The Parable of the Talents

The Parable of the Talents A ‘talent’ in the time that this story was written was a large sum of money. Jesus told a story about a master who had three servants. He was going away for a long time. So he called his three servants to him and gave each a share of his money. To the first he gave five talents, to the second he gave two and to the third, one talent. The master wanted his servants to make the best use they could of his money while he was away. When the master finally returned home he asked his servants how they had used the talents they had been given. The first servant had doubled his money to ten talents by buying a flock of sheep and selling all the lambs. The master was really pleased. With a big smile on his face he said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have proved yourself trustworthy with little, now I will give you even more responsibility.” The second had used his gifts as a potter, bought some clay, made some pots and sold them. Now he had four talents. Again his master was delighted. “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have proved yourself trustworthy with little, now I will give you even more responsibility.” But the servant who had been given just one talent had hidden it. Quietly, he told his master that he was afraid and had buried his talent in the ground in case he lost it. The face of his master became angry. “You lazy servant. You could at least have put the money in the bank and gained a little interest for when I returned.” And he ordered the one talent to be taken from him and given to one of the other servants. Jesus wanted us to understand that however much money, or whatever talents or abilities we have been given, we each have a responsibility to make the most of these things, otherwise we risk losing them altogether.