16th Sunday of Matthew (Nutshell and Full Text)

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Nutshell

16th Sunday of Matthew
Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Oops!

Today, we’re told a parable about three slaves entrusted with their master’s money. Two of them successfully invest it and increase their master’s worth. However, the third slave does not. As a result, he’s thrown out of the household in disgrace.

Ugh!

Typically, we identify with the first two slaves. We want to be like them, keeping our master happy. Ironically, though, it’s the third slave who does what’s right according to the Law of Moses!

Aha!

By identifying and praising the first two slaves, we find that we’ve neglected to love our neighbor, the disgraced third slave who now needs our help. And so, we find ourselves condemned.

Whee!

But, no matter! As Paul says, the Law that condemns us makes us aware of our sinfulness and our indebtedness to God. This awareness is the seed that causes us to understand the depth and magnitude of God’s mercy and grace.

Yeah!

Knowing that we are, indeed, recipients of God’s grace (not having earned our salvation), we see the world in a new way. We’re encouraged to view those who fall with a bit more compassion. We’re inclined to be graceful to those whom we would have otherwise turned away. We’re prompted to pay God’s grace forward.

Full Text

Oops!

I’ve thought a lot about the parable we heard today.

On the surface, it seems like pretty straightforward parable, a simple one, one that’s easily understood. But, as I consulted the commentaries, and the more I thought about it, the bigger a mystery it became.

Perhaps, I didn’t really understand what was happening? Perhaps, I had gotten the message completely wrong!

Today, we’re told a parable about three slaves entrusted with their master’s money. Two of them successfully invest it and increase their master’s worth. For doing so, they are praised and given more responsibility.

However, the third slave does not. As a result, he’s thrown out of the household in utter disgrace.

Ugh!

Typically, it’s understood that the master represents God, the servants represent us, and the money represents what God has given to us: grace, life, spiritual gifts, etc. So, the message is that we shouldn’t squander what God has given us. Instead, we should “invest” it and increase it. In short, we should be responsible and trustworthy.

But, this interpretation doesn’t make sense to me, for several reasons.

Firstly, Jesus, over and over again, tells us not worry about money. He tells his disciples to take very little with them when they go preaching. Would he now tell a parable where the accumulation of money is a good thing? Even if it’s symbolic?

Would Jesus also tell a story where there’s two heroes? If the road is narrow, wouldn’t it make more sense for there to be one hero instead? One hero who faithfully picked up his cross to follow Christ?

And, what about that third slave who gets thrown out into the “… outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Does this mean that a loving God who operates by mercy and grace will discard us if we don’t quite measure up? Are we now saved by “works of the Law” instead of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, as Paul asserts?

And, the last problem, and the one that got me thinking this interpretation was wrong, revolves around an understanding of ancient Judean Law. Charging interest—that is the practice of usury—was forbidden by the Old Testament.

In fact, we have ancient Jewish sources that tell us that the best and safest way to watch over someone’s money was to bury it (M.B. Mes. 3:10; B.B. Mes. 42a)! I know this isn’t how our culture operates, but, surprisingly, this was actually the honorable thing to do in this time and place.

So, if the third slave actually followed the Law and acted honorably, why would Jesus actually be condemning him?

In its original context, this parable must have had a completely different and surprising interpretation.

Aha!

I think the third slave is actually the hero of this story. He does what is required and returns to his master what he’s been given: no less, no more.

And remember, this culture was a limited goods society. They believed that all the wealth there ever was going to be already existed—it was in limited supply. So, if you increased your wealth, as the first two slaves did, then this culture believed you were stealing. You were taking something that was in limited supply away from someone who, potentially, had very little.

This means that the first two slaves and the master must be the bad guys here. Remember, the master also suggested that the third slave should have practiced usury, something forbidden by God.

So, if they are the bad guys, then the master does not represent God. I think he must represent the world instead. In other words, I think this parable is about how the world treats those who follow Christ. The world expects us to play the game established by the fallen world. When we don’t, as the third slave didn’t, we can expect the world to reject us, to throw us to the dogs, so to speak.

In short, I believe this parable is telling us that we must pick up our crosses and follow Christ. But, it’s also acting as a warning. When we follow Christ, the world will reject us as it rejected Christ, and throw us out to the outer darkness.

But, I actually think there’s even more happening here.

Before this parable, Jesus tells another parable. It’s about ten bridesmaids who are waiting for the bridegroom. Five wise bridesmaids brought extra oil for their lamps, and five foolish bridesmaids did not. When the foolish ones went to buy more, the bridegroom shows up leaving them behind. The message is clear: be prepared. But for what? I’ll come back to that in a second.

After today’s parable is the parable of the Judgment of the Nations. Here Jesus separates the sheep from the goats: those who had learned to love their neighbor from those who had not. What’s most interesting about this parable is that everyone is confused. Those who loved their neighbor didn’t know they had. Those who didn’t, couldn’t believe they hadn’t.

So, how do these three parables fit together?

I think it’s like this. The first parable, about the ten bridesmaids, is about being prepared. I think it’s almost a warning saying, “Watch out, a test is coming.”

Then comes today’s parable, about the three slaves. This is the test! Most of us will have identified with and praised the first two slaves. After all, we’re “of the world,” and they acted as the world would.

But, here’s the catch. It’s the third slave, the one who’s thrown out, that needs our compassion. This one now needs our help because he has no where else to turn. Yet, we judge him as having done the wrong thing!

Now comes judgment. In the next parable, without realizing it we find that we’ve neglected to love our neighbor, the disgraced third slave who now needs our help. And so, we find ourselves condemned.

When put together, we find that our eyes our opened. We’re still here and have the chance to repent, change our ways, and begin again.

Whee!

As Paul says, the Law that condemns us makes us aware of our sinfulness and our indebtedness to God.

This awareness is the seed that causes us to understand the depth and magnitude of God’s mercy and grace.

If we didn’t understand Jesus’s teaching before, we do now. We know that we’re no better than any other sinner. We understand how forgiving our God actually is.

We see that God truly is a good God, and we understand what it means when he’s graceful towards us.

Yeah!

Knowing that we are, indeed, recipients of God’s grace–that we cannot earn our salvation—we see the world in a new way.

We’re encouraged to view those who’ve fallen with a bit more compassion.

We’re inclined to be a bit more graceful to those whom we would have otherwise turned away.

We’re prompted to pay God’s grace forward.

Amen.

Bonus: Afterwards

Many have asked me: is this a novel reading of this parable? And, the answer is, No! I didn’t do an exhaustive search, but I did come across two ancient authors who view this parable as I described.

The first is the author of the Gospel of the Nazarenes. Though this author is known, and his gospel didn’t make it into our New Testament canon, it’s an example of how people understood Jesus’s teachings, including his parables, in the ancient world. In his version, the first slave squanders the money with harlots and flute-girls. For this he is cast into prison. The second slave multiplies the grain. For this he is rebuked. The third slave is the one who hid the talent, and he is accepted with joy.

The second author I came across is Eusebius of Caesarea. He first comments on the Gospel of the Nazarenes’s version but quickly turns to Matthew’s version. The threat, at the end of the parable, is problematic for Eusebius, so much so that he wonders if it’s a form of epanalepsis (a literary device where words written later refer to an earlier event) and thus refers to the first two slaves (Eusebius, Theophania, 22 [on Matt 25:14]).

For modern authors, I suggest these two books:

• Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003).
• William R. Herzog, II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1994).