Our Gospel today is from the Gospel according to Luke, and the parable is similar to the parable we had from Matthew’s Gospel last Sunday, except that the servants are given ten, five, and two gold coins instead of the five, two and one talents they were given in Matthew’s version of the story.
Luke’s Gospel is different from the other three in that he has an introduction in which he told how he gathered the stories for his Gospel by going to the original eye witnesses.
Now, there are ten very similar passages in Luke and Matthew that are not found in John and Mark. Bible scholars are in agreement over what they say about those similarities. They say that when both Matthew and Luke came to write their Gospels they looked up people who, after hearing Jesus tell his parables, took the trouble to write them down. They showed their notes to both Matthew and Luke. Although those notes kept by the eye witnesses are probably lost forever, scholars have a name for them. German scholars called them the Source, which in German is Quell. Shortening that, they say, “Those stories came from Q.”
The gold coins in the parable stand for benefits we are born with. Say we are free, healthy, from good families, well educated, have plenty to eat. That is like saying we started off with the ten gold coins.
Instead of just feeling contented with what good starts we have in life, we should see our many benefits as a challenge from God. We cannot sit back, enjoying our good fortune. We must give as freely as we have received. We are bound to accomplish a great deal of good in this world to pay God back for all that he has given us.
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