Do you have a special gift? Do you use it or let it remain hidden? The parable of 5 talents tells about the abilities Christians are given by God.
We can choose to use what we have, or not. Let’s see what happens to those who were entrusted with money from their master in this Christian Bible study lesson from Matthew.
Parable of 5 Talents from Matthew 25
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.
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. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.
In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.
But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
“Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 25:14-30 NASB
Do You Have One, Two Or Five Talents?
What is a talent in this story? Let’s put the talents in money perspective. Plainly, let’s convert a talent.
I researched this question and was completely astounded! Before, I thought that a talent meant a little money to hold the servants over until the Master returned. But boy, I was mistaken! Here is how Wiki describes a talent: “One Talent Of Gold Equals:
= 3,000 shekels
= 60 minas
= 34.3 kilograms metric
= 75 US pounds
5 Talents Equals $7 Million?
Gold equals a measure of weight and money. If in today’s money an ounce of Gold converts to about $1,200 US, one talent is worth about 1.4 million dollars (US) !
So, we learn that the servant with one meager talent (when compared to today’s money) was in charge of roughly 1.4 million dollars!
- The man with two talents – 2.8 million
- The five talent servant – 7 million!
When all is said and done all three servants started out pretty well off. Each received talents according to his abilities.
How Many Talents Do We Have?
It’s true that most of us are not entrusted with millions of dollars, But, we can still use the abilities given to us by God.
Some people have large sums of money. Some people have remarkable abilities. And, we all have “talents” in the sense of giving of ourselves. We should give freely of what we have. It doesn’t matter if it is money, time – or other abilities we have. There’s good reason to use our talent for the Kingdom of God. Why?
Our Master is Coming Back – Our “Talents” will be Counted
Christ will return. There is no doubting that fact.This doesn’t mean we have to spend every waking hour working in the church. Nor, do we have to write checks to the church and clean out our bank accounts. Not at all.
What it does mean is that we should serve God in everything we do. And, we should use our talents so that Christ can call us a “good and faithful servant“.
Now, I’m asking myself, “How many talents do I have?”. How many talents do you have? Are we multiplying them for when God returns?
Love in Christ
– Bob
You can discover the love and life-changing experience of Jesus Christ. Please take a moment to go here to see the John 3:16 verse.