Jesus told his disciples this parable:


"A man going on a journey
called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.


To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--
to each according to his ability.
Then he went away.


Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them,
and made another five.
Likewise, the one who received two made another two.
But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground
and buried his master's money.

After a long time
the master of those servants came back
and settled accounts with them.


The one who had received five talents came forward
bringing the additional five.
He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents.
See, I have made five more.'
His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master's joy.'


Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,
'Master, you gave me two talents.
See, I have made two more.'
His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master's joy.'



Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said,
'Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.'


His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant
and gather where I did not scatter?
Should you not then have put my money in the bank
so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?


Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.
For to everyone who has,
more will be given and he will grow rich;
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'"

 

Not introduced  as "about the kingdom", so it may stand on its own.

Suppose we begin with the assumption that "the man" is the same one who said to Jesus in Ch. 4: “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” It will be interesting to see how the puzzle works out from this starting point. Already there is a stange assertion of ownership of these servants parallel to the ownership of his possessions.

Not much to comment in these lines. Just setting out the framework for the story. Even "to each according to his ability":  It is simple fact that people have different abilities, though we might reflect later that it is the ordinary, the average bloke who becomes the hero.

"Immediately " they went and traded. Willing servants/subservient slaves.

"But". I wonder how this sounds in the Greek. At least we see it as stronger than "While", or "Meanwhile".
Today some people still hide their money under the bed because they don't trust the system of money markets.

In this translation the language keeps up the tone of the market: he "settled accounts with them".


I am struck by the extravagant praise: "Well done, my good and faithful servant". (Yuk!) You've been faithful in this small trial, so not you can manage bigger things. Again, Yuk! "Faithful"? Like some lacky of an underworld boss.

"Come share your master's joy". It actually starts to be very creepy, but true to life as we know it.








Now the average punter, the bloke who has no pretensions to the big time, who doesn't see himself making big bucks, but who is very aware of the insecure nature of his place in the system. He is not going to be used by this unscrupulous master. In fact he will stick it up him.

So he boldly says: "I know you make demands (fair or not, you don't care), you take what is not yours, you use people to do your dirty work and you cream off the product of other people's work. You're a rat, a predator, a parasite, and I'm not your slave. So you can stick your talent! I'm not afraid of you, but I am afraid of what you represent: greed, vanity, selfishness and cruelty."


The response is true to form, totally without understanding or compassion. Simple abusive use of power.


Why did Jesus tell this story? Was it to put himself in the position of the average bloke worth only a basic talent? Was he saying that the only good thing the average bloke can achieve in the world of finance is to refuse to be enslaved by it. To defy the masters. Does Jesus see himself as the one whom the world sees as a "useless swervant" thrown into "the darkness outside"?

What would be the key to the puzzle in this case? What lesson for us?