Matthew 25:14-30
4 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Jesus wants us to serve him loyally.
All disciples of Jesus are waiting for him to return. They should be working hard for Jesus. Then, when he comes, he will be pleased with them.
Jesus told the parable in verses 1–13 so that we would always be ready. In this parable, Jesus showed how to get ready. This story (verses 14–30) was about slaves. (Note: Some translations use the word ‘servant’. But the correct word is ‘slave’.) Their master owned them. So slaves had no rights of their own. The words ‘duties’ and ‘responsibilities’ described their lives.
Jesus reminded his disciples that they were his slaves. This is not a popular idea today. But, to serve God is an important job. Jesus emphasized this in several ways in this passage.
First, the master was very generous. He decided that his slaves were capable. So he gave them a lot of responsibility. A talent was 6000 dinars. This was a very large sum of money. It could probably pay a worker’s wages for 20 years! But notice something in this story. A talent was the least amount of money that he gave to a slave.
The master gave the talents to his slaves for a purpose. He wanted them to use the money for him. The master returned from his journey (verse 19). He asked the slaves what they had done with his money. He had trusted his servants when he gave it to them. Now he expected that they would have made a profit from the money.
The truth that Jesus was teaching was simple. God gives gifts to all his disciples. One of those gifts might be wealth. But God’s gifts might be things that we can do well. They could be skills or opportunities. God wants us to use each gift completely. This is how we can serve him.
In the story, two of the slaves pleased the master equally. This was because each one of them had done his best. So the master praised them both in the same way (verses 21, 23). Their effort was more important to the master than their results. Their master was very generous. So there was no excuse for being lazy. The first two slaves would have been very happy.
But there was another slave. An ancient law in Israel explains his action to us. If someone was looking after another person’s property, he would bury it immediately. Then he would not be responsible for it any more. He had done the safest thing. But he might just wrap it up in a cloth. If he lost it, he would receive a punishment. So, this slave was doing the safest thing. He just wanted to protect himself. Jesus was showing that this slave did not care about his master. He did not want to serve his master. This slave just wanted to do the least amount of work that was possible.
But the safe way caused very bad trouble for the slave. (Read verses 26–30.) Jesus’ words showed the story’s full meaning. Jesus was speaking about the final judgement. He spoke very clearly about this. There will be people who say that they are his disciples. But they have shown no desire to serve him. They have not used the gifts that God has given to them. They have just wanted to be sure that they did not go to hell. But at the time of judgement, they will find that they are in that place.
Questions
1. The Bible describes a believer (Christian) as a ‘slave’ of God. What is your reaction to this title?
(Note: Slaves could often act from their own ideas. They could make their own decisions. Their responsibilities were often great too.)
2. God has given gifts to all the members of your church. Are they using the gifts that God has given to them? How do the leaders encourage them to do this?
3. Non-Christians think that believers are just trying to ‘save their souls’. Or they think of them as people who do good things. What are our reactions to these ideas?