The Parable of the Talents

We are all familiar with Jesus’ parable of the Talents.  A rich man goes on a journey and distributes his wealth to three servants.  One get 5 talents, another get 3 and a third gets one talent.  The first two double their talents but the third one buries his and doesn't invest it.  He is punished and cast out.  The usual lesson is that God gives us all talents and we are supposed to use them.  I recently saw a short video from Fr. Robert Barron that cast a totally different light on the parable and the lesson.

Fr. Barron says that it is unfortunate that our word “talent” appears to be the same as the “talent” in the parable.  He said that for those listening to the parable, they were aware of two meanings for that word.  One meaning had to do with wealth.  A talent was a unit of measurement used to weight gold or silver and meant about 50 pounds.  50 pounds of gold or silver was a huge amount.  The man in the parable with 5 talents actually received 250 pounds of gold, the second 150 pounds and the third, who only received one talent, still had 50 pounds of gold which was still an unbelievable amount of wealth.  The first two men had to do a great amount work to double that amount of gold.  Not only that, but they got to keep it.  The first man even got the one that the third man had buried.  Those listening had to be impressed with the rich man’s (God’s) generosity.  But still, the last line of the parable, “(f)or to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have it in abundance. But from the one who has not, even that will be taken away.”, is very troubling.

Fr. Barron says that those listening knew that there was still another meaning for the word “talent”.  In King David’s temple, the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the Holy of Holies. On top of the Ark were two angels with their wings reaching towards each other, just barely touching.  It was believed that all of God’s mercy rested there, where the wings touched, as an infinite number of talents of mercy.  God’s mercy, His talents, flowed down from the Holy of Holies, upon those in need of His mercy.  Those who were so blessed with mercy, then showed mercy to others and in that way the talents of mercy grew and grew.  The man with the 5 talents showed so much mercy that it grew and multiplied back to him. The same was true for the man with 3.  The man with one talent, buried it and refused to show mercy to others. That is why he lost the talent.  He had been treated mercifully by God and refused to be merciful to others.  That is why he was thrown out into the street.  Those listening to Jesus’ parable were reminded that to those who have been shown mercy were to go out and show mercy to others who were to go out and show mercy and on and on.  Mercy multiplied and came back to the merciful one.

God blesses us with mercy all the time but especially when He forgives our sins.  We are expected to go out and do the same.  We need to be forgiving to other, even those who don’t ask for it or, perhaps, don’t deserve it. If we want to see God’s mercy multiplied in our lives, we must just give it away.