Luke 19:13

The sacred Scripture clearly shows how he distributed, who the persons are, and what the talents that he distributes signify. He continues to distribute even to this day. Blessed Paul said, "There are distributions of gifts but the same Spirit. There are distributions of ministries but the same Lord. There are distributions of things to be done but the same God who works all in every man." Explaining what he said, he states the kinds of the gifts as follows: "For to one is given the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, and to another faith, and to another gifts of healing, and so on. These words make plain the differences in the gifts.

For ascending up to heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Heb. 1:3.) But being ascended, He hath dispensed to those that believe on Him different divine graces, as unto the servants were committed their Lord's goods, that gaining something they might bring him token of their service. As it follows, And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds.

Holy Scripture is accustomed to use the number ten as a sign of perfection, for if any one wishes to count beyond it, he has again to begin from unity, having in ten as it were arrived at a goal. And so in the giving of the talents, the one who reaches the goal of divine obedience is said to have received ten pounds. For in earthly wealth it does not belong to one man to be made rich without another being made poor, but in spiritual riches, without his making another rich also. For in earthly matters participation lessens, in spiritual it increases wealth.

I think that I should mention whom Christ has entrusted with these gifts, according to the measure of each one's readiness and disposition.… Another Evangelist is aware of a difference between the amounts of the talents distributed. To one, he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one. You see that the distribution was suitable to the measure of each one's faculties. As to those who were entrusted with them, come, and let us to the best of our ability declare who they are.

Second, with regard to the conferral of grace in the sending of the Holy Spirit, he adds: And having called his ten servants, he gave them ten minas. By the calling of the servants we understand the calling of preachers and prelates, who ought to …

Let us consider what profit we have made for God—we who, having received a talent, were sent by him to trade. For he says: Trade until I come. Behold, he has already come; behold, he seeks profit from our trading. What profit of souls shall we show him from our trading? How many sheaves of souls shall we bring before his sight from the harvest of our preaching? Let us place before our eyes that day of such great severity, when the Judge will come and settle accounts with his servants to whom he entrusted the talents. Behold, in terrible majesty, he will be seen among the choirs of angels and archangels. In that great examination, the multitude of all the elect and the reprobate will be brought forth, and what each one has done will be shown. There Peter will appear with converted Judea, which he drew after himself. There Paul, leading the converted world, so to speak. There Andrew will lead Achaia after himself, there John will lead Asia, Thomas will lead India, converted, into the sight of their king. There all the rams of the Lord's flock will appear with the gains of souls, who by their holy preaching draw after themselves a flock made subject to God. Therefore, when so many shepherds with their flocks have come before the eyes of the eternal Shepherd, what shall we wretches say, who return to our Lord empty-handed after the business, who have had the name of shepherds and do not have the sheep we ought to show from our nurturing? Here we are called shepherds, and there we lead no flock.

But calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas. The number ten pertains to the law, because of the Decalogue. Therefore the head of the household calls ten servants, because he chooses disciples steeped in the letter of the law. He gives them …

And he said to them: Trade until I come. He says, offer the words of the law and the prophets to the people through mystical interpretation, and receive from them the confession of faith and the integrity of morals. Just as the Psalmist commands his …

A pound which the Greeks call μνᾶ is equal in weight to a hundred drachmas, and every word of Scripture, as suggesting to us the perfection of the heavenly life, shines as it were with the greatness of the hundredth number.

The Jews hated the Lord, but He gave ten minas to His servants. His servants are those to whom ministries in the Church have been entrusted. They are said to be "ten" on account of the perfection of ecclesiastical leadership. For the order in the …

And he called his ten servants,....

WE are told the reason for the Savior's delivering this parable at this particular time. He was going up to Jerusalem and the ignorant and enthusiastic crowd hoped that He might now set up a temporal sovereignty. "They thought that the Kingdom of God should immediately appear." Their minds were crowded with mistakes and the Savior would set them right upon this matter. To banish from their minds the idea of a Jewish empire in which every Hebrew would be a prince, our Lord told them this story—I use the word advisedly, for his parable was also a fact.

The occasion of our Lord speaking the parable before us, is clear and plain. It was intended to correct the false expectations of the disciples on the subject of Christ's kingdom. It was a prophetic sketch of things present and things to come — which ought to raise solemn thoughts in the minds of all professing Christians. We see, for one thing, in this parable — the present position of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is compared to "a certain nobleman, who went into a far country, to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return."

The occasion of our Lord speaking the parable before us, is clear and plain. It was intended to correct the false expectations of the disciples on the subject of Christ's kingdom. It was a prophetic sketch of things present and things to come — which ought to raise solemn thoughts in the minds of all professing Christians. We see, for one thing, in this parable — the present position of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is compared to "a certain nobleman, who went into a far country, to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return." When the Lord Jesus left the world, He ascended up into Heaven as a conqueror, leading captivity captive. He is there sitting at the right hand of God, doing the work of a High Priest for His believing people, and ever making intercession for them. But He will not sit there always. He will come forth from the holy of holies to bless His people. He will come again with power and glory — to put down every enemy under His feet, and to set up His universal kingdom on earth. At present "we do not see all things subjected to Him." The devil is the "prince of this world." (Hebrews 2:8; John 14:30.) But the present state of things shall be changed one day. When Christ returns — the kingdoms of the world shall become His! Let these things sink down into our minds. In all our thoughts about Christ — let us never forget His second coming. It is well to know that He lived for us, and died for us, and rose again for us, and intercedes for us. But it is also well to know that He is soon coming again for us! We see, for another thing, in this parable — the present position of all professing Christians. Our Lord compares them to servants who have been left in charge of money by an absent master, with strict directions to use that money well. They are to "Put this money to work, until I come back."

WE are told the reason for the Savior's delivering this parable at this particular time. He was going up to Jerusalem and the ignorant and enthusiastic crowd hoped that He might now set up a temporal sovereignty. "They thought that the Kingdom of God should immediately appear." Their minds were crowded with mistakes and the Savior would set them right upon this matter. To banish from their minds the idea of a Jewish empire in which every Hebrew would be a prince, our Lord told them this story—I use the word advisedly, for his parable was also a fact. He would show them that as yet they were not to be partakers in a kingdom, but were soon to be waiters for an absent Lord who had gone to receive a Kingdom and to return. In His absence, His disciples were to be in the position of servants put in trust with property while their Master was gone far away to receive a Kingdom and then to come again. He was now like a nobleman who may be one among many citizens, but He was going away to a court where He would be invested with royal authority— and He would come back a King. They were to be put in trust with certain pounds till He should return. I confess I never thoroughly saw the meaning of this parable till I was directed by an eminent expositor to a passage in Josephus, which, if it is not the key of it, is a wonderfully close example of a class of facts which, no doubt, often occurred in the Roman empire in our Savior's day. Herod, you know, was king over Judea, but he was only a subordinate king under the Roman emperor. Caesar at Rome made and unmade kings at his pleasure. When Herod died, he was followed by his son, Archelaus, of whom we read in Matthew's account of our Lord's infancy that when Joseph heard that Archelaus was king in Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there.

Ten servants - All those who professed to receive his doctrine. Ten was a kind of sacred number among the Hebrews, as well as seven. See Luk 14:31; Luk 15:8; Mat 15:1. Ten pounds - Ten minas. The Septuagint use the original word μναα for the Hebrew מנה maneh, from which it is evidently derived; and it appears from Eze 45:12, to have been equal to sixty shekels in money. Now suppose we allow the shekel, with Dean Prideaux, to be 3s., then the mina or maneh was equal to 9£ English money. The impropriety of rendering the original word pound, will easily be seen by the most superficial reader. We should therefore retain the original word for the same reason so often before assigned. Suidas says, “The talent was sixty minas, the mina one hundred drachms, the drachm six oboli, the obolus six chalci, the chalcus seven mites or lepta.” By the ten minas given to each, we may understand the Gospel of the kingdom given to every person who professes to believe in Christ, and which he is to improve to the salvation of his soul. The same word is given to all, that all may believe and be saved.