It’s one of the many stories (parables) that’s been misinterpreted and used as a bludgeon for centuries. A friend of mine once wrote, “Fathers, mothers, preachers, and Christian teachers have used that story for 2000 years to scare the spit out of little boys and girls and everyone else with, ‘You’re not living up to your potential. God has given you so much, and you had better use it or lose it. You don’t want to be kicked out, do you? And don’t you want to hear Jesus say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant?’”
Here’s a recent bastardization of Matthew 25:14-30 that I
came across. Reήe August, a priest in the Anglican Church of South Africa
and veteran of the South African antiapartheid struggle was conducting a tour
of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were
banished to work the mineral mines as slaves. For 27 years Mandela worked those
mines, with the only profit going to the government of South Africa, the
government he resisted as evil.
Standing at the mouth of the quarry, August invited the
group of clergy and others to reflect on their lives and their leadership in
light of Robben Island and the story Jesus tells of the talents in Matthew 25.
The landowner was ready to leave for a trip and he called
three of his servants (douloi in
Greek, meaning slaves) to face him before he departed. It was a feudal state.
None of these slaves owned any land themselves.
To one slave he gave five talents. To another he gave two talents.
To the last slave he gave one. And when he returned the first two presented him
with not only the original number of talents, but they had doubled them. As
August says, Two of them traded for more money, which further enriched the
landowner.”
But the last slave chose a different way, he simply buried
the money. So when the landowner received from him his assigned talent August
says, “We have been taught to call this last slave the unfaithful one, but
notice what the ‘unfaithful’ one says about the landowner. He says, ‘We know
that you are a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow…’ In other words, the
enslaved man’s resistance speaks. It says, ‘You are an unjust person and I
refuse to participate in this exploitive game even if you will throw me crumbs
for my efforts.’”
Now Reήe makes a huge leap here. She posits that the third
slave’s characterization of the landowner is accurate. Perhaps she is
interpreting verse 26 as an admission by the master that he is as the slave
describes him. There’s no evidence of that. In fact, it appears to be the opposite.
The third guy is falsely biased. This is not a parable to be used as a bludgeon
to manipulate by fear.
The truth is that Jesus is making a point about the chief
priests and the elders of the people who are plotting His death. One doesn’t
kill someone for teaching boys and girls, men and women to work harder. Jesus
was telling about the religious leaders and pointing out how they made
themselves out to be so pure and righteous and yet, all they do is bury their
talent to protect themselves and their own interests. Like that last slave they
risk nothing, treating the blessings and treasures of God as if it’s their own.
And if there’s any truth in their
characterization of God as a hard, self-aggrandizing sovereign, it’s only their
own conjecture. In other words, it’s an honest projection of themselves. It was
Blaise Pascal who said, “God created man in His image, and ever since man has
been returning the favor.”
There is no truer, clearer picture of who God is than in
Jesus Christ. He is the only good and faithful servant. As Paul says, “He is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians
1:15). And what we have in Genesis 47:1-22 is a detailed description of how He
treats every one of His servants. It’s stunning. Unlike the false picture Reήe
August paints of Matthew 25, the false picture teachers and preachers have been
propounding for centuries, the writer of Genesis gives us a true, vivid
description of who God is and how He cares for His own.
In preparation for Sunday’s message: “How Much Are You
Appreciated?,” you may wish to consider the following:
1. Who do you think is the target of Jesus’ parable in Matthew
25:14-30?
2. Who do you think is qualified to receive the Master’s words
in Matthew 25:21?
3. Why do you suppose Joseph took only five of his brothers to
stand before Pharaoh?
4. What’s the significance of what they tell Pharaoh in verse
4?
5. What’s the significance of Pharaoh’s edict in verse 6?
6. What’s it mean that they are put in charge of Pharaoh’s
livestock?
7. How long does Jacob live in Egypt?
8. What’s the significance of his blessing Pharaoh twice?
9. What’s the significance of what Joseph does in verse 12?
10. What differences can you point out in the treatment of the
sons of Israel and the sons of Egypt?
See you Sunday!
