PARABLES OF THE TALENTS AND THE POUNDS.
Our Lord mentions usury by name only in the parables of the talents
and pounds. Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27. Usury is mentioned in these
passages incidentally to meet the excuses of worthless servants, but
in both as the unjust and oppressive act of a hard and dishonest man.
These references to usury are in entire harmony with the expressions
of David and Solomon, and of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
These servants in the parables were slaves, who owed their service to
their master and for whom he was responsible.
The lesson in both parables is the necessity of faithfulness. The
faithful servants are rewarded and the unfaithful punished in both.
Yet there is a special lesson in each.
The parable of the talents shows that an equal reward shall be given
all who are equally faithful, though the means and opportunities
afforded one may far exceed those granted another. One was given five
talents and another but two; one gained five and the other two, yet
both equally faithful, are directed to enter into the joy of their
lord.
The unfaithful servant brings his talent with an excuse, which is a
charge against the character of his master, "I knew thee that thou
art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where
thou hast not strewed," "so there thou hast which is thine."
The master in reply showed the inconsistency of the excuse by assuming
that he bore the hard character charged upon him by his slave, "Thou
wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed
not, and gather where I have not strewed: Thou oughtest therefore to
have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should
have received mine own with usury." It is "interest" in the Revised
Version.
This interview may be paraphrased as follows:
The unfaithful servant said: "I know the kind of a man you are. You
are dishonest. You take what does not belong to you. You reap what
other people sow, and you take up what others earn. I was afraid of
you: Here is all that you gave me and all that belongs to you."
The master said: "You are merely excusing yourself. You are a lazy
faithless slave. If I am the hard man you say I am, taking what does
not belong to me and gathering the sowings and earnings of others, you
could have met that condition without trouble to yourself, by giving
my money to the usurers and then at my coming I could have received my
unjust gain. Your excuse is inconsistent, you condemn yourself. You
are an indolent and worthless slave. Begone to your punishment."
It is clearly implied that unearned increase, reaping and gathering
without sowing, could be gained through the exchangers. If this was
what was demanded, the servant could have secured this with no effort
on his part. His charge against the master was a mere pretence to
excuse his own want of personal faithfulness, and the master's reply
was fitted to this pretense.
This is in entire harmony with the opinion our Lord expressed of the
exchangers when he called them thieves and drove them out of the
temple. It would be wholly inconsistent for him to advise an honest
and faithful servant to place any portion of the property in their
hands. His advice can only come from the standpoint of a dishonest
master such as his servant called him.
The parable of the pounds shows the degrees of faithfulness in those
who have equal opportunities. With the same opportunities one may far
surpass another, because more faithful to his trust, his reward is
proportionately greater.
In this parable each servant received the same, but the gains and
rewards differ. By diligence one gained ten pounds and is commended
and given authority over ten cities. Another gained five pounds. He is
also commended and given authority over five cities.
Another, who had given no service, came with his pound but without
increase. This was a proof of his unfaithfulness. He endeavors to
shield himself like the servant with the talent, by charging injustice
and oppression on his master. "I feared thee because thou art an
austere man: thou takest up that thou layest not down, and reapest
that thou didst not sow."
His master turned on him because his own reason was inconsistent with
his conduct and a mere shield for his indolence and worthlessness.
"Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou
knowest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and
reaping that I did not sow. Wherefore gavest thou not my money into
the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with
usury."
This interview may also be paraphrased.
The unfaithful slave came and said: "Lord I have carefully kept all
that thou gavest me. I knew that thou wast an exacting master, taking
what did not belong to you and gathering what others sow."
The master says: "Now stop right there and I will judge you by your
own excuse out of your own mouth. You say you knew me to be exacting
and dishonest, taking more than belonged to me. Now, knowing this, why
did you not serve me by giving my money to the bank, and then at my
coming you could have brought me my money with my unjust gain and that
would have pleased a hard man like me, without effort on your part.
You are only giving this as an excuse for your own unfaithfulness. You
are a wicked slave."
The master admits that he would be a hard man, if he reaped what
another sowed, or took up what belonged to another, but assuming that
this was his character, even this could have been met without trouble
to the slave through the bank. This is a clear recognition of usury as
unjust gain.
Exchangers were little more than the pawn-brokers of today and a bank
was a pawn-shop where pledges were stored. The money loaned upon any
pawn was much less than its full value. The increase of the loan soon
made it more than the value of the pledge which was then forfeited,
and the pawn was sold by the broker.
These parables are here dwelt upon, for they are so frequently
misunderstood and misapplied. In a large volume on "Banking," the
writer found the words of the master quoted, "Wherefore then gavest
not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have
required my own with usury." And they were quoted as a solemn
direction of the divine Master to deposit money in the bank.
To quote from these parables in the defense of usury is as flagrant a
perversion of the truth as the famous quotation to prove that Paul
encouraged theft. "Let him that stole, steal."
The lessons of these parables are in entire harmony with the law of
Moses and the teachings of the prophets and Nehemiah. In these
parables the usurer is presented as a hard man, exacting that which he
has not earned and to which he has no right.
The teachings of the Master did not permit what had been forbidden in
all the ages.