The rest of the parable focuses on what each of the
servants did with the property they were given in trust. The servant given five
talents, or five portions of the master’s property, went out and doubled what
he was given, bearing much fruit with what God had entrusted to him. The
servant who had received two talents, or two portions of the master’s property,
also doubled what he was given. The servant who had received one talent, one
portion of what belonged to the master, hid what he had received, and did
nothing with the master’s money.
Then we are told that, “after
a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them”
(vs 19). When the first two servants reported that they had multiplied their
master’s possession, they both received the same response: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a
little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”[1] When the third servant reported that he had done
nothing with what he was given, he was rebuked soundly.[2]
It is not
difficult to see that this parable refers to what the kingdom of heaven will be
like in-between the time of Jesus’ ascension and his second coming, and what
will happen at his return. Jesus would tell his disciples, “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have
told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”[3]
Since
the lesson regarding the servants applies to Jesus’ disciples, what instruction
do we get regarding our focus during this time that Jesus is “away”? Understanding that this is a
parable, not a theological revelation of end-times events, there is still an
important bit of instruction for us as we consider what we are doing while we
wait for Jesus’ return.
For
starters, we must note that the master did not ask the servants
to account for their understanding of what he was doing while he was gone. They
only had to settle their account of what they did with the possessions he had left
in their care. He was responsible for what he was doing while away, and they
were responsible for what they were doing during that same time.
In the previous parable, that concerning the ten virgins, Jesus
began by saying, “Then the kingdom of
heaven will be like…”[4] He ended that parable by concluding, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the
day nor the hour.”[5]He segued into this parable by continuing, “For it will be like…”,[6] indicating that this characteristic of the kingdom,
that we will not know the day nor the hour, continues into the illustration of
the three servants. Both parables hold the warning that Jesus will come at any
time, and those who were “ready” for his coming fared much better than those
who were not.
The reason this parable was in my mind today was because I
was reading on in Revelation to try and get an overview of the seven seals.
Along the way we discover that there are seven angels, seven trumpets, seven
bowls of wrath, and many other symbols of the unfolding events of history.
However, it keeps sounding to me that these things are not
written to help me know the day or the hour. They seem more directed at
assuring me that God knows everything that is going to happen in the world
while the master is on his journey, so to speak. The master is not ignorant of
what his servants will go through. He already knows it, how it works, and how
he will work it to the fulfillment of his own plans and purposes.
Now that we know that, we are to get about the business of
the kingdom until he returns. He has given us the book of Revelation to assure
us that he is looking after his part. We are to devote ourselves to the word of
God and prayer so that we are looking after our part.
A favorite way of tying these two things together is in
something Paul wrote: “Therefore, my
beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his
good pleasure.”[7]
Let’s do the things God is working in us to “both will and to work for his good
pleasure.” After all, he is most assuredly doing the things to bring about
all that his good pleasure has purposed for us, purposes that were already set
in place before the foundation of the world, and will be exactly what God
planned when this world is all over, even if the book of Revelation leaves us
still wondering how exactly it will all come to pass.
From my heart,
Monte
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
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