The Sabbath-School by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 25, 1882

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Parable of the Talents.

This parable was given, as we are told by Luke, "because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear." Under the figure of a nobleman going "into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return," Christ conveyed the information that he was to go to the Father and receive his kingdom, which would be set up at his second coming. The disciples did not at once grasp the full meaning of this and similar parables. They still continued to look for a temporal kingdom. They thought that Christ was going to help the Jews to throw off the Roman yoke, and to give to them the sovereignty of the world. On the day of the resurrection, we hear two of the disciples saying, in their despondency, "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel;" and at the ascension they asked, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Christ did not expect them to fully comprehend at once all that he taught them, but he knew that it would afterward be brought to their minds by the Holy Spirit, and they would understand it. See John 14:26.

"And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every one according to his several ability." A different amount was given to each one; no two have the same degree of talent. But no one can complain, for what he receives is not his by right—not as wages earned—but as a gift. The master delivered unto them his goods. He had a right to do as he pleased with his own. Moreover, one has no right to boast over another, for it was not through their own exertion that they received their talents. Paul says, "That no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" 1 Cor. 4:6, 7.

Here also is a reproof for those who wish that they were in another's position. Some think that if they had another's wealth, they would do a great amount of good. Others wish that they could speak or write as some other one can, or that they had his influence. Now the probability is that if they had these greater talents that they wish for, they would misuse them. Not willfully, perhaps, from inability to handle them properly. There are men in an army, who make excellent officers as captains, but who would fail utterly as division commanders. They can serve their country in a low position better than in a higher one; and if they fill that low position well, they are entitled to their full measure of credit. Let no one complain, then, of the lowliness of his station, for the Master knows exactly what we are able to do, and has given "to every man according to his several ability."

"After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them." A day of reckoning will surely come. God has "appointed a day in the which he will judge the world." Because it is put off for a "long time," many flatter themselves that it will never come. See Eccl. 8:11. This is a fatal mistake. "Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." 1 Cor. 3:13.

Notice the impartiality of the commendation. The one to whom five talents had been given had gained five talents beside them. The one who had received two talents had also doubled them. To each the lord said: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." The reward does not depend on the absolute amount accomplished, but on the faithfulness. The first had done more than the second, but only because he had been given more to work with. If the man with the one talent has been as faithful, he would have received the same commendation.

In the fate of the unfaithful servant, lies the great lesson of the parable. After telling him that he ought to have put his talent to the exchangers, that it might have increased, the lord said: "Take, therefore, the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 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."

The servant was not accused of robbing his master. He gave back all that was entrusted to him. But this was not enough; he should have added to his store. The lesson is that God requires every individual to add to the talents that have been given to him. These talents are of various kinds, and may be very small, yet the requirement is the same. Some people do not understand how it can be that, "from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." In Luke 8:18, the passage reads, "And whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have." The talents did not belong to the servants. They were their capital in business, and were loaned to them. They had them, but they were not theirs in fact. They only seemed to be their own. The unfaithful servant acknowledged this when he said, "Lo, there thou hast that is thine." When he had given back that which had been originally given to him, he had absolutely nothing.

A great responsibility, then, rests upon every one of us. We are not at liberty to do as we please with our talents, whether they are money, education, or influence. Let us so use them, that, instead of having them taken from us at the last, more may be given to us. "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."

E. J. W.