Parable of Talents: A Contemporary Version
The parable of talents is an interesting parable in the Gospel of Mathew and Luke. There are minor variations in both the gospels. But the overall message is the same. The persons who got 5 talents (talent is a huge sum of money) and 2 talents (Gospel of Mathew) doubled it, whereas the one who got one talent just hide it and he returned the same. The master appreciates two servants and punishes the third one. In both the gospels, this parable appears towards the end of the gospel, very close to the passion of Jesus. One of the common interpretations is the responsibility of each one of us to use the God-given talents for the work of the kingdom.
I was wondering, how Jesus would have said the parable during our times. I do make an attempt here.
Parable of talents during COVID-19
A rich man decided to go on a world tour for 2 years, called 3 of his servants during the winter of 2019. He gave the first servant 10 million$; gave 1 lakh$ to the second, and 1000$ to the third. Now in the meantime, COVID-19 and the lockdown did give a visit to all the three servants. The rich man returned in the winter of 2021. Every trace of COVID-19 had long ago disappeared; people were traveling without masks like in the good old days. He called all the three servants.
The first one looked fit and fine, and he submitted 30 million$. He narrated his story. He had a good chance to invest in Amazon. He took a good vacation on a faraway island during the COVID-19. And when he was back after the perils of COVID-19, his shares had quadrupled in Amazon. He is giving 30million$ to the master. He subtly told the master that he is keeping 10 million$ as his commission. The servant was really proud of his credentials.
The second one came; he invested the money in the bank. He had an attack of COVID-19, for which he had to spend quite a good time in the hospital. Still, he could increase the money of the master. He could give back 1.5 lakh$. The servant was happy that he could do some justice to the money of the master.
The third one looked extremely week. He invested his 1000$ to renovate the ‘Pani-puri’ shop of his family. He and his family had to migrate back to their village during the time of COVID-19. They had innumerable days of misery. Debt increased exponentially. As he was unable to find a job in his village, he had to return to the city during the peak of COVID-1. He borrowed a lot of money to repair his house and to start a business. He borrowed again to pay at least 200$ to the master. He knew it was much less, but that was all he could provide.
The question to ask is… if the master is Jesus, what would be his responses to the three servants?
