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14 For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ~ Matthew 25:14-19
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 25 where the Lord Jesus has been teaching His disciples about eschatology which is the study of the End Times. Whereas Matthew 24 is about the facts of the end and when in reference to that the will return, Matthew 25 is the application of the teaching. In order to help the disciples to understand the Lord Jesus yet again told them a parable. Parables are always designed to capture us in the familiar and then move us to the unfamiliar. The desire of the Lord Jesus is always to convey spiritual truth to us. He does this by using analogies, illustrations, parables and stories. All of them have one primary goal that we would go deeper in our relationship with Him.
The story in today's text was very familiar to the people who heard Him that day. Once again the disciples were not on the same page with the Lord Jesus. They expected that He was going to set up His kingdom immediately. Notice though, as is always the case with the Lord, He finds a way to correct their bad theology by telling them this story. And, with the correction, he gave them a challenge. The emphasis the Lord Jesus was delivering through this story was the issue of faithfulness or what are we doing with that which the Lord has given us regarding the furtherance of His kingdom in this world.
In v.14-15 of today's passage we read, "14 For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey."
In this parable a wealthy master traveled to another country and left his servants to manage his kingdom. While he was gone, he gave his servants a certain amount of money each and expected that they would do his business while he was gone. The Lord Jesus told this parable to explain that His kingdom would come, but that His servants were expected to be faithful to do the job assigned to them while He was gone.
In v.16-18 of today's passage we read, "16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money."
Although the first servant received five times as much as the last, each received a significant sum of money. While commentators differ on the exact amount of each, most agree that it would take an ordinary laborer almost twenty years to earn just one talent. To put this into our economy today, using a minimal hourly wage, a talent would be the equivalent of about $300,000.
Like the preceding two parables, the return of the master was a certainty, but the timing of his return was unknown. After a long absence, the master returned to discover what each servant had done with his property. The first two did business with their master’s money and doubled it. Although the first slave earned more than the second, each had done remarkably well with what he had been given. They had performed according to their potential, and they had been faithful to do what the master has required of them.
The one servant who received one talent buried it in the ground so that he wouldn't have to face the possibility of failure. The practice of hiding valuables in the ground was quite common during biblical days. It was the safest and least profitable way of protecting possessions. This one talent man essentially put his money in a safe place so that nothing negative would happen to it. He didn’t believe that he could manage his one talent. His anxieties and fears defined him rather than the Lord. So, he ignored the truth that his master would expect him to do something profitable with his talent. Every decision we make is shaped by our willingness to take risks. Our courage to step beyond the familiar determines the trajectory of our lives. All too often, fear holds us back and we stay within the safe bounds of comfort, even when we know that real growth lies beyond it. Courage isn’t about the absence of risk or of fear, it’s about deciding that something matters more than anything else.
Our brains are wired for self-preservation over stepping out and risking the possible danger that awaits. But, this is truly where the adventure is to be discovered. Real living only happens when we decide to risk the control, certainty and comfort. Our unwillingness prevents us from knowing the life the Lord Jesus died to give us, a live full of adventure and intimacy with Him and with others. We take risks all of the time. The key is to get really good at identifying the risks that God is putting in front of us. The risks we take on God Himself are the ones that will turn our foundation to rock. Our spiritual life will live or die based on our ability to see and take risks on God.
In v.19 of today's passage we read, "After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them."
It is the duty of servants to always bear in mind that the master will return and He will settle His accounts with us. Make no mistake about it, the message of this parable extends far beyond financial investments. The emphasis here is on faithfulness with what the Lord has given us. At the end of this parable hangs the question: While the master was gone and was not standing over the shoulder of the servants to make sure they would be faithful, would they remain faithful? God has equipped us so that we would invest in His purposes in this world and one day He will make His evaluation of our performance. This has nothing to do with getting into heaven. It has everything to do with the role we will play in heaven for eternity. D.L. Moody once said, "The world has yet to see what God can do through a man fully devoted to Him."
Before the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave his disciples three commands: Preach the gospel, make disciples, and get power from the Holy Spirit so you can preach the gospel and make disciples. Like the disciples, all believers in Christ are tasked with sharing the gospel in our circles of influence. We are tasked with helping unbelievers come into a personal relationship with the Lord. We are also tasked by the Lord to help other believers grow in their walk Him, which is known as discipleship. We are tasked with doing this not in our own strength but with the power of the Holy Spirit helping us.
