Parable Draft #1

If you are a part of a corrupt and exploitive system, do you have an obligation to try to stop it? Can you break free of it? These questions were most likely responses to Jesus’ message of fairness and equality in the times of Ancient Israel. During that time period there was incredible exploitation[1], and everyone involved-the exploiters and the exploited were encouraged by Jesus to stop the cruel cycle. We see this message through a parable, The Parable of the Talents.

In the parable a rich man goes off on a journey. Before he leaves, he gives out money to three of his servants. To one servant the master gives five talents. To a second, the master gives two talents, and to a third the master gives one. These servants are not lowly ones whom the master wants to test. We know this because of the amount of money the master gives the servants. A talent was worth more than a thousand dollars. This amount of money was too much for the master to waste on a test of loyalty.[2] So the servants were already in the master’s inner circle. We can assume that they got in the good graces of the master by emulating him and his ways. The ways of the master was exploitation of neighbors. He “harvested what he did not sow, and gathering where he had not gathered seed.” So both the master and his three trusted servants exploited those around them. We also know that the servants were expected to return the talents one hundred percent.

Jesus answers the question of how to escape and stop a system of exploitation through the actions of the three servants. The first servant, who received five talents, doubled them. The second servant, receiving two talents, doubled them as well. Both of these servants most likely doubled their talents by means of exploitation, not attempting to stop the cycle of exploitation, but rather using it for selfish gains. The third servant did not double his talent, but rather buried it in the ground. In the times of Ancient Israel burying money in the ground meant that you gave up responsibility for the money. The third servant did not give into the cruel cycle that the master employed, but rather washed his hands of the system by burying the talent in the ground. One the master’s return the first two servants gave him his talents in addition to what they earned for him. The master reacted with gratitude promising more responsibility for them in the future. The third servant presented the talent that the master gave him, and explained why he did not double his talent. He said he knew of the master’s unfair ways and did not want to participate in them any longer.

The third servant already participated in the system of exploitation; this is how he gained his master’s trust. But sometime the servant realized the evil in exploiting others. This is why he no longer gave into the system by doubling his talents. The master then threw the servant out.

Jesus’ message was to not give into systems of violence, but to stand up against them. He tells his audience, the poor and exploited this through the example of the third servant. His audience who deal with the unfair treatment from people like the master in Jesus’ parable daily felt as if they were trapped in their submissive position. Jesus wanted to show them that they were not trapped, but like the third servant, they could fight back.

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[1] Norman K. Gottwald, Social Class as an Analytic and Hermeneutical Category in Biblical Studies (Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 112, Spring 1993), 3-22

[2] Walter Herzog, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, 158

Herzog

Homework: Using your notes from the articles provided in class, update your Herzog/Interpretation DP that you started in class on Tuesday/Wednesday. Use a different colored font in this DP so I can see that you've added to and edited your work.

Herzog questions the prior interpretations of the parable. Many allogorize the master as being God due to his authority and station of power. But Herzog denies this simile because in the parable of the talents, the master exploits his neighbors for personal gain. Herzog also explains the context of the time in the parable. During this time, if a man went on a long journey, then this would mean he is wealthy. Herzog also explains that the man was not testing his servants because a talent is too much money to risk, therefore the servants already proved to be trustworthy. The master gained his wealth and the servants gained his trust in the same way, Herzog explains: as the third servant tells the master exploits others and takes what is not his-the servants-his 'inner circle" did the same thing. By emulating the master, they gained his trust. This leaves the final actions of the third servant confusing. Because he already exploited others to gain the rank of the master's inner circle-he must have had a change of heart, realizing that exploitation is wrong. Herzog also explains the expectation of the master, when he left money for the servants it was expected to be given back in full. Herzog also explains that when burying money this means that the third servant wasn't responsible if it got stolen. The consequences for the third servant was banishment, and he knowingly accepted it-removing himself from the cycle of injustice and exploitation.

Parable Documentation

Matthew 25:14-30

1- Read the parable. re-read it until it is clear what it is about. Pay attention to what it is about and details. Summarize the facts.\

A master went on a journey. He gave talents to three servants-the amount based on the ability of the servant. One servant got 5 talents, one got 2, and one got 1. The servant who recieved 5 talents doubled the amount to 10. The servant who got 2 talents doubled the amount to 4. The servant who got 1 talent buried it, and made no profit. The master returned and called the servants in to settle. The first two servants showed the master their profit and he told both that they would be rewarded with much responsibility. The servant who made no profit told the master he buried it and said that the master took what wasn't his. He was thrown out and the master told him that he was lazy and selfish. The master aslo said that he should have put the talent into the bank so he would gain interest.

2- Put it into context based on what in known about ancient Israel.

Ancient Israel was made up of 3 systems. The household, the city, and the kingdom-in that order. The master was master of 1 system, the household and therefore had power over the three servants. He left on a long journey, most likely one of importance because he expected to be gone long-handing out responsibilities. The talents he handed out were part of his distribution of responsibility. Firstly what is a talent? A talent is worth thousands of dollars, and he left hundreds of thousands of dollars in the hands of his servants. It can be assumed then, that he was not testing the servant's loyalty or honesty because it is too great of a sum of money to risk. At the end of the parable we learn that the master exploits other people around him, his neighbors-taking what they planted and planting in their land. Before we find that two of the servants doubled their amount of talents. How did they do this? Did they exploit others as their master did. If so, their motives were surely to gain more power, because on the master's return they received more responsibly. The third servant, the one who called the master out in his exploitive actions buried his talent. In ancient Israel if a man buries money, they are not responsible if it is stolen. The servant, maybe a just and conscience man washed his hands of the "dirty money." Dirty because of the ways in which it was obtained.

3- Who is the audience? Why did Jesus tell this parable to certain people at this certain time?
We know that Jesus told this parable with the intent of teaching about the Kingdom of God because the parable before this one is explaining that, and this one opens with also it is like a master... We also know that Jesus is telling this parable from a Temple to both the rich and the poor. The audience that Jesus' message is directed to are the people being exploited like the master's neighbors and the people doing the exploiting, like tax collectors and soldiers.

4- Determine who is the main character and analyze his actions. Why did he do this? Character sketch.
The main character is the third servant who buries the talent. He is a round character who changes. We only see him post change, but with the knowledge that he worked for the master before tells us that a change happened. The change is that previously, before the master's journey, he worked for the master and helped in the exploitation of the master's neighbors. But in burying the money he rebels against the master by doing nothing. He does this because he knows that the terrorizing of the master's neighbors is wrong and stands up against it. His actions are the basis of Jesus' message and the conflict occurs because of his actions.

5- What is the main focus, purpose, theme. What is the is he trying to convey to his audience?

The main focus or purpose of the parable is to show the exploited or the morally conscience people that they can stand up to what they think is wrong. The third servant believed that his master's means of success was wrong and therefore when offered to become apart of it, refused-burying the money. Although the third servant was low in power and position and was vulnerable to exploitation himself he took a stand and buried the money. But because he acted alone and did not band together with either the other servants or the neighbors he was exploited and thrown out. Jesus' message is to have the power to stand up but have the smarts to gain power in numbers.

6- What is the moral of this parable? Write conclusion.
The moral of this parable is to stand up against what you see as wrong, as the third servant did. And to do it with a support system.

7- Relate to current events.

The main point in the journal: Social Class as an Analytic and Hermeneutical Category in Biblical Studies was that to understand any parable to our best abilities is to know which social class we belong to. Gottwald says this is a difficult thing to do because once we become associated and belong to a social class we take responsibility for that social class and it's actions. Gottwald also says there are two social classes the exploited and the exploiter and in the Parable of the Talents the master and his three servants were the exploiter, taking advantage of their neighbors, the exploited. Then the third servant puts himself into the class of exploited by calling out his master.

Final Reading Strategy

1- Read the parable. re-read it until it is clear what it is about. Pay attention to what it is about and details. Summarize the facts.
2- Put it into context based on what in known about ancient Israel.
3- Who is audience? Why did Jesus tell this parable to certain people at this certain time?
4- Determine who is the main character and analyze his actions. Why did he do this? Character sketch.
5- What is the main focus, purpose, theme. What is the is he trying to convey to his audience?
6- What is the moral of this parable? Write conclusion.
7- Relate to current events.

Research Article

Pojman, Louis. "Justice as Desert" QUT Law and Justice Journal.
http://bar.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/QUTLJJ/2001/7.html

Interpretation Methodology

1. Read the parable with these questions in mind:
>Who's the main character?
This is the character that changes during the story.
Identifying the protaganist and antagonist will help do this.
>What was the message of the story?
>How is it significant to Jesus' audience?
Researching the time period will help to understand the message.\
2. After reading the parable, answer the above questions, re-read the parable if need be.
3. Try to unlock the deeper meaning of the parable by asking relevant, unusual questions that begged to be answered.
> Example "out of the box" questions: Why was the beaten man that the Samaritan
helped naked?
Why did the Samaritan help, while the \
priest and the Levite did not?
Why was the man beaten in the first place?

System Examples

The elite people who have the power to help the man with Parkinson's do not make an attempt to help either due to his or her greed and selfish agenda or because of his or her fear in getting punished by the system. The people with power and the people benefiting from the system are one in the same. These people do not want to jeopardize their comfortable positions by resisting the system, or they do not look beyond their comfort to recognize the cruelty the system is inflicting on others. I believe that the man should receive his home back and only have to pay what was left of the mortgage. It is easier to act morally correct when not affiliated with the system because you have not conformed to the corrupt ways of the system and the system has no leverage on you.


Humans are inherently greedy, and when they get power they automatically want to sustain this level AND gain more power. This human nature I believe is due to he comfort and security power instills in humans. To have power is to be in control, and it is better to be in control of your life and of things that effect you than to be reliant on others. The danger in relying on others goes back to the natural greed in people: relying on someone gives them power, and it turns into a cycle of power hungry antics. We see this acted out in Stanford's experiment. The police officers were given power, to keep this power, they enforce it through terror. The prisoners were given a role of reliance. They conformed to this role because this is what they have been taught to do.