<p>25:29&nbsp;<em>For to everyone that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance</em>- This repeats the Lord&rsquo;s earlier teaching in 13:10-12 about the giving of understanding to those who have some: &ldquo;And the disciples came and said to him: Why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered and said to them: To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.&nbsp; For whoever has, to him shall be given and he shall have abundance, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken away even what he has&rdquo;. Clearly there is an upward spiral in spiritual life, and this will come to ultimate term in the outcomes of judgment day.</p><p><em>But from him that has not, even what he has shall be taken away</em>- This is a paradox. Does the rejected man have talents, or not? He did, of course, have a talent; but as far as the Lord is concerned, we only have what we have developed. If we don't develop, we have nothing; the fact we received the talent at baptism won't save us. It&rsquo;s only what a man has developed from that in the service of others which counts as truly &ldquo;his&rdquo;. This likewise is the sense of &ldquo;To him that has shall be given&rdquo;; all we have is what we have developed.</p><p><em>&quot;</em>Taken away&quot; is perhaps a special reference to the Kingdom of God being &ldquo;taken away&rdquo; s.w. from Israel and given to the Gentiles (21:43). The same Greek word is used about the taking away of the rejected individuals at judgment day (22:13; 24:39). But here, it is the unused talent that is &ldquo;taken away&rdquo;. The man was therefore to be identified with the talent- it was to be him. And yet he is most careful to speak of the talent as not his, but the Lord&rsquo;s: &ldquo;Here you have what is yours&rdquo; (:25). The Lord intended that we identify with the talent, rather than see it merely as His. See on :25&nbsp;<em>You have what is yours.</em></p>