What is the fundamental lesson Jesus was teaching with the parable of the talents?

Sincerely,
Talented

Dear Talented,

The parable you are referring to can be found in Matt 25:14-30, and the point of the parable is explained by Jesus in Matt 25:29.  Jesus says that whether we are people who are given responsibility for much in this life (the five-talent man) or little (the one-talent man), God will expect that we have done something with what we have been given.  The five-talent man was praised because he did something with what He had been entrusted with (Matt 25:20-21)... it wasn’t how much he was given to work with, it is what He did with it.  The one-talent man was rebuked because He did nothing (Matt 25:26-27).  It was the man’s laziness that got him in trouble.  God expects us to live for Him each day (Rom 12:1).  If we have been given great talents, we are responsible for great deeds.  If we have few skills, we are responsible for less… but we all must act.  It is not enough to hear God’s Word; we must do it (Jas 1:22).

If we don’t live by the Old Testament, what about the Ten Commandments?

Sincerely,
Longing For Laws

Dear Longing For Laws,

The ‘Ten Commandments’ were Old Testament laws, and you need to live by nine of them. The entire Old Testament law, including the ‘Ten Commandments’ was done away with in Christianity (Gal 3:23-25). The New Testament law supersedes the Old Testament one, and the law written on stone tablets (the Mosaic law which includes the Ten Commandments (Deu 4:13) has passed away (2 Cor 3:3-11).

Having said that, the New Testament reiterates nine out of the ten commands. Christians do obey nine of the ‘Ten Commandments’ because Christ thought nine of them were worth keeping in the New Testament.

1. Thou shalt not have any other god before me (Ex 20:3, 1 Cor 10:14)
2. Thou shalt not make graven images or bow down to them (Ex 20:4-5, 1 Jhn 5:21)
3. Thou shalt not take God’s name in vain (Ex 20:7, Heb 12:28)
4. Honor thy father and mother (Ex 20:12, Eph 6:1-2)
5. Thou shalt not kill (Ex 20:13, 1 Pet 4:15)
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery (Ex 20:14, Heb 13:4)
7. Thou shalt not steal (Ex 20:15, Eph 4:28)
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness (Ex 20:16, Rev 21:8)
9. Thou shalt not covet (Ex 20:17, Eph 5:3)

The only one of the ‘Ten Commandments’ left out is the keeping of the Sabbath (Ex 20:8). Christians aren’t bound to keep the Sabbath holy; Jews were. You have to keep the other nine though.

Why did God choose the third day to raise Jesus up?  Is there a reason for the third day?

Sincerely,
Counting

Dear Counting,

There are several reasons that the Scriptures give us for why Jesus was raised on the third day, and there may be more reasons that God didn’t tell us.  The secret things belong to God (Deu 29:29)… some questions won’t get answered until we see Him in heaven.  Here is what we know:

1. Jesus was raised on the third day because that is when He prophesied He would be raised (Lk 24:7).  Jesus fulfilled every prophecy He made, right down to the details of how long He would stay in the grave.
2. Jesus’ burial is compared to Jonah’s time in the belly of the great fish (Matt 12:40).  The Old Testament was full of parallels to Christ because the Old Testament was a tutor to lead people to Christ (Gal 3:24-25).  Jonah’s three days and nights in the big fish were another example of an allusion to Christ.
3. Jesus’ three days in the tomb left no doubt that He was truly dead.  Jesus was in the tomb so that all could witness that He did indeed fully die and was buried (Acts 10:37-40).

As we said, there are probably more reasons that the Father had in mind when He chose to leave Jesus’ body in the grave for three days, but those are the reasons He has deemed appropriate for us to know from the Scriptures.

This may seem like a strange question.  I am pretty familiar with the book of Revelation and the mark of the beast predictions.  My cell phone number happens to end with the numbers 6666.  In short, do you think I should get the number changed?

Sincerely,
Count Concerns

Dear Count Concerns,

The book of Revelation does use the number six to refer to things that are wicked (Rev 13:18), but the number six is not inherently evil.  Revelation is a book that uses symbolic language to explain events that were to soon affect the church (Rev 1:1).  Revelation doesn’t deal with the end of the world; it deals with persecution that the church faced at the hands of Rome.  As John wrote, the events in Revelation were “at hand” (Rev 1:3).  The number 666 is symbolic and not something that you have to literally avoid.  All the end-time predictions that use the book of Revelation to decode future events are wrong.  Revelation simply isn’t about that topic.  If you would like a more in-depth look at the book of Revelation, we have an entire series of classes on that book that can be downloaded here.

I don't get it... if Jesus was a Jew, why isn't Judaism the correct religion?  Did I miss something?

Sincerely,
Confused Christian

Dear Confused Christian,

Jesus was born a Jew (Matt 1:17), lived under the Jewish law (Lk 2:41-42), and even taught His fellow Jews to obey the Old Testament law (Matt 23:1-3).  Judaism was the right religion, until Jesus died on the cross and replaced Judaism with Christianity.  The Old Testament, the law the Jews followed, was a tutor to lead people to Christ, but after Jesus came, mankind was supposed to follow Him instead (Gal 3:24-25).  The Jewish law said that someday there would come a Messiah who would save them from their sins – Jesus was that Messiah (Jhn 1:45).  The Jewish law taught mankind that they needed a Savior, and that they should prepare for His coming.  Jesus came providing the grace and truth that wasn’t possible under Jewish law (Jhn 1:17).  Jesus’ death made a permanent sacrifice for sins that none of the Old Testament animal sacrifices ever could (Heb 10:1-4).