Matthew 25;14-19: For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
The theme of watching for the Lord's Return is emphasized from a different perspective by our Savior in this parable. The simple definition of a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. This parable is centered on what we do with the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to us to use until Christ returns. All who trust in the Lord Jesus are saved, and this altogether apart from human merit. But this parable explains that all who profess to believe in Him are responsible to serve Him, and to use whatever gift, ability, or means they have for his glory and to furrther His interests in this world. It is incumbent on all who believe His Word to serve wholeheartedly in view of the day when every one of us shall give an account.
The paragraph before us sets up the story. Jesus is the man who goes on the journey, and the servants are professing believers. Bearing fruit is emphasized here as the talents are dispersed to the three individuals. A talent was in Bible days a measure of weight, often referring to gold or silver. The Greek word for "silver" appears in verse 18 (although translated "his lord's money"), thus these would be talents of silver. The talent or weight of silver represents a special gift given by our Lord for His service. The man with five traded (utilized) his five talents and before the lord returned, he had 10 talents. The one given two also gained another two talents. The one give only one talent wasted the opportunity that the lord gave to him. Christ's commentary on this will be given in the next paragraph..
No comments:
Post a Comment