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| The Time of the Reckoning.
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12. The
Time of the Reckoning.
But it is fitting to examine at what time the
man—the king—in the parable wished to make a reckoning with his own servants, and
to what period we ought to refer the things that are said. For if
it be after the consummation, or at it at the time of the expected
judgment, how are we to maintain the things about him who owed a
hundred pence, and was taken by the throat by the man who had been
forgiven the many talents? But if, before the judgment, how can
we explain the reckoning that was made before this by the king, with
his own servants? But we ought to think in a general way about
every parable, the interpretation of which has not been recorded by the
evangelists, even though Jesus explained all things to His own
disciples privately;6116
and for this reason
the writers of the Gospels have concealed the clear exposition of the
parables, because the things signified by them were beyond the power of
the nature of words to express, and every solution and exposition of
such parables was of such a kind that not even the whole world itself
could contain the books that should be written6117
in
relation to such parables. But it may happen that a fitting heart
be found, and, because of its purity, able to receive the letters of
the exposition of the parable, so that they could be written in it by
the Spirit of the living God. But some one will say that,
perhaps, we act with impiety, who, because of the secret and mystical
import of some of the Scriptures which are of heavenly origin, wish
them to be symbolic, and endeavour to expound them, even though it
might seem ex hypothesi that we had an accurate knowledge of
their meaning. But to this we must say that, if there be those
who have obtained the gift of accurate apprehension of these things,
they know what they ought to do; but as for us, who acknowledge that we
fall short of the ability to see into the depth of the things here
signified, even though we obtain a somewhat crass perception of the
things in the passage, we will say, that some of the things which we
seem to find after much examination and inquiry, whether by the grace
of God, or by the power of our own mind, we do not venture to commit to
writing; but some things, for the sake of our own intellectual
discipline, and that of those who may chance to read them, we will to
some extent set forth. But let these things, then, be said by way
of apology, because of the depth of the parable; but, with regard to
the question at what time the man—the king—in the parable
wished to make a reckoning with his own servants, we will say that it
seems that this takes place about the time of the judgment which had
been proclaimed. And this is confirmed by two parables, one at
the close of the Gospel before us,6118
and one from
the Gospel according to Luke.6119
And not to
prolong the discussion by quoting the very letter, as any one who
wishes can take it from the Scripture himself, we will say that the
parable according to Matthew declares, “For it is as when a man
going into another country called his own servants, and delivered unto
them his own goods, and to one he gave five talents, and to another
two, and to another one talent;”6120
then they took action with regard to that which had been entrusted to
them, and, after a long time, the lord of those servants cometh, and it
is written in the very words, that he also makes a reckoning with
them.6121
And compare the words, “And when
he began to make a reckoning,”6122
and consider
that he called the going of the householder into another country the
time at which “we are at home in the body but absent from the
Lord;”6123
but his advent,
when, “after a long time the lord of those servants
cometh,”6124
the time at the
consummation in the judgment; for after a long time the lord of those
servants cometh and makes a reckoning with them, and those things which
follow take place. But the parable in Luke represents with more
clearness, that “a certain nobleman went into a far country to
receive for himself a kingdom, and to return,” and when going,
“he called ten servants, and gave to them ten pounds, and said
unto them, Trade ye till I come.”6125
But the nobleman, being hated by his
own citizens, who sent an ambassage after him, as they did not wish him
to reign over them, came back again, having received the kingdom, and
told the servants to whom he had given the money to be called to
himself that he might know what they had gained by trading. And,
seeing what they had done, to him who had made the one pound ten
pounds, rendering praise in the words, “Well done, thou good
servant, because thou wast found faithful in a very
little,”6126
he gives to him
authority over ten cities, to-wit, those which were under his
kingdom. And to another, who had multiplied the pound fivefold,
he did not render the praise which
he assigned to the first, nor did he specify the word
“authority,” as in the case of the first, but said to him,
“Be thou also over five cities.”6127
But to him who had tied up the pound
in a napkin, he said, “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee,
thou wicked servant;”6128
and he said to them
that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it unto him that hath
the ten pounds.6129
Who, then, in
regard to this parable, will not say that the nobleman, who goes into a
far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return, is Christ,
going, as it were, into another country to receive the kingdoms of this
world, and the things in it? And those who have received the ten
talents are those who have been entrusted with the dispensation of the
Word which has been committed unto them. And His citizens who did
not wish Him to reign over them when He was a citizen in the world in
respect of His incarnation,6130
are perhaps Israel
who disbelieved Him, and perhaps also the Gentiles who disbelieved
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