Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

Welcome to Wednesday in the Word with Krisan Marotta. What the Bible means and how we know. For more talks and study materials, visit wednesdayintheword.com. Speaker 1: Good morning. We are in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. Everybody I'm sure everybody had a great time with it. I have to admit, my uh there have been many times this last week where I thought, what was I thinking? What what I this this seemed like a good idea last spring. Um as I said, we've saved the two hardest for last. So this week and next week, or well, the week after next. So let me just start by reviewing where we are. The parable of the talents is in Matthew 25, 14 through 30. That's what we're going to look at today, and it's the third of three parables in a series, which Jesus tells in um a discussion that's known as the Olivet Discourse, which begins back in Matthew chapter 24. So the teaching begins when Jesus' disciples come to him and ask him privately about the future. And we talked about this last week, so by way of review, remember there were two themes that run through this teaching. One is a warning that the Lord gives not to give way to voices of emergency, so that people will come and proclaim that some particular sign or event on the earth is apocalyptic, and he warns three times, don't listen to them. So that's in Matthew 24, 5, he says, For many will come in my name, claiming I am the Christ and will deceive many. And then in 24, 11, he repeats, many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. And in 24, 24, for false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible. So he's warning three times these false teachers are going to come, they're going to try to deceive you. Don't listen to them. Don't give way to those the fear and the claims that that uh this is an emergency, and don't imagine significance and signs or numbers where they don't exist. So that's one theme that runs through his teaching. The other theme is essentially the opposite problem, and that's believing that nothing will ever change, that things are going to go on exactly as they are forever, and there won't be a day of the Lord, there won't be a judgment day, there won't be that Jesus will never come back. And that's the voice that says, Oh, it doesn't really matter, I can get around to the things of God later. I've got lots of time. That's a dangerous notion also, and that's kind of that's the one that we see mostly in our parables, that he picks up and continues through our parables. So embedded in all these stories, he urges us to be watchful or to be on the alert. Um, but he's not telling us to be watchful like you would be, like someone would watch a crystal ball, who's trying to figure out what's coming and arrange your life to be, you know, take um be right on track with your uh what you think is coming in the future. He denies you can't do that. Instead, he says, be watchful the way a servant is watchful, who has an assignment, who knows that he's got a job to do and he needs to do it because his master is coming back. So that's the kind of watchful we want to be to be alert to what God has called us to do. So let me just review. The first parable was the master of slave, which was found in Matthew 24, 42 to 51. And in that parable, the master leaves and puts his slaves in charge of his household, and the wise slave continues doing his duties, even though the master is delayed in returning. The evil slave says, Ooh, my master is not coming back for a long time, and he abandons his duties and pursues his own pleasure. So the summary of that parable is just as the good slave continued to live as if his master's return was imminent, even though he was delayed, so we should continue to live as if Jesus' return is imminent. So, and that implies a lot. Judgment is coming, righteousness matters, the things of God matter, the this world is temporal, God is in control, all of that are valid applications. So we need to live as if Jesus is coming back no matter how long it takes. The second parable was the wise and foolish young women that we looked at last week. And in that parable, ten young women wait the arrival of the bridegroom for the wedding feast. He is delayed and their lamps burn out of oil. And when he finally arrives, five realize that uh they made a mistake and they have uh don't have enough oil to keep their lamps burning, but the other five had brought extra oil with them and they are able to replen replenish their lamps. So the five foolish women go off in search of of oil, and when they f find it and return, the wedding the door is locked and closed, and the bridegroom won't let them in. So the master slave raises the question, do you live like the master is returning? The parable of the ten virgins raises the question, well, will you persevere through the delay? Do you have what it takes to persevere and continue through the delay? And of course, the million-dollar question is what do we need to endure a delay? And as we talked about last week, the rest of from the rest of Scripture is clear that it's not we need enough good works to be obedient, but that we need enough faith to get us through. So I would summarize that one as just as the wide version, wise virgins had enough oil to endure the delay of the bridegroom, so we need a strong, mature, saving faith to get us through the delay in God's establishing his kingdom. And that brings us to the parable of the talents, which is perhaps the hardest of the three to understand. And I'm going to read through the whole parable to get it into our minds. And as I read it, remember that a talent is an ancient unit of money. It has nothing to do with skills, it has nothing to do with gifts, it has no relation to the English word talent as we think of talent, like you might have a talent show. So a talent was a sum of money, and it was based on weight, and it varied at different states according to the different laws of currency. So a talent of silver in Israel weighed about a hundred pounds, and a talent of gold in Israel weighed about two hundred pounds. And if you think about a hundred pounds of silver or a hundred pounds of gold, that's a lot of money. This was a huge amount of money he's entrusting with him, like ten years worth of salary or something. This is a big amount. So when I read through the parable, think money, not skill. Alright, so this is Matthew twenty-five. I'm going to read verses fourteen through thirty. For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To the one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his own ability, and he went on his journey. Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded them and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of these slaves came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, Master, you entrusted five talents to me, see I have gained five more talents. And his master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave, you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master. And the one who had received two talents came up and said, Master, you entrusted two talents to me, see I have gained two more talents. And his master said to him, Well done, good and faithful slave, you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master. And the one who had received one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, and I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See you have what is yours. But the master answered and said to him, You wicked lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents, for to everyone who has more shall be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Okay, got that. Next. No. Um I find myself in kind of an awkward position today in that this parable is kind of unique in that a large number of people basically agree on what it means. The problem is I disagree with them. So there is a majority view, which is rare, but it does not persuade me. I'm persuaded by the minority view. So what I'm gonna do is tell you the majority view as best I can, tell you why it fails to persuade me and what my objections are, and then give you the minority view. So I want you to think critically about this and evaluate it. And as is always the case, I do not have the final word. You do not have to agree with me. I'm not up here saying, well, what I say goes, it's the be-all and end-all. Um that is not the case. So I'm, as far as I can tell, the position that I find most persuasive is not the one most people find persuasive. So you need to think carefully about this. You do not have to agree with me, but I hope you do. But anyway, so I'm going to give you the minority majority interpretation and then tell you why the objections I have to it. So many people under approach this parable by saying, what do the talents represent? And they vary in their answer, but they all they tend to run along a common theme, which is spiritual gifts or natural abilities as a variation, souls converted, but some kind of opportunity that God gives us for service. So they might pick a slightly different flavor or nuance of that, but most people, by and large, point to this parable and say, it's teaching us that we need to be diligent with the use of whatever, fill-in-the-blank God has given us. So some might lean toward evangelism, some might lead toward spiritual gifts, some might lead toward service, and so on. So I'm going to read to you. This is the view of a man named A. B. Bruce. He was a professor of apologetics in Scotland, and I picked him because even though he wrote in the late 1800s, he gave one of the most clear explanations of this kind of group of thought. He's one of the most clearly explained. So, yes, he's over a hundred years old, but he it's still representative of them of the majority view, and he explains it really well. So this is how he summarizes it. This parable teaches three distinct, if not equally important, truths concerning work for the kingdom of God. And I'm gonna I'll read these to you and then I'll go over them. One, the consumption of the kingdom will be long enough deferred to leave ample time for work. Two, the kingdom imperatively demands work from all its citizens, and three, the work done will be valued and rewarded according to the principle above enunciated. That is, equal diligence and the use of unequal endowment receives an equal reward. So it most people would say this parable teaches three things. That is, one, the kingdom is delayed to give us time to work. So the master travels to a far country, he doesn't return for a long time, while he's gone, the the slaves are expected to take their talents and use it for good. The first two slaves double their capital, and the third slave, um, when he explains his actions and why he didn't do that, he doesn't use the master's speedy return as an excuse. He says, Um, you were delayed. So the kingdom's delayed so that we can work, that's the first teaching. We are required to work, that's the second one, and they take this from the idea that the first two slaves act immediately and they immediately go out and try to use their talents in a way that will please their master. The third slave is judged very rigorously, both in language and in punishment. So he's called wicked and lazy, and his punishment is severe, cast him into the outer darkness. And then the talent is taken from the third slave who's shown he he is not worthy of using it and given to the one who is shown he is. And then they say the language implies a spiritual reward, enter into the joy of your master and not a financial one. So God delays his coming to give us a chance to fulfill our duty. We are required to do it, whatever it is. We are it the kingdom demands works. And then the third principle is that work done will be valued and rewarded. So we may not all be given the same gift, we may not all be given the same opportunities, but we will receive an equal reward. If we are equally diligent, we will receive an equal reward. So they justify that by the slaves were not all given the same amount, that's the unequal gifts. But the first two doubled their what they were given, that's equal diligence, and they received the same reward enter into the joy of your master. So equal reward. So unequal gifts, equal diligence, equal reward. So follow me through all that. This is just to show you I'm not making that up, this is another, this is the man named Levinson. He wrote closer in the 1920s, but listen to how similar this is. He says, the lesson of this parable as I understand them are one, diversity of gifts, which carries with it a diversity of diversity of responsibility. Two, that to be entrusted with responsibility and not to make use of it is a sin. And three, the reward is due to those who make good use of their gifts. Okay, and this is austerly. He wrote, closer to our time, now we're up into the 1940s. Again, it's a very similar interpretation. He says, It's already been insisted that this teacher's teaching centers on the need for divine grace. In light of this, therefore, the the words must be understood thus. The grace of God, and in context, he by grace of God he means spiritual gifts. I should point that out. I didn't actually quote the passage that explains that, but he's talking about spiritual gifts. The grace of God is given to every man. The realization of this possession and making use of it invariably results in its increase, and he who uses the grace of God receives more grace, he has an abundance. But he who having received the gift of the grace of God makes no effort to use it, invariably suffers loss. He has deliberately spurned the gift, and it is therefore withdrawn. The picture presented in the parable is as simple as its application is clear. I love that statement. Right, simple and clear, this parable. Using the means offered to make worldly profit is rewarded by increased prosperity. Neglect to use the means spells ruin. Using the grace of God increases godliness. Spurning it is to fall from grace. For the purposes of practical religion, no parable can be of greater value. Okay, and I'm going to give you one more. This guy's more modern. He's in our age. He's actually still alive. Um, and I think this is the late 1990s. He says, the theme of this is France, the theme of being ready, which dominated the last section, is still at the center of this parable, which again portrays a coming and its consequences for those who've been preparing for it. But this parable takes up the question that of the bridemaids left unanswered. What is readiness? It's not a matter of passively waiting, but of responsible activity producing results which the master can see and approve. For the period of waiting was not intended to be an empty, meaningless delay, but a period of opportunity to put to good use the talents entrusted to his slaves. In verse 30, the story has been invaded by its application, and the traditional description of the fate of the wicked makes explicit that this parable is to be understood in terms of the ultimate basis of salvation or condemnation. One commentator gave the analogy that we are building a house our own house in heaven, and that every evil and sinful action we do will build straw into the house, and every good and kind, generous action will build the house with gold, and when judgment comes, it will be like a fire that will burn up the straw, and only the gold will be left. Well, if that's true, y'all can just look for me in a ditch. Okay, so that's the majority view. And I I do wholeheartedly agree that God that scripture teaches God gives all his children gifts, and that we all have a calling, a spiritual vocation, and we are expected to faithfully serve in that calling. And I do agree that our waiting is not to be what France described as an idle, passive affair. We are to serve the Lord and fulfill the calling that He's given us, or to borrow Paul's phrase from Ephesians 4, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we've been called. So here's my problem with that view. What if we aren't diligent? Is salvation at stake? And that that may sound like, oh yeah, I'm picking uh straws or picking, you know, knits, but that's an important question. What if we aren't diligent? Every person I looked at understood this parable to describe our post-Christian experience. So the situation in the parable is to be compared to our situation after coming to faith. And verse 30 implies that salvation itself is on the line, and many commentators will explicitly say our salvation is on the line, and we can use it. We can lose it. So let me just read the conclusion again, 25, 28 through 30. Therefore, take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents, for to everyone who has more shall be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out that worthless slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now we have a little bit of an interpretive problem in where does the parable end and the words of Jesus directly begin. The New American Standard ends the story at the end of verse 28 and attributes the words of Jesus directly as his commentary, verses 29 and 30. The English Standard Version in the NIV think that the parable ends at the end of verse 30, and that the words in 29 and 30 are not Jesus directly, but the master in the story speaking them. So we have a question there. Where does the parable end? You know, because the original language there's no punctuation, so we don't have a nice little definitive this is the end of the master's speech. So the question is where do the the words of the master end and the words of Jesus begin? I tend to agree with the numeric and standard. I think that 29 and 30 are Jesus' commentary on the parable, and that the master's speech ends with 28. Uh partly because it's difficult for me to imagine that the master in the story had any ability to cast a slave into the outer darkness. I can't figure out what that would mean in the story. And also verse 29 is similar to other summary statements Jesus makes in other places about um abundance and first should be last, and those who have will get more. Now, having said that though, most scholars agree that you end up in the same place. So whether you end the parable at the end of 28 or you end it at the end of verse 30, you end up with the same punishment, you end up with the same point. So it's an interesting question, but it may not be all that significant. So some in the majority of you take verse 30 as a description of hell and unequivocally state that salvation itself is on the line if we aren't diligent and we can lose it. And if they're correct, then we really have a problem. Because now we're back to the law. If I'm required to diligently use whatever gifts God has given me, and the reward is salvation, and punishment is the loss of salvation, that sounds to me like we are no longer under grace, but we're under law. And there are so many scriptures that contradict that. I don't think I could name them all. But I will refer you to the entire book of Galatians, which you should be familiar with from last year. But remember in particular chapter three, where Paul says, You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? That to me is the very question that this parable raises. And Paul's unequivocal answer is no. Having begun by the Spirit, you're going to be perfected by the Spirit, not by your own good works. And I think other scriptures clearly teach good works are God's gift to us, not our duty to God. Ephesians 2.10 being probably one of the clearest where Paul says that good works are prepared beforehand by God. But think about our other parables, the Good Samaritan. We looked at earlier, the point was the standard was so high no one could reach it. We can't do anything to gain eternal life. Or just remember, a few weeks ago, the overpaid vineyard workers echoes the same point. God gives us what we need, not what we deserve. Okay. Now to be fair, others in the majority view claim salvation is not at stake. And they would argue that verse 30 is not a description of hell, whether it's rather it's metaphorical. So as the enjoyment of the kingdom is represented by this brightly lit wedding feast where there's a banquet hall filled with torches and lamps and candles, those who were excluded from the banquet would be. In the outer darkness. They would be outside the house in the darkness. And it's called the outer darkness because they're outside the house. Where it would be dark, it would be night, and they would be shamed and hungry and cold, hence the weeping and gnashing of teeth. They would be shamed for being left out of the feast. The gnashing of teeth would be the cold and hunger. So they say the outer darkness is not a description of eternal damnation, but it's a metaphorical comparison to the wedding feast that we've just seen in the Virgins. So they would say, yes, we are to be diligent to use our gifts, but God Himself will make sure that we are diligent. We won't be out left out of the feast if we are truly his children, because God will make sure of that. And if I was going to side with the majority of you, that's the position I would land on. I think that one's closer to the mark. Aquinas summarized it this way. He said, God requires nothing from man save the good works which He Himself planted in us. In other words, yes, we're required to work, but God Himself is the one who's going to make sure we get there. Augustine put the same thing into the form of a prayer. He said, Give that which thou biddest and bid that which thou wilt. In other words, give us the grace to do what you want us to do and then make sure it happens. And that view makes more sense to me. However, it does seem to rob the parable of any point. If the parable is teaching me that I must diligently fulfill my calling, but it's up to God how diligently I do that, then why tell this parable at all? What am I supposed to take away from it? Okay, that's certainly a credible view, but it fails to persuade me. Jesus' parables tend to have a more profound meaning than that, and so any interpretation which is more profound, I would probably lean toward. Okay, so that's the majority view. And there's two flavors of it. One is that this parable teaches salvation is at stake, and not the other would say no salvation isn't at stake, but both agree it's teaching us we are to diligently fulfill our calling. Okay? Follow me there? So if that's not what it's teaching, if it's not that some kind of diversity of gifts requires diversity of responsibility, what is it teaching? Um and I think the way we get there is instead of asking what the talents represent, and we should look at what at the difference between the slaves and the master. What was their relationship to the master? And I think the talents are there to build the dynamic of the story, and they have, but they have no significance in and of themselves. They're there to illustrate the difference between how the slaves approach their master or not. So let me just again set the stage for us. This is the third of three parables, and in the context, um we want to make sure that however we understand it, it furthers the context. So the master slave introduces the idea that although the kingdom will be delayed, we need to live like it's coming. The Ten Versions then says, what do we need to endure the delay? Faith. And I think the master the talents answers the question, why do we need faith? Because the standard is not going to be lowered. So it's furthering that theme, and why do we need saving faith to get us through the delay? And I think the dynamic of the parable is not what the talents represented, but how do you meet the master's expectations? So let me back up and explain that. The master expected a return on his investment, and the slaves knew it. So he gives each according to his own ability or to use according to his own discretion, and all three slaves know the master expects something on them. The third slave spells it out. He says, Um, Master, I knew you to be a hard man. This is verse 24, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. I was afraid and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours. And then in 26, the master says, You are right, you wicked and lazy slave, you knew that I reaped where I did not sow and gathered where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to put my money in the bank. So if the master confirms, yes, the standard is up here. I'm a hard exacting master, and this is what I expect of you. The first two slaves did what it took to meet the master's expectations. They all knew he required a return on his investment. Now, what they did we don't actually know. Um we're not sure if they traded in some ancient version of the stock market, or if they uh loaned out the talents and got a return on the investment, or maybe they bought a field and harvested the crop. We don't know. And maybe that kind of background would help us. But whatever they did, uh whatever form of investment it was, they took a risk. They risked everything they had to try to meet the master's expectations. They knew what his standard was, and they knew they had to meet it, so in an all-or-nothing thing, they risked everything to gain more. The difference in the third slave is he tried to lower the master's expectations. He said, I knew you were you were exacted this hard, high standard, but I was afraid to take the risk. Um remember everything he has belongs to the master. His if he makes a profit, his master's gonna get it. If he takes a loss, he's gonna have to pay it back. So of course he does nothing. And the master reprimands him for not putting the money in the bank at the very least. And the Mishnah explains that if you gave your money to a money changer, you had two options. You could give it to the money changer and seal it up, in which case the money changer had to keep it and he could not make use of it, and if he lost the money, he was not answerable for it. Or you could give your money to the money changer and allow him to make use of it, then he would invest and take a risk and he would pay you back with interest. So you could use the bank as like a safe deposit box, a storage place, and if you did that, you did it at your own risk, or you could use the bank, or the money changer in this case, as uh someone who would make use and invest the money, and then he took the risk and would pay you back interest. So that's what the master's saying. You could have at least done that. You could have at least given it to a money changer and let him make a little investment. If you didn't know how to invest, you could have at least done that. So we're invited to make a conduct on the third a judgment on the conduct of the third slave because he's what's being contrasted with the other two. The rest of the details, I think, are there to shed light on his actions. So the third servant knew what his master expected and failed to meet his expectations. Instead, he did his best and hoped that would be good enough. And the part the point of the parable is his best was not good enough. So I would summarize it as just as the third slave hoped his master's standard would be lowered and was rejected, so if we lower God's standard of righteousness so that we can meet it, we will similarly be rejected. Or to put it the other way around, just as the first two slaves did what it took to meet their master's expectations, so we should cast everything on God because it's our only hope of meeting his standard of righteousness. So see the difference? I think Jesus is contrasting this hard-exacting master off a loving and merciful God, but the point is the same. Don't try to lower the standard. God expects holiness and nothing else will do. And once we realize that we don't have what it takes to meet that standard, what do we do? If we're like the third slave and we say, Well, I'll just give you my best shot, that's not enough. That won't get us there. Now, notice in some ways the minority view is almost the exact opposite of the majority view. Because the majority view would say the parable teaches us that we should work diligently to use the gifts God has given us and thus gain our reward. And the minority view says, you know what, that's what the Pharisees did, and it didn't work. It wasn't good enough. The only way you meet God's expectation, the only way you gain the reward is by casting yourself on his mercy. And that's the twist, that's the surprise of the parable that makes it more profound to me. So I would say the first two slaves did what it took to meet the master's expectations, but wait, we're supposed to realize I don't have what it takes to meet the master's expectations. So now what? Now what do I do? I can't keep the law. What's my alternative? And my alternative is faith in uh the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So I would take twenty-nine as basically an explanation of twenty-eight, therefore take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. Why? Because for everyone who has faith, more faith will be given, and he shall have an abundance. But the one who does not have faith, even what little understanding he has shall be taken away. Now I've expanded that to show you what I think that means. So his point is true, you don't have what it takes to meet the master's expectations. You don't have what it takes to keep the law, but thanks be to God, there's an alternative. To whoever trusts God, everything will be given to him, and whoever doesn't will lose everything. You have to risk it all on God's grace. So let me put it back in context then. So the master slave says, although there will be a delay, you need to live like the kingdom is coming. The Ten Versions says, what do you need to get through the delay? You need saving faith. And the talent answer is why? Why do you need faith to endure the delay? Because the standard of righteousness will not be lowered, and your only hope of meeting the of being justified is faith. Follow me there? Okay, as I said, these are there's a complicated parable, so you don't have to agree with me. I'm just asking you to think it through and come to your own conclusions. Um, a couple more observations, but notice the three stories have similarities. Nothing happens when the bridegroom comes or the master returns that wasn't already true. So there's no dramatic new occurrence. What has been true all along just gets revealed. Every individual in the stories becomes the kind of person because of the choices they made over a long period of time. So the faithful make choices to believe, to watch, to stay alert, to take their calling seriously, to care about what their master cares about day in and day out, and the evil slave or the foolish, the one with one talent, make choices to not care about what the master thinks, to not live as if he's coming. And so over a lifetime, everyone becomes either the wise or foolish young woman or the faithful servant or a wicked one. And notice every one of these stories ends with a hard warning. The door is shut and the bridegroom says, I don't know you. The servants are cast into the outer darkness, or the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, or the master slave, the one servant is flogged and beaten. There's a severe warning in there, and that I think may teach us something as well. It's an important warning that time is running out, that judgment day is coming. There is a day when the door will eventually close. We cannot put off the things of God forever. So I think part of the warning of these parables is there are only two paths. Either you're on the path of wisdom or you're on the path of foolishness. And the day will come when an accounting needs to be made, and those who have ears to hear should hear now, because now's the time to respond. But along with that warning, I think it can also give us a sense of peace because we know how it's all gonna turn out. And let me just this I found this just the other day of this is a pastor I knew many years ago. He's now retired and he he has a blog, and he wrote this blog just on 1030 called The Lord Is at Hand. It's short and I want to read it to you because I think it summarizes um kind of the I think one of the things we can take away from these parables. So he says, Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. That's Philippians 4.5. And here's his summary of it. I have a friend who always reads the last chapter first when she starts a new thriller. Takes the anxiety out of reading, she claims. So with us, if we know the end of the story, we can be centers of peace in the midst of utter chaos and calm in the face of disaster. Because we know how it's going to turn out. Paul calls that attitude moderation, a term that's difficult to translate in English, but one that implies peace under pressure. It refers to the calm and deliberate strength with which we meet the disquieting circumstances of our days. Kingdoms may fall, friends and spouses may falter, churches may fold, the wrong party may win the next elections, oceans may rise and mountains may crumble, but we can be at peace. And how do we maintain such a composure? By remembering that the Lord is at hand. At any moment the Lord may burst through the door and turn everything right side up. Then this world and all its troubles will become the kingdom of our Lord, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of his glory as the water covers the sea covers the sea. Jesus said it could happen very soon. Today could be the day. It's the very last thing he said in the very last chapter of his book, Revelation 22.20. There's an old saying, if you can keep your head when others are losing theirs, you don't understand the situation. But there's another saying that's equally true. If you can keep your head when others are losing theirs, you do understand the situation because you've read the last chapter in the book. So yes, there's a warning in these parables, but we know the last chapter in the book. We know how it's going to come out. And God in His grace has given us the way to peace, to salvation, to righteousness, to making all things new and all things right, and that's faith in our Lord. So let me stop there. I'm sure you've got questions on this one. And let me pray and I'll give you a chance to ask. Father, we confess these are hard parables, and I confess I don't have the market cornered on them. And then uh I just pray that anything that is true and right and good you would uh ride into our hearts, and anything that's confusing or wrong or misleading, you would blow away like chaff. And that you would be giving us the humility to approach the scriptures, to keep seeking you, to keep learning and keep uh improving our understanding. And we thank you for the things we do know to be true, that you are a loving and gracious God who saves us when we cannot save ourselves, and who sent your son to die in our place, to pay a penalty we could not pay. And we just pray for the faith to get through not only the long haul, but the next moments, the days ahead, the big frustrations and the little trials um that come to us, that we would know that you are our God, you have not abandoned us, you're in control, and that we can look to you and know how the book is going to turn out. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word with Krisan Marotta. What the Bible means and how we know. For notes and study questions, visit wednesdayintheword.com. We hope you'll join us again, and may God richly bless you.