Thou hast been faithful for little, enter into the joy of thy lord

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

At that time, Jesus told his disciples this parable: « A man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted his goods to them. To one he gave the sum of five talents, to another two talents, to the third only one talent, to each according to his ability. Then he left. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went away to make use of them and won five more. Likewise, he who had received two talents won two more. But he who had received only one went and dug up the earth and hid his master’s money.

After a long time, the master of these servants returned and asked them to account for it. And he who had received five talents came and presented another five talents and said, « Lord, you entrusted me with five talents; behold, I have earned five more. »     His master said to him, « Very well, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful for a few things, I will entrust you with many; enter into the joy of your lord. »  He who had received two talents also came nearer
and said, « Lord, you entrusted me with two talents; behold, I’ve won two more. »  His master said to him: « Very well, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful for a few things, I will entrust you with many; enter into the joy of your lord. » The one who had received one talent also came near and said: « Lord, I knew that you are a hard man: you reap where you have not sown, you reap where you have not sowed, you gather where you have not scattered the grain. I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.

Here it is. You have what is yours. » And his master said, « You lazy, wicked servant, you knew I reap where I did not sow, you knew I gather where I did not sow. So I had to put my money in the bank; and when I returned, I would have found it with the interest. So take away his talent and give it to the one who has ten. To him that hath, more shall be given, and he shall be in abundance; but he that hath nothing shall have even that which he hath taken away.     And as for that good-for-nothing servant, cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. »  (Mt 25, 14-30)

The parable of talent

The kingdom of heaven is compared to what a man did when he went on a journey and handed over his possessions to his servants. He gave to one five talents, to the other two, to the other one one. Immediately the one who received five talents set to work and earned five more; likewise the one who received two. But he who had only one talent buried it in the ground.  After a long time the master returned and made his servants answer for it. He that had received five talents produced five more that he had earned; likewise also he that had received two. Then the master, praising their faithfulness, admitted them to share his joy.

But he that had received one talent came and said : « Lord, I knew that you are a hard and unjust man ; I feared and buried your talent in the earth: this is yours.  » But his master answered him : « O wicked servant, if thou knewest that I am a hard and unjust man, thou shouldest have given my money to others, who would have returned it to me with interest. Take away the talent from him, and give it to him that has ten, and cast the useless servant into outer darkness. Luke (Luke 19:12 ff.)  reports a parable which has some similarities with this one, but differs from it in other respects. Several interpreters, considering these two accounts as one and the same parable, variously modified by apostolic tradition, wondered to which of the two belongs the priority and originality. But why not instead admit that Jesus used such a striking form of instruction twice, modifying it in such a way as to express two different ideas? This is the result of a careful study of the two parables.

In the parable reported by Luke, all the servants received the same amount of money to be claimed. Here the gifts entrusted were individualised according to the ability and means of each one. Having thus entrusted his goods, the master left immediately. Immediately he went away and made use of his talents; he did not waste a moment, feeling his responsibility and how precious time was. From that moment on he worked, worked with the talents and made five more talents. He returned only after a long time, having given his servants the time they needed for their work. And since this return of the master represented the second coming of Jesus, Jesus did not announce it in a future so near that a certain exegesis would want it.

The five talents entrusted to him were no small thing ; but the master designated them so in comparison with what he would still entrust of his immense riches to this servant who proved to be good and faithful. What does this word mean in the parable: the joy of your lord? Some thought of the master’s satisfaction with this good servant, others of some banquet or feast he wanted to hold to celebrate his return. Here Jesus suddenly passed from image to reality, and that joy was the happiness and glory he enjoyed, into which he introduced his faithful servant: « Now if we are children, we are also heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we suffer with him, that we may be glorified with him » (Rm 8, 17).

The language of this wicked servant was borrowed from the customs of agriculture. He even expressed, in two different forms, his accusation against his master : wanting to reap without having sown, and to gather without having spilled. The latter image is borrowed from the custom of threshing the wheat, whose ears are scattered over the ground, and then gathering the grain into the granary. The servant wanted to prove to his master that he was a hard man, too demanding and unjust. But he himself betrayed the depths of his heart, where there was only fear and no trust, no love, no concern for his master’s interests. He placed himself before him on the field of his own justice. He also rebuked him for having confided too little in him.

Badness and laziness are the two vices that the master saw in the heart and in the conduct of his servant. The latter would have revealed them abundantly, either in his manner of acting or in his feelings towards his master. The master did not refute the accusation made against him, he admitted it, and there is a sad irony in this admission, but to draw an immediate conclusion which is quite the opposite of the servant’s conduct. Even though he was a hard and unjust man, who could only inspire fear in his servant, the latter should have, by this fear alone, had his master’s money taken by bankers : thus separating his property from that of his master, he would not have done the latter any harm; he would at least have achieved that justice to which he appealed. Still others saw in the act of taking the money to the bankers, the renunciation of the Christian profession which is commanded to those who do not have the faith and love of Jesus in their hearts.

 The divine treasure, and the act of depositing it, demanded of the servant a state of prayer in which the servant, who believes himself incapable of acting himself for the cause of Christ, can at least ask God to draw from him and from his Christian knowledge the part he will find good. (M. Godet)

When Jesus takes away from a man the talent he entrusted to him, he thereby deprives him of any means of still working for him. This is the beginning of the judgment: « For to every man that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away. « (Mt 25, 29). Explanation of this parable.  The man who entrusts his possessions before going away is Jesus himself, who was soon going to leave the house.

Explanation of this parable

The man who entrusts his possessions before going away is Jesus himself, who was soon to separate himself from his disciples. The servants are the disciples of then and the redeemed of all times, whatever their position or function in the Church. Talents represent all of God’s gifts, natural advantages and spiritual graces, and in particular the outpouring of His Holy Spirit which was to be given to the Church, to create new life and to enliven all other gifts.

These talents are distributed to each one selo→formément to the sovereign wisdom of one who probes hearts, measures moral and intellectual strength and knows the degree of receptivity of each soul. It is a question for all to increase these talents by making use of them. In the same way, in fact, that capital increases through interest, through work, in the same way all the graces of God are multiplied by their faithful use in daily life.

The return of the master who comes to settle accounts with his servants is the solemn advent, on the last day, of Jesus before whom will be manifested all the secrets of hearts and all the fruits of each one’s work.  The happiness of the faithful servants who enter into the joy of their Lord, as well as the inexpressible misfortune of the wicked and lazy servant who finds himself stripped of his talent and thrown into outer darkness this great and tragic outcome of the parable, is self-explanatory.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

Links to other Christian websites

◊ Highter Prais : click here to read the paper → Well Done, Thou Good and Faithful
◊ Lara & good news click here to read the paper →  Good & Faithful Servants

♥ The parable of talent

Voici vraiment un Israélite : il n’y a pas de ruse en lui.

DE l’Évangile de Jésus Christ selon saint Jean

En ce temps-là, Philippe trouve Nathanaël et lui dit : « Celui dont il est écrit dans la loi de Moïse et chez les Prophètes, nous l’avons trouvé : c’est Jésus fils de Joseph, de Nazareth. » Nathanaël répliqua : « De Nazareth peut-il sortir quelque chose de bon ? » Philippe répond : « Viens, et vois. » Lorsque Jésus voit Nathanaël venir à lui, il déclare à son sujet : « Voici vraiment un Israélite : il n’y a pas de ruse en lui. » Nathanaël lui demande : « D’où me connais-tu ? »
Jésus lui répond : « Avant que Philippe t’appelle, quand tu étais sous le figuier, je t’ai vu. » Nathanaël lui dit : « Rabbi, c’est toi le Fils de Dieu ! C’est toi le roi d’Israël ! » Jésus reprend : « Je te dis que je t’ai vu sous le figuier, et c’est pour cela que tu crois ! Tu verras des choses plus grandes encore. » Et il ajoute : « Amen, amen, je vous le dis :  vous verrez le ciel ouvert, et les anges de Dieu monter et descendre au-dessus du Fils de l’homme. »  (Jn 1, 45-51)

Jésus invita Philippe à le suivre

Au mo­ment où, le lendemain, Jé­sus se dis­po­sa à par­tir pour la Ga­li­lée, pour y exer­cer son mi­nis­tère, il ren­contra Phi­lippe qu’il in­vita à le suivre. Cette in­vi­ta­tion ne fut pas en­core un ap­pel à l’a­pos­to­lat ; elle si­gni­fia pour Philippe : «  Re­viens avec moi en Ga­li­lée  ».  Dans la pen­sée de Jé­sus, elle eut  une por­tée plus grande. Jean fit en­suite cette re­marque que Phi­lippe se trouva de la même ville qu’An­dré et Pierre, afin de faire com­prendre qu’il en­tra en re­la­tion avec Jé­sus par l’in­ter­mé­diaire de ces deux dis­ciples. Le rôle de Phi­lippe dans la vo­ca­tion de Na­thanaël fut sem­blable à ce­lui d’An­dré dans la vo­ca­tion de Pierre et à ce­lui de Pierre et d’An­dré clans la sienne propre.

Un flam­beau al­lumé sert à en al­lu­mer un autre ; ainsi se pro­page la foi. ( Godet)

Il n’est pas dit où Phi­lippe trouva Na­thanaël, ce fut pro­ba­ble­ment pen­dant ce voyage vers la Ga­li­lée, où les dis­ciples ac­com­pa­gnèrent Jé­sus. Peut-être Na­thanaël fi­t-il la même route, en sens in­verse, pour se rendre au­près de Jean-Bap­tiste. Quoi qu’il en soit, Na­thanaël, après cette ren­contre avec Jé­sus, de­vint son dis­ciple et même très pro­ba­ble­ment un apôtre, il est nommé parmi les apôtres et, dans les di­verses listes de ces der­niers,  où son nom manque, on trouve ce­lui de Barthélemy placé à côté de ce­lui de Phi­lippe, son ami. Or, comme Barthélemy ne fut qu’un nom pa­tro­ny­mique (« fils de Thol­maï »), c’est Na­thanaël qui le porte dans les sy­nop­tiques.

Pour af­fer­mir sa propre foi et celle de son ami, Phi­lippe aima à rap­pe­ler que cet en­voyé de Dieu n’ap­pa­rut pas in­at­tendu en Israël.  En ajou­tant que Jé­sus fut fils de Joseph et ori­gi­naire de Nazareth, Phi­lippe ne fit qu’exprimer l’o­pi­nion cou­rante, et il fallut que la cri­tique né­ga­tive fut avide de vaines ob­jec­tions pour conclure de là que Jean, au­teur de cet Évan­gile igno­ra la nais­sance de Jé­sus à Barthélemy et son ori­gine sur­na­tu­relle. Elle ou­blia que ce n’est pas l’é­van­gé­liste qui s »exprima, mais Phi­lippe qui, ap­pa­rem­ment, ne fut pas au fait alors des cir­cons­tances par­ti­cu­lières dans les­quelles Jé­sus était venu au monde !

Na­thanaël ne re­poussa pas la louange de Jé­sus ; ce fut là, comme l’ob­serva Meyer, une preuve de sa sin­cé­rité, et sa ques­tion ne fut que l’ex­pres­sion d’un pro­fond éton­ne­ment. Il pa­rut que, peu de temps avant la ren­contre de Phi­lippe et de Na­thanaël, ce der­nier se retira sous un figuier près du Che­min, ou il crut être seul et dé­robé à tous les re­gards. Là, lui dit Jé­sus, je t’ai vu. Le re­gard de Jésus, non seule­ment  dé­cou­vrit Na­thanaël en un lieu où il fut na­tu­rel­le­ment ca­ché, mais il  pé­né­tra jus­qu’au fond de son cœur et re­connut les sen­ti­ments in­times qui l’oc­cu­pèrent à ce mo­ment.

Ce fut ce qui res­sortit de l’im­pres­sion pro­fonde et dé­ci­sive que fit sur Na­thanaël ce simple mot : « Je t’ai vu. » Rien de moins ne sau­rait ex­pli­quer com­ment cette pa­role créa la foi en cet homme, et pro­voqua la belle confes­sion qui s’é­chappa de son cœur et de ses lèvres. La plu­part des in­ter­prètes consi­dérèrent cette pa­role de Jé­sus comme une ques­tion : « Tu crois ? »

Diacre Michel Houyoux

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Liens avec d’autres sites web chrétiens

◊ Regnum Christi : cliquez ici pour lire l’article →   Voici vraiment un Israélite : il n’y a pas de ruse en lui

◊ Hozana.org : cliquez ici pour lire l’article →   Voici vraiment un Israélite : il n’y a pas de ruse en lui

♥ Commentaire du Père Bartélémy