Gospel in Art: To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one

The parable of the Talents, Stained glass by Clayton & Bell, London, late 19th C © St Edith's Church, Bishop Wilton

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 2 September 2023
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 stained glass window

Clayton & Bell was one of the most prolific stained glass window workshops of the late 19th century in England. They executed commissions as far afield as New York, Sydney and Montreal, showing that their high quality craftsmanship was in high demand. Clayton & Bell excelled in their use of colours and they were masters of story-telling. In our stained glass window, we see the master walking away, and, in the foreground, the three servants with their talents. The servant who was given the one talent is seen digging a hole in the ground; he is the focus of the composition and of our reflection. A simple, yet very effective rendition.

So what is a talent, or how much was it worth? While its exact equivalent in today's money is hard to calculate, one talent was a substantial amount of money. Looking at the pay soldiers received around that time in Greece, they were paid one drachma per day. 6,000 drachmas made one talent… So one talent was a very large sum. When reading this parable, we tend to feel sorry for the servant who received only one talent, but in reality he did receive a large amount. He was given more than enough to make something of his talent and please his master. Just as the master expected his servants to do more than just lazily preserve what had been entrusted to them, so does God expect all of us to generate a return by using the talents that have been entrusted to us, towards productive and fruitful ends.

True, some people in this earthy life have been given more talents than others. We are surrounded by people who can sing better than we can, who are more skilful, more gifted musicians, better teachers, more accomplished writers, etc., etc… But… even though we are not created equal in regard to the talents we were given, this parable is about equality and fairness. The five-talent servant needs to work just as hard to gain five more talents as does the two talent servant to produce two more. That is the reason why the reward given by the master is the same. God measures our achievements by the degree of effort we make. The servant who buried his talent therefore wasted an amazing opportunity to achieve something great.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-25-14-30-2023/