Parable documentation

1) Read the parable once, then carefully read each verse

2) Analyze each action, object, and person while thinking of how these images would be interpreted by Jesus’ followers. This is reading in between the lines and will expand the meaning of the story. It also will require some research.

A rich man is going on a journey, likely having to do with business. In order to keep a profit going at home he leaves a lot of money to his top circle of servants. Though he doesn’t say it, it is expected of them to invest and return at least 100% of the profit. The 1st two servants go off and immediately go and increase the talents because the sooner they meet the master’s requirements, the sooner they can start to make a profit for themselves. This whole process of gaining more money for themselves and the master involves exploitation of the poor. The third servant, instead of investing and therefore progressing the corruptness of the system, buries the one talent. This shows that he is not being selfish: he is not taking the talents for himself, which, sense he is rebelling against the system he might as well have done. Then again he doesn’t give it to the poor. He saves the talent for his master showing that he is honest and sober and buries it to keep it safe. He doesn’t invest it, and therefore doesn’t contribute to the unjust system of exploitation. He probably does this because he is tired of giving up his morals in order to progress. When the master returns, he is pleased by the first to servants and customarily gives them more responsibility. When he gets to the 3rd servant, the third servant tells him basically that he is an ass. He, like many/most/all of the elites of his time, would have made loans for poor farmers. These loans they couldn’t have paid, and so the master would take their land (given to them by God) and would use them for his own economic purposes (ALTHOUGH WHEN NECRESSARY THE RICH WOULD HELP THE POOR IF IT IN TURN HELPED THEM). BECAUSE LAND WAS A LARGE FACTOR IN DETERMINING CLASS, IT ALSO ELIMINATED WHATEVER SLIGHT ECONOMIC COMPETITION THEY POSED FOR THE RICH. Therefore he grows and harvests food on land that he owns, but land that is not rightly his, as the 3rd servant claims. “You are a corrupt man, stomping on others. This money is yours and you deserve no more than what is yours”. The master retaliates by calling the servant wicked and lazy, therefore deteriorating his image and the merit of his accusation. The talent is taken and he is cast out from the household of the elite and consequently is forced to become poor. The poor reject him though because he was once a man who served the hated elite and whose job was to hurt the very people he now must live with. He acted alone and so now must continue alone.

3) What is the problem and how do the characters respond (or instigate) it? Pay close attention to the rich and powerful and how they abuse their power and expect too much out of the lower people.

THIS IS NOT A REPRESENTATION OF GOD BUT INSTEAD SHOWS THE FLAWS OF SOCIETY. The problem is that the rich man expected the servants to invest his money and exploit the poor. The 1st two servants think nothing of it and conform to the system of unjustness in making a profit. The 3rd servant has suffered inner torment because THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IS BASED ON EXPLOITATION and doesn’t want to be a part of it. He must pay for his actions even though those actions are just.

4) Identify what the parable is about. What prompted Jesus to tell the story? What is Jesus saying about society and/or KoG and how does the problem need to be solved? How does it relate to our lives today (this isn’t yet the actual modern situation, but I think it helps to understand if you replace ancient images with modern ones) This might later help with identifying a modern situation though)


5) Identify a modern situation with similar characters and actions (learn a lot about it). What is the problem? How is/was it solved? What are its parallels? According to what Jesus’ message in the parable is, how should this problem be solved?

6) Know your shit, make a killer presentation with costumes and props and videos, get A’s. But most importantly MAKE SURE YOU LEARNED SOMETHING!!!!!!!!