The Parables of Jesus - Lesson 4

By John Harrison

Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

Objectives:

By the end of this lesson the learner will be able to:

Describe important background information that will improve the accuracy of understanding who the main characters and their actions.
Identify what issues a 1st century Jewish audience would focus on after hearing the parable of the Talents.
Identify the major lessons that are conveyed allegorically by the main characters.
Make applications of the major lessons to contemporary situations. O/H 1

Teaching Aids and Materials:

Easy to understand Bibles for every student (CEV, RSV, NAV, NIV, NRSV, etc.)
A chalkboard, marker board, or overhead projector. Lesson Plan for Conducting the Class Introduction: (about 8-10 minutes)
Begin class by welcoming members and any visitors; make all necessary class announcements; songs.
Lead the class in a prayer that will include asking God to help them be responsible and obedient in what work God entrusts to us.
Who would like to share their experience of telling a recently returned brother or sister in Christ how grateful to God you are for their return to God and for God's grace in their lives? (Allow 2-3 people to respond.)
Q: When the Lord returns, what kind of questions do you think he will ask of you? (Allow 2-3 people to respond)
Share with the learners the lesson objectives. O/H 1
Have someone read Matthew 25:14-30.

Learning Experiences: (about 20-25 minutes)

Part I: Background information for understanding the main characters

Explain to the learners that while the parable of the Talents only appears in Matthew there is a similar parable called the Parable of the Pounds that can be found in Luke's Gospel (Luke 19:12-27). They make similar points but they are not the same parable. The parable of the talents belongs to what scholars label as "The Eschatological Discourse" (Matthew 24-25) because Jesus' teachings here refer to events at the close of this age. The phrase "it will be like" (v. 14) links this parable with the preceding one (Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids; vs. 1-13). The subject that the parable illustrates is the kingdom of heaven (or more precisely the coming of the kingdom). So in this parable the kingdom of heaven (or more precisely the coming of the kingdom) is being compared to the return of a master who has entrusted his money to three servants. Each servant is entrusted with a "talent". While this word can refer to a designation of weight equaling roughly 94 pounds (or 42.5 kilograms), it is used here for a monetary unit that was worth nearly 6,000 denarii. A denari was the amount of money that a day laborer could customarily expect to receive. Each talent was worth nearly 20 years of labor by the common worker. Q: What did the first two servants actually do with their talents? A: They used their talents to engage in some kind of business. The phrase "put his money to work" (NIV) does not mean they invested it in the bank to gain interest. This is what the foolish servant should have at least done. Rather, we are to imagine that some kind of business activity began and carried on for a long time (v. 19). Draw the learners' attention to the fact that since the money belonged to the master the profits would too. Because the first two servants doubled what their master had given to them, they each receive the master's approval, are put in charge of "many things" and keep the money. Q: What rational did the third servant give to the master for burying his money? A: He was afraid because he knew his master was a "hard" man. The third servant is condemned and told that what he knew about the master should have motivated him in the opposite direction. He is therefore condemned by his own words. His talent is then taken from him and given to the first servant who has ten talents. The parable ends with an unusual saying: "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away" (v. 29). This is similar to the ending of Parable of the Pounds (Luke 19:26). Q: What lesson does this saying basically convey? A: There is a promise and a warning. The promise is that God will give more to those who have what he has already given them. The warning is that those who do not have what he gave them, what they have will be taken away. O/H 2 Q: How does this saying stand in tension with what happens in the parable? A: The saying promises more if you still have what was given. But the third servant is punished for having intact what was given to him. This might indicate, as some conclude, that this saying of Jesus was attached later to the parable because it shares the theme of receiving and taking away.

Part II: Issues raised in the minds of a Jewish audience

Q: Are there any unrealistic details in this story? (allow 2-3 responses) A: The man going on a journey is unrealistically wealthy when one considers that a talent is roughly equivalent to what a day laborer could earn after working for 20 years. In today's terms it would be close to $200,000. The man gave to his servants somewhere near to a half a million dollars! Jesus often used hyperbole or exaggeration in order to catch his audience's attention. Q: How would 1st century Jews perceive the man who buried his talent? Wise or Foolish? (Allow about 2 responses) A: Some Jews would have thought that he did the cautious and responsible thing by not risking the man's money to loss. Burying money was a common way in ancient times to secure the safe keeping one's treasures. [Appendix 1 has some illustrations for this practice.] Since the man going on a journey did not instruct his servants to invest his money, the third servant may have thought that his only obligation was to keep what in full what was given to him.

Part III: Lessons from the main characters

Q: Who are the main characters in the story? A: Man on a journey, the first two servants, and the third servant. Q: What do these main characters symbolize? A: The man on the journey symbolizes God (though some Patristic writers allegorized it as the postponement of Christ's return). [Note: The man's behavior is not identical with God, since the man is known to be a "hard man", harvesting where he has not sown. (vs. 24, 26)] The servants symbolize either disciples generally or church leaders specifically (since several of Jesus' servant parables were directed to his apostles this suggests a connection between the work entrusted to the servants and the work Jesus would be entrusting to the church's first leaders). Q: What does the talent symbolize? (Allow about 2 responses) A: While it is often assumed that the money symbolizes personal gifts and talents (we actually got our English word talent from this parable), the money probably more accurately symbolizes the acts of compassion that the disciples are to increase. God was gracious in giving compassion to them, so they are in turn to be increasingly compassionate to others. Q: What are the primary lessons conveyed by the actions of the main characters? A: There are three main lessons: (1) God entrusts to his people (or church leaders) the responsibility of increasing acts of compassion and kindness to those in need. (2) Those who act faithfully with opportunities to show the compassion God has given to them and act according to their knowledge of his character will be commended and rewarded on the day of the Lord. (3) Disciples who act in fear of God, ignore his revealed character, and do not increase acts of compassion will be condemned. O/H 3

Part IV: Contemporary applications of the main lessons

Q: Which of these two situations is this parable more likely addressing? Situation 1: A Christian woman refuses to check on the condition of a sick female neighbor who is confined to bed because she does not want to get tied down with an on going commitment to her. Situation 2: A Christian with a gifted voice refuses to lead singing in worship because they do not want to be burdened regularly with that job. A: It is more likely that this parable is directed towards situation 1.

Application: (about 5-10 minutes)

Have the learners fill out handout #1 by listing five things that would be their "talents" that need to grow before God's day of judgment comes. Then ask 2- 3 learners to share with the class what's on their list. Their list should preferably include areas of righteousness (i.e. faith, patience, kindness, etc.) and not gifts or talents.

Assignment: (about 2 minutes)

Take one of the items on your list and seek to increase your practice of it this week. Lesson Wrap-up Review the lesson objectives. Let them know the title of next weeks lesson: The Good Samaritan

Appendix 1

Josephus records that when the Roman finally conquered Jerusalem in A.D. 70, they found that Jews had hidden numerous treasures underground prior to the war. (Jospehus, Jewish War 7.115) There is a Rabbinic parallel, which cannot be dated to a period prior to the 1st century, that illustrates the practice of burying money to protect it. "To what may the matter be compared? To a reliable person who was in a town, with whom everyone deposited their bailments for safekeeping. When one of them would come to retrieve his property, [the reliable man] would produce and hand over the object, since he knew precisely where it was. And if [the owner] had occasion to send for a bailment with his son or slave or agent, he would have to turn things topsy-turvy, for he did not know where things were. (Sifre Deut. 357:11)

Overhead 1

Lesson Objectives

Describe important background information that will improve the accuracy of understanding who the main characters and their actions.
Identify what issues a 1st century Jewish audience would focus on after hearing the parable of the Talents.
Identify the major lessons that are conveyed allegorically by the main characters.
Make applications of the major lessons to contemporary situations.

Overhead 2

Jesus' Saying in Matthew 25:29

There is a promise and a warning. The promise is that God will give more to those who have what he has already given them. The warning is that those who do not have what he gave them, what they have will be taken away.

Overhead 3

Primary Lessons

God entrusts to his people (or church leaders) the responsibility of increasing acts of compassion and kindness to those in need.
Those who act faithfully with opportunities to show the compassion God has given to them and act according to their knowledge of his character will be commended and rewarded on the day of the Lord.
Disciples who act in fear of God, ignore his revealed character, and do not increase acts of compassion will be condemned.

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Lesson 4 Handout

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