Jesus told a story about a man who was going on a journey
and before he left he entrusted some of his wealth to 3 of his servants. To one
he gave 3 portions and to another 2 and to the third a single portion of his
wealth, to each according to their abilities. Then he went away.
Each of the servants did something with the portion of the
master’s wealth that they were given. In the end the master returned and their
performance was the basis for their reward.
It is probably important to realize that this is one of a
series of stories Jesus was telling to illustrate what the Kingdom of heaven is
like. Each of these stories demonstrated the importance of our behavior when
the time for judgement comes. We will be judged and rewarded according to what
we do! These are the words of Jesus
.
Two of the servants doubled the treasure of the master and
one only hid the treasure so he could return it to his master when he returned.
What is this about?
How can it apply to my daily life?
I have not been satisfied with any answers I have heard over
the years. The King James Bible and many of the other newer translations have
unfortunately made an unfortunate translation that I suspect may have been
misused to suggest that the wealth of the master had something to do with
talents or abilities. The Greek word would be spelled TALENTON. Therefore rather than translate the word scholars simply
spelled it like an English word that they could explain as it was convenient
for them. The Greek word actually simply means a certain sum of money.
As I said at the beginning, the master distributed portions
of his wealth to each of 3 of his servants. If the story is to help us
understand what the kingdom of Heaven is like, wouldn’t it seem logical to
assume that the master represents Jesus? What then of the portions of his
wealth? These were each servants of the master (Jesus). What does God give us
when we come to him to be born again into his kingdom? A very precious gift, He
gives each of us his Holy Spirit to live inside of us to guide us into all
righteousness. (John 14:22)
As we learn to listen to the Spirit of God who lives in us
whole dimensions of life become available. Not least is the power to stop
choosing sin and to choose obedience to God instead. But these treasures never
become real for us if we do not take the gift of God and cultivate that gift in
our daily life. In that case, when the master returns and asks what we have
done with his treasure, he will take the treasure away and cast us into outer
darkness.
But if we have worked to cultivate that spiritual
relationship and have increased it even a little he will be pleased with us.
But we each must work to the best of our ability.
These stories of Jesus are a frightening contrast to the
teaching that Jesus did it all and there is nothing for us to do. Certainly we
could never earn the gift of forgiveness we could never balance the scale. That
is the wonderful mercy of God. We could never overcome one sin without the help
of the Spirit of God working in our lives. But this story clearly tells me that
I do have work to do and if I neglect that work the consequences are severe.
Let us each one work to cultivate our relationship with our
Heavenly Father, with our Savior Jesus the Christ and with the Holy Spirit that
lives within us.
