The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and the Parable of Minas (Luke 19:11-27) are two similar stories.  They both involve a master going away on a journey and entrusting different sums of money to his servants. Almost invariably, popular interpreters have these parables as allegories for the time in between and first and second comings of Jesus. In this readings, the master represents Jesus, who expects to find his disciples hard at work using their gifts in service of his kingdom. However popular, such interpretations are deeply problematic. In this episode, I will explore alternative ways of reading these parables, and suggest an interpretation where the master does not represent Jesus and the third servant, though condemned by the master, is actually a kind of tragic hero.
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Episode Bibliography:
Craddock, Fred. Luke (Interpretation). Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990.
Herzog, William R. Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994.
Johnson, Luke Timothy. “The Lukan Kingship Parable.” Novum Testamentum 24:139-159.
Levine, Amy-Jill. Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.