Conversation Points for Matthew 25:14-30

Study Format:
1. Read passage aloud. What did you notice in the reading? What words or phrase caught your attention?
2. Read passage aloud a second time. What questions would you ask the text?
3. Read passage aloud a third time. What do you hear God calling you to do or be in response to this text?

Interesting Ideas to Consider:
• A talent (Greek talanton) is an amount of money equal to about fifteen year’s wages for a day laborer. The etymology of the English word “talent” (a natural aptitude or skill) comes from this parable as a term for a God-given ability.
• The conflict in this story is which characterization of the master do the hearers accept as true. Is he generous, as was indicated by his treatment of the first two slaves, giving them large sums of money and then rewarding them further? Or is he harsh, as implied by the words of the third slave and indicated by his response to the third slave?
• Matthew moved the location of Jesus telling this story to in Jerusalem immediately before the Passion (in Luke it appears in chapter 19, before the entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday). Matthew used the story to add to the image he was building in the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids about the nature of Christian life as one of active waiting. For Matthew, being “good and faithful” is not about passive waiting or strict obedience, but about active responsibility, taking initiative, and risk. The master gave no instructions to the three slaves about how they were to use the money, so faithfulness is not merely following directions. Each slave had to decide on his own how to use his time while the master was gone.
• There are two other parables in Matthew that also involve household slaves. Matthew 18:23-35 is the parable of the slave who racked up a massive debt against his master, and the master forgave him. Then the slave went out and refused to forgive a fellow slave a much lesser debt. Matthew 24:45-51 tells of a slave who took advantage of the master being gone to abuse his fellow slaves. These differing stories serve to frustrate attempts to simplify the way God works into neat, coherent systems. These parables speak of the reality of judgment and the need for decision and responsible action, while obscuring a straightforward, systemic understanding.

Works Sourced:
Boring, M. Eugene. “The Gospel of Matthew.” The New Interpreter’s Bible Volume VIII. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995.

Thompson, Erick J. “Commentary on Matthew 22:15-22.” Working Preacher. . Accessed 16 October 2017.