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Seeing Ourselves in the Mirror of Jesus’ Parables... (4 of 6)
The Talents – Well done, good and faithful servant.
Matthew 25:14-30
Jesus’ parables often challenge sinful attitudes and actions within us. This parable comes in the context of Jesus’ teaching about His return.
Acts 1:11 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
John 14:1-3 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Revelation 1:7 (ESV) –
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”
Revelation 22:7 (ESV) –
“And behold, I am coming soon.”
History is speeding to its glorious culmination and considering this compels us to ask – Am I personally ready for the day of Christ’s return?
Considering the three different servants within the parable compels us to faithfully serve the Lord with all that He has entrusted to us. We’re called to live ready for Jesus’ return. We ought to long to hear the words found in both verses 21 and 23 – Well done, good and faithful servant.
Matthew 25:26 (ESV) –
“You wicked and slothful servant!”
1. Jesus’ teaching is absolutely clear – We need to always be ready.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”
Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV) –
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
2. A master entrusts significant wealth to three different servants before leaving on an extended journey.
The Parable of the Three Servants is a fitting title because the focus isn’t the talents which can also be translated bags of gold but the individual servants.
While preparing to leave on a journey a wealthy master entrusts his wealth to three servants. To the first he gave five talents, to the second two and to the third, one. This unequal distribution corresponds to each individual’s ability.
Matthew 25:15 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.”
We’re accountable for what we have been given not for what someone else has been given.
A talent was a large unit of money, worth about 20 years wages for a laborer. Today it would be equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The first two servants eagerly put the money entrusted to them to work.
Matthew 25:16-17 (ESV) –
“He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.”
The third servant did something different and being unwilling to take risks and get involved in a business venture, he buried the money.
Matthew 25:18 (ESV) –
“But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.”
And all of this calls us to ponder the question – Which servant am I?
3. Upon returning the master finds that his first two servants were faithful and successful managers. The third was wicked and lazy.
Matthew 25:19 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.”
The first and second servants did very well with what had been entrusted to them and they both gained a 100% return. The five talents gained five more and the two talents gained two more.
Matthew 25:21, 23 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”
The words – Well done, good and faithful servant. Ask – Do I long to personally hear these words? They faithfully managed all that was entrusted to them and received the same reward.
Jesus has ascended into heaven and we await his promised return and as we wait, we’re responsible to faithfully manage all that He has entrusted to us for His glory. We’re not responsible for what someone else has been given. We are responsible for what we have been given.
How we spend money and what comes out of our mouths shows what is in our hearts.
Luke 6:45 (ESV) –
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
All of us should long to hear the words of verses 21 and 23 – Well done... Ask – Am I waiting in expectation of hearing those words from Jesus?
Matthew 25:21, 23 (ESV) –
“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”
This parable drives us to the questions – Which servant am I? Am I managing and utilizing what I have been given with an eye to eternity?
The third servant heard (ESV, verse 26) – You wicked and slothful servant! He didn’t love his master and the talent he had been given him was taken and given to the one who had ten. He wasn’t accountable for five talents but he was accountable for the one he received.
Matthew 25:25 (ESV) –
“Here, you have what is yours.”
He didn’t love his master. He had the nerve to excuse his slothful, lazy and wicked actions by blaming his master. This didn’t go well.
What does this teach us? Even those who are given less must faithfully manage what they have been given.
Mark 12:30 (ESV) –
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Ask – Do I love the Lord? Is my love for the Lord demonstrated by my actions and continually growing? Is it obvious?
If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you have received forgiveness of sins and eternal life, then you have been blessed to be a blessing.
Claiming, I don’t have the gifts or abilities of someone else doesn’t release us from the responsibility to use what we’ve been given for the glory of God.
Matthew 25:30 (ESV) –
“And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The phrase, weeping and gnashing of teeth, describes the horrors of hell.
Matthew 13:41-42 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This parable leaves us facing a question that we all need to consider – How do I live ready for Jesus’ return?
Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Acts 1:8 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Am I a disciple (a follower) of Jesus? Which servant do I identify with? Am I using what He has entrusted to me to see the Gospel spread throughout the world?
A healthy understanding of Jesus’ promised return prompts rejoicing in our assurance of salvation. It also ought to prompt energetic mission and personal holiness.
Christ’s body was broken and His blood was shed to offer rescue to all who will ever receive Him. We need forgiveness of sins. We all long for eternal life.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV) –
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
1 Corinthians 11:26 (ESV) –
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
Romans 6:23 (ESV) –
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
As the bread and the cup are passed, I’d encourage all of us to reflect on Jesus’ coming to save us. Jesus laid down His life so that we can be saved!