The Three Employees is based on Matthew 25:14-30
Differences from Luke
There is a variation on this parable in Luke 19: 11-27; the parable in Matthew seems to be a more basic version, missing out Luke’s explanation of the journey and omitting several characters. Matthew places this parable between Jesus’ visit to the Temple and the Last Supper, and states that Jesus told it privately to his disciples rather than to the crowd.
If we accept the view that Jesus may have told his parables many times and in different locations, then Matthew’s stripped down version would be a ‘going away’ parable, told by Jesus to emphasise that the disciples now have to take responsibility for using what he’s given them. Luke told the public parable, Matthew the private one.
Puzzles
The first puzzle is why – in this version – Jesus uses such ridiculously enormous sums of money. A ‘talent’ was worth 6,000 denarii and a denarius was one day’s wages for a unskilled worker. One talent is the equivalent of over fifteen years wages. It’s a lottery win.
One possible explanation is that Jesus is suggesting to the disciples that the man in the parable is entrusting the servant-slaves with everything he has, his entire fortune. Is Jesus himself about to give his disciples (and us) ‘everything’?
Another puzzle is why the servant-slaves get different amounts ‘according to their abilities’. Yes, in real life, people do have different abilities. And if you’re telling a story verbally, three characters with different amounts are easy to remember and repeat to others. But does it have a wider implication than just good storytelling technique? Is it an example of the way the Kingdom works? That, yes, different people will indeed be given different amounts in the Kingdom – the important thing is to make sure that people use what they’re given.
Retelling
The obvious retelling – one that’s been done many times – is to swap ‘Master’ and ‘Slave’ for ‘Boss’ and ‘Employee’. I used entrepreneur simply because most people in the 21st Century UK are familiar with the entrepreneur who takes seed capital and transforms it into a lot of money.
However, what we then lose is the way Jesus is using the metaphor of a ‘master’ and ‘slave’ – something that was a fact of everyday life throughout the Roman Empire. This metaphor is often glossed over, because the idea of Jesus cheerfully using slavery as a metaphor is (frankly) uncomfortable to modern eyes. It does, however, pick up on two concepts – firstly, that God is in complete charge. Secondly, that the disciples are supposed to be working for God, not themselves. It also picks up on the very common scenario where ‘Master’ and ‘Slave’ would be part of the same household – we and the disciples are all part of one household (the Kingdom), even though God is ultimately in complete charge.
For Luke’s version of this parable, I used a different scenario. These aren’t the only two possibilities; another retelling might pick up on Matthew’s placing of this parable being told by Jesus (as teacher) privately to the disciples (his students). Perhaps a teacher is going away on a dangerous journey and decides to split her property between her three best servants…
Previous Parable: The Ten Budgets (Luke 19:11-27)
Next Parable: Ravens and Flowers (Matthew 6: 25-33)
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