Talents in the Text – Matthew 25:14-30

The multifaceted nature of the interim stages of the Kingdom of God continue to be the great concern of Jesus' latter teaching ministry. An entire paradigm shift is necessary for the disciples to grasp the reality of God's sovereign hand in unfolding redemptive history. The last discourse deals at great length and detail with time lapses between unmistakable and spectacular divine interventions. It is these times between the ascension and the coming of Christ in covenantal judgment – for instance – or the time between the apostolic age and His second coming, that require the hortatory value of these waiting parables. We need them today. Consider again our 3 working themes for this section: Danger, Diligence, and Decisive reckoning. Given the sober realities of this parable, the question of application becomes all the more pressing and may give rise to these questions: What, after all, is a 'talent'.... and How can I steward the Master's property unto His glory? I take Mat 25:14-30 as a summary parable in symbolic form restating practical and specific instruction given in at least four other places in the gospel. As we expound these this today, consider how they stretch muscle and sinew on the skeletal framework of the second of the Kingdom waiting parables...