The Futility Of Serving Two Masters
Though Christ's return would not come in their lifetime, Christians in the early church would nevertheless live to see the conquest of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans, and the destruction of the Jewish temple just as Jesus had prophesied (Matthew 24:1-2). God's judgment finally came against them, and the treasures of the Temple were carted back to Rome as trophies of war. Rich Jews who had invested their lives in accumulating wealth lost everything, including their lives in many cases, when their property was confiscated and subsumed by the Roman army.
This is why the Lord had taught to seek spiritual "treasures" instead, telling His disciples that they were blessed because of everything they could see spiritually:
Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. For assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it... Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder, who brings out of his treasure things both new and old.” (Matthew 13:16-17, 52)
Things "new and old" here was a reference to revelations of God from both the Old and New Testaments. He taught on eight different parables in the context of saying these words to them, so His teaching was to be rich spiritually, so as to be able to show others the treasures you had amassed from seeing what others didn't see, and hearing what others didn't hear.
This is why giving oneself to seeking material wealth instead was such a terrible mistake, for there was no way to do both. As Jesus would also teach them, it was like trying to serve two masters, and in such situations only one could be served:
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:24-34)
There was to be a continual growth in the knowledge of God, so that the spiritually rich became even richer, while those who chose to remain spiritually poor would become even poorer. Jesus taught this principle as well, warning about the spiritual "haves and have nots" as it were, and that those who had would attain even more, but those who had not would eventually lose even what little they had.
And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (Matthew 13:10-13)
This is the same principle the Lord was teaching in the Parable of the Talents, and here the exact same message was put forward, meaning that the talents (that is, bags of gold) represented spiritual wealth, and more particularly revelations from God.
Again, [the kingdom of Heaven] will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five talents more. So also, the one with two talents gained two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents brought the other five, saying, "Lord, you delivered unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained five more." His Lord said unto him, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord!" And having come, the one given two talents said, "Lord, you delivered unto me two talents. Behold, I have gained two more." His Lord said unto him, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord!" But having come, the one who had received one talent said, "Lord, I knew that you were a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed. And being fearful, having gone I went and hid your talent in the ground. Behold, you have what is yours." His lord replied, "You wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reaped where I did not sow and gathered where I did not scattered seed? Then you should have put my silver on deposit with the bankers, and then having come I would have received mine own with interest. Therefore, take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For unto everyone who has shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has shall be taken from him. And cast into outer darkness the useless servant. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:15-30)
To go and "work" with the riches the Lord had given them represented sharing the revelations He had entrusted to them with others, which in turn would then cause it to grow and increase. There is an old saying that, "Those who teach, learn," and this is true in spiritual things as well. It is when we share with others what God has taught us that we open the door for more to be given us, in part because teaching leads to new questions, and to searching for new answers. This is why the man who simply buried his one talent in the earth and hid it away was condemned so strongly. He could have at least "given it to the bankers," which here likely represented sharing it with Rabbis that would have at least made it known to others, so that the Lord might have had at least some return on His investment. Instead, the wicked servant told no one, but hid away what he was shown so that no one could see it.
Thus, the teaching was to serve One Master and One alone, and devote one's life to becoming ever richer spiritually to make others richer in the process. This was the wise thing to do given that those who were pursuing material wealth in Israel were about to have it taken away, which He had also prophesied accurately, at least to those who were listening to Him.
