kingdom, and to return." His errand when he went abroad was not to seek
a kingdom in another quarter of the world, but to obtain from a foreign
power nomination to the sovereignty of his native land. In the first
place, it is not probable that, after having become king of another
country, he would return to reside where he was only a subject; but a
much more decisive indication is given by the message which his
fellow-citizens sent after him, "We will not have this man to reign over
us." They do not interfere with his prospects in a foreign country; it
is his sovereignty over themselves that they dread and deprecate. This
outspoken repudiation of his government by his fellow-citizens makes it
both certain and manifest that, though he sought investiture abroad, the
kingdom which he expected to receive was in his own native land, and
over his former fellow-citizens.
In those days both the Jews and other nations subject to the supremacy
of Rome were familiar with the transaction which forms the basis of this
parable. After the nobleman's departure, his countrymen, aware of his
design, endeavoured to thwart it. With this view they sent a message, or
rather an embassy ([Greek: presbeian]) after him; they commissioned some
of their own number to appear along with him before the power paramount,
and oppose his claim. It is a mistake to suppose that the protest of
these citizens was addressed to the nobleman who sought to become their
king; the deputies are instructed to address themselves not to him, but
to the foreign power from whom he intends to seek investiture. They will
appear at court along with him when his petition is presented, and plead
that it may be rejected. Such debates were in point of fact held before
the republican and imperial tribunals of Rome.[102]
[102] Herod and his son Archelaus had both in succession repaired
personally to Rome to obtain their authority. Precisely similar
scenes are enacted between the British government and the protected
potentates of India; the agents for rival princes contend for regal
rights in London, where the government of India is in the last
resort controlled.
Before setting out on his journey "he called his ten servants," &c.
These men were his servants or slaves. In different countries, and at
different times, the bond of servitude has been indefinitely varied both
in stringency and duration. In all probability these servants were the
bondsmen of the nobleman, although law and practice might not accord to
the owner a power so absolute as that with which we are too familiar in
modern slavery. But the more nearly that the master's rights approached
the point of absolute ownership of property, the more suitable becomes
the picture to represent the relation that subsists between the
redeeming Lord and his ransomed people.[103]
[103] It is altogether a mistake to conclude from the allusions made
here and elsewhere in the Scriptures to the actually existing
servitude of the times and places, that any modern system of slavery
may claim the sanction of divine approval. It was the custom of
Jesus to seize existing facts on the right and on the left as they
lay around, and employ them as vehicles for conveying his meaning.
Sometimes he so employed a good thing, and sometimes a bad thing,
but by the mere fact of using a human act or habit as a metaphor, he
pronounced no judgment regarding its moral character. It was enough
for him that the thing was well known, and that it served as a
letter with which he might indicate his mind. Printers make their
types of any material that may be most suitable for the purpose, and
most readily obtained; and with these types they multiply the
Scriptures. They use a cheap mixture of lead and tin; and this base
alloy serves their purpose better than more precious metals. Their
only question in determining the choice of material is, Will it
print our meaning clearly? Thus the Lord Jesus dealt with the habits
which he found in society, and the events that were passing at the
time. He selected and employed them with a regard not to their own
intrinsic moral worth but to their fitness for expressing the idea
which he meant to convey. No matter whether it be lead or gold; what
he wanted was material suitable for types. A steward has no
Scriptural warrant for cheating his master, because the trick of an
astute agent is employed to print one of the parables; neither have
men-stealers, men-sellers, and men-buyers any authority from the
Bible to treat their fellow-men like cattle, because the relation of
master and slave was employed by the Lord to express a conception in
the course of his teaching.
This nobleman, desiring that no part of his property or capital should
lie unproductive during his absence, made the best arrangement, of which
the circumstances admitted, before he left the country. His method was
the same as that which appears in the cognate parable, the entrusted
talents, with the exception that in this case the master made all his
servants equal. A mina, in value equal to about £2, 3s. 6d., was
entrusted to each man, with the intimation that, according to his
diligence and faithfulness in the management of this capital, would be
his reward when the owner should return.[104]
[104] For fuller notice of the methods adopted, see the exposition
of the corresponding parable No. XIV.
Such is the arrangement which this nobleman made with those who are
described as "his own servants," on the eve of his departure; but with
his neighbours, who were free and independent, he had either neglected
to seek, or failed to obtain, an understanding. Aware of his object,
they sent after him a deputation of their own number, instructed to
appear along with him at the imperial court, and oppose his request.
They were not willing to become his subjects, and therefore endeavoured
to prevent him from obtaining a regal title and despotic power.
Their opposition, however, had no other effect than to betray their
enmity, and so expose them to the King's displeasure. His first act
after he returned with supreme authority was to call his servants into
his presence, and reward them according to their merits; and his second,
to issue an order for the punishment of those who had opposed his
elevation. The remaining portion of the scene is so similar to the
corresponding parts of the cognate parable already expounded, that it is
unnecessary to trace the narrative further; rather let us hasten now to
ascertain and enforce the spiritual lesson from the whole.
While the Master was setting his face towards Jerusalem for the last
time, a dim presentiment of coming change occupied his disciples. In
their minds, the expectation of his kingdom had taken a wrong direction,
and tended to put them off their guard. To correct their error, and bind
them to patient watchfulness, he spoke this parable. Because they
imagined he was about to assume kingly power, and give them places of
temporal dignity on his right hand and on his left, he taught them by
this similitude, that he must go away, and that they must remain behind,
working and watching.
The nobleman represents the Lord himself. While he prosecuted his
ministry on earth, he had not fully attained possession of the kingdom.
The departure of the nobleman represents the exodus which the Lord soon
afterwards accomplished at Jerusalem, comprising his death,
resurrection, and ascension. In the parable, the power paramount who
could withhold or bestow a kingdom is not named: it is intimated only
that this transaction took place out of sight in a far country. When the
Son of God ascended after his mediatorial work on earth was complete,
all power was given to him in heaven and on earth. Beyond his disciples'
sight he received the kingdom from the Father. Now he has right to rule
supreme over that world, on which before he had not where to lay his
head. He will come to this world again as its King, with power and great
glory.
Two classes of persons are mentioned as having remained in the country
while the prince was absent:--these are his servants and his
adversaries. In the material scene, there might be many who neither
served nor opposed him; but these are not mentioned in the parable,
because there are none to correspond with them on the spiritual side.
There only two classes exist,--those who serve Christ as the Lord that
bought them, and those who, being at enmity with God, refuse to obey the
Gospel of his Son.
The parable has not much to do with them that are without. At the
beginning, it shortly indicates their rebellion, and at the close as
shortly predicts their doom; but the circumstances, the character, the
life, and the reward of the Lord's disciples are more expressly and
more fully declared.
The master who owns them places some of his treasures at their disposal,
and with the general injunction, "Occupy," goes out of their sight. The
servants are those who, at least in profession, are the disciples of
Christ, and the pounds are the faculties which they possess, and the
opportunities which they enjoy. The place and age in which our lot has
been cast, our early education, our bodily members and mental powers,
our station in society and the circle of our homes, our money and our
health, and, in addition, the graces of the Spirit, in whatever measure
they may have been conferred,--all that we are and have belongs to God.
He is the owner, and we are tenants at will.
While a general law has been laid down to determine, in the main, the
direction of our course, the details are left to our own discretion. One
man may invest his master's capital in land, and another in merchandise,
and both may be equally faithful, equally successful: so in various
lines of effort, different disciples may, in diverse manners, but with
equal faithfulness, serve the Lord. There is freedom in the choice of
departments, provided always there be loyalty to the King.
In the relation between Christ and Christians, opposites meet without
hostile collision. His ownership is absolute, and yet there is freedom
in full. His lordship does not limit their liberty; their liberty does
not infringe his rights. What a glorious liberty this earth-ball enjoys!
How it careers along through space, threading its way through thronging
worlds, and giving each a safe wide berth in the ocean of the infinite!
Yet the sun holds the earth all the while in absolute and entire
control. Like that glory in the visible heavens is the glory of the
Everlasting Covenant. The largest liberty conceded to the sons of God
consists with sovereignty complete and constant exercised over them by
the Redeemer, who bought them with his blood. He is their owner, and yet
they are free. The union of opposites is possible with God: "He is
wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working."
The sons serve; and yet they are sons. Ransomed men are instruments of a
higher order, than other agencies through which the reign of Providence
is administered. Although the Lord requires of his regenerated people as
complete submission to his law, as he demands and obtains from the
elements of nature and the brutes that perish, he does not require from
them an equally uniform and mechanical routine. The streams that course
over continents, and the tides that swell upon their shores, must render
the same service every day; but these sons of God are not held to labour
by a bridle so short and rigid. They are endowed with reason and will;
they are set at liberty, and permitted to expatiate over a wider field.
Their master goes out of sight, and trusts to a renewed, loving heart
for the diligent outlay and faithful return of all the talents. The
Gospel requires and generates not a legal, but an evangelical obedience.
When the king returns, or the servants are summoned one by one through
death to meet their master, they are tried as to faithfulness and
diligence in laying out their talents. Although ten were mentioned at
the beginning, it is not necessary to report on more than three at the
close. These are sufficient to show that some were diligent, and some
slothful; and that among the diligent there were different measures of
effort, success, and reward.
What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Occupy; occupy all, and
occupy it all the time till the Giver come to claim his own. All that
God gives us is given for use. There is much evil, moral and material,
in the world. He who made it and saw it fall by sin, has its restoration
and renewal much at heart. When he has gotten some of the fallen
restored to favour and renewed in spirit, he endows them with various
riches from his own treasury, that the capital wisely invested may yield
a large return at his coming. Let each according to his means and
opportunity lay himself and his talents out to leave the world better
than he found it;--to diminish the amount of sin and suffering, to feed
hungry mouths, and cover naked backs, to enlighten dark minds and save
perishing souls. It is a high calling to be fellow-workers with God, to
be instruments of righteousness in his hands.
One, by trading with his pound gained ten, before the king returned, and
another five. Both are equally approved, but unequally rewarded; each
receives as his recompense all that he had won. Two principles which
operate in the spiritual kingdom are symbolized here; one, that various
degrees of efficiency and success obtain among the faithful disciples of
Christ; another that reward in his kingdom springs from work and is
proportioned to it.
The parable of the talents recorded by Matthew represented one fact in
the history of the kingdom, that different persons receive differing
gifts from the sovereign God: this parable, recorded by Luke, represents
another fact in the history of the kingdom, that among those who possess
equal gifts varieties occur in the skill and success with which the
gifts are employed. The practical lesson from the former parable is, If
with all your efforts you fall far behind your neighbour in the result
of your labour, you need not on that account be cast down, for equal
diligence will meet equal approval, whether it be applied to a large
capital or a small; the lesson of the latter parable is, If others are
obtaining greater results than you, strive to imitate and equal them,
lest your opportunity not have having been fully occupied, you should
obtain at last only a small reward. The first puts in a spring to keep
the truly faithful from sinking into despondency because their talents
are few; and the second puts in a spring to keep the indolent from
lagging behind. The two together, one on this side and one on that, shut
all up to diligence in the work of the Lord.
A glimpse is given here of the method in which rewards are bestowed upon
faithful servants; each receives what he has won. The work of the saved
in their Master's service measures in some way their recompense at their
Master's side. In all cases the wages given, seeing they depend on the
merits of the Mediator, must be immeasureably greater than the work
done; but it would appear that the differences which shall obtain in
heaven will bear some proportion to the productiveness of the service
here: the whole continent will be elevated as by the immediate power of
God: but certain points will stand out above others in the celestial
landscape on account of great talents greatly used. How much a city is
greater in value than a pound we cannot calculate exactly, but the
difference represents the gain that all the true servants will make at
the coming of the king. All the faithful are made great; but the
greatest worker is the greatest winner when the accounts are closed.
Hold on, disciples; every grace that grows into strength, through
bearing and doing your Redeemer's will here, is a seed that will
multiply your enjoyment manifold when you come to the inheritance.
Nor is this a mercenary motive. A true Christian can never separate his
interests from Christ: he serves his Lord in love to-day, and will
discover at last that in serving his Lord, he has been enriching
himself.
The case of the servant who allowed his pound to lie unused is not
different from the corresponding case in the parable of the talents
except in one thing; in this parable the pound which the indolent
servant had permitted to lie idle is simply taken out of his hands,
while, in the other parable, the unprofitable servant is cast into outer
darkness.
The lesson, in as far as it is the same in both, is, that not only those
who do positive wickedness, but those also who fail to do good, are
counted guilty in God's sight. Inasmuch as in this parable no other
punishment is inflicted on the indolent servant than the deprivation of
his capital, it may possibly be intended to intimate that culpable
unfaithfulness in a true believer may sometimes descend so far as to be
undistinguishable by human eyes from the entire neglect of the
unbelieving. There is, however, in all cases, a dividing line, although
we may not be able to trace it--"the Lord knoweth them that are his."
Nor does this conception really weaken the motive to diligence; for if
any one should slacken in his efforts to serve the Lord on the ground
that a great degree of negligence, although it may diminish his reward,
does not imperil his safety, this very thing would conclusively prove
that he has no part in Christ. It is the nature of the new creature to
be forgetting the things behind, and reaching forth to those that are
before; when the leaning of a man's heart goes in the opposite
direction--that is, when he deliberately endeavours to make matters as
pleasant as possible for himself, by escaping from all service to
Christ, except as much as is necessary to carry him safe to heaven, he
certainly has not yet been born again, and in this state shall not see
the kingdom. He who sails along the sea of Christian profession, loving
the neighbouring land of worldly indulgence, and therefore hugging the
shore as closely as he thinks consistent with safety, will certainly
make shipwreck. Ah! the ship that thus seeks the shore is drawn by the
unseen power of a magnet-mountain--drawn directly to her doom; he who is
truly bound for the better land gives these treacherous headlands a wide
berth.
The last lesson is the judgment pronounced and the punishment inflicted
on the adversaries. They who will not submit to Christ the crucified
will be crushed by Christ the king. Every eye shall see him; they also
who pierced him. Meekly now he stands at the door and knocks; then he
comes as the lightning comes.
One hope remains,--one door stands wide open yet. His enemies must be
slain, either now or then. The enemies of the Lord's reign in the
present world are the evil desires that occupy a man's heart, and close
it against its rightful sovereign; drag them forth and slay them before
him, that he may enter and possess his own. Surrender his enemies into
his hands to-day, and you will henceforth be among his friends; if sins
be sheltered in the day of grace, the sinners will find no shelter in
the day of judgment.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Parables of Our Lord, by William Arnot