The parable of the talents is a powerful illustration of the dire consequence of life’s wasted and lost opportunities to make the most of what we have been given. Although its imagery centres on money, the lesson Jesus imparts in telling this parable applies to many aspects of human experience.

The master casts out the servant and takes back his talent, by Clive Uptton

A master is going away for a while, and calls his three servants to whom he entrusts his wealth: he gives the first five talents, the second two talents, and the third a single talent. The master then leaves his house and goes on his journey. After he has gone time passes and the first servant increases his talents by trading with the first five; the second servant also adds to his original two; but the third servant buries his one talent and leaves it in the safety and obscurity of the earth. When the master returns he asks after his servants and what they have done with their talents and his property. The first two tell him of their hard work, risk-taking and consequent rewards of doubling the original sum, but the third man simply states that he had buried his one talent for fear of losing it. On hearing this his master is extremely angry, and after rewarding the other two with promotion, turns his rage on this “wicked and slothful servant”, taking away his talent and punishing him:

“For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” (Matthew 25: 29)

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This is perhaps the most touching of all the parables of Jesus. It  contains the powerful sentiment of reconciliation, the misery of self-loathing and the resentment and jealousy between siblings. It is a tale of forgiveness and redemption. A man has two sons, the younger of which asks for his share of their inheritance so he can make his way in the world. He is given the money, a small fortune, which he squanders in the dissolute city, consorting with prostitutes and rogues. He loses everything and becomes a swineherd. When misery reduces him to abject self-pity even to the depths of envying his snorting pigs, he realises he will have to abandon any vestigial pride and return home.

The father sees his prodigal son and runs to greet him

This he does, and when his father sees him coming from afar, he runs to greet him with great emotion. A rich robe and  new sandals, along with the slaying of the proverbial fatted calf; all mark the father’s celebration and boundless welcome. The elder brother hears the tumult while out in the fields, and makes his complaint known when he arrives back home. He has devoted himself to virtue and hard work, for not even a goat to be given to him and his friends by his father. But the father remonstrates with a simple but profound observation, central to the teachings of Christ:

“Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found” (Luke 15: 31-32).

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A series of very unlikely events takes place in a rich man’s vineyard leased out to several husbandmen. There is violence, disloyalty and a clear attempt by the workers to take over the flourishing vineyard and its fine produce. Jesus uses his tremendous gift for taking an apparently ordinary situation and exaggerating certain elements until the listener’s expectations are confounded and a fresh interpretation of the spiritual life and God’s intentions unfolds.

The servant tells his master that the workers have attacked him

The rich man returns from his travels and sends a servant for his dues. One man is beaten up, another stoned, another killed; he sends others and the same thing happens. So he decides to send his son, thinking these tenants will surely be on their best behaviour in that case, and show him due respect. But the tenants see him as the heir apparent to the vineyard, and they kill him in order to take his inheritance for themselves. Jesus asks his followers what the rich man should now do to those wicked men, and the import of the answer is simple: “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21: 43). The slain son represents, of course, Jesus himself.

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The wrongly dressed guest at the wedding feast is seized

This parable has simple and complex strands which bring together themes about the chosen and the unworthy to be chosen. It is a somewhat exaggerated tale of a king who gives a wedding feast for his son to which the appropriate people are invited, all of whom let him down one way or another. He sends his servants to remind and encourage them, but they are beaten and murdered by the ingrates. So incensed is he that he has their killers tracked down and put to death, and is not satisfied until he has burned down their city with his army. He the sends out other servants to gather people from the highways, and bring them as invited guests to his feast. This happens, and all is well until the king notices one man not wearing wedding clothes. He has him bound and taken away, thrown “into the outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called but few are chosen” (Matthew 22: 13-14).

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Sowing seed on the path, among thorns, on rocky ground and fertile soil, by Clive Uptton

Jesus told several parables, some more complicated than others. The parable of the sower is simple in narrative detail and the message it clothes. When a farmer sows seed on inappropriate terrain the results are predictable, whether the plants wither for lack of soil or choke to death among thorny weeds. Only when the soil is good does the farmer see a decent crop, and this multiplies with each harvest. The seed is the Word in its various stages of understanding and acceptance, be it one of shallowness or one of deeply rooted vitality yielding rich and plentiful fruit. In the gospel of St Matthew, the poor birds which take the seed from the road are likened to the devil confounding potential believers.

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Forgiveness is a recurrent theme in the parables of Jesus, and His desire to return to the subject reveals a contempt for mean-spirited and ungenerous attitudes among people of all classes. Peter asks Jesus about the limits of forgiveness, and this parable is His answer. Simply told, a king finds that among his debtors one servant owes 10,000 talents. The servant cannot repay the loans, is threatened with disposal of his goods, his wife, his family and his own person , and in desperation begs his lord for mercy.

The king and the wicked servant

The plea moves the king, who forgives him the debt out of compassion. So far, so good – but of course that meanness will out, and the servant does not disappoint. He comes across a fellow retainer who owes him a mere 100 denarii, which he demands with threats, and having no success has him thrown into prison. The other household servants bring news of this to their king, whose combined disappointment and rage with the original defaulter compel him to revoke his forgiveness. He hands him over to “his tormentors” until the debt is repaid, which sounds profoundly unpleasant, and all for the want of showing mercy to his fellow servant after it was so generously shown to him.

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The Good Samaritan

The parable of the good Samaritan is probably the most famous of all the parables told by Jesus. It concerns the simple story of a Jew who is brutally attacked by robbers and left for dead at the roadside. Various travellers pass by , including a Levite and a Priest, and each chooses to ignore the wretched man and crosses to the other side. A Samaritan, a traditional enemy and much despised by the Jews, sees the naked victim of this violent assault in his terrible distress. After bandaging his wounds and using oil as balm, the Samaritan provides him with a room in a nearby inn, and pays the innkeeper in advance for taking care of the wounded Jew. He even adds that if the cost is greater than the sum he leaves, he will pay the extra when he is next in the area. This affecting tale of unnatural carelessness and unlikely kindness is a parable told to illustrate the value of loving our neighbour as we love ourselves. It is also seen as symbolic of the loving care shown to mankind by Jesus. Even now it remains an archetypal story of charity and compassion.

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