Parable Draft 1

The parable starts with a rich nobleman who decides to go on a journey, and only the extremely wealthy went on journeys. There are also three servants that the nobleman entrusts with some of his wealth, and his servants, aren’t like today’s stereotypical servants, but like a board of trustees. One was entrusted with five "talents," let's call him Five, another entrusted with two "talents," we'll call him Two, and the last with one "talent," he'll be called One. In first Palestine a “talent” was considered a ridiculous amount of money, such as one billion dollars, and to trust his servants with a total amount of eight “talents,” especially one person with five “talents” of his own shows how much money he really has. Five and Two invested their share and were able to double their starting amounts, while buried his "talent" because he was not as willing to invest as Five and Two. When the nobleman arrived from his journey he saw what Five and Two were able to bring back to him and gave them praise, but when One gave him back the original "talent" he was given the noble punished him because the noble felt that One was lazy and that he was trying to make a statement. In the Parable of the Talents I found the deeper meaning to be that, if one were to stand up, and make a statement toward an oppressor one will need the support of any others. To enact change it is fine for one to think of the idea, but it is essential to have many fight for that idea because if one were to stand up to their oppressor alone they would easily get squashed, but en masse they will be much stronger, because as it is know there really is strength in numbers. Herzog said himself that, “When one acts alone, one dies alone,” this relates to Jesus’ teaching in this parable, especially in first century Palestine because to the rich servants were expendable, as we saw in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, and their lives held no value to their masters . This parable shows a classic class struggle between the upper and lower class, and as always the upper class has a great advantage over the lower class, in both financial and public support, and that is why the lower class can’t fight alone and need the help of higher class citizens, but for the higher class to help they must know where the lower are coming from, such as the Samaritan in the first parable we learned about, or it would take just one upperclassman to lend a hand to get others to, and that is a rare situation. This parable demands that if we want to change something, even for the good, that we can’t do it alone and that help is necessary, especially when the situation involves a rich man and his money. The purpose of this parable was to show how acting irrationally and hastily can get one punished or even killed.

Parable Draft 1

The parable starts with a rich nobleman who decides to go on a journey, and only the extremely wealthy went on journeys. There are also three servants that the nobleman entrusts with some of his wealth, and his servants, aren’t like today’s stereotypical servants, but like a board of trustees. One was entrusted with five "talents," let's call him Five, another entrusted with two "talents," we'll call him Two, and the last with one "talent," he'll be called One. In first Palestine a “talent” was considered a ridiculous amount of money, such as one billion dollars, and to trust his servants with a total amount of eight “talents,” especially one person with five “talents” of his own shows how much money he really has. Five and Two invested their share and were able to double their starting amounts, while buried his "talent" because he was not as willing to invest as Five and Two. When the nobleman arrived from his journey he saw what Five and Two were able to bring back to him and gave them praise, but when One gave him back the original "talent" he was given the noble punished him because the noble felt that One was lazy and that he was trying to make a statement. In the Parable of the Talents I found the deeper meaning to be that, if one were to stand up, and make a statement toward an oppressor one will need the support of any others. To enact change it is fine for one to think of the idea, but it is essential to have many fight for that idea because if one were to stand up to their oppressor alone they would easily get squashed, but en masse they will be much stronger, because as it is know there really is strength in numbers. Herzog said himself that, “When one acts alone, one dies alone,” this relates to Jesus’ teaching in this parable, especially in first century Palestine because to the rich servants were expendable, as we saw in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, and their lives held no value to their masters . This parable shows a classic class struggle between the upper and lower class, and as always the upper class has a great advantage over the lower class, in both financial and public support, and that is why the lower class can’t fight alone and need the help of higher class citizens, but for the higher class to help they must know where the lower are coming from, such as the Samaritan in the first parable we learned about, or it would take just one upperclassman to lend a hand to get others to, and that is a rare situation. This parable demands that if we want to change something, even for the good, that we can’t do it alone and that help is necessary, especially when the situation involves a rich man and his money. The purpose of this parable was to show how acting irrationally and hastily can get one punished or even killed.

"Essential Q&A"

Q: What gave the servant the audacity to stand up and make a statement toward his master?

A: The factors that caused the servant to stand up and resist his master were that with his method he would not lose any of the money. The answer Jesus gives is that if one wants to change something in the world he needs the help of many. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was one man who wanted to change America, and succeeded, but with the help of many people behind him. This parable shows that there is strength in numbers and that while one can make a difference, it takes many to make it permanent.

Parable Documentation

1. Identify characters and details.

The parable starts with a rich nobleman who decides to go on a journey, and only the extremely wealthy went on journeys. There are also three servants that the nobleman entrusts with some of his wealth. One was entrusted with five "talents," let's call him 5, another entrusted with two "talents," we'll call him 2, and the last with one "talent," he'll be called 1. 5 and 2 invested their share and were able to double their starting amounts, while buried his "talent" because he was not as willing to invest as 5 and 2. When the nobleman arrived from his journey he saw what 5 and 2 were able to bring back to him and gave them praise, but when 1 gave him back the original "talent" he was given the noble punished him because the noble felt that 1 was lazy and that he was trying to make a statement.

2. Who is the main character and why?

We believe that 1 is the main character because he is the most dynamic character and the gravity of all the conflict in this parable. His actions reveal all of the corruption and the oppression in the parable.

3. Understand story in the context of 1st century Palestine from broad to narrow.

The story is set in a household type environment where the noble is the homeowner, and he has his inner-circle made of his closest subjects, called his servant, not because they serve him, but to show that they receive their wealth from the noble. The servants are trusted enough to handle the noble's money, and they are expected to make a 100% profit, and whatever is more they skim off the top, just enough to make a lot, but not to make the noble conspicuous. Their investments mainly consist of foreclosing on farmers and peasants, and they do this instead of investing in the rich because the rich won't take from the rich.

Palestinians would find this parable a vivid description of the exploiation of the surplus labor value at the heart of the class conflict in Palestine, Jesus' audience would have felt the sting of the fate of the rash subordinate who had the audacity to "tell off" his master

4. What is the central conflict?

The central conflict in this parable is 1 not investing his share and making a statement to the king about his exploitation and exposes the raw section of corruption and how the wealthy gain their wealth. The problem with this statement is that he is only one man in a land of many against him.

the inordinate greed and moral corruption of particular individuals is where the conflict is also centralized around and the system that supports it.

5. What is the moral of the story.

The moral of this story is if you're going to fight the power make sure that you have someone there to back you up, because if you go balls out alone, and you just gave big middle finger to the noble and screwed over the peasants, you're pretty much shafted on either end. One cannot possibly change such a corrupt system by themselves, one will always need support in fighting a battle this large, and strength usually comes in numbers.

it is fighting a pervasive capitalist ethos that blunts or denies the existence of significant structural divisions in society, it is trying to eliminate this concept of classes as contending forces in a common field of ever shifting action seeking to secure its vital interests with one class always having the upper hand.

6. Find a ground breaking question who's answer will unlock the entire parable.

What gave 1 the courage and drive to make the statement he did?

7. Find its trancending quality, then transfer it to the modern day.

To Be Continued...

Herzog

The chapter by Herzog showed an in-depth view about the issues of financial oppression in the parables. Herzog also gives a working version of Jesus' parable used in Matthew's text. He mentions the distribution of walth in the book of Luke by saying that wealth is distributed so unevenly that only those on the top actually see money. He also talks about homes in the ancient world and how they are microcosoms of cities in the way that they worked. He also mentions household beauracracies because everyone plays their specific roles to make the home work. Herzog talks about the business side of the parables and how they work and how the money is distributed to those on the top of the pyramid. He also mentions the reckoning and how they are different in Luke and Matthew. He also states that once one knows that one is wrong and will pay a price they should stop rather than dig themselves deeper. Also he says "When one acts alone, one dies alone," which is true and applies to the parable of the talents.

Our Reading Interpretation Guide

1. Identify characters and understand details.

2. Main character and why?

3. Understand story in the context of 1st century Palestine from broad to narrow.

4. What is the central conflict?

5. What is the moral of the story

6. Find a ground breaking question who's answer will unlock the entire parable.

7. Find its trancending quality, then transfer it to the modern day/

DP: Parable Interpretation

- Who is the parable about? [Remember it may be the most unexpected person.]

- What is the central conflict in the parable?

- Where, when, and how did the problem occur?

- Why did the problem occur in the first place? [Think 1st century Palestine...]

- Figuring the above ask yourself a question; the answer should make everything clear.

- Now try to come up with a feasible answer to this question that others can easily understand.

- Where can one see this conflict happening today?