Today's Gospel in Art - The Parable of the Talents

The Parable of the Talents, Painting by Rembrandt,1652 © Louvre Museum, Paris

Gospel of 15th November 2020 - 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 Drawing

When we hear the word 'talent', we think of a special ability or a gift, such as musical talent, a talent for football, etc. But when reading this parable, we have to be careful, as if we see 'talent' in the narrow sense of the word, then this parable could seem unfair. We read in our Gospel reading that the first two servants double their 'talents', implying that using one's gifts and abilities will result in gaining more gifts and abilities, or even wealth for oneself, rather than improving the gifts and abilities of others. All three servants in our reading today are therefore called to be responsible for what they are given. The first two servants who received the larger talents are expected by God to use their gifts to build His kingdom and not just keep the talent for their own gain. The man who received only one talent is told that it is not acceptable just to put his talent on a shelf and ignore it. He was rebuked because he did nothing with what he was given. All three servants are called to use their talents wisely and for the greater good.

Our drawing by Rembrandt is a simple, yet beautiful depiction of our parable. We see the Master of the house in the middle, seated, in a confident pose. On the left we probably have the third servant reaching for the one coin in his trouser pocket. He seems embarrassed and is looking at the floor. On the right we have the man in charge of the accounts writing everything down in his book. The implication of the parable is that we are to use whatever talents we've been given to the best of our ability for God's glory… then we can be trustworthy servants of God.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/607

Christian Art - www.christian.art