Breaking the Word

"It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one– to each according to his ability. Then he went away…The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'…For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'  (Mt 25:14-30 )

This parable has got only one message and that is the reason why the whole story is centred on the one servant (useless servant).  This parable is also narrated towards the end of the story of the Gospel. Right through the Gospel we see Jesus criticising and condemning the Pharisees and the Scribes. The whole of chapter 23 of Matthew’s Gospel speaks about them.

The Pharisees and the Scribes have been given the Law of Moses and the have been given the Temple, the sign of God’s presence among them. The have been given wonderful promises about how God would bless them and through them how God would bless the other nations. They have buried these things in the ground. They did not use it for themselves and neither did they use it for others.

The master was coming back and he was to come back at the end of times (this is the story of the Israel and God and it is about Jesus and Jews). The other two servants are those who hear the call of Jesus and on that basis live their life accordingly. They are the ones who make the right use of the money. 

Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'" The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Lk 18:1-8)

The author of this passage tells us that he is telling a parable and the parable has a purpose. The parable wants to communicate about prayer and the necessity of prayer and prayer without ceasing. Usually a parable make the hearer to decide about the message (parable of the Good Samaritan where the listener is asked to reply as to who was really a neighbour)  

The judge was a wicked man. He never bothered about justice. He was not bothered about God and he did not even bother about human. For him nothing was a matter of concern. He lived his life and that was everything.  Others were not his concern. He did not want to be disturbed by others. If at all he did some good it was because he wanted to avoid disturbance and irritation.

Even wicked people do some good because of selfish motives. Selfish people also do good. Jesus argument was that even selfish people do good and hence much more good would be done by God who is selfless and totally good. If good can come out of evil then naturally good will come in abundance form good God.