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BURIED TREASURE: Exploring The Parables Of Jesus

by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.

Copyright © 1997 by J. W. Jepson

All rights reserved, including the right to grant the following permission and to prohibit the misuse thereof:

The Author hereby grants permission to reproduce the text of this article, without changes or alterations*, as a ministry, but not for commercial or non-ministry purposes.

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28.

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And as they heard these things he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.

He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.

Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.

And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.

And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I laid not sow: wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?

And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 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.

But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me.

--Luke 19:11-27

 

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 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.

Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 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: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

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. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

--Matthew 25:14-30

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The countdown to the cross was on and Jesus was living out the final days of His earthly ministry. During that tumultuous yet crucial time the master gave several parables, some in the hearing of the crowds, some privately to His disciples.

Two of those parables are very similar and are complementary. Both address the subject of privileges, responsibilities and rewards in the kingdom. But upon close examination we see some distinct differences between them. They are known as the parable of the pounds and the parable of the talents. The former was spoken in Jericho as Jesus journeyed toward Jerusalem. It was heard by an excited mob caught up in the expectation of the immediate appearance of the kingdom of God as they understood it. The latter was given several days later to the disciples privately as part of the Olivet discourse.

In both parables the Lord is looking beyond His impending passion to the long gospel age and its final culmination. He informs both the expectant crowd and the shortsighted disciples that He is about to leave and that they are in for a long period of hard work before the kingdom arrives in its fullness.

First we go to Jericho and look at the parable of the "pounds" (minas). We read in Luke 19:11-27:

There was a historical backdrop to this parable, for we are told that Archelaus had gone fron Jericho to Rome to obtain authority in Judea from the Romans. The historical event paralleled the parable in some points and must have been in the mind of Jesus' hearers as He spoke.

In this parable a nobleman went to the distant capitol of a ruling power to be appointed king over his own country, probably on the basis of his noble birth. Before he left, he entrusted to each of his slaves a mina, which was worth about a hundred days' wages at the time, and told them to get busy with the money. Meanwhile, some citizens sent a message to the capitol opposing the claim of the nobleman.

During the nobleman's absence, his slaves used his money in different ways with correspondingly different results. When he returned, the new king called the slaves to account for themselves, and also severely punished his enemies.

We move now to the passion week in Jerusalem, to the mount of Olives, where Jesus is privately instructing His disciples. Embodied in the discourse is the Parable of the Talents, found in Matthew 25:14-30.

In this parable, a businessman prepared to go into a far country. He called his slaves and entrusted his property to them to manage and invest during his absence. Here the amounts were in talents, worth many times more than minas. These slaves also used their lord's money in different ways with correspondingly different results. After a long time the businessman returned and called for an accounting of how his substantial assets had been managed, and dealt with each slave accordingly.

Now, let us look at the common points of the two parables.

In both parables the rightful owner is going to be gone for a long time. He entrusts his assets (expressed in both parables in monetary units) to his slaves, who do not own them but must nevertheless manage them wisely just as though they were their own. The return of the owner is certain. The slaves will be held accountable.

These parables contain a wealth of truth for us today. Jesus has gone to Heaven to receive His kingdom. It is not a kingdom to be gained by earthly political or military power, but is His directly from the Father by rightful inheritance.

Meanwhile, our Lord's enemies here refuse to accept Him as Lord. They would rather be ruined than ruled. We, His love-slaves, have been entrusted with His assets--God-given gifts, advantages and resources. These are not our own, as is clear from 1 Corinthians 4:7 and Ephesians 4:7. This is our privilege.

We are to do business for our Lord with His assets that He has entrusted to us as long as He is away. This is our responsibility.

When He returns, we shall give account of how we managed things, and will be treated accordingly in a just and fair manner. The disobedient will be punished.

We notice that in the parable of the minas each slave was given exactly the same amount: one mina. This says to us that in some endowments we are all equal. That is, we all have essentially the same amount of some things. We all have twenty-four hours in a day. Our natural endowments are similar in that we normally have two eyes, two hands, two feet. We have similar life expectancies at birth. So some endowments are equal through our common humanity.

Jesus is teaching us that what we have equally as human beings we are obligated to employ diligently for the highest good. The "mina," the common ability, might not be much compared to the outstanding "talents" of some, but that does not release us from the duty to be the best we can with who we are and what we have.

The first servant produced ten-fold, and his lord said, well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities" (Luke 19:17). By being faithful in a very little (one mina) he proved that he would handle great responsibility faithfully as well.

But what about the next man? He had received the same endowment, but had produced only five with it. His lord merely replied, "Be thou also over five cities." (verse 19). In other words, you did all right, but you could have done better. The only difference was in the degree of diligence. Greater motivation--taking his responsibility more seriously and applying himself with greater discipline--would have doubled the output.

This does not mean that we must live under stress and strain. And it does not mean that the second slave did not live up to all the light he had. Had he not done so, he would have been guilty of insincerity. He pursued the right values with the strength demanded by his perception of those values. But how much greater good would have been accomplished had his values been clearer to him and therefore had he pursued his master's interests with more diligence!

The emphasis, now, is different in the parable of the talents. There each man was given a different amount, according to their individual abilities. This says to us that in some endowments we are not equal. That is, we have different gifts and abilities; and often when we do have similar endowments, we have then in unequal amounts.

Some of these endowments are innate; we were born with them. Some are circumstantial; we were born into them. Some are spiritual; we were anointed with them. But no matter how we came to possess them, they are all of God's grace.

Jesus says to us that what we have uniquely and in varying degrees we are obligated to employ with equal diligence for the highest good. In other words, we are to put forth 100% of whatever we have for the Master. Love can do no more; love will do no less.

So then, in the parable of the minas we see equal endowments used with unequal diligence, resulting in unequal approval. In the parable of the talents we see unequal endowments used with equal diligence resulting in equal approval.

If you have less than someone else, do not be discouraged if you are producing less. Do your best, for that might be more than some others are doing who are producing more than you are.

Human responsibility is clearly taught in both parables. The endowments are given to free moral agents. Each one sets his own pace. Each one disciplines himself.

We notice also that a positive attitude was a common quality of the productive workers. It comes through vibrantly in their statements ("Lord, your mina has gained ten minas!" Lord, see what I have done with your talents!"). We hear no hint of complaint. Such workers make good rulers!

Although they were under a direct command to work, their labors were done in complete liberty, for what was commanded was also what they wanted to do. It was like God commanding Adam and Eve and also Noah's family to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28; 9:1). God has had no problem getting people to obey that one!

Obedience is enjoyable when we love God. In fact, only if we love God is true obedience possible. Love is what puts value on service. When God's goals and our goals are the same, every divine command is as though God said to us, "Have fun!"

The attitude of these slaves toward their work reflected their attitude toward their master. This brings us to the loser in each parable.

Like the others, they got busy immediately, but doing the wrong things. One looked for a napkin to wrap around his mina, and the other started digging a hole to bury his talent. Both set about to avoid responsibility.

What was their problem? Fear. Their fear was a direct result of a wrong concept of their masters' character. Each man accused his lord right to his face of being hard, greedy and grabbing.

We wonder if each man really knew his master, or if perhaps his concept of his sovereign's character was the product of his own. If that be the case, he did not serve him because he did not properly regard him, and he did not properly regard him because he did not truly know him.

Likewise, where there is a fundamental misconception of the character of God, proper love for Him is impossible. The person who blames God cannot love Him. Without love there is no confidence, but only fear. Without love there is no real service, but only slavishness.

Such souls think of God only as a joy-killer and a despot. They are ones likely to say, "I didn't ask for this talent!" or, "at least I didn't squander it!" They can give you a diatribe on the reasons for their disobedience. But in spite of their sophistry, the fact remains--they are unfruitful.

The remedy is a correct view of God, leading to the love that casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

We must avoid over-interpreting these parables, particularly at this point. Jesus certainly did not teach that our heavenly Father is hard and unfair. He is simply making a point, and that point is this: even taking the unprofitable slaves' evaluation of their master at face value, they still should have done something constructive with the resources placed in their hands. The very fact that they considered their masters to be "austere" should have spurred them to action.

It would have been just as easy to put the money in a nearby bank as in a napkin, and a lot easier than digging a hole! Their words and actions betrayed an attitude of rebellion. Their disobedience was deliberate. They were unprofitable because they wanted to be. By withholding even minimal service each man repudiated all allegiance to his lord. Because each man resented his sovereign, he chose to produce nothing for him, even though producing something would have been just as easy or even easier. That was what brought down on them the charge of wickedness.

"Take it from him." God's gifts will glorify Him. If not in the hands of the unprofitable, then surely in the hands of the productive.

"And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness." At this point Jesus made a sudden transition from parable to stark reality. Once more He pulled aside the curtain and gave His disciples a glimpse into that realm where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. After those shocking words, they would forever find even the thought of idleness abhorrent.

Our Lord has given us sufficient time to get the work done. But He has been gone a long time. The King has received the kingdom and He is coming. It could be soon. When He returns, each of us will give account of our gifts, abilities and resources.

Each of us has something, at least one mina. All of us are required to be fruitful thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold.

Sometimes they who have the least are tempted to judge that they have no responsibility at all. Some do not care to do anything. They are content to hide in a crowd. That is dangerous. We must use what we have, or we will lose it.

Let us ask ourselves, "How much can God trust me with? Am I using what He has given me already?"

A few years ago a friend of mine was out in his boat in the Willamette River. The bow was pointed upstream and the motor was running. He thought he was making progress until he looked over at the shore. Then he realized that he was going nowhere. He had been just holding his own against the current.

All at once it came to him that he had been doing the same thing spiritually. He had been merely idling along in his service for the Lord, under-committed, under-involved. Shortly after that he volunteered for a demanding responsibility that was open in the church and went to work for God.

How many of us are like that, just putt-putting along in midstream, keeping up with the current but going nowhere in our Christian discipleship? Love for our Lord demands that we be our best in His service, that we aim at the greatest degree of usefulness both now and forever!

What about the rebellious citizens? While the King is away they seem to be running things their way. Whenever Christian principles gain in public influence, they cry out in alarm, "We will not have this man to reign over us!"

At present the earth appears to be enemy occupied territory. Believers seem to be like the king's servants among rebellious citizens. But the King is coming and He means business. The rebels will lose. The faithful love-slaves will rule.

How foolish it is to reject the King and His just rule. He is not hard and despotic. His authority is just and right. The right to rule is His, for He alone is able to do so, and thereby to secure the greatest good. He is just and merciful. So let us turn to Him with all our heart, accept His mercy, obey Him in love, and enter into His joy.

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