The Test Of The Talents

"The Test of the Talents"

Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew 25:14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou 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. 22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23 His lord said unto him, 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. 24 Then he which 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: 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. 28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Introduction: If you are like me you've probably read this parable that Jesus taught about the talents many times over the years. I've heard it used several different ways in sermons and Bible lessons, some of them good, others very decidedly out of context and some just plain old twisting of the truth. The question is, what is the proper context of this parable and what was Jesus trying to teach that we can learn from today? The sad thing is that it's fairly easy to establish the context of Jesus teaching based on what He has to say in chapter 24 and the beginning of chapter 25. The focus of chapter 24 is the second coming, pure and simple. In it He speaks of the signs of the end, His coming as the "son of man," the fact that no one knows the day or the hour, and then in chapter 25 He speaks of the "kingdom of heaven" and the need to be ready when the Lord comes back. It is also evident that His audience is Jewish and that has to be taken into account as we interpret this passage. That is the context for the parable of the talents. Now, let's examine our text based on what we know and go from there. First, we see,

I. The Endowment by the Sovereign

Let's take a minute to see what the "talents" represent because that is important to our understanding. A talent was a "weight of measure" that was used primarily to measure coins usually made out of gold or silver. Let me read a couple of examples from the Bile:

Exodus 38:24 All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

Most Bible scholars believe that the "talents" represent everything that God has given to us, our time, our talents, and our treasure and that Jesus is saying that what is important in life is what we do with what we have been given.