In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is nearing the end of His public ministry, and He is teaching His disciples about His Return and the Final Judgment.  He is using Parables to teach them.  A Parable is an earthly story with a Spiritual meaning.

In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus has just taught His disciples about the importance of being prepared for His return to earth. Now in the Parable of the Talents, Jesus continues His teaching about the coming of the Bridegroom, to provide insight into The Second Coming of Christ.

A man is leaving to go on a journey.  Before he leaves, he calls in his servants who will be entrusted to take care of his very valuable possessions while he is gone.  He has confidence that these servants have both the ability and trustworthiness to perform the requirements of the job. So, the man gives his servants both the opportunity and authority to take personal initiative and to use their ability. He expects them to do their very best and to bring him a profitable return on his money.

At the time that Jesus was teaching His disciples, a talent was a large sum of money, for example, a certain number of pounds of gold or silver . . .