Matthew 25:14-18

Matthew 25:14-18

For it is just as while a man going on a journey called his slaves and handed his property over to them.  In one case to this one he gave five talents, and in another case two, and in another case one – each according to their own power.  And he went away on a journey.  Immediately, the one who received five talents did business in them and made a profit of another five.  In the same manner the one of two talents gained another two.  But the one who received the one talent went away to dig in the earth and he kept the money of his lord safe. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I love the fact that Jesus makes a point to tell that the slaves received different amounts – each according to their power.  We live in a culture where we are all equal and all the same.  We talk about how we can be anything we want to become.  But that’s just simply not true.  We all have different abilities and different levels of competency even within our abilities.  That’s nothing to be ashamed about.  Jesus sees it as just being a part of the normal world.  We don’t all have to be equal.  But we all do receive something.  What is important is that we use what we receive, not how much we received in the first place.

Do you get hung up in comparisons?  Why do we want to be equal to other people or better than them?  Why do you think Jesus tells the parable in a manner that the slaves each receive amounts according to their ability rather than them being equal?

Second Thought:

The first two slaves are very similar.  They take what they received and start using it.  They take some risk.  They do some business with the talents.  In the end, their talents grow.  Jesus is making a very important point here.  If we want something to grow and be strong, we have to use it.  If we want to increase something, we have to use it.  If we want to be more peaceful, we have to be peaceful.  If we want to be more gracious, we have to be gracious.  If we want to have more wisdom, we have to exercise the wisdom we do have.  Any athlete or student can tell you that this lesson is true.  It makes sense that it should hold true for spirituality, too.

How do you exercise your spirit?  When have you used your faith and seen it grow?

Third Thought:

Here’s the unusual twist in this parable.  The third slave doesn’t do anything that we think of as bad.  He takes what is given to him and literally keeps it safe!  The Greek word there is krupto (κρύπτω), and it means anything from “to keep safe,” “to protect,” or “to hide.”  The point Jesus is making with this third slave is that he wasn’t flittering the money away, he wasn’t spending it selfishly on himself, and he wasn’t being irresponsible with it.  He was just playing it safe.  It would be easy to go into the master’s response to this, but that’s largely what the blog post tomorrow will be all about.  For today, we need to understand that the distinction between the first and second slaves and the third slave is that the first two were willing to embark upon a little risk while the third one simply wanted to preserve what he had received.

Have you ever been in a mode of simple preservation?  What do you think might be wrong with the preservation mentality?  Was Jesus interested in self-preservation when He came to earth?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 25:19-30