I would like to talk briefly about the parable of the talents. Now, I had always thought that a Roman talent was a coin. As I have come to discover, I was wrong. A Roman talent is actually a gold bar.
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| 1 kg Canadian gold bar |
So, what is a talent compared to the time period. A denarius was a silver coin that was used to pay a mercenary for one day's labor. Comparatively, a talent was worth 6,000 denaril equal to nearly 17 years pay. Lets compare this to modern day. Imagine you only made $10,000 a year. 17 years pay would be $170,000. Though, it should be noted, that as of 2016 a talent's weight of gold is worth $1.25 million, which, in comparison would be equal to someone earning almost $74,000 a year. I don't know about most of you, but I do not earn nearly that much, thus I will use the $170,000 talent for the parable.
Matthew 25:14-30
"For the kingdom of heaven is a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and deliver unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents [$850,000], to another two [$340,000], and to another one [$170,000]; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents [$850,000] went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents [total of $1,700,000]. And likewise he that had received two [$340,000], he also gained other two [total of $680,000]. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
"After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents [total of $1,700,000], saying, Lord, though deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them [total of $680,000]. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usery [this is like interest in a bank which today is usually 5% which after 5 years would bring the worth to almost $217,000. Though it does not say how long the "lord" was away, if he was only gone for 5 years then he is saying that servant basically robbed him of $47,000 or almost 5 years pay]. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents [Since the guy who had $170,000 didn't do anything with it, give it to the guy that I trusted with $850,000 and doubled it to $1,700,000 and he will actually use it.].
"For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.[Basically saying that those who have faith and works, they are doing their best to follow God, shall have abundance when they are in God's kingdom. However, those that have not faith and do not do righteous things will have no place in God's kingdom.] And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
For a moment, lets view this from the the traditional perspective. Usually this parable is compared to actual talents given to us from God, and from this passage of scripture is where we gained the word talent as applicable to abilities and gifts. These talents could include abilities like: athletic skill, musical proficiency, creativity, scientific inquisition, writing ability, public speaking, et cetera. These are very similar to the gifts of the Spirit, which I talked about here. All of these gifts, whether talents or gifts of the Spirit of God are given to us from birth, but can also be learned with payer and hard work on our side.
Thus the important lesson of if we don't use it we loose it. If we do not use our gifts, like a talented pianist never playing piano they bury their gift into the ground and will eventually loose that gift. While even giving it to the "money changers" or "bank" by practicing and keeping their skills ready, they at least increase the blessing upon their heads. Yet for those who are blessed with a gift and use that gift to procure more like applying their dancing skills onto the football field, they increase their abilities and make them more suitable and useful within the kingdom of God. Therefore proving that God can trust them with more strength and ability.
I hope that you enjoyed this post, I know that I learned much especially about the true nature of what a Roman talent is. Let me know some of your talents and how you plan on using them to better improve the world around you.
Love,
Jacobugoth
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