<P> American theologian Robert Barron says that the talents in this parable are "a share in the mercy of God, a participation in the weightiness of the divine love", rather than personal abilities or wealth . He utilizes the interpretation of Old Testament professor Robert Schoenstene, who argues that a talent in ancient Jewish times was very weighty thus five talents was extremely heavy . Such heaviness would remind to the heaviest weight of all, the kabod (lit . heaviness) of God in the Temple of Jerusalem, accordingly the most heavy of all is the mercy of God . Similarly, a reflection in the Carmelites' website defines the talents as "love, service, sharing", the "money of the master". In other words, Erasmo Leiva - Merikakis says, "Our greatest talent and treasure is our ability to love, and in this enterprise the champion is the greatest risk taker, which means the one most willing to invest himself where the odds appear most against him ." </P> <P> Joachim Jeremias believed that the original meaning of the parable was not an ethical one about every man . Instead, he saw it as aimed at the scribes who had withheld "from their fellow men a due share in God's gift ." In his view, Jesus is saying that these scribes will soon be brought to account for what they have done with the Word of God which was entrusted to them . </P> <P> Jeremias also believed that in the life of the early church the parable took on new meaning, with the merchant having become an allegory of Christ, so that "his journey has become the ascension, his subsequent return...has become the Parousia, which ushers his own into the Messianic banquet ." </P> <P> In the Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed (1994), William R. Herzog II presents a liberation theology interpretation of the "Parable of the Talents", wherein the absentee landlord reaps where he didn't sow, and the third servant is a whistle - blower who has "unmasked the' joy of the master' for what it is--the profits of exploitation squandered in wasteful excess ." Hence, the third servant is punished for speaking the truth, and not for failing to make a profit . From the critical perspective of liberation theology, the message of the "Parable of the Talents" is that man must act in solidarity with other men when confronting social, political, and economic injustices . </P>

Meaning of the parable of the ten minas