The basic lesson that is typically taught from the parable of the talents is that every person must be diligent and faithful with whatever God has given him in this life. While this is indeed a good and true message, many people overlook the reason why a person should live God's way of life, and much of Christianity has not understood it. The parable teaches that the entire reason for living faithfully is because of the coming Kingdom of God on earth!

There are two variations of what is essentially the same parable: the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 and the parable of the minas in Luke 19:11-27. Chronologically, the version in Luke appears to occur first since it comes shortly before Luke's account of Christ's famous prophecy on Mount Olive, wheras the version in Matthew 25 comes immediately after Matthew's account of the Olivet prophecy. We will examine both accounts and the context in which they are given in order to reveal their full meaning and what they teach us about the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 25 - Parable of the Talents

The conclusion of the Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24 is the backdrop of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. After explaining the terrible things that will happen at the end of this age in preparation for Christ's return to earth, Christ admonished His followers in Matthew 24:45-51 to prepare themselves for His coming because at that time He will judge His servants according to their behavior during His absence.

The parable of the talents begins in Matthew 25:14, saying, "For the Kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them." It then continues with the familiar story: each servant gets a certain number of talents, and two of them use those talents to gain more talents for their master while the other servant hides his away to protect it. When the master returns, he is pleased with the "good and faithful servants" who gained more talents, and he promises to give them dominion over "many things" for being faithful over a few things. As for the other servant, his master rebukes him and gives his talent to one of the faithful servants.

The symbolism of the parable is obvious: the king who goes to the far country is Christ, and the far country is heaven, where Christ currently resides at the right hand of the Father. The servants represent the people who God has called into the New Covenant at this time. Now examine carefully what comes next: the time that the master returns is analagous to the time that Christ returns to the earth. The master did not call his servants to come to him; rather, he returned to be with his servants.

Keep in mind that this would have been the second time the disciples had heard this parable! When they heard it, they would have also thought back to the more descriptive parable of the minas that Jesus had told them previously, which we will now examine.

Luke 19 - Parable of the Minas

Christ actually brings up the parable of the minas to clear up a specific misconception among His followers. Luke 19 begins with His arrival in Jericho on the way to Jerusalem, where He stays at the house of a man named Zacchaeus. Christ says to him in verses 9-10, "Today salvation has come to this house... for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Apparently, this statement prompted some of them to think that Jesus, being the Messiah, was on the way to Jerusalem to establish the promised Kingdom there, because it says in verse 11, "Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the Kingdom of God would appear immdediately."

In response to this thought, Christ began the parable of the minas in verse 12 with a small but significant difference from the parable of the talents: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return." In verse 15, we find that the nobleman does in fact receive the kingdom: "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom..." The rest of the story is similar to the parable of the talents, with the additional specification that the faithful servants were actually given cities to rule over (Luke 19:17-18), wheras the Matthew 25 account just spoke of a general reward of rulership over "many things." These cities are presumably part of the kingdom that the nobleman had received.

Conclusions

Now that we've had an overview, let's notice the following logical conclusions that we can draw from this parable:

Christ, like the nobleman or the master in the parables, has gone away to heaven, described in the parables as a "far country."

The purpose for which the nobleman went away was "to receive for himself a kingdom and to return" - similarly, one reason why Christ went to heaven was to receive the Kingdom of God!

Not only did Christ go to receive the Kingdom, but He did this so that He could bring it back, just like the nobleman "returned, having received the kingdom..." (Luke 19:15). The implication is that the man went to formally accept a kingdom so that he could return and rule over it. Likewise, Christ went to "receive for Himself a kingdom and to return" with that Kingdom!

Since Christ has not yet returned, we know that the Kingdom of God has not yet come, contrary to the claim of some that the Kingdom of God is merely in our hearts and not a literal coming government (see our Bible FAQ, Is the Kingdom of God "within you"?)

Notice that in both accounts, the man did not call his servants to come to the far country to be in the kingdom, and there is no indication that they went back to the far country together. Instead, he came to the servants and gave them their reward or punishment there. This is consistent with the biblical teaching that the Kingdom of God will be established on earth when Christ returns: Christ is not coming to "rapture" his faithful servants away, but to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

When the man returned, he judged between the faithful servants and the unfaithful, and he rewarded or punished them according to what they had done. This is exactly what the bible teaches that Christ will do: He will judge every person by their works according to the law of God (Revelation 20:12-13).

In the Luke 19 account, the nobleman rewarded his faithful servants with cities to govern. Similarly, Revelation 20:4 states that the saints of God will reign on the earth at Christ's return, and Jesus stated specifically that the Apostles would "sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). 

In both stories, the unfaithful servant had everything taken from him, and so it shall be when Christ comes (Matthew 24:48-51).

The parable of the minas and the parable of the talents have much more to offer than a simple message of "be faithful with what you're given." They reveal aspects of the coming Kingdom of God, and the fact that our Master is returning to establish that Kingdom is our motivation for being dilligent and profitable servants!