First Mennonite Church
January 4, 2026
The parable of the Talents
Text: Matthew 25:14-30
The word “talent” in this parable does not refer to personal aptitudes or attributes that can get someone to appear on “America Got Talent” show. Talent in this parable is an amount of money, in fact, lots of money in Jesus’ times.
In the context of the church, the parable of the Talents is one usually used to encourage church members to do a personal inventory of their skills with the purpose of identifying and using them to serve the Lord. But today, I want us to take a fresh look at this parable, therefore, for the moment lay aside your assumptions about the parable’s meaning.
First, lets us take a look at the context of Jesus’ telling of this parable. He had just finished telling the parable of the Ten Brides, where the disciples are called to be watchful, always ready, and expectant because the kingdom of heaven will come unexpectedly after some delay. In the parable of the Ten Brides, Jesus was warning his disciples and followers of all times that his coming will require preparedness because “no one knows the hour when the Son of Man will come” (24:44). In that same line of thought, Jesus continues his warning with another parable, yet without introducing the theme again. That is, the kingdom of heaven will be like a man who before going on long journey calls his servants and entrust his wealth to them. The master calls three of his servant to whom he entrusts his money. But he does not give each an equal amount. He gives each one “according to his ability.” To the first, he gives five talents. To the second, he gives two, and to the third, he only gives one talent. A talent is the equivalent of fifteen to twenty years of wages of a daily worker. We do not need to make the math. A talent is a staggering amount of money; therefore, even the one who was given only one talent had a lot entrusted under his care.
What is important to notice is that to each of the servants was given an amount of money to manage according to his ability. This information is very telling about the one who was only given one talent. From the outset, we already know that this servant who was given only one talent will have trouble. Here again, we should remember that is Matthew’s Gospel, the characters in the parables do not change nor grow. The five foolish bridesmaids never grow wise, and neither the foolish man who builds on the sand. The bad seed—the tare never becomes wheat and wicked tenants never repent. That is also true about the one-talent man in this parable. His lack of ability to manage only leads him to fail miserably.
After the master parceled his wealth, he went away on a long journey. In Matthew’s parabolic world, the departure of the master represents humanity’s perceived absence of God from human affairs and its effect on human behavior governed by the idea that God is not present. This is true in the parabolic world, but it is also true in the real world. Many live their lives in a manner that reflect they have no knowledge or awareness about the nearness, presence, or watchfulness of God. They believe God is far away and unconcerned about the way they live their lives. But, according to Jesus’ parable, once the master had gone, servant number one gets busy. He goes to the marketplace to do business with the money entrusted under his care. And he doubles the money. The second one does the same. In parables everything is possible. We cannot begin to imagine how these two servants were able to double their monies, but they did. This we know about them: they were given talents according to their abilities and their actions proved it. However, the third servant goes out and digs a hole in the ground and hides the one talent he is entrusted with.
Jesus says that after a long time, the master of those slaves returned and settled accounts with them. This idea about of a long delay for the return of the master reflects the same sense of the kingdom’s delay. It is exactly what happened with the bridegroom in the parable of the Ten Brides. The master will return. He might delay; he might come after a long time of having gone away. Yet, have no doubts; he will come back. And when he comes back, he will settle accounts with his servants to whom he had entrusted his wealth.
So, the reckoning begins. The first slave comes and declares, ‘Master,’ he says, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
The master replies, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
The second servant to whom was entrusted two talents comes and says, “Master, you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.” And the master replies, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
But then the man who had received one talent comes and says, “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So, I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”
The master replies, “You wicked, lazy servant! So, you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest.
“So, take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
So, what are we to make of this parable? What is the lesson or warning Jesus wanted to communicate through it?
First, we must remember the context: in this and the previous parable, Jesus was identifying the essential readiness for his second coming. In light of the long delay for his coming, spiritual slumber and complacency are the greatest threats facing Jesus’ disciples. If in the parable of the Ten Brides, wakefulness was emphasized, in the parable of the Talents, accountability is the emphasis.
The Master only goes away after he has parceled out all his wealth under the care of his servants. He carries none with him, but entrusts everything to his servants. So, the talents the Lord has given us is not simply the skills, aptitudes, and proficiencies we each have. A talent was a vast amount of money; not mere pennies. Thus, what we have been given to administer for the Master has to be more than our natural or gained competencies. We have been given God’s treasures. In Ephesians, the apostle Paul calls this, “The incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (2:7); and “the boundless and glorious riches of Christ (3:8).
The Lord said, “My peace I give you, not as the peace the world gives.” How do we prove to have such divine peace resting upon us? How do we share God’s gift of peace with others? Are we multiplying God’s given gift to us?
We cannot live fearfully because we have God’s treasure in our hearts.
We have been given the greatest gift of God’s love through Jesus Christ. Are we spreading this love? We cannot be selective on who gets our love and who does not. That is burying the precious talent we have been entrusted with. He will call anyone who burying his love, “Wicked, lazy servant” on that last day if we do that.
Let us be reminded of the words of the apostle Paul who said, “Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).
The Lord has given us the joy of his salvation. In John chapter 15, when Jesus told his disciples about God’s love abiding in Jesus, and Jesus abiding in his disciples, he then told them, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (15:11). We are a people God has given his full joy. Let us live it out! We cannot let bitterness, indifference, or hatred have any place in our hearts.
After the long delay and when the Master finally returns, he will not ask you, “What did you do with your talent—meaning your cooking, gardening, preaching, teaching, or any other type of abilities you had?” No. At least not necessarily about these. Instead, He will ask you, “How did you live out the fullness of the riches of my grace I gave you through my life, death, resurrection, and ascension? How did you spread my love with which God so loved the world? How did you multiply the mercy I had for you?
The hour of reckoning will come one day. Therefore, accountability will be demanded from each servant of the Lord.
There will be many who are the one-talent servant. They have been given life, many blessings in life, the invitation to enter the joy of their Lord, but they are refusing today. They already have an opinion about God. Today, many believe that God is only a demanding Being who only forbids them from enjoying life, according to their standard of enjoyment. Many see God as one who is harsh and only ready to pounce on them. Even when a lot has been given to them, they do not do anything about it but bury it.
As for us, I want to believe that we will approach the Lord on that day with hands full of fruit that will last for eternity. But as for now, let us go out and use, multiply, and spread the treasures of God’s full grace given us through the Master who will come one day. Amen
Pastor Romero