We are examining the parable of the talents in Luke 19 through the lens of cultural dynamics and the people who are marginalized.   

“Scripture is alive and sharper than any two-edged sword.  But we can’t preach a dead word.  It’s unbiblical to teach a dead word.” – Pastor Phil

Luke 19:11 – 27 The Parable of the Talents

We’ve been taught to look at this passage through a White European Epistemology lens.   “We think if he gave me 10 of course I’m going to make 10 more.  God gave me 10 talents and I want to bless people with my talent.  I’m gonna get 10 more talents.  We think of it as amassing more and God is going to be pleased with us as we amass more,” explains Pastah J.  

Cultural Dynamics

But who is this man, the master?  A closer examination of the scripture reveals a description of a wicked king.  It’s a story of a man who travels to a distant country to have himself appointed king.  Pastah J elaborates, “It says in verse 14, his subjects hated him.  They didn’t want him to be king, and he was made king anyway.”

If Jesus isn’t the master in the story, what part does he play?  “The person we typically think of as the one who was wrong in the story.  If you look at it from the people’s point of view who are marginalized, who are poor.  Who are under the hands of wicked rulers,” explains Pastah J. 

The hero is the man who spoke truth to power.  The servant who, “took his one in protest and said, ‘I will not bow down to a wicked ruler.  I will not make you more money when you don’t reap where you sow because you’re a hard man.  Matter of fact, take your one back, and whatever you want to do with me you do it,” Pastah J clarifies. 

The master is so wicked he gives his one talent to the man who has ten.  Then says, “Everyone who has more, will be given more.  But for the one who has nothing, even his one will be taken away.  That’s the society we live in now.  A society where the people with the most get the most!”    

Christians are called to protest such a system proclaims Pastah J.  “This is what it means to follow Jesus.  It means to protest against systems and structures that take away from those who don’t even have anything.  When you look at this parable after the story of Zacchaeus it makes perfect sense.”  Salvation doesn’t come to Zacchaeus until he gives it all back four times over. 

Context

The importance of context cannot be understated when reading and studying scripture.  “We talk about context a lot when we talk about Paul and the Epistles.  But we don’t like to talk about context when we talk about the gospels because that would cause us to realize that we gotta stop looking at it from an empire standpoint,” Pastah J implores.   

When we examine the gospels, we see that the context they were each written in was serving a particular purpose.  “Each Gospel has an occasion,” explains Pastah J.  “Luke’s gospel is very different; he’s writing to a Greek audience and trying to give an orderly account.  But Matthew is literally trying to prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.” 

This brings us back to context.  Matthew’s version, Chapter 25, after the parable of the ten virgins takes on a different tone.   “He doesn’t call the man wicked.  He doesn’t say the people don’t want him to be king or any of that.”  But the account still ends the same.  The man decrees that everyone who has will be given more and he will have abundance.  And to those who have little, even that will be taken away.

Does this man, this master sound like Jesus?  Please leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.  And remember to tune in to Church on the Block every Sunday at 10 am est. | 9 am cst. on Holy Culture Radio Sirius XM, Channel 154.  And follow our hosts, Pastor Phil, Pastah J, and DJ Ruckus on Twitter to join the conversation.