I’ve heard many variations of the following illustration. It goes a far way in explaining some
aspects of the nature of God.
Ed and Bill were good friends while growing up. After high school, they lost touch. Ed
became a judge, but Bill never made much of himself. One day, Bill was brought into Ed’s
courtroom because he had committed a crime. Bill was clearly guilty, and Ed had no choice;
he had to find him guilty for his crime. Bill was not able to pay the fine and was on his way to
jail, but then Ed got off his judicial bench, took off his robe and paid the fine for Bill.
We are Bill in this story. We are guilty, but unable to pay the penalty for our sins. The
punishment we deserve and are destined for is an eternity in hell. God cannot just sweep our
guilt under the rug and pretend it never happened. The price for sin MUST be paid. As The
Judge enthroned in Heaven, He can’t pay the price for us. He can only condemn us to death.
BUT if he leaves His throne in Heaven and becomes a man, He can then pay the price for us.
Only Jesus is sinless, and only His sinless sacrifice on the cross can pay the price for our sins.
There is no other way!
What does Jesus ask in return??? All that we have, but not more than we have!
Let’s look at the The Parable of the Talents:
“For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and
entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two,
and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his
journey. The one who had received five talents went off right away and put
his money to work and gained five more. In the same way, the one who had
two gained two more. But the one who had received one talent went out and
dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money in it. After a long
time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them.
The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more,
saying, ‘Sir, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five
more.’ His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have
been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter
into the joy of your master.’ The one with the two talents also came and
said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’
His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been
faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter
into the joy of your master.’ Then the one who had received the one talent
came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where
you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, so I was
afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is
yours.’ But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I
harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? Then you
should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I
would have received my money back with interest! Therefore take the
talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. For the one who has will
be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does
not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that
worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:1430
NET
The Master (Jesus) provided them with the talents to invest. Clearly, Jesus was not
expecting more than they could provide. He just wanted to make good use of what they were
given. Notice also that they received much more in return. The question is do we have faith in
Jesus’ words. If we really did, we would be anxiously investing all that we receive from Him.
Our time, talents, resources, family, friendsall
of this comes from God, and all of it will be
received back in abundance. However, in order to receive it back, we must surrender it all.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid.
Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.”
Matthew 13:44 NET
This passage from Matthew again illustrates the same point. Note it says with joy he sold all.
Jesus gave 100%, and He will accept no less from us. When you think about it, it is not that
much to ask. Again it comes down to faith. If we really believed, we would give all with joy.
“’Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and
reject you as evil on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy,
because your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors did the same things to the
prophets.’” Luke 6:22,23 NET
Jump For Joy!!
To the Glory of God!