oughtest therefore to have committed my money to the bankers." What does this mean? The bankers are those who have been entrusted with the "treasury of grace", that is, the Bishops. To give his talent to the bankers means that, even if he didn't work to gain understanding of heavenly things (double his talent), he should have at least put his earthly understanding to the good use of the Church, through the Bishops, who then, making use of his earthly gifts, could have expanded the spiritual wealth of the Church (conversion of sinners, application of the sacraments, teaching through exhortation, homiletics, encyclicals, etc., the salvation of souls) to the glory of God.

But the wicked servant didn't even do that! In other words, he failed to live up to his Christian vocation in every sense. He neither used his Christian gifts to build up his own faith and virtue, nor did he assist those around him, nor did he even bother to put his gifts toward the use of the Church, but instead focused his gifts entirely on worldly affairs (buried it in the earth).

Finally, after the servant has received his judgment, he is then punished, and the punishment is twofold. First, he loses even that which he thought he had (remember, all belongs to God), and second, he is thrown into the outer darkness where there is weeping (sorrow) and gnashing of teeth (regret). What he had, the one talent, or understanding, is given to the one who had been given five talents. We might think this is unfair, why not give it to the one who was given two? First, it fulfills the earthly justice, which is that he who produced more, should receive more in reward. Secondly, and more importantly, since the five talents signifies knowledge of earthly things, and that knowledge was doubled to include heavenly things, and since the two talents signifies both understanding and virtue, and it is doubled in piercing into the inward and mystical realities, it may be rightly said that he who received the two talents actually received more than he who received the five. Thus, to him who had only knowledge, it was also given to him understanding. For God gives all gifts, and may take them away, and grant them to whom He chooses.

However, there is a deeper meaning here, which is that sin destroys those gifts which we possess. Sin darkens the intellect, for example. Thus, a man who has been given the gift of understanding, for example, through his sin actually loses that same gift. And, while he continues to think he possesses this gift, he is only deluding himself, as he comes to believe wicked things to be good, and good things to be wicked, true things to be false, and false things to be good. This is what happened with Solomon, who possessed the greatest wisdom in all the world, but through his sin, he began to lose that wisdom, and ended up using that great intellect of his to make poorer and poorer judgments, which he continued to believe were wise.

Sin damages our natures. This is unavoidable. Thus, works are doubly necessary, because the Gospel is meant to heal us, to build up our natures, even to deify us through Christ's own deity. This cannot happen if we continue to sin. Our sin is antithetical to the Gospel, and all who revel in sin are rightly called "antichrist." For, in that revelry, rather than becoming more like Christ, they become less, instead of moving toward Him, they move away.

And in the end, whatever great gifts we were given, both at births, but most especially at our baptisms, we will lose, if we are like this wicked and slothful servant. We will plunge into that outer darkness which is hell, never to return.

What have you done with the gifts God has given to you? Seek ye first, the kingdom, and all these things and more besides will be given to you. Be a good and faithful servant, so that you may hear those blessed words pass Our Lord's lips when you stand before Him in judgment. Then, enter into His joy.

God bless, and thank you for reading.