Matthew 25:14-30 NIVUK
14 ‘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, 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.”
Introduction
Right let’s be clear at the offset, this parable is not about bags of gold, or even money for that matter, it is about three servants.
THE CONTEXT for these verses starts earlier – Chapters 21 – 25 are made up of a number of events that happen between, just before Palm Sunday and early on in the week before Easter. Hence we read in Matthew 26:1-2 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
In chapters 21 and 22 we find a number of incidents where “The religious authorities” became more and more unhappy with Jesus. Some of it even happening before His Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday (21:1-11). Not to be deterred, the acclaim Jesus received on that day and his subsequent cleansing of the temple hardened their hostility and opposition towards Him. They made several attempts to trip up Jesus with, what they thought were, hard questions (21:23; 22:15; 22:23-28; 22:34-36), but on every occasion were unsuccessful.
Chapters 23-25 are Jesus’ final discourse (a lengthy speech) in Matthew’s Gospel, as He taught in the temple, during early Holy Week—between Palm Sunday and Thursday.
This only cemented His reputation amongst the Pharisees and Scribes, in chapter 23, Jesus denounced them and laments over the people and the city of Jerusalem. Chapters 24-25 Jesus begins to deal with the last days—end of time. In chapter 24 Jesus prophesied persecutions and the laying waste of the Holy, and tells of the coming of the Son of Man. He then gives the lesson of the fig tree and warns of the importance of always being watchful and ready.
Jesus’ Then turns to relating several parables that emphasize our preparation for His return:
• The Faithful and the Unfaithful Servant (24:45-51), where readiness for Christ’s coming consists of being found at work when the master arrives.
• The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (25:1-13), where readiness consists of carefully checking preparations prior to sleeping.
And then our text for today – The parable of the 3 servants.
Be prepared
14“For it is like a man, going into another country, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.”
Jesus was going away. He had on several occasions described what was going to happen and often the disciples either refused to accept it or were too stupid to realise what Jesus was trying to share with them. But go He must and He also knew what was going to happen to Him and wanted them to be prepared for it.
The preparation though was not to be shaped by His death but about being ready for His return. We can often concentrate on His death and not the fact that He will return again. That Jesus is no longer dead, but He is alive. The man in the parable was going away but there was going to be a return.
The man entrusts his servants with his wealth. The fact that these were servants was a good thing. The word used can be translated “slave” but servant is more often used. And in fact that is how the New Testament writers spoke of themselves when using the same word. So as with all things when it comes to faith and being a disciple we are entrusted to do this voluntarily. When it comes to Jesus and our duty towards him there is never a hint of “YOU MUST” or “DO AS YOUR TOLD” His love and the gospel is not forced upon anyone. We are not slaves to sin anymore but co-workers, as a choice.
Do we expect Jesus’ return?
What are our preparations like then?
Servants out of choice – How much do we choose to do when asked?
Entrusted
So the servants were entrusted with all the man had. His wealth. He trusts them with all that he has. The total sum of his life’s work. All that he has built through his sweat and toil.
But He at least understood what those servants were about. To each he gave as reflected what he knew about them. He assigned according to their ability, their strengths, so equally then, their weaknesses, He understood completely what they were capable of and what they could not do.
While he could dictate exactly how each servant will use his money, he instead exhibits great trust, leaving them scope to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. To enact on the trust given to them.
He treats each of the three as an individual, allocating resources in accord with each person’s ability. He neither insults the most able servant with trivial responsibilities nor overwhelms the least able servant with an impossible task.
So we can ask ourselves…
What is God’s wealth? What is the nature of His investment?
What is the nature of our idea of investment?
What has he entrusted to you? Gifts/Talents/Family/Finance/Friends/Work?
I it all down to your perception of God? Where, He does, we don’t, or we just follow?
What is it that God invests in us?
What is it that God entrusts with us? What does Jesus leave us with?
Well we have several descriptions of what TALENT/GIFTS we are entrusted with.
1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, Romans 12… We can go on. He entrusts us with the Gospel. 1 Thess 4:1-6 and our commission at the end Matthew 28
All of this is both personal and corporate. It is as if we are servants both individually and as a church, entrusted with what for God is of vital importance to Him. His wealth is the souls of every one is us and all that has been given to us is to be invested in that goal.
Read the verses highlighted above (1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, Romans 12. 1 Thess 4:1-6) and reflect on whether you , and we as a church, are investing in what has been entrusted to us.
Before we get despondent
Hearing all of this and hearing of the fate of the third servant can make us feel a little despondent. I certainly can’t read this without some trepidation. The final servant’s fate is to say the least very, hmmm, interesting.
TO EACH THEIR ABILITY – “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability”(power, strength). God really does know what we are capable of. He really does. Whether you believe that or not is not God’s fault. If we cannot understand that simple truth that the God almighty has complete knowledge of us and knows, truly knows, the amazing abilities we have then we will always struggle to trust Him with what He has given us.
WE ARE TRUSTED – While he could have dictated exactly how each servant will use his money, he instead exhibits great trust, leaving them latitude to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. One thing we can be certain on this that God trusts us with what He has given us. Despite our lack of faith sometimes He is not deterred in His trust of us. Even to the point of not insisting on what exactly we should do with it, only that we do something with it, invest it. Can we give that sort of trust back to God?
THERE IS ALWAYS TIME – 16“Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 In the same way, he who got the two gained another two. 18 But he who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.” And of course God has all the time in the world for us. He is patient, gracious and full of mercy. The servants did not hang about and were keen to get started. The Masters return was going to happen, but they didn’t know when, but that for them it was important to get on to it. Even the third servant didn’t hang about even though he did only dig a hole.
IT’S ABOUT TRUST – Their trust in the master reflects the trust that the master has shown in them… Our trust in God reflects our decisions. The trust has for us God will be the barometer of our reactions to what He has given us. This is about trust and that for some that trust is a catalyst to doing even more. For others it may well only spur them on to fear and mistrust of God. The master’s reply to the third servant was not about the lack of return but the mistrust and fear of the master that motivated the lack of effort of the third.
Conclusion
We are never asked to do more than we are capable of. I repeat we are never asked to do more than we are capable of.
Isaiah 42: 3
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
But, with God, we are capable of amazing things. God entrusts us with the gifts and talents that are His and in the Holy Spirit, we can do so much more than we can imagine. We can see remarkable return on our investment of His wealth. None of it is ours and none of it is given without knowing how much is possible.
Our trust in God will shape how we respond. The first two servants responded to the trust their master had shown them and went immediately, with the knowledge of how much they had been trusted with, and did something with what they had been given. Their returns were an encouragement to them and others. They were adventurous in the faith that their master was assured of their capabilities.
However the third servant was not as trusting and felt that his master was hard and unreasonable. Never a good combination for trust and faith. They may also have been a part of him that thought the masters’ trust in him was misplaced and so he had already failed without starting.
We may think we have very little but we have what we are trusted with and what God thinks we can do. No matter how we feel about it God knows we are capable of getting a return on His Investment.
Some banks have a new and, I might say, a very clever idea to help you save, where you can do it without too much pain. Whenever you pay for anything, let’s say a coffee for £2.55, the amount taken from your account is actually £3. £2.55 to the shop and the remainder £0.45 to your savings account. There are other ways that they do a similar thing but you get the idea.
We might think we have little to give but little can make a real difference over time. A little bit here a little bit there grows and then you realise that you can do and have more than you first did. The return on God’s investment in you has grown and more is then given to you.
We can dig a hole and hide it safely away of course or we can use it…celebrate God’s gift and His trust in us. We can be active in what we do, take a few risks and get involved with what God has given us. We will then see that we can trust what God has given us and thinks about us.
It is not a case of, we might then see, but, we will most certainly see some amazing things happen to that investment, in us, in the church and the communities surrounding us.