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20 So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, "Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them." 21 His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, "Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them." 23 His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." 24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, "Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours." 26 But his lord answered and said to him, "You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." ~ Matthew 25:20-30
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 25 where the Lord Jesus is teaching His disciples the parable of the talents. As we pointed out in our last study a talent is equal to about $300,000 in today's world. The Lord Jesus taught using parables in order to get us from the familiar to the unfamiliar. In this teaching the Lord Jesus accentuated how believers should be occupied in the work of the Lord on this earth until He returns. The most overlooked part of this parable is the fact that all of the servants of God were not created equal in regard to the talents we have been given. The unity we all share is that we are in the family of God. But, the diversity is seen in the call He has issued on all of our lives. In this parable the Lord Jesus explained the nature of His grace and the different responses people make to it. These responses are our focus for today.
In v.20-23 of today's passage we read, "20 So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' 21 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' 23 His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'"
When the master returned, he learned what each servant had done with the money he had given them. The master expected each servant to have invested His money in some way. One day, we will all give an account to what we have done with what has been given to us. God expects a return on what He has given us. Understanding that He has included us in on the building of His kingdom in this world at this time is key. The return that He is looking for is not temporal, but eternal. This parable is not about earning one's salvation but about how we faithfully do God's will for our lives while we are on this earth. The first step in being successful at the call of God in our lives is understanding that everything belongs to Him. He doesn’t expect us to do more than we can, but He expects us to be faithful with what He has given us.
Faithfulness is the key principle here. Being faithful is more than just about responsibility, it’s more about relationship. It reveals how we see God. The first two servants clearly trusted their master. They lived as servants. They were servants because they knew the heart of their master. They loved him. Life for them was not about themselves or about what they could get from the Lord. Instead, life was about bringing joy to the heart of the one loved them. They wanted to give something back to him because in their eyes he was deserving.
The phrase "enter into the joy of your Lord" is key to understand this parable. Once we have come to the place that we have determined the Lord to be our Lord, we have shown that we have gained a proper understanding of His true identity. Once this happens, we will desire to bring joy to His heart by operating in a way that is in keeping with who we should be. It is then that we will be motivated by His joy not an incorrect understanding of who He is. Loved people love people. In Nehemiah 8:10 we read, "The joy of the Lord is my strength." Having accessed God's love, we love Him in return. We best love Him by loving others. The fact that we are in Christ we cannot improve our identity before Him. Out of this perfect status that we have in Christ, we respond to God's commands properly.
In v.24-25 of today's passage we read, "24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'"
As a result of not doing what he should have, the third servant accused the master of being hard and unfair. In doing so, he revealed why he didn't invest his master's money. Fear motivated him because he lacked a proper understanding of his master. He viewed his master as a hard man. It was out of his fear of his master that he hid the money in the ground. The servant knew deep down that he was given that money to trade with and that he could make his master a profit. The master wouldn’t have given it to him if he wasn’t able to do it. But, the servant failed at being faithful. He never really embraced being the servant of the master in the first place.
In v.26-30 of today's passage we read, "26 But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"
The unfaithful servant in this parable didn’t so much waste the master’s money when he did not invest it, he wasted an opportunity. As a result, he was judged "wicked and lazy." Then the master pointed out the error in his logic. This man did not obey his master and as a result lost even the money that his master had given him. This servant was unfaithful because his heart had not been gripped by his master's grace. He saw his master incorrectly, as a hard man who was demanding and unfair. As a result, this servant had no love for his master. In fact, he feared him and was afraid to displease him.
As believers in the Lord Jesus we are either motivated by fear or by faith. The one talent of the third servant was given to the servant with ten talents. The Lord enjoys blessing those who respond favorably to His love with faithfulness. But those who do nothing in service, showing a complete lack of faith in the master’s goodness, they will lose everything. This will be so because they never entered into a personal relationship with the God of grace. As a result, they will be cast out into the outer darkness instead of entering the joy of their master. The fate of the unfaithful servant was sealed when he invited an unbiblical understanding of his master to enter his heart.
A. W. Tozer once said, "Nothing twists and deforms our soul like a low concept of God." If we have a low concept of God, we're going be ill-equipped to be motivated to be servants who do His work in this world. If we have a high concept of God, we are going to live the life the Lord Jesus died to give us. All that we have is a gift from God. And, if we understand this, we will live our lives out of such grace. And, when we live out of God's grace, we are freed to be free. This is the point of this parable. Those like the third servant, not recognizing God's grace, they think God to be harsh, demanding, unjust and unfair. As a result, they will never be moved by God's grace and in the end they will be found to be His enemies. God's grace always melts the heart of the most hardened. Grace is our only hope for a meaningful future. And, when it grips us, we will be amazed by the gracious One who gives us all that we need and more.
