In the middle of addressing eschatology and the afterlife, shortly after speaking of the increasing intensity of disasters leading up to his return in Matthew 24, Jesus tells a series of parables. The second is called the parable of the talents, found in Matthew 25:14-30. With talent here being a name for a kind of money in the parable itself but also standing in for personal skills of individuals, the story pertains to both the variations in circumstances people find themselves in, the wait for the return of Christ, the way Christians handle their terrestrial lives, and the rewards bestowed by God for active commitment. The parable of the 10 minas in Luke 19:11-27 tells a very similar tale, with some differing details. The parable of the talents unfolds as follows.
A person puts his wealth in the hands of a trio of servants before he departs for a journey (25:14). The different servants are given varying amounts of initial money, with one receiving five talents, another two talents, and another one talent. Verse 15 specifies that each was bestowed this money "according to his ability." Though ability can certainly be enhanced or broadened in many cases, the starting capabilities of the servants determined what they were given. Everyone except for the servant who has the one talent uses the money to double their portion of the wealth, while the other servant merely puts the money in a hole to hide it (25:18). Upon returning, the master says that the first two servants will share in his happiness and congratulates them for their goodness and faithfulness, only to take the last servant's talents, give them to the one who now has 10 talents, and then cast the lazy servant into "darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (25:28-30).
In the similar but very distinct parable of the 10 minas of Luke 19, one person received 10 cities and another only five from their monarch once he returns, but both received cities, whereas the exact rewards in Matthew 25:14-30's story are not mentioned. The increase of money in the minas narrative only factored into the degree of reward, however, not into whether a reward was received. As for the lazy servant of the parable of the talents, he either represents non-Christians who have not reconciled to God, yet are faintly familiar with the concept of him, or Christians who squander their lives by simply doing almost nothing. That this servant is thrown into a place of darkness and weeping (Matthew 25:30) strongly suggests the former even though many parables do not perfectly encapsulate everything in Christianity. Indeed, if some of them were meant to be literal, they would outright contradict vital parts of Biblical philosophy.
The two faithful servants of Luke 19:11-27, though, are given jurisdictions that are actually closer to what various passages--none of them parables of Christ--say Christians, or at least some of them, will preside over. "Do you not know that we will judge angels?" asks Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:3. Revelation 20:4-6 also briefly describes how certain followers of Christ will reign from thrones in this world for a thousand years, sharing in what is otherwise the divine practice of grand judgment from a throne. Whether it speaks of an actual reign on Earth before the final judgment of Revelation 20:11-15 or is analogous to something that is perhaps even greater, this refers to what might very well be Christians ruling over cities as part of their reward.
Even on their own, the related parables of the talents and 10 minas already touch upon divine rewards for how life is lived, in addition to the basic but crucial prerequisite of eternal life. As the parable of the workers in the vineyard from Matthew 20 parallels, all who turn to God will receive their eternal life, but beyond this, the extent and types of rewards a person will earn for their righteousness--which cannot erase their past guilt, but is still worthy of commendation--are dictated by their beliefs and deeds. Rather than intimidate Christians, this should be encouraging: it is not as if life in New Jerusalem is said to be aimless or to not reflect their genuine intellectual and moral triumphs. For the servants of God who invest themselves more fully into knowing and living in light of reality, the Bible says there are greater splendors that await them.
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