To read the texts click on the texts: 1 Macc 7:1, 21-30; Lk 19:11-28
The parable in the text of today is from the common source of
Matthew and Luke known as “Q”. However, Matthew (Mt 25:14-30) presents it
differently. While in Matthew there are three servants who are given five
talents (a talent was equivalent to 20 years wages for a common labourer), two
and one talent respectively, in Luke there are ten servants who are given one
mina each (a mina was about three months wages for a common labourer). The
amounts in Luke are much smaller than in Matthew. Though there are ten
servants, we are told only about three. The first of the three has earned ten
minas with the one he was given, the second has earned five and so these are
given charge of ten and five cities respectively. The third returns the mina to
the king because he was afraid of him and knew him to be a harsh man. After
berating the man for not putting the mina into the bank, which would have
earned interest, the king commands that his mina be given to the one who
already has ten.
The point, which Luke seems to make in this parable, is that
responses to Jesus the king have a decisive role in human destiny, for
responses to him determine life and death. There is no “safe” position. The
only road to success is to take risks as taken by the first two servants.
Dear Fr. Errol, the bank referred to here, is it the bank we have today or were they different?
ReplyDeleteIf my fading memory serves me right, I cannot recall any other instance in the Bible where reference has made to a Bank.
ReplyDeleteLuke 19:23 Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.
ReplyDeleteM
Your question on Banks -
ReplyDeletein a bank account? Literally means “on a (moneylender’s) table.” See Mark 11:15; Matt 21:12; John 2:15. The Greek noun trapeza was commonly used in this financial sense in classical and Hellenistic Greek texts.