(July 15, 2015 at 8:18 pm)drfuzzy Wrote: Oh, you don't have to go to Revelation for cruelty. Even Jesus could tell a brutal story. Remember the parable of the "talents" - - a rich man went away on a journey, (to be made a king) and entrusted stewards with amounts of money that they are supposed to keep safe/do business with/make a profit. The parable notes that there were folks who did not want him to be king and tried unsuccessfully to stop the kingmaking. He came back as a king, two of the stewards had made him some money, one had buried it and returned it to him without a profit. That steward was shamed and his money given to the most successful steward.
Jesus ends the tale (speaking as the King - and most people who try to explain this parable say he is speaking of his future self):
26 "He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me."
It is also interesting to note, in Luke, that this is the last thing he said before going into Jerusalem for his "Triumphal Entry". Luke 19: 11-27
But Revelation does give George R. R. Martin some competition. My mother used to LOVE Revelation 14:20, where angels would use sharp sickles on the unbelievers, and the blood would rise as high as horses' bridles for 180 miles. Oh, yes, Jesus was coming back and she was going to get to watch him kill ALL her enemies and won't it be GLORIOUS?
I emboldened the reason you believe this is a story of unfairness.
If the story was about keeping safe what was given you would have a leg to stand on. However the bits of the passage you did not quote tell a different story. The wicked servant was given money to invest wisly, but rather he sat on it doing nothing, even after he admits to knowing what was expected. At the very least he could have put the money given to him in a savings account and collects intrest from the bank.. But he did not.
Even in this servant's failings, the story never says the servant was fired, it simply says what he failed to invest was taken from him and given to the one who invest properly. i would have fired that guy, but Christ doesn't take way his salvation, just his 'wealth' in heaven.
