The parable of the ten gold coins

WHILE people were listening to Jesus speak, he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they thought that the Kingdom of God would appear there immediately. So he said, “A nobleman went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return. He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’ His fellow citizens, however, despised him and sent a delegation after him to announce, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ But when he returned after obtaining the kingship, he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money, to learn what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’ He replied, ‘Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities.’… Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding person; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ He said to him, ‘With your own words I shall condemn you, you wicked servant. You knew I was a demanding person, taking up what I did not lay down and harvesting what I did not plant; why did you not put my money in a bank? Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’ And to those standing by he said, ‘Take the gold coin from him and give it to the servant who has ten.’ But they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’ ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’”…

After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. REFLECTION ENGAGE IN TRADE WITH THESE UNTIL I RETURN. EACH OF US HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH TALENTS AND CAPABILI- TIES. True, some are more gifted than others. But this should be no reason to envy others, for there will also be a reckoning at the end of life according to how much we have received. The point of the parable is whether we have been productive or creative with the talents God has given us, or whether we have kept them “stored away in a handkerchief” (v 20).

In life we are to discover what these gifts are and to develop them – not just for own good but for others’ sake.

“What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God” (Hans Urs Von Baltazar).