Parable of the Loaned Money
Since this Sunday is Easter, we are honoring Holy Week on the blog today! As Christians this is one of the most important weeks in our year. It’s a week focused on Jesus’s death, resurrection, and the sacrifice made on our behalf. And the victory we walk in because of him.
We’ve been studying the events of that week with our kids. We’ve read how Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the cheers of his followers, how he became angry with people in the temple, about the opposition he was facing from the religious leaders of the time, and the teachings he continued to offer, even as resistance was continuing to build.
One of the stories he taught that week is now known as The Parable of the Loaned Money. It’s found in Matthew 25, starting at verse 14.
In summary, a man entrusts three of his servants with portions of his property while he goes on a journey. He gave one servant five talents, one servant two talents, and the third servant received one talent. (A talent is a term for money, worth over a thousand dollars today.)
The first servant took his five talents and put it to work for him and gained an additional five talents. The next servant with the two talents also doubled his, gaining two more. But the third servant decided to play it safe, and he buried his talent in the ground so it would be protected and could be returned.
When the master came back and saw that the first two servants had doubled their portions, he was proud of them and said, “Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come, share in your master’s happiness!”
But he rebuked the servant who had not done anything useful with his portion, calling him lazy. He even took that talent and gave it to the first servant with ten talents. The master did not value nor respect the servant’s somewhat self-centered approach.
We are all the servants in this story, with God as our master. He entrusts us with resources, money, time, and abilities. His plan is not for us to waste it or hide it, but to use it and grow it, for Him. Whatever He has placed with us as a caretaker, let’s make sure we are putting it to good use in this life. God does not want us to be lazy with what He has placed in our care. He wants us to be intentional with it. When we are faithful with what we’ve been given, God will give us more, not for our own agenda, but for His kingdom’s advancement.
This is just a small lesson in a much larger, important, and incredible story. We encourage you to read through Matthew 26-28 if you are interested or curious about Jesus’s final days on earth.
If you’d like to know more about Easter and the events of Holy Week and what it means to us, we’d love to connect with you. Send us an email and we’d love to chat with you about it!
