Author: Gary Witcher

Parables Eleven

The final parable recorded in the Gospel of Matthew begins in verse 14 of chapter 25.
"For it is just like a man about to go on a journey," Jesus says of the kingdom, "who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them.
"And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability: and he went on his journey."
While the master was gone, the slave with five talents gained five more, and the one with two added two more.  But the slave with one talent hid it in the ground.  When the master returned, he called the slaves for an accounting.
"Well done, good and faithful slave:" the master told the first one, "you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master."
The second servant received the same commendation.
The last slave, however, faced a different reaction.
"You wicked, lazy slave," the master said.  He was thrown into the "outer darkness" after the single talent was taken away from him and given to the first slave.
It is important to notice that Jesus gives this parable just before His death, burial and resurrection.   He is getting ready to leave everything in the hands of His followers.
No two people are alike.  We do not have the same abilities.  But it does not matter how much we start with.  What does matter is what we do with what we have.  Notice that the slave who began with two talents received the same praise as the one who started with five.  The master was in the business of handing out the talents.  The slaves were responsible for their productive use.
What about us?  Do we have a Master who has gone away for a while but will return some day to require an accounting for the things left in our care?  What has He entrusted us with, anyway?
How much money do we have compared to most people in the rest of the world?  Are we rich or poor?  How do we use the money that we have?   Is the money really ours, or has it just been entrusted to us for a period of time?
If we are convinced that the money is ours because we have earned it, we should tackle the age-old task of taking it with us when we die.
Is America such a great country because we are better than everyone else, or has God simply entrusted us with a certain responsibility for a certain period of time? How long will God continue to watch patiently while we squander everything we have on satisfying our senses?
We have countless labor-saving devices thanks to modern technology. What do we do with the extra time that we gain? Do we use it to deal with the spiritual and physical suffering in the world around us, or do we use it to make more money and to satisfy our senses even more?
Let's make the application a little more personal.  What am I doing with the time and abilities entrusted to me by the Lord?  What are YOU doing with them?  Have you spent any time this week really studying the Bible to learn about God's will?  Are you content to spend your time working and playing while you let someone else study the Bible for you and tell you what you should believe?
There is a similar parable recorded in Luke 19:11-27.  One difference is that the story in Luke mentions a group of people who complain because they do not want the master to rule over them.  Do any of us fit this description?  Are we content to do things God's way, or do we wait until we think He has turned His back and then try to do things our way?
In Luke ten minas are distributed equally among ten slaves.   Of the three whose actions are recorded, one gains ten more, another adds five more and still another hides the one mina in a handkerchief.   When the master orders that the mina be taken away from this slave and given to the first one, some of the people complain.
"Master, he has ten minas already," they grumble in Luke 19:25.
"I tell you," the master replies in the next verse, "that to everyone who has shall more be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away."
Do we ever complain because we don’t receive more spiritual blessings?  If we want more, we have to make wise use of what we have.  If we don't use what has been entrusted to us, we can be sure that we will lose it.

"The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the ground;" Jesus instructs in Mark 4:26-29, "and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts up and grows-how, he himself does not know.
"The earth produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head.   But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
How many of us have ever planted a garden?  Do we have to know everything that goes on inside the seeds in order to harvest a crop?  No, if we follow the instructions on the back of the packet we can expect to have something to pick later on.  We don't have to understand "why" as long as we know "how."
Are there any people in the world who reject as  "foolish” something they read in the Bible, just because they do not understand it?  Oh, God is reasonable and He wants us to understand what we are doing.   But is something right or wrong based on whether or not we understand it, or based on whether or not God said it?
In John chapter three Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born of water and the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus is slow to accept what the Master says simply because he cannot understand it.
"Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again,’ Jesus stresses beginning in verse 7.  "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is every one who is born of the Spirit."
Nicodemus is still not willing to accept what the Lord is saying, so he responds in verse nine with, "How can these things be?"
"Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things?" Jesus replies in verses 10-12.  "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness.
"If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"
What kind of a reaction do we get when we show someone from the Bible that God places certain conditions on salvation or that He has given a certain pattern for worship?  We sometimes hear phrases that begin with, "Yes, but..." or "That's what it says but I don't see how..."
This parable tells us that the day of harvest is coming.   What kind of garden will we have this summer if we wait to plant until we understand all the secrets of life contained in each tiny seed?  What will the harvest of souls be like if we wait until we make the Bible fit our understanding before we accept what it says?
"Take heed," Jesus warns in another parable found in Mark 13:33-37, "keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.
"It is like a man, away on a journey who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.
"Therefore, be on the alert - for you do not know when the master of the house is coming,” Jesus continues,  "whether in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrowing, or in the morning; -lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
"And what I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!"'
Are you asleep?  Are you content to sit back and pass the time while the return of the master draws nearer and nearer?
Or are you awake?  Are you alert?  Are you devoting your time and energy to learning and applying the truth that will set you free?

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."