Gospel in Art: To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one talent

Parable of the Talents (The Worthless Servant Cast into the Outer Darkness) by Léonard Gaultier © National Gallery of Art, Washington

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 31 August 2024
Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: 'The kingdom of Heaven is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one; each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out.

'The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

'Now a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. "Sir," he said "you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made."

'His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness."

'Next the man with the two talents came forward. "Sir," he said "you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made." His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master's happiness."

'Last came forward the man who had the one talent. "Sir," said he "I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back." But his master answered him, "You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth."'

Reflection on the engraving

When we hear the word 'talent,' we think of natural abilities. In Jesus' time, however, a talent was a significant sum of money, equivalent to several years' wages. The man in the parable is clearly wealthy, distributing eight talents among three servants: five to one, two to another, and one to the third. This man was generous, not expecting the money back but wanting his servants to make good use of it. He knew their abilities, entrusting the most to the most capable and the least to the least capable.

The first two servants doubled the money they received, but the third buried his talent out of fear, seeing his master as harsh and forgetting his generosity. This parable reminds us of God's generosity. God gave us his greatest treasure, his Son, out of love, so we may have eternal life. Jesus, in turn, gave his life for us, demonstrating the greatest love by laying down his life for his friends. The Father and Jesus then gave us the Holy Spirit. All these gifts to us far surpass the wealthy man's gifts to his servants. So we simply cannot bury this gift and walk away. We are meant to embrace it, invest in it our time, our mind, our heart, so that the gift we received may grow even larger and can then be shared with the next person.

Our French engraving by Léonard Gaultier, from circa 1576, depicts there scenes into one. In the background we see the wealthy man handing out the talents. In the middle-ground on the left, he is meeting his three servants after his return. The foreground shows the man who only received one talent and buried it; he did nothing with what was given to him. According to the parable, what held him back was fear. He was afraid of losing what he had been given and thereby incurring the anger of his master. But he did not truly know his master's heart. He is now being carried away, towards the downward stairs that lie ahead of him in our engraving.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-25-14-30-2024/