Author: Jay Lehman

The Parable of the Talents

Understanding the Red Letters   Part 16

The next parable in Matthew chapter 25 (vs 14-30) is often called the parable of the talents.  And the use of the word “talent” in most Bible translations is a bit unfortunate.  The “talent” referred to in the story is simply an amount of money.  But it is nearly impossible to read the passage and not see it as God giving us various talents, giftedness, and abilities.  And it becomes a parable about how we use those abilities to serve Him.  It has nothing to do with that.  So let’s set that aside, and stick with amounts of money.  In the interest of space, here is a quick summary of the story.

A man is about to go on a journey.  He calls his servant and gives him $5000 to invest.  To another servant, he gives $2000.  And to his third servant, he gives $1000.  Upon the master’s return, servants one and two have doubled the master’s money and are rewarded.  Servant three hid the money and returns the original $1000 to his master.

The gist of the last servant’s excuse for not investing the money was, “I know you are hard to please so I didn’t want to take any chances with the money.  So I hid it away and here it is safe and sound.”  The master is furious with the last servant.  The parable ends with this punishment doled out to servant number three, “And cast out this worthless servant into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30).

This sounds terrifyingly bad for the $1000 servant.  What are we to make of his punishment?  And what about the symbolism of who these servants represent?  Is this a picture of three Jesus followers given different amounts to manage?  Is a big punishment waiting for you if you do not make enough use of what God has given you?  And how do you know if you have done enough?

Like the story of the ten virgins, I believe this parable is talking about our salvation.  And the key to this understanding is to start at the end of the parable, verse 30, and work backward.  Similar to the “I never knew you” of the ten virgin story, what appears to be the punishment of hell in this story signifies that servant three is not a believer.  We have it clearly throughout the rest of the gospels that no believer can somehow land in hell because they didn’t live up to a standard.

The iron clad promise from Jesus of heaven and eternal life is based on one thing as far as our part goes; did we believe His gospel message?  If we did, then eternal life in heaven is ours.  Going to hell is never based on our works.  It is the destination for those who refuse to believe the gospel.  So, if we start with that knowledge and see servant three as an unbeliever since his destiny is hell, what are we to make of this parable and the other servants?

The other servants are the saved.  The gospel message has been offered to us in various ways.  Some have more opportunities to hear and receive the gospel.  In this fallen world, some have more barriers to hearing and believing the gospel message.  I think that is what is meant by the various amounts of money given.

The first two servants took what they received – the opportunity to hear and receive the gospel – and did exactly that; they believed.  “Investing” was receiving and believing the gospel.  Servant three “buried” the message.  Servant three rejected the gospel.  Servant three represents the lost who never believe.

I don’t believe that this is a story from Jesus to scare us into working harder.  These parables in Matthew chapter 25 are in the context of being ready for His return.  If you have believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, you are ready for His return.  Your lamp is full of oil and your investment has produced the desired result – you believe the gospel.  You are ready for the master to come for us.

The Ten Virgins and the Bridegroom

Understanding the Red Letters   Part 15

There are three parables in Matthew chapter 25 that have been used in varying degrees to bring guilt and fear to believers.  What is Jesus talking about in these “warning” parables?  Let’s begin with the ten virgins.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.  For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps” (Matthew 25:1-4).

When Jesus starts a parable with “The kingdom of heaven is like”, He is speaking new covenant.  Jesus is preparing us for a story of what is coming in the new covenant.  In this story, we the human race are the virgins and Jesus is the bridegroom.  Five of the virgins will be ready for His appearing and five will not.

“As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.  But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’  Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’  But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’  And while they were going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut” (Matthew 25:5-10).

Because we know the rest of the gospel, we know that being ready for the bridegroom depends on one thing; believing the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  If you have believed the gospel, you are the wise virgin.  Your lamp is full of oil.

In the sense of this parable, there are not wise and foolish virgins in the family of God.  There are not some believers who have oil and some who are out of oil.  We do not move between the wise and foolish group based on how hard we are working in our Christian walk, or what spiritual disciplines we are following, or keeping a certain standard of behavior.

I believe the message is simply this:  The wise virgins are the saved.  The foolish virgins represent the lost.  The virgins with oil are believers.  The virgins without oil are the lost.  How do we know that the foolish virgins are a picture of the lost?

“Afterward the other virgins (the foolish five who had to purchase more oil) came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’  But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you’ “ (Matthew 25:11-12).

Remember our discussion from Matthew 7 and the phrase from Jesus, “I never knew you”?  Because of Jesus’ promise of eternal life based on your belief in His gospel, it is an automatic of that belief that Jesus knows you and you know Him.  As a beloved child of God, it is impossible for Jesus to not know you!

The last line in the passage is the key to the parable.  The bridegroom did not “know” the foolish virgins.  The foolish virgins are the lost.  If you have believed the gospel message of Jesus Christ, you never have to worry about not being ready for the bridegroom.  You never have to worry about running out of oil.  You are safe in your unbreakable union with Jesus.

One last thought that may or may not be an application from this parable.  We cannot give our oil to another.  We can’t give our salvation to another.  We can share, spread, and preach the gospel message, but everyone must choose for themselves.

Eternal Life is Knowing God

Understanding the Red Letters   Part 14

“When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’ ” (John 17:1-3).

John chapter 17 is a beautiful prayer of Jesus.  It is a benediction in a way, a closure to Jesus’ time on the earth.  But it is also forward-looking.  It is a conversation from the Son to the Father in which Jesus prays for the future of the disciples and the church they will lead.  His prayer is for His first century followers who are in the upper room with Jesus and for those of us who will come later to the family.  “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20).  This is you and me!

Looking at these three verses, Jesus acknowledges that “the hour has come”.  The time for Jesus to be revealed and die as the Messiah has arrived.  Jesus used the same language back in John chapter 12 as He began His journey to the cross, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23).  Jesus will be glorified through His death, burial, and resurrection.  And it will be a shared glory between the Father and the Son.

Jesus exercises His glory by giving eternal life to all whom the Father has “given Him”.  Because the disciples had believed in the One whom the Father had sent, they were given eternal life (John 6:29, 40).  Now Jesus defines eternal life as not only believing, but actually knowing “the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He had sent” (John 17:3).

What makes life eternal is more than just its length.  Eternal life also has a quality; the quality of actually knowing God.  And it is knowing Jesus whom God has sent.  In the context of John chapter 17, Jesus is referring to God sending Him to the earth.  But in our context, it could just as easy be God sending Jesus to us, to live His resurrected life in us.  This is eternal life; knowing God and knowing the Christ who lives in us.  What sets eternal life apart from temporal life is not just its longevity, but its intimate connection to God Himself.

For us, eternal life began the hour we believed.  This is one reason we believe that once we embrace the gospel message of Christ, our standing as a child of God cannot be revoked.  Our eternal life – the promise that came from our believing in Jesus – has already begun.  And its greatest quality is that we can know, really know, God the Father and the Son whom He has sent.

Resurrection Life

Understanding the Red Letters   Part 13

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies’ ” (John 11:25).  Jesus is the resurrection and the life.  I like to put these two terms together and call the life Jesus promised His believers “resurrection life”.  Resurrection life has a longevity (eternal) and a quality (abundant) based on the promises of God.

Resurrection life delivers a promise about our past – we have been set free from the penalty of sin.  Resurrection life holds a promise about our future – life with Jesus forever because our sins are forgiven.  And resurrection life delivers a promise about our present – freedom from the power of sin in our walk today.

Let us focus for a minute on the present promise.  The apostles, over and over, emphasize that our daily walk in the Christian life is empowered by the resurrection life of Christ living inside us.  To develop that theme, let’s take a quick tour through the book of Romans as one example to see what the resurrection of Christ accomplished in us.

First, as the foundation for our faith, the resurrection sealed Jesus’ identity as the Christ, the Son of God.  “…His Son was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and was declared with power to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:3-4).  Jesus’ resurrection from the dead declared with power that He is who He said He is, Christ, the Son of God.

And in an almost unbelievable connection, we were buried and raised with Christ.  “We have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:4-7).

This “newness of life” that we are to walk in is literally the resurrected life of Christ (“in the likeness of His resurrection”) living itself out in us.  And one of the beautiful outcomes of Christ living His resurrected life in us is that “we are no longer slaves to sin”.  We have been set free from sin’s power.  But how do we tap into this resurrected life and experience its power?

“However you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, since indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.  And since Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  But since the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you” (Romans 8:9-11).

The Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead dwells inside you.  It could not be more clear.  Twice in verse 11 alone, Paul refers to the Christ’s resurrection life living in you by the presence of His Holy Spirit.  This is the promise of a life set free from sin’s power.  It is fueled, it is energized by the Holy Spirit living in you.  This is the new covenant.

And all of this is true because Christ is raised from the dead.  The apostles, in their early sermons in the first few chapters of the book of Acts, consistently proclaimed Christ’s resurrection.  The empty tomb is a powerful point of apologetics as we defend our faith and defend the identity of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.  But the resurrection was so much more.  It sealed your past; forgiveness and the penalty for your sins taken away.  It sealed your future; an eternity in the presence of Jesus.  And it has a promise for your present; a life set free from sin’s power.

Life Eternal and Abundant

Understanding the Red Letters   Part 12

One of the words that Jesus used over and over as recorded in the gospel of John is the word “life”.  From beginning to end, the life imparted to us by Jesus Christ – life eternal and abundant – is a constant theme in John’s gospel.  Here are just a few of those references to introduce us to John’s development of this topic.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men” (John 1:1,4).  Jesus and the life He imparts was there from the beginning.

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36).  A straightforward “if-then” regarding belief and eternal life.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).  Believe, and we literally cross over from death to life!

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst’ ” (John 6:35).  This is quite the never hungry, never thirsty promise.

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).  It is not God’s wish, it is not God’s hope that those who believe in Jesus attain eternal life.  No, it is God’s will, God’s determined plan that eternal life is the promise for those who believe in Jesus.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47).  Another “if-then” regarding belief and eternal life.

“I am the bread of life” (John 6:48).  Jesus is the provision of this life eternal and abundant.

“Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life‘ ” (John 6:68).  Peter acknowledges that Jesus’ words are the very words of eternal life. 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).  Jesus’ promise of abundant life stands in contrast to Satan’s plans to steal, kill, and destroy.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies’ ” (John 11:25).  Jesus’ own resurrection will be a picture of the resurrection life for us.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’ ” (John 14:6).  Jesus is the only way (a theme repeated over 20 times in John’s gospel).  Jesus says this because it is true; no hidden agenda.  If we believe Jesus, the truth about Jesus, we will have life.

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).  Believing that Jesus is the Christ and that God sent Him is at the heart of the promise of eternal life.

“These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).  Finally, John reveals his purpose in writing this gospel; that we would recognize Jesus as the Christ, believe that He is the Son of God, and by believing experience life in the name of Jesus.

When Jesus is talking about life; its description, its promise, its abundance, He is talking new covenant.  Life is the promise and the outcome of the new covenant.  It is the promise and outcome of God’s gift of grace to all who believe.  Jesus speaking life is Jesus speaking new covenant.