I do not like math. I never have. I made it to geometry in high school, and barely passed; after that I dropped down to "SAT prep math" and happily stayed there until graduation. My brain has just not been wired to understand math, but words...words are something I get, something my brain can take in and form a picture that makes sense to me. I get lost in words; both in reading them and in writing them. So what happens when Jesus' words revolve around multiplication and division? Maybe His kind of math will make some sense to me...
In studying math, multiplication always seems to come before division in the learning process; I remember memorizing times tables...ugh...I'm really not looking forward to helping my kids with that...
In Matthew 25, Jesus addresses multiplication first too. He paints a picture of a master who is going on a journey. The master has three servants, and he is entrusting each with a sum of money. The first servant is given five talents, the second two, and the third just one. Now let me point out that the bible says the amounts given to each where "each according to his ability"... To me that line means that each was given what the master deemed the servant could handle. So the master leaves, and the servant with five talents "went at once and put his money to work and gained five more" (verse 16). Then the one with two talents "gained two more" (verse 17), but "the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money" (verse 18).
Did you catch the math there? Five plus five gives servant number one ten talents total. Two times two gives servant number two four talents total, and poor servant three still just has 1. So the master returns and each servant presents the money he has to the master; servant number one, the ten, servant number two, the four, and servant number three, the one. The master rewards servants one and two; each receives the same reward because though one had more than the other, each had taken what was given to them and multiplied it. The third servant though, in presenting the one talent back to his master tells him that he hid the money and did nothing with it. At this the master says in verse 26 and 27, "You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest." The master then gives the one talent to servant number one and says, "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him" (verse 29). After that he orders servant number three to be thrown outside...in the darkness..."where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (verse 30).
So there it is...If you read closely there's even some addition and subtraction towards the end. So what does it mean? What does Jesus' math parable mean for you and me?
I'll try to break it down. God entrusts each of us with gifts ("talents"); He made each of us specifically individual to do His work here on earth...each exactly where He placed us. He has entrusted us, as His children, to shine, to spread the light, and to invest the gifts He has given us in order that they might multiply, increasing God's glory and His kingdom. He has asked us to take what He has given us, to accept it in our hearts, and to use it for His glory "each according to our own abilities". There's a warning here though...if you have heard God's word, felt His presence, but have taken the gifts He has given you and hidden them in some remote part of your heart...waiting...for something...what will you say when He calls you "wicked" and "lazy"? What will you say when He asks you why you haven't done the math? Why you haven't invested the "talents" He gave you?
That brings us to division. The bible paints another picture in Matthew 25 verses 31-46; it's the ultimate division equation. Jesus is again talking about the end times; He is talking about a time when He will sit on His throne and all of the nations of the earth will be before Him. Verse 32 says, "...he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." He goes on to say that the sheep are those who did His work here on earth; those who accepted Him and spread that which was given to them with love. The sheep are the ones who lived for Jesus and radiated His light. As for the goats, He sentences them to hell admonishing them for not living for Him; for not taking what was given to them and spreading it with love. The goats did not accept the gifts given to them, they hid them just like the servant did with his master's money, and together they were cast into hell.
Multiplication and division...I'm still not fond of them even when Jesus speaks of it. I don't like talk of hell; I like happy thoughts with words not numbers. We need to talk about it though...Jesus knew that, and that's why He did. You see, God doesn't want anyone to perish. He freely gives us gifts; the greatest of which was sending His Son to die for our sins. He loves us, and He provides for our every need when we look to Him. He is patient and kind and loving, but when we refuse His gifts and when we hide them and don't use them to grow and flourish and increase the Kingdom of God, we can't claim to really know Him. If we don't really know Him, we don't live for Him, and in the end He will tell us that He never knew us either. It's our choice to make; it's easy enough math if you think about it. Multiplication comes before division; it's elementary stuff. Will you take the "talents" the Master has given you and increase their number "according to your ability"? Or will you hide them in fear, and in laziness, and in selfishness? What side of the division equation do you what to be on? And what should you do to get where you want to be?
Sheep accept the gifts God has given them: salvation is free for the taking to all who are willing. Accept that you have gifts specifically created for you, and for where God has placed you in this world: shine for Him. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give a drink to the thirsty, be hospitable to the stranger, look after the sick, and visit those imprisoned. Jesus says, "What you have done for the least of these, you have done unto me" (Matthew 26:40). We are God's workmen on this earth; we are called to do His work and to spread His message and His love. If you do the math, if you chose to multiply, there will be no fear when division comes; you will be counted as a sheep, and God will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 26:23)
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