Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 25:14

For [the kingdom of heaven is] as a man traveling into a far country, [who] called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

14. into a far country ] These words do not occur in the original, the word translated “travelling into a far country,” is rendered in the next verse “took his journey.”

delivered unto them his goods ] Cp. Mar 13:34. “A man taking a far journey, who left his house and gave authority (rather, his authority) to his servants, and to every man his work.” Christ in His absence gives to each a portion of His own authority and of His own work on earth.

A great deal of the commerce of antiquity was managed by slaves, who were thus often entrusted with responsible functions (cp. ch. Mat 24:45). In this case they are expected to use their Master’s money in trade or in cultivation of the soil, and to make as large an increase as possible.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14 30. The Parable of the Talents, in this Gospel only

The parable of the Pounds, Luk 19:12-27, is similar, but there are important points of distinction; (1) in regard to the occasions on which the two parables are given; (2) in the special incidents of each.

The lesson is still partly of watchfulness, it is still in the first instance for the apostles. But fresh thoughts enter into this parable: (1) There is work to be done in the time of waiting; the watching must not be idle or unemployed; (2) Even the least talented is responsible.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

For the kingdom of heaven … – The parable of the talents was spoken still further to illustrate the manner in which he would deal with people at his return to judgment. The words the kingdom, of heaven are not in the original, but are very properly inserted by the translators. The design of the parable is to teach that those who improve their talents or faculties in the cause of religion who improve them to their own salvation and in doing good to others shall be proportionally rewarded; but they who neglect their talents, and who neither secure their own salvation nor do good to others, will be punished. The kingdom of heaven is like such a man – that is, God deals with people in his government as such a man did.

His own servants – That is, such of them as he judged to be worthy of such a trust. These represent the apostles, Christian ministers, professing Christians, and perhaps all people. The going into a far country may represent the Lord Jesus going into heaven. He has given to all talents to improve, Eph 4:8; Eph 2:12.

His goods – His property representing the offices, abilities, and opportunities for doing good, which he has given to his professed followers.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mat 25:14-30

Who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

Life a journey

1. There is a variety of circumstances which will attend the believer in his journey through life.

2. Moreover travellers need not to be told that the weather during their different journeys is not uniformly the seine.

3. In point of affluence and fortune all the travellers to Canaan are not alike.

4. A passenger to Zion, like most travellers, must expect to meet with different kinds of company on the road.

5. When persons undertake a journey to a distant unknown country it is not unusual to have recourse to a guide.

5. Also a guard is necessary, as the way to heaven is infested with robbers.

6. There is no convenient travelling without a competent supply of provisions. (W. J. Hall, M. A.)

Unequal gifts

Let us see what Jesus Christ does not say.

1. He does not say that the Master loves those least to whom He gives least.

2. He does not say that the Master acts capriciously, but in wisdom.

3. He does not say that this inequality lasts beyond the time of trial, beyond the present life. Inequality

(1) A fact.

(2) A social bond.

(3) We should contend against all the inequalities of the present life which can hurt the moral destiny of our fellow creatures.

(4) The attitude which God takes towards humanity in the short period which we call history. He appears absent. (E. Bersier.)

The servants at work

1. The commendation of human industry which passed from the lips of Christ.

2. The gifts of God are multiplied in faithful hands. The gospel is life and power: it is prolific. Christ enlarges man. (E. Bersier.)

The account to be rendered

There is an account to be given. Mediocrity has its temptations:

1. Envy.

2. Ingratitude.

3. Contempt of duty.

4. After indolence the impiety which blasphemes. (E. Bersier.)

I. The office sustained, a servant of God.

1. Diversity of talent.

2. Diversity of sphere.

II. The character attached to the discharge of this office. Good and faithful.

1. In a desire to be governed by our Masters will.

2. Love to our Masters service.

3. Diligence in our Masters work.

4. Rejoicing in the Masters triumphs.

III. The recompense by which the office is to be crowned. A recompense of-

1. Acknowledgment.

2. Exaltation.

3. Pleasure, joy of thy Lord. (J. Parsons.)

The parable of the talents

I. That our divine redeemer is constituted the head and Lord of the Christian economy.

II. That in this exalted capacity he bestows a variety of talents upon the children of men. Time is a talent. Intellectual power is a talent. Moral capacity is a talent. Religious opportunity is a talent. Relative influence is a talent.

III. That he who has imparted these talents righteously demands their improvement.

IV. The period will arrive when he will come to demand an account. While the investigation will be inclusive, it will embrace each individual. It will be impartial. The result will be joyful and solemn. (G. Smith.)

Talents

What is it to trade with what God has given us, and how does the increase come?

1. Whatever God commits to us, gift or grace, has within itself a tendency to grow. The secret of worldly success is-

1. To set about at once to make the best use of whatever we have. God often puts a good thought into the mind; do not trifle, but make the best of it. Christ will come again. Love can be thus enlarged, the intellect, memory. Consecrated time becomes larger time. Specially happy the man who has put millions of minds into Gods bank. Money.

2. Make a good investment by investing in eternity.

3. You are sure of good security, the promise and fidelity of God. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Faithful service and its reward

This portion of the Divine word, while bearing on one great truth, was intentionally fitted to a great many truths. Such as the following:

I. As Christians, we are serving an unseen master. Our Lord is here compared to one who hath gone to a far country.

II. He hath gone to receive to himself a kingdom (Luk 19:12; Mat 25:21, etc.) The conflict is past and the labour is ended. He is exalted to the Fathers right hand, etc. His people acknowledge Him to be their king.

III. In the absence of this heavenly Prince a great and responsible charge is devolved upon his servants (Mat 25:14.) His servants are charged with perpetuating and administering the affairs of His kingdom. They are the living depositories of His truth. They are not only to conserve the truth, but to diffuse it, etc.

IV. It is a long time ere the lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. In some of its aspects life is short; in others it is long-very long. How long does it sometimes seem to watch with your Lord only one hour? And so, the slothful servant says, My Master delayeth His coming and the foolish virgins sink into sleep; and the soul who is like a bride adorned for her husband asks, Why are his chariot wheels so long in coming?

V. The results of were done for Christ remain. When the talents are used they grow by use, and increase for God.

VI. Varied and abundant rewards are reserved for the faithful servants of Christ. He who had gone into the far country comes back invested with honour and power to raise others to honour. He is ableto give rule. Putting aside the imagery, may we not picture what would be the actual blessedness of a faithful servant thus applauded, and thus more than repaid. No commendation like the Masters well done. Every faithful servant shall have praise of God. The holy felicity has within it the means of its own replenishment. It is His joy we go to share. Be thou faithful, etc. (S. MAll)

The replenishment of heavenly felicity

In the present world it cannot be denied that sweet as peace is, even peace may be monotonous; and coveted as joy is, it is the very nature of joy to subdue the appetite that gave to it its relish. But it is His joy we go to share. Eternity will seem as natural to you as time seems now. Heaven, with all its effulgence, will not dazzle you, and that far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory wilt not for a moment be oppressive to your soul. But surely something of the felicity of that state would form part of your experience if you would only believe that, imperfect as you are, you are really dear to Christ. Oh, do not think that He will begin to love you when you reach a world where there is nothing but love. Your danger, your struggle, your sorrow, attract at least the sympathy of this Friend in heaven. Your services, they are not wholly disregarded. Jesus loves you-loves you as you are, and, in a measure, for what you are as well as for what you shall be. The potter values the clay while it is yet upon the wheel, and when it is far from having reached the shape of beauty he designs to give it. The refiner prizes the silver long before the dross is entirely purged away, and the masters countenance is reflected there. Oh, thou afflicted one, tossed to and fro and not comforted-poor, timid, heir of heaven-you call yourself only vileness; not thus do you seem to your Saviour. Since thou wast precious in My sight, He says, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee. (S. MAll.)

The entrusted talents

This parable, a needful complement to the story of the virgins; outward exertion must be combined with inward character. We must work as well as wait.

I. We have here an explanation of the diversity which exists between individuals in the matter of opportunity of service in the cause of the redeemer. We observe the fact that there is such a diversity. These talents do not denote the original endowments which men bring into the world with them, or the possessions into which they come by birth. These are gifts of God; but the reference here is rather to those opportunities which have been given to men in consequence of their abilities and environment. In His bestowment of spiritual opportunities Christ has regard to the natural abilities and providential surroundings of each man; and as in the sovereignity of God there is a diversity in the latter, so in the gracious administration of Christ, there is like diversity in the former. No man has more opportunities of service than he can avail himself of to the full. If Christ has given you one talent, it is because at present He sees you cannot handle more.

II. That new opportunities come to us with our improvement of those which we already have. By utilizing what we have, we get what we have not. The foundation of colossal fortunes have been laid in the taking advantage of little opportunities. The true method of increasing our sphere is to fill to overflowing that in which we are. So heaven shall give new opportunities of service to men who have made the most faithful use of earth. Faithful service widens opportunity.

III. The result of neglecting opportunity.

1. What is said concerning the man with one talent. It is not alleged that he wasted his masters goods; he simply neglected his opportunities. He was not notoriously wicked, but left undone what he had ability to do. Life is to be made productive. Many are content to do nothing because they cannot do some great thing. He who buried one talent would have buried five, his failure was in his character.

2. He cherished wrong views of God. All wrongness of conduct is based on a wrong view of God.

Two things are to be said:

1. The more rigorous God is supposed to be, the more surely He will punish unfaithfulness.

2. It is not true that God is thus austere. The love of God must constrain us.

IV. The sentence pronounced on the unprofitable servant. Here is a clear end of probation. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

The parable of the talents

I. The parable assumes that all who call Christ Lord and Master, will find some work to do for Him, and even some distinctively spiritual work. We have all some goods of Christs entrusted to us, and some capacity for using them. However inequitably this worlds goods may be divided, in the spiritual realm every man may take and do as much as he can. Who is to hinder us from being as self-denying, as lowly in spirit as we care to be? Our ability is the only measure and limit of our duty as well as of our right.

II. That the term of service is to be followed by a day of judgment, in which every mans work will be tried, and either approved or condemned.

III. The reward of faithful service will be enlarged capacity and scope for service. The Christian reward is above suspicion; it is the power to do more work. It is a reward after which all must yearn.

IV. The spirit and character of our service will depend on our conception of the Divine character and spirit.

V. That those who have but slender capacities for service may turn them to the best account by associating themselves with others, and helping in a common work. Help to work in some organization.

VI. That the rewards are not arbitrary, but reasonable and meritable. (S. Cox, D. D.)

Great talents and small

I. That becoming a Christian is merely going out to service. It is a voluntary service; not forced.

II. Different qualifications are given to different people.

III. The grace of God was intended to be accumulative. Take the one talent and make it two.

IV. Inferiority of gifts is no excuse for indolence.

V. There is going to be a day of solemn settlement.

VI. That our degrees of happiness in heaven will be graduated according to our degrees of usefulness on earth. (Dr. Talmage.)

Each man has his appropriate gift

You are to understand that there are different qualifications for different individuals. There is a great deal of ruinous comparison when a man says: Oh, if I only had that mans faith, or that mans money, or that mans eloquence, how I would serve God. Better take the faculty that God has given you and employ it in the right way. The rabbis used to say, that before the stone and timber were brought to Jerusalem for the Temple every stone and piece of timber was marked; so that before they started for Jerusalem, the architects knew in what place that particular piece of timber or stone should fit. And so I have to tell you we are all marked for some one place in the Great Temple of the Lord, and do not let us complain, saying: I would like to be the foundation stone, or the cap stone. Let us go into the very place where God intends us to be, and be satisfied with the position. (Dr. Talmage.)

Better to use one talent well than five wickedly

The man who kindled the fire under the burnt offering in the ancient temple had a duty as imperative as that of the high priest, in magnificent robes, walking into the Holy of Holies under the cloud of Jehovahs presence. Yes, the men with one talent are to save the world, or it will never be saved at all. The men with five or ten talents are tempted to toil chiefly for themselves, to build up their own great name, and work for their own aggrandizement, and do nothing for the alleviation of the worlds woes. The cedar of Lebanon standing on the mountain seems to hand down the storms out of the heavens to the earth, but it bears no fruit, while some dwarf pear-tree has more fruit on its branches than it can carry. Better to have one talent and put it to full use than five hundred wickedly neglected. (Dr. Talmage.)

Ordinary talents do most of the work

I am glad that the chief work of the Church in this day is being done by the men of one talent. Once in awhile, when a great fortress is to be taken, God will bring out a great field-piece and rake all with the fiery hail of destruction. But common muskets do most of the hard fighting. (Dr. Talmage.)

The grace of God was intended to be accumulative

When God plants an acorn, He means an oak, and when He plants a small amount of grace in the heart, He intends it to be growthful and enlarge until it overshadows the whole nature. (Dr. Talmage.)

The talents

I. What was committed to them.

1. It was a responsible trust.

2. It was not alike in the case of all. It differed not in nature, but in amount.

3. It was regulated by a certain principle-To every man according to his several ability.

II. What was done by them.

1. The faithful.

2. The slothful.

(1) A spirit of dissatisfaction;

(2) or this servant may have felt that it was in vain for him to exert himself, on the ground that his means were so limited.

(3) Again, this servant may have been one of those timid, over-cautious persons, who, lest they should do wrong, do nothing. We should add to our faith, fortitude.

III. The account required of them.

1. It was delayed for a considerable period.

2. Highly gratifying in the case of those who were first summoned.

(1) An emphatic expression of approval.

(2) Promotion to a state of high dignity and honour.

(3) The enjoyment of transporting bliss. The case of the other servant.

3. Unsatisfactory in its nature, and most serious in its results.

(1) A foolish plea.

(2) A withering rebuke.

(3) A peremptory command.

(4) A fearful doom. (Expository Outlines.)

One talent

I. The reason of his conduct.

1. He may have believed he could do nothing worth accomplishing with one talent.

2. He may have been envious of others.

3. Dissatisfaction with the distribution of the talents may have caused his inactivity.

4. Want of interest in his masters success.

5. He may have neglected his masters work for his own.

II. Whether any of these motives will justify him.

1. Does dissatisfaction with Gods government of the world constitute a just excuse for inactivity? Yes; if it is unjust. I have a right to resent injustice. Is Gods government unjust. Faith says No. Vain excuse.

(1) Because God had a right to do what He would with His own.

(2) Because the responsibility was proportioned to the gift.

2. Will his belief that no very great thing could be accomplished with one talent justify him.

(1) You misunderstand God if you think He takes no account of little things.

(2) He not only notices but prizes little things. The two mites.

(3) One-talented men are the true workers of the world.

(4) It is the multitude of them that builds up the mighty result.

3. But is the servant justified in supposing that his own interests must first be considered before his masters? Certainly there are many who are now pleading this: I will attend to Gods matters one day-my own absorb my attention now. No justification in this:

(1) Because God commands you to study His interests first.

(2) Because, you being merely His steward, this is just.

(3) Because, you being the creature of His hands and His servant, it is doubly just.

(4) Because this is the true way to advance your own interests. (See Trench on Parables, p. 281, for an apt illustration.)

III. Conclusion. Have any of you buried talents? Dig them up and begin this glorious career of working. (The Southern Pulpit.)

Human responsibility

I. All that we have, and, indeed, all that we are, belongs to God.

1. We have nothing that we can call our own-ourselves, our possessions, etc. We are servants-under authority, etc. Gods authority over us is entire and unlimited.

2. God has entrusted us with His goods-

(1) Minds and bodies endowed with numerous and admirable powers.

(2) More or less of worldly substance.

(3) Positions of influence and authority.

(4) The Sabbath, etc.

II. The distribution of the talents in different numbers or proportions.

1. Whether the term talents should be applied to all the powers, possessions, and opportunities for usefulness which the Lord of heaven confers upon His servants, or only those which are most eminent and valuable in the possession of each of them, admits of doubt.

2. Their unequal distribution illustrates in various ways the Divine perfections. It manifests His sovereignty, in doing as He pleases with His own; His goodness, as we have no claim or merit; His wisdom, in their adaptation to each.

III. The talents are improvable. They may be increased in value by wisdom and fidelity in their consecration to the Redeemers service.

IV. The certainty of the day of reckoning, however it may be delayed. The results of death and judgment and eternity are not the less sure because some wish they were doubtful or uncertain, nor are they the less near because some choose to think of them as distant.

V. The treatment of the good and faithful servants. As their diligence and their faithfulness had been alike, a similar reward is given to each, and both are commended in the very same words. Confessed, unnumbered sins must, from the nature of the case, be rewards, not of debt, but of grace. What a generous Master we have! His Well done! will be honour and bliss that shall captivate and enrapture as can no earthly delights.

VI. The doom of the servant who had but one talent, and hid it in the earth, is minutely described. The ground of his condemnation. His sin was slothfulness. All his pleas were poor pretences. It was right that he should be deprived, while others were enriched. There can be no valid excuse for not serving God. (T. D. Crothers.)

Fidelity in the service of God

Explain the nature of fidelity.

I. Fidelity requires A knowledge of our obligations, and, therefore, those who wish to be faithful will endeavour to obtain clear and correct views of what they are bound to do.

II. It requires an enlightened view of the grounds of those obligations. Without this there can be no rational desire or fixed purpose to discharge them.

III. It requires superiority over all conflicting tendencies. A man may have a desire to do his duty, and he may have a general purpose to perform it, but then may be too weak to withstand temptation. Fidelity in the service of God requires, therefore:

1. A knowledge of what He would have us do, as men, in all our relations of life, as Christians or as ministers.

2. Such views of our relation to Christ, and our obligations to Him, as shall awaken in us the desire to do His will, and lead us to form the purpose that we will in all cases endeavour to perform it.

3. Such a strength of this desire and such firmness of this purpose as render them actually controlling over our whole inward and outward life.

IV. From this statement of the duty it is plain-

1. That it is a very simple one.

2. It is a very comprehensive duty. It, in fact, includes all others.

3. It is one of constant obligation.

4. It is obviously exceedingly difficult. It supposes the renunciation of ourselves and of the world. (C. Hodge, D. D.)

The masters approval of the faithful servant

I. His character.

1. A good and faithful servant accepts his position as a servant, with all that is included in that position.

2. He bears the work-burden of his servitude.

3. He renders service with hearty goodwill.

4. He is obedient to his master.

5. He has his masters interest ever before him.

6. He is profitable to his master.

II. The conduct upon which this character is based. Thou hast been faithful over a few things.

III. The commendation and reward. Well done.

1. This is real commendation, not doubtful.

2. This is complete and full commendation.

3. This is useful commendation.

It is not an encumbrance, like a robe of state or an official chain of gold, but it is as a strong girdle for the loins. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.

1. The joy of the Lord on His return to His servants.

2. The joy of the Lord in the goodness and fidelity of His servants.

3. The joy of the Lord in commending and rewarding His servants.

4. The whole personal joy of the Lord, so far as it can be shared by His servants.

5. The joy set before Him when He endured the cross.

6. The joy of finished work and completed suffering, of the joy provided in that kingdom which is joy.

This text teaches

1. What the Christians are expected to be-servants.

2. What we are expected to do.

3. What we may expect to obtain.

4. Supplies a present test of character and motive to service, (S. Martin.)

The good and faithful servant

I. The approved servant described.

1. Good.

(1) Good in nature.

(2) Good in principle.

(3) Good in motive.

(4) In fruitfulness.

2. Faithful.

(1) To God.

(2) To himself.

(3) To others.

II. The approved servant commended. Well done.

1. Surprise.

2. Humility.

3. Adoration.

4. Love. (H. March.)

The good servant

1. He is commended.

2. Promoted.

3. Admitted to joys unspeakable. (W. Jowett, M. A.)

The faithful servant and his reward

The parable of the ten virgins shows us our duty to ourselves; the parable to the servants our duty to others, etc. The one parable cries Watch! The other cries Work!

I. Look at the faithful servant. There are several things respecting him illustrating our own position.

1. He was a servant; one who is dependent upon, and responsible to another. Whatever our position, this is the character of every one of us. Men often speak as if God had no claim upon sinners. The man who hid his talent was as much a servant as he who by diligent trading made his five talents into ten. We are all servants, whether we own our Master or not, etc. Ascertain the character you bear.

2. He was entrusted with some of his masters property. So are we.

3. The talents bestowed upon the servants varied in their number. So it is with us.

4. They are given to us to be used according to the will of the proprietor-we may invest them, or waste them, or hide them.

5. They are entrusted to us for a limited period; the extent of that period is unknown.

II. Let us look at the conduct of the servant. He was not elated with pride because he had more than others, nor was he depressed with envy because he had less. He realized his responsibility, and at once set to work, etc. He was good and faithful, referring to his character and conduct. While faithful to his master, he was good to his brethren, and the manifestation of his goodness is seen in the revelation that follows, Faith without works is dead, etc.

III. Look at the faithful, servants reward. Gives his account with joy.

1. Has his masters approval.

2. He is raised to a higher position.

3. He was admitted to his masters presence-a honour beyond our comprehension. Apply the subject. (Charles Garrett.)

The unprofitable servant

I. The individual referred to is described as acting in the capacity of a servant. This denotes responsibility. Knows his Lords will. He possesses capability.

II. His sin. He did not squander the talent. His sin was knowing to do good and doing it not. He was of a phlegmatic constitution of body and mind. He did not seek the aid of Gods grace. What a lamentable state of mind to wish to get to heaven, and yet to turn in a bad temper from the only path that leads to it! But is God a hard Master? Ask the Christian who experiences in his heart the power of the religion he professes. Ask Nature.

III. His end. Outer darkness. (R. Jones, B. A.)

The discharged servant

There is, perhaps, no position more painful for a good and kind master to be placed in, no duty so painful for him to fulfil, as the being compelled to discharge a servant for misbehaviour, whatever the nature of the offence may be. There is something sad, and almost solemn, as the hour of departure draws nigh in which the servant is about to quit the threshold of the home where he has, it may be, served for years. At such a moment sins of omission and commission can scarcely fail to rise up in memorys glass slowly and upbraidingly before the downcast mind. It is then the obstinacy within relents, the hardness melts, the pride of the heart is abased, when it is too late. How apparent, then, is the folly of disobedience. Then is seen how useless were all those promises of amendment drowned in the opium of forgetfulness, or strangled in the birth by the complicated influences of procrastination. At such an hour, too, the value of the place he is leaving rises up before the minds eye in a way never experienced before. As the foot is lingering for the last time on the step of the masters door, the comforts of a quiet and peaceful.home are then contrasted with the cold and forlorn aspect of things without. Now if this be the case in regard to the affairs of this world, how much more forcibly does it apply to the next scene of existence? Here we must imagine no longer an earthly, but a heavenly Master, about to dismiss, not a servant merely that fills his or her respective place in a common household, but a man considered as a rational and accountable being. (R. Jones, B. A. )

The sin of unprofitableness

I. Unprofitableness implies a mind unlike that of God, and therefore unfit for communion with God.

1. The mind of the unprofitable one is marked by indifference to the welfare of others.

2. The goodness of Deity is not merely negative; it seeks to bless mankind.

II. Unprofitableness will exclude the soul from heaven; it is a frustration of the merciful designs of God. (E. Gibbon, M. A.)

The unprofitable servant

I. The excuse set up by the unprofitable servant for his neglect. It is general. I know that thou art a hard man. This is the language of the disobedient heart with reference to the merciful parent of the universe. The service is framed to meet our moral happiness. The ways of wisdom axe ways of pleasantness. The excuse uses an audacious tone; God is unreasonable, and expects the impossible, and does not put forth the needful agencies.

II. The sentence pronounced on him.

1. Supposing there was truth in his accusation, why did he not adopt the course less injurious to his Master?

2. Deprivation-Take, therefore, the talent from him. Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. (D. Moore, M. A.)

The wicked and slothful servant

I. His profession.

1. The name, servant of the Lord, is most honourable.

2. It is a most comprehensive name.

How comes it that any whose dispositions thus widely differ should be found among the professed followers of Christ?

1. They have false notions of what constitutes a genuine servant of the Lord.

2. They have low thoughts of God.

II. His character.

1. He had been slothful.

2. He was therefore wicked.

(1) He was wicked because unfaithful to his trust.

(2) Because cherishing dishonouring thoughts of his Master.

(3) Because he acted contrary to his own avowed convictions.

III. His doom.

1. A just doom.

2. This will be the doom of many.

(1) To every individual is given at least one talent.

(2) Of even one talent a strict account will be required.

(3) This should lead us to self-examination and prayer. (H. March.)

The capacity of religion extirpated by disuse

Many persons read this parable of the talents, I believe, very much as if it related only to gifts external to the person; or, if to gifts that are personal, to such only as are called talents in the lower and merely man-ward relations and uses of life, such as the understanding, reason, etc. But the great Teachers meaning reaches higher than this, and comprehends more, namely, those talents which go to exalt the subject in its God-ward relations. The main stress of His doctrine hinges, I conceive, on our responsibility as regards the capacity of religion itself; for this, in highest pre-eminence, is the talent, the royal gift of man. In pursuing the subject presented, two points will naturally engage our attention.

I. The capacity for religion is a talent, the highest talent we have. We mean by a talent, the capacity for doing or becoming something, as for learning, speaking, trade, command. Our talents are as numerous, therefore, and various as the effects we may operate. We have talents of the body, too, and talents of the mind, or soul. All those which can be used, or which come into play, in earthly subjects, and apart from God and religion, are natural; and those which relate immediately to God, and things unseen as connected with God, are religious. The religious talents compose the whole God-ward side of faculty in us. They are such especially as come into exercise in the matter of religious faith and experience, and nowhere else.

1. The want of God-a receptivity for God.

2. Inspiration-a capacity to be permeated, illumined, guided, exalted by God or the Spirit of God within, and yet so as not to be any the less completely ourselves.

3. The spiritual sense, or the power of Divine apprehension.

4. The capacity of religious love.

5. The power of faith a power of knowing God. Their true place and order in the soul is-

(1) At the head of all its other powers, holding them subordinate.

(2) All the other talents fall into a stunted and partially disabled state when they are not shone upon, kept in warmth, and raised in grade by the talents of religion.

(3) All the greatest things ever done in the world have been done by the instigations and holy elevations of the religious capacity. This, therefore, is the real summit of our humanity.

II. The religious talent or capacity is one that, by total disuse and the overgrowth of others, is finally extirpated. Few men living without God are aware of any such possibility, and still less of the tremendous fact itself. On the contrary, they imagine that they are getting above religion, growing too competent and wise to be longer subjected to its authority, or incommoded by its requirements. The teaching of Scripture, To him that hath shall be given, etc. This spiritual extirpation is referable to two great laws or causes.

1. To the neglect of the talent or capacities of religion. All living members, whether of body or mind, require use or exercise. It is necessary to their development, and without it they even die.

2. To the operation of that immense overgrowth or over-activity which is kept up in the other powers. Is it wrong to assume that your religious senses were proportionately much stronger and more active in childhood than it is now?

Thus onward the thoughts that crowd upon us, standing before a subject like this, are practical and serious.

1. How manifestly hideous the process going on in human souls under the power of sin. It is a process of real and fixed deformity.

2. There is no genuine culture, no proper education, which does not include religion.

3. Let no one comfort himself in the intense activity of his mind on the subject of religion. That is one of the great things to be dreaded. To be always thinking, debating, scheming in reference to the great question of religion, without using any of the talents that belong more appropriately to God and the receiving of God, is just the way to extirpate the talents most rapidly, and so to close up the mind in spiritual darkness.

4. Make little of the hope that the Holy Spirit will at some time open your closed or consciously closing faculties.

5. This truth wears no look of promise, in regard to the future condition of bad men.

6. How clear is it that the earliest time in religion is the best time. The peculiar blessing and the hopeful advantage of youth. A great share of those who believe embrace Christ in their youth. (H. Bushnell, D. D.)

God blesses those who improve their privileges

I. What is implied in mens faithfully improving divine blessings.

1. This implies their acknowledging that all their favours come from God. As long as men disregard the hand of the Giver, they will certainly despise His gifts.

2. A proper improvement of Divine favours implies a grateful sense of Divine goodness. The slothful servant did not thank his Master for the one talent.

3. A faithful improvement of Divine favours implies a cheerful and unreserved consecration of them to Him who gave them.

4. Faithfully improving Divine favours implies employing them in the service of God..

II. That those who faithfully improve the blessings which God bestows upon them may reasonably expect further marks of his favour.

1. The faithful improvement of Divine favours affords the highest enjoyment of them. Men never enjoy their talents buried or abused.

2. The faithful improvement of Divine favours in time past prepares men for the reception of more and richer blessings in time to come. Masters bestow their best favours upon their best servants.

3. God has promised to reward past fidelity with future favours.

4. Gods conduct confirms the declarations of His Word. He has in all ages bestowed peculiar advantages upon those who have improved the temporal and spiritual blessings

He has given.

1. All the blessings we possess have been sent in mercy.

2. If God will reward only those who improve His favours in His service, then men are unwise and criminal in converting them to their own use.

3. Men ought to be more concerned to improve Gods favours than to gain the possession of them.

4. Those who abuse Gods favours have reason to expect that He will diminish them. (N. Emmons, D. D.)

Laying ourselves out for God

Therefore you should keep a constant reckoning how you lay out yourselves for God. (T. Manton.)

Christ absent from us

It was needful that Christ, should go from us for a while; for He would not govern the world by sense, but by faith. (T. Manton.)

Diversity in service

Every one hath his service and opportunity to do something for God; all offered to the tabernacle gold, or silver, or brass, or shittim-wood, or goats hair, or badgers skins. So, as Christ went to Jerusalem, some strewed the way with garments, others cut down branches, some cried Hosanna; that was all they could do. (T. Manton.)

Diversity in ability

There is a diversity as to the measure and degrees. Every barque that saileth to heaven doth not draw a like depth. (T. Manton.)

Our account with God

Who made thee to differ? (Rom 12:35). For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things. The sun oweth nothing to the stars, nor the fountain to the streams. Our account must be answerable to our receipts; there is a proportion of return expected. (T. Manton.)

Diversity of talent helpful to service

God will have this difference for the beauty and order of the whole; variety is more grateful. Hills and valleys make the world beautiful; so do distinct orders, ranks, and degrees of men. All eye or all belly is monstrous.; difference with proportion maketh beauty; therefore one excelleth another, and several gifts and ranks there are for the service of the whole. (T. Manton.)

As divers countries have divers commodities, and one needeth another; one aboundeth with wines, some have spices, others have skins, and commodities in other kinds, that by commerce and traffic there might be society maintained among mankind; so God in His Church hath given to one gifts, to another grace, to maintain a holy society and spiritual commerce among themselves. (T. Manton.)

Use the talent we have

It was a good saying of Epictetus in Arrian, Si essem luscinia, etc. If I were a nightingale, I would sing as a nightingale: Si essem alauda, etc. If I were a lark, I would piere as a lark; but now I am a man, I will glorify God as a man. But alas! how often do men of the best endowments miscarry. (T. Manton.)

Satanic abuse of great talents

The devil loveth to go to work with the sharpest tools. God hath given great abilities to some above others, to enable them for his service. Now the devil, to despite God the more, turneth his own weapons against himself. (T. Manton.)

Talents given for activity

Strength is not to be wasted in sin and vanity, but employed for God. It is better it should be worn out with labours than eaten out with rust. (T. Manton.)

Trading for God, not self

Applause, vainglory, and suchlike carnal motions and ends may set some men on work, and make them prostitute

the service of Christ to their own lusts. This is not to trade as factors for God, but to set up for ourselves. (T. Manton.)

A gift and a trust

As a gift, they call for our thankfulness; as a trust, for our faithfulness. (T. Manton.)

Dread of God natural in the carnal mind

Fear is more natural in the carnal mind, because a bad conscience is very suspicious, and our sense of Gods benefits is not so great as the sense of our bad deservings is quick and lively. (T. Manton.)

A picture of the devil

The best picture that could be taken of the devil would be by the characters of malice, falsehood, and envy. But God is justice itself, goodness itself, mercy itself, as it is expressed in Scripture. (T. Manton.)

The unprofitable are destroyed

(Mat 7:19), Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Not only the poisonous, but the barren tree. (T. Manton.)

The sinner self-condemned

Grant the sinners supposition, it bindeth the duty upon him, and so he cuts his throat with his own sword. (T. Manton.)

Doing better than excusing

Certainly it is better be doing than excusing. Doing is safe, but excuses are but a patch upon a sore place. (T. Manton.)

Private conceits

You must not lift up your private conceits against the wisdom of God. (T. Manton.)

Nothing idle in nature

In the whole course of nature nothing is idle; the sun and the stars do perpetually move and roll up and down; the earth bringeth forth; the seas have their ebbings and flowings, and the rivers their courses; the angels are described with wings, as ready to fulfil Gods commandment, and run to do His pleasure. It were an unworthy thing, among so many examples and patterns of diligence, for man alone to be idle. (T. Manton.)

The sovereignty of the Divine endowments

Now, most men quarrel with this. But mark, the thing that you complain of in God is the very thing that you love in yourselves. Every man likes to feel that he has a night to do with his own as he pleases. We all like to be little sovereigns. You will give your money freely and liberally to the poor; but if any man should impertinently urge that he had a claim upon your charity, would you give unto him? Certainly not; and who shall impeach the greatness of your generosity in so doing? It is even as that parable, that we have in one of the Evangelists, where, after the men had toiled, some of them twelve hours, some of them six, and some of them but one, the Lord gave every man a penny. Oh! I would meekly bow my head, and say, My Lord, hast Thou given me one talent? then I bless Thee for it, and I pray Thee bestow upon me grace to use it rightly. Hast Thou given to my brother ten talents? I thank Thee for the greatness of Thy kindness towards him; but I neither envy him, nor complain of Thee. Oh! for a spirit that bows always before the sovereignty of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Variety Gods law

God gives to one five, and to another two talents, because the Creator is a lover of variety. It was said that order is heavens first law; surely variety is the second; for in all Gods works, there is the most beautiful diversity. Look ye towards the heavens at night: all the stars shine not with the same brilliance, nor are they placed in straight lines, like the lamps of our streets. Then turn your eyes below: see in the vegetable world, how many great distinctions there are, ranging from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall, or the moss that is smaller still. See how from the huge mammoth tree, that seems as if beneath its branches it might shade an army, down to the tiny lichen, God hath made everything beautiful, but everything full of variety. Look on any one tree, if you please: see how every leaf differs from its fellow-how even the little tiny buds that are at this hour bursting at the scent of the approaching perfume of spring, differ from each other-not two of them alike. Look again, upon the animated world: God Hath not made every creature like unto another. How wide the range-from the colossal elephant to the coney that burrows in the rock-from the whale that makes the deep hoary with its lashing, to the tiny minnow that skims the brook; God hath made all things different, and we see variety everywhere. I doubt not it is the same, even in heaven, for there there are thrones, and dominions, and principalities, and powers-different ranks of angels, perhaps, rising tier upon tier. One star different from another star in glory. And why should not the same rule stand good in manhood (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Talents for small spheres

God hath a deeper reason than this. God gives to some men but few talents, because He has many small spheres, and He would have these filled. There is a great ocean, and it needs inhabitants. O Lord, Thou hast made Leviathan to swim therein. There is a secret grotto, a hidden cavern, far away in the depths of the sea; its entrance is but small; if there were nought but a Leviathan, it must remain untenanted for ever: a little fish is made, and that small place becomes an ocean unto it. There are a thousand sprays and twigs upon the trees of the forest; were all eagles, how would the forests be made glad with song, and how could each twig bear its songster? But because God would have each twig have its own music, He has made the little songster to sit upon it. Each sphere must have the creature to occupy it adapted to the size of the sphere. God always acts economically. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Few talents will have to be accounted for

If you had but little, God required but little of you; why, then, did you not render that? If any man holds a house at a rental of a pound a year, let it be never so small a house for the money, if he brings not his rent there is not one half the excuse for him that there would be if his rent had been a hundred pounds, and he had failed to bring it. You shall be the more inexcusable on account of the little that was required of you. Let me, then, address you, and remind you that you must be brought to account. (C. H. Spurgeon)

Improvement of talents

The right use of the Divine blessings is well represented by his trading or occupying with his Masters property. This not to be understood in a way of merit, for when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants. But the image of trading fitly sets forth the course of active improvement of every gift, which the true Christian pursues, his diligence and industry in his calling, and the common utility which is thereby promoted. Whatever is bestowed on him, he considers net as his own, but as his Lords. He employs it, therefore, with the scrupulous conscientiousness of a faithful servant. He does not waste his gifts in idleness, abuse them to self-confidence and pride, or lessen and destroy them by rash and ambitious schemes. He does not rest with complacency in the barren thought that he possesses them. He does not display them with ostentation. He does not compare himself with others, or endeavour to ascertain whether his talents are more or less than those of his neighbour. He does not interfere with a province not assigned to him, or hinder the work of his fellowservants, or require everything to be done in his own way, or quarrel with those who differ from him in their mode of acting. But his concern is to trade with his talents. Whatever will tend to the discharge of his personal and relative duties, whatever will instruct the ignorant, relieve the distressed, assist the needy, guide the inquiring, comfort the sorrowful, reclaim the wandering, and confirm and encourage the sincere-all this, with a due regard to circumstances, and in the fear of God, he considers his proper vocation. Whatever use he can make of any circumstances in which he is placed, any office he holds, any influence he has gained, any knowledge he acquires, any parts or accomplishments which he possesses, any favour God has given him with others, any occasions or incidents which present themselves he straightway turns to account, even as the merchant traffics with his commodities. Above all, he employs the means of salvation to his own personal benefit. He repents of his sins, and trusts in the sacrifice of Christ for pardon and justification before God. He values the Bible, prizes the Sabbath, derives improvement from pious example, profits by Divine chastisement, and learns from the mistakes and sins of others, and thus uses every advantage for spiritual instruction with fidelity and thankfulness. If he be a minister of the sanctuary he considers all his opportunities for saving souls, all his ability for discharging, his high office, as a solemn trust deposited with him, and for which he must give an account. (Bishop Daniel Wilson.)

Multiplied talent

It is not only enjoined upon us if we would be Christians to occupy with our gifts, but to multiply them. The industrious servant of God will do this. He learns as he goes on; he gains more experience; he overcomes difficulties. He not only does more than when he first began, but he does things better. He contrives to do more good continually. He does not rest contented with the ordinary plans of others, but enters on undiscovered ground and marks out new regions of usefulness. He looks around him for occasions of doing good to others and getting good himself, of learning or teaching, acting or enduring for God and his neighbour. (Bishop Daniel Wilson.)

The householder and his servants

I. The talents entrusted to the management of the servants.

1. The man travelling represents our Lord, the absolute Owner of all things, Lord and Redeemer of His Church.

2. The servants represent the professed disciples and members of Christ, the visible body of the faithful, particularly the ministers and stewards of His mysteries.

3. The talents represent the various powers and blessings which Christ has assigned to us for the salvation of our souls, the benefit of our fellow-men, and the glory of His name.

II. The right employment of the talents by the faithful servants.

1. The faithful servant of Christ studies to do his Lords will, and has a delight in the work.

2. Shrinks from no trouble or danger, estimating all he can do for such a Master as nothing.

3. Aims at approving himself to his Master, not to the world.

4. Laments lost opportunities.

5. Walks wisely in the management of his concerns.

6. Begins immediately, proceeds diligently, works contentedly, and perseveres cheerfully.

III. The faithful servants reward.

1. He receives the commendation of his Master.

2. Made ruler over many things.

3. Enters into the joy of his Lord.

IV. The slothful servant.

1. His character. It is not said that he wasted his Lords goods; simply that he buried them-made no use of them, and this was enough to condemn him.

2. His doom. (Bishop Daniel Wilson.)

Well used talents prepare for enjoyment in heaven

This parable shows plainly enough that your talents are to be put to use and gain usury for the Lender. They must be kept well rubbed with work if they are to shine brightly in their heavenly setting. I do not believe with those people who seem to think it will be all as one a thousand years hence, whether we cultivate our minds in this life or not, and that it matters nothing how small our knowledge may be. All is good if turned to a right account, and the acquirements of this life may enlarge our spiritual capacities for another. And I cannot help thinking that, to some extent, our power of seeing and appreciating the hidden things of the next life will depend on the exercise and growth of our faculties in this. (N. Macleod, D. D.)

God is never niggardly in His gifts

In considering our life, with its duties and responsibilities, there are two mistakes, into both of which, though they are contradictory the one to the other, we commonly fall.

1. We often feel that very little has been entrusted to us, that our gifts are few, our opportunities of cultivating them fewer still. We need therefore to remember that in the parable even the slave who is least gifted and trusted receives one talent, and that a Hebrew talent was equivalent to some 350-a very large sum to be entrusted to a slave. Our Master is no niggard, He gives liberally to all. All things are ours-the pure, bright heaven, the fruitful earth, the golden splendours of the sun and the silver splendours of the moon, the fragrant flowers and the songs of birds, the social affections, the Word of Life, and the common salvation; and, though the capacity to appropriate and use these heavenly gifts may vary, yet what man is there, capable of using them at all, but will confess that he has received many things, and things of inestimable value, at the Masters hand?

2. But then, if we acknowledge that we have received many and great gifts, we are too apt to forget that the large sum of good in which we rejoice is made up of many trivial contributions. We need to be reminded that the one talent of the parable was equivalent to sixty mince, to three thousand shekels, to some eighty thousand of our pence, and that the only way to get its full profit out of the talent was to use every shekel and every penny well. Great single opportunities are very rare; we cannot often find a good investment for heavy sums; but we may wisely employ a few pence or a few shekels every day. The talents of the parable may stand for high gifts, such as faith, love, obedience; but we cannot keep these faculties always at their utmost stretch, nor live at the heroic level day after day. It is by a perpetual use of them in the daily round and common task of life, in the discharge of small recurring duties and the endurance of the little temptations which are never absent, that we develop them to the fulness of their stature. And it surely is a very comfortable and helpful thought, that if hour by hour we try to do the work of the hour well, to be honest and diligent in business, to rule our tempers in the home, to help a needy or sympathize with an afflicted, neighbour, to teach our class with patient care, to sing a song of praise with the heart and the understanding-that in the discharge of these and the like trivial duties we are serving God, trading with the Masters money; that by these small gradual accumulations we are doubling the talent which He has put into our hands. (S. Cox, D. D.)

The man with one talent needed

The world greatly needs men of one talent, and there are ways in which such men are often of surpassing usefulness. Hur was probably a man with only one talent, and yet it was partly through his help that the prayers of Moses prevailed against the enemies of Israel. The heroes of Thermopylae were for the most part also men of one talent, yet the splendour of their glorious heroism still illumines the world. In the case of many a shipwreck the man with one talent, the rough, honest sailor who helps the women and children to escape and then himself remains behind to die is in truth not far from the kingdom of God, not far from its inner shrine, not far from the great Cross of Calvary As a matter of fact, men with one talent are often surprisingly near to the men with five talents. In the realm of the spirit extremes often meet. Men with one talent are often vicarious sufferers. Nature makes experiments on them, as on some worthless body, for the benefit of the whole human race. They are used as stepping-stones on which others may rise to higher things. They act as humble pioneers to the loftiest and most successful pilgrims It is easy enough to see that there is often something sublime in the devotion of the man with one talent. Great in nothing else, he is often really grand in his unswerving and unlimited loyalty to a nature higher than his own. And this devotion has a vast uplifting influence. (A. H. Crawford, M. A.)

Latent possibilities in the man with one talent

We never really know what our talents are till we begin to use them. The noblest powers are often the most slowly developed. Saul is amongst the prophets sometimes. Elisha is often called from the plough. The dunce acquires undying fame. The very same want of depth in the soil which causes the good seed to spring up quickly also causes it ere long to wither away. When there is little to evolve evolution is a rapid process, but when there is much to evolve the process is a slow one. Cathedrals are not built in a day. The soul is like the phoenix-from the withered ashes of a wasted past it soars aloft into the glad strength of an immortal life. (A. H. Crawford, M. A.)

Encouragement for the man with one talent

All men have at least one talent. The elements of the noble and the sublime exist to some extent in each of us. Even now, in the midst of his humble work, on the rough face of the man with one talent there is cast from time to time the sublime and awful shadow of his inescapable destiny, of that great day of the Lord when all created souls shall be transfigured and glorified by the splendours of the Eternal, when the dead, small and great, stand before God. If the poor man with one talent shall hereafter stand there, surely he is good enough to stand hand in hand with any of his brethren now on earth! (A. H. Crawford, M. A.)

Importance of little things

Human endowment and human performance, the few things, get their significance from their relation to the many things-the great, thronging facts and principles and laws of the kingdom of God. The most persistent and varied activity and the largest achievements of the greatest men are but small in themselves considered, but they are points where the vast economy of the kingdom of God-that something which is vaguely indicated by many things, the joy of the Lord emerges into the region of our human life and touches it. That which is out of sight is more and greater than that which pushes out into our view. That point of rock which rises out of the hillside is, to the geologist, not merely a distinct stone-it tells him the dip and quality of the great strata underground which buttress the hills. Obedience, responsibility, duty, work, love, trust-all that makes up Christian life here-are sides and manifestations of the unseen, spiritual universe. Godliness has promise, not only of the life that now is, but of that which is to come-has the promise which one part of a thing gives of the other part. Godliness is a part of the life to come. Godliness is God revealing Himself in human character. Follow back godliness and you come to God. The boy who is learning his alphabet is handling the same elements which enter into the plays of Shakespeare or the dialogues of Plato. He has begun upon literature when he has learned A B C. It is a little thing in itself for him to learn twenty-six letters, but it is a very great thing when you consider the alphabet as the medium of the worlds thought. Even so the largest endowment and result are but a few things, but they acquire a tremendous and eternal importance as integral parts of the great moral economy of God. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.)

Faithfulness is on the direct line of mastery

Fidelity tends and leads up to mastery. Success is a thing of stages and aggregations, and it is of vastly more consequence that the man should be rightly pointed-set in the direction of a larger, Divine success, than that he should achieve what he undertakes here. If there is no larger, purer, more spiritual kingdom than this there is no such thing as real success. If there is such a kingdom, and if the earthly sphere of Christian life and work is a part of it, then the success may well lie beyond the line of our human vision, and be too large for our little inch-rules. The great principle holds-fidelity leads up to mastery. You see it illustrated daily. You see the faithful journeyman advanced to the foremanship, the plodding student become an authority; you see men of moderate ability becoming powers in business or in manufacturing by steady devotion to one thing. The thing itself may be small; their perseverance magnifies it: and they themselves grow into the ability to handle larger things through their fidelity to the smaller interest. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.)

Faithfulness the main thing

This parable turns on moral quality rather than on ability. Its key-note is not five talents, nor two talents, nor one talent, but faithfulness to all three. It is faithfulness, and not amount, which links the talent to the joy of the Lord, the few things to the many. The amount of ability is not the first thing for us to consider; it is the faithful use of whatever ability we have. To use aright we must be right. Vigorous use of talent is not necessarily right use, for unfaithfulness is vigorous also. (Marvin R. Vincent, D. D.)

The unused talent passes from the servant who would not use it to the one who will

A landlord has two farms lying together-the one is admirably managed, the other is left almost to itself, with the least possible management, and becomes the talk of the whole country-side for poor crops and untidiness. No one asks what the landlord will do when the leases are out. It is a matter of course that he dismisses the careless tenant, and puts his farm into the hands of the skilful and diligent farmer. He enforces the law of the text. In the kingdom of Christ this law is self-acting. To bury our talent and so keep it as originally given is an impossibility. To have just so much grace and no more is an impossibility. It must either be circulating and so multiplying, or it ceases to be. It must grow or it will die. Hence it is that in your own souls you perhaps are finding that, no matter what effort you make, you cannot enter as heartily into holy services and occupations as once you did, but are finding your old joy and assurance honey-combed by unbelieving thoughts. Hence it is that the susceptibility to right feeling you had in boyhood has gone from you. You did not mean to become unfeeling, but only shrank from acting as feeling dictated. But he who blows out the flame finds that the heat and the glow die out of themselves. (Marcus Dods, D. D.)

The law of spiritual capital

It is a law with the operation of which we are familiar in nature and in the commercial world. It is he who has even a little capital to begin with, and who makes a right use of it, who soon leaves far behind the man who has none, or who neglects to invest what he has. And the more this capital grows, the more rapidly and the more easily is it increased. After a certain point it seems to increase by virtue of its own momentum. So in certain sicknesses, as soon as the crisis of the disease is past and a little health has been funded again in the patients constitution, this rapidly grows to complete recovery. So with popularity, it begins one scarce knows how, but once begun, the tide flows apace. You may scarcely be able to say why one statesman or one author should be so immeasurably more popular than others; but so it is that, when once a beginning is made, tribute flows in naturally, as water from all sides settle in a hollow. It is this same law which regulates our attainment in the service of Christ. However little grace we seem to have to begin with it is this we must invest, and so nurse it into size and strength. Each time we use the grace we have by responding to the demands made upon it, it returns to us increased. Our capital grows by an inevitable law. The efforts of young or inexperienced Christians to give utterance to the life that is in them may often be awkward, like the movements of most young animals. They may be able to begin only in a very small way, so small a way that sensitive persons are frequently ashamed to begin at all. Having received Christ they are conscious of new desires and of a new strength; they have a regard for Christ, and were they to assert this regard in the circumstances which call for its assertion their regard would be deepened. They have a desire to serve Him, and were they to do so in those small matters with which they have daily concern their desire and ability would be increased. Grace of any kind invested in the actual opportunities of life cannot come back to us as small as it was, but enlarged and strengthened. Such grace, then, as we have, such knowledge as we have of what is due to others, to ourselves, and to God, let us give free expression to. Such investments of Christian principle as are within our reach let us make; such manifestations of a Christian temper and mind as our circumstances daily demand let us exhibit, and it must come to pass that we increase in grace. There is no other way whatever of becoming richly endowed in spirit than by trading with whatever we have to begin with. We cannot leap into a fortune in spiritual things; rich saints cannot bequeath us what their life-long toil has won; they cannot even lend us so that we may begin on borrowed capita]. In the spiritual life all must be genuine; we must work our own way upwards, and by humbly and wisely laying out whatever we now possess make it more or be for ever poor. (Marcus Dods, D. D.)

The man with two talents

He has his own peculiar interest as he stands in the little group of three before the master. He is significant, we may almost say, because of his insignificance. As the master puts the money in their hands we can see them look at it, and can guess what they think about it. The man to whom five talents are given is surprised that he should receive so much. He is exhilarated and inspired, or perhaps, on the other hand, he is paralyzed and overcome. The man to whom one talent is given is startled at the smallness of the trust. He, too, feels a positive emotion, Either he is stung to energy and determines that he will do something strong and good even with this little gift, or else he is crushed into despair. Is this then all of which his master thinks him worthy? Both of these men are interesting. They represent extremes. But the man of two talents stands and looks at his trust, and it is just about what he might have expected. It is neither very great nor very small. It does not exalt him, and it does not make him ashamed. He turns away, and goes out to use it with a calm, unexcited face. He is the type of common mediocrity. He is the average man. He presents the type to which we almost all belong. There are none of us probably who are conscious of anything which separates us as notably superior to the great mass of our fellow-men. On the other hand, it is not probable that many of us count ourselves distinctly below the average of human life. We do not lay claim to the five talents; we will not confess to the one. It is as men and women of two talents that we ordinarily count ourselves and ask to be counted by our brethren. Therefore this quiet, commonplace, unnoticed man, going his faithful way in his dull dress which makes no mark and draws no eye, doing his duty insignificantly and thoroughly, winning so unobtrusively at last his masters praise, ought to be interesting to us all. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)

The predominance of mediocrity

The average man is by far the most numerous man. The man who goes beyond the average, the man who falls short of the average, both of them, by their very definition, are exceptions. They are the outskirts and fringes, the capes and promontories of humanity. The great continent of human life is made up of the average existences, the mass of two-talented capacity and action.

1. It is so even in the simplest and most superficial matter of the possession of wealth. The great fortunes, with their splendid opportunities and their tremendous responsibilities, rise like gigantic mountains which everybody sees out of the general level of comfortable life. On the other hand, excessive poverty, actual suffering for the necessaries of life, terrible as it is, is comparatively rare. A part of its terribleness comes from its rarity. The great -multitude of men are neither very rich nor very poor. The real character and strength of a community lies neither in its millionaires nor in its paupers, but in the men of middle life who neither have more money than they know how to spend, nor are pressed and embarrassed for the necessities of life.

2. The same is true in the matter of joy and sorrow. The great mass of men during the greater part of their lives are neither exultant and triumphant with delight, nor are they crushed and broken down with grief. They do not go shouting their rapture to the skies, and they do not go wailing their misery to the sympathetic winds. They are moderately happy. Joy flecked and toned down by troubles; troubles constantly relieved and lighted up by joy; that is their general condition; that seems to be their best capacity. The power of the intensest joy and the intensest pain belongs only to rare, peculiar men.

3. Mental capacity. Most men are neither sages nor fools. Few men are either scholars or dunces.

4. Popularity and fame. Those whom the world praises and those whom all men despise are both of them exceptional. You can count them easily. The great multitude whom you cannot begin to count, who fill the vast middle-ground of the great picture of humanity, is made up of men who are simply well enough liked by their fellow-men. They are crowned with no garlands, and they are pelted with no stones. They have their share of kindly interest and esteem. You cannot well think of them as either losing that or as gaining much beyond it.

5. Character and religion. Here, too, it is the average Shut fills the eye. Where are the heroes? You can find them if you look. Where are the rascals? You can find them too. Where are the saints? They shine where no true mans eyes can fail to see them. And the blasphemers likewise no one can shut out of his ears. But the great host of men: do you not know how little reason they give you to expect of them either great goodness or great wickedness? You do not look to see their faces kindle when you talk to them of Christ. You do not either look to see them grow scornful or angry at His name. You do not count upon their going to the stake for principle. But you do count upon their paying their honest debts. You have to shut your thoughts about them in to this world, for when you think of them in eternity heaven seems as much too good for them as hell seems too bad. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)

Dangers of mediocrity

It is not always an easy thing for men to make up their minds to mediocrity. It is a young mans right, almost his duty, to hope, almost to believe, that he has singular capacity, and is not merely another repetition of the constantly repeated average of men. To see those dreams and visions of youth gradually fade away; little by little to discover that one has no such exceptional capacity; to try one and another of the adventurous ways which lead to the highest heights and the great prizes, and find the feet unequal to them; to come back at last to the great trodden highway, and plodon among the undistinguished millions-that is often very hard. The fight is fought, the defeat is met, in silence; but it is no less, it is more terrible. The hour in which it becomes clear to a young man that that is to be his life, that there is nothing else for him to do except to swell the great average of humanity, is often filled with dangers. Let us see what some of them are.

1. He has to make up his mind to do without both of the different kinds of inspiration which come to the men who are better off and the men who are worse off than he is. The man of five talents excites admiration and expectation; the man of one talent has an incentive to do great things in spite of difficulties; but to the middle man, the man who is neither very much nor very little-the man who has two talents, but only two-both of these forms of impulse are denied. He is neither high enough to hear the calling of the stars, nor low enough to feel the tumult of the earthquake. What wonder, then, if he often falls asleep for sheer lack of sting and spur? What wonder if he does the moderato things that seem to be within his power unenthusiastically, and then stops, making no demand upon himself since other men make no demand upon him?

2. A want of definiteness and distinctness. Genius, lay its very intensity, decrees a special path of fire for its vivid power. Conscious limitation, on the other hand, knows there is no hope for it except in one direction. Both have the strength which comes by narrowness. But the man who knows himself to be only moderately strong is apt to think that his strength has no peculiar mission. The commonplace man is the discursive man. He has neither the impetuosity of the torrent nor the direct gravitation of the single drop of water. He lies a loose and sluggish pool, and flows nowhither, and grows stagnant by and by.

3. The constant danger of being made light of by other men. Becoming uninteresting to others, he loses interest in himself. He attracts no reverence, and he enlists no pity. He finds himself unnoticed. He must originate out of himself all that he comes to. He hangs between the heaven and the earth, and is fed out of neither. What he does seems to be of no consequence, because it wakens no emotion in his brethren. He has no influence on other men, and so there is no effluence, no putting forth of life from him. (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)

The advantages of mediocrity

It is in the quality more than in the quantity of talents that their true value lies. Given by God they constitute a true, direct, and sacred connection and channel of intercourse between your soul and His. Forget your brethren and think of Him, and realize your direct relationship to Him. When you have done that you may come back into the mass again and see what are the special advantages which belong to a faithful life lived in the average condition, lived with the average capacities of mare

1. Such a life brings out and makes manifest the solid strength which belongs to the simple qualities of manhood. Types of power which can only be developed in supreme joy or supreme sorrow enthrall our imagination; and then some plain man comes who knows not either rapture or despair, who simply has his daily work to do, his friends to help, his enemies to forgive, his children to love and train, his trials to bear, his temptations to conquer, his soul to save; and what a healthiness he brings into our standards, with what a genuine refreshment he fills our hearts. Behold how great are these primary eternal qualities-patience, hope, kindness, intelligence, trust, self-sacrifice. We do not accept them because we cannot have something finer. They show us their intrinsic fineness, and we do them reverence. The arctic frost! The torrid heat! Behold the true strength, the real life of the planet is not in these. It is in the temperate lands that the grape ripens and the wheat turns calmly yellow in the constant sun.

2. The man conscious of mediocrity has the advantage of displaying in his life and character the intrinsic and essential life of human nature. He is one with his fellow-men, and it is he who-being faithful, pure, serene, brave, hopeful-has power to make his brethren all that he tries himself to be.

3. May not the average life find a self-surrender to the help of other lives more easy, and make that surrender more complete, just in proportion as it is released from that desire for self-assertion, that consciousness of being something which is worthy of mens observation, that self-love which must haunt the lives of those who, in any way, on either side, find themselves separated from the great bulk of their fellow-creatures?

4. And is it not true that all that assertion of the intrinsic value of every life which is the very essence of our Christian faith, all that redemption of the soul, in the profoundest and the truest sense, which was the work of Christ, must come with special welcome and appreciation and delight to any man who feels his insignificance and is in danger of losing himself in the vague mass of his fellows? Christ redeems him. Christ says, Behold yourself in Me, and see that you are not insignificant. Christ says, I died for you. Set thus upon his feet, made a new man, or made to be the man he is, with what gratitude and faith and obedience must that man follow the Christ who is his Saviour! (Phillips Brooks, D. D.)

The average man

I. His dangers.

1. He will be surely tempted to ape greatness.

2. He will be tempted to underrate himself.

3. He may lose himself in the crowd.

II. The encouragements.

1. He has the necessary talents.

2. God designed to do most of His work in the world through the average man.

3. The magnificent reward that awaits him. (F. E. Clark.)

A hard man

The servants in our parables seem to have erred from an opposite excess of temperament. His melancholy broodings prevented the unprofitable servant from a right use of his masters talent; the virgins were over sanguine that their oil would hold out.

I. Observe this man.

1. He has begun with less than the others had. The melancholic mind is apt to exaggerate this fact.

2. Yet he was treated according to his ability. He was not expected to render more than he could.

3. We see the influence of his temperament in disparagement of the largeness of his Lords purposes and dealings; he interprets everything after his own spirit. Toil for such a master must be thankless and graceless indeed.

II. Looking at the man, therefore, as representing the peculiar dangers attaching to certain temperaments, I think we see sufficiently the nature of the warning he furnishes us.

1. It is essential to all profitable service of our Master, that it shall be hearty service. What heart can there be in any such labour as shall have no generous thoughts of Him for whom it is done. We must get a better conception of God, and create in our souls a healthful moral incentive to doing right.

2. Again, to be a profitable service, it must be felt also to be a service that shall react upon ourselves. It must improve us as well as glorify God. God puts joy and consolation into any duty; he who does the duty has the joy.

III. The wrong conception of god which gave strength to the melancholy and enervating tendencies of this dark-souled servant in his relations with his master. Have we put this hard man upon the throne of the universe? This conception of God is at the bottom of most of the hindrances in the way of Divine faith. It is the hard man that comes to throw a false light upon our conception of the atonement; so much suffering for so much sin. Is this the God that Jesus Christ depicted?

IV. The phrases introduced to darken the picture are worthy of notice. Reaping where thou hast not sown. Gathering where thou hast not strawed. What a contrast to the Refiner in Malachi. To the diseased vision all things are distorted.

1. We may all at times have intervals of gloom corresponding to those which our text has suggested.

2. Do not darken your life by fear. Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.

3. God is love. (G. J. Proctor.)

Christs talents

In Eastern lands, and ancient times, slaves were artizans, workmen, whose profit belonged to their master. The apostle Paul thought of himself as a slave put in trust, placed under trusts.

I. Christs talents. Such we are to regard all gifts, powers, or possessions that are entrusted to us. Our special talent is that one thing in which we stand out distinct from others.

II. Christs apportionment of His talents. Two rules decide the apportionment.

1. The talent must match the capacity.

2. The talents put together must secure ability for all the work which Christ wants done.

III. Christs expectation concerning His talents.

1. Service by their use.

2. Culture by their use.

IV. Christs judgment of those entrusted with His talents.

1. Judgment is the same for all trusts.

2. It is based on quality, not results.

3. The judgment is severe, not on those who tried and failed, but on those who never tried.

4. The reward is simply other and larger trusts. (Selected.)

Trading with talents

A trader either trades with his own, or with another mans stock, whose servant he is. Now no man hath any stock or talent of his own, but all their talents which they are required to improve and trade with are the Lords.

1. Hast thou a rational soul, wisdom, knowledge, and great understanding? It was given unto thee by the Lord.

2. Hast thou riches, or much wealth? It is the Lords money.

3. Hast thou acquired parts, great learning? This is also thy Masters goods.

4. Have you the gospel and the ministration of the word? It is the Lords trust.

5. Have you faithful ministers? They are the Lords.

6. Have you precious talent of time and the opportunities of time? This you are entrusted with by the Lord.

7. Have you health, strength, and advantages to attend upon the word and means of grace above many? All this is from the Lord.

8. Have you spiritual gifts and saving grace? Those talents you have received from the Lord.

9. Are you fathers or masters, and so have authority over families, children, servants? These are the Lords trusts. Traders ought to know the worth of those commodities put into their hands. Traders must not be timorous in laying out their money. Traders should know where to buy, of whom, and who to trade with. Traders must know the terms on which they are to trade. Traders must know in whose name they trade. Traders must trust, or they will have little or no trade at all. Traders must keep their accounts well. Some traders give more attention to their private affairs than to their business. Some traders break, and expose such that are faithful dealers to loss and shame. (Benjamin Keach.)

Our trust of talents

I. God has committed to men a variety of gifts or talents. By what is here called talents, is to be understood all such blessings and privileges as providence favours us with. What God requires from every man is according to what His providence has imparted to him.

II. All our talents, more or less, all the gifts of God to men, may and must be improved. They were conferred for this very purpose. The blessings of providence are no blessings to us if we want wisdom or will to make a right use of them.

III. The reward will be in proportion to the actual improvement which men make of the talents entrusted to them.

IV. In the day of judgment Divine justice will be displayed in such manner as will strike every sinner dumb, as will silence every excuse, and quite confound him. (E. Sandercock.)

The joy of the Lords service

When Richard Cameron, one of the noblest of our Scottish martyrs, had fallen mortally wounded on Airdsmoss, he said, I am dying, happy, happy; and if I had a thousand lives I would willingly lay them all down one after another for Christ. Oh, He is near me; I think I see Him! I am just coming, Lord Jesus. And he added, Tell my parents not to weep, but continue steadfast in the faith, and not to fear a suffering lot for Christ.

The reward of fidelity

I. The different capacities, advantages, and situations of men, are owing in general to the wise providence of God.

II. It is of little importance to us what our station in life is, or what the duties belonging to it; but of the greatest whether we perform or neglect them.

III. It is not of so great moment how long, or how short, our time and service are, as how well we have fulfilled them. (S. Brown.)

Divers talents

Some have abilities superior in kind, others in degree; some excel in strength of body, others of mind; some in judgment, others in imagination and memory; some are fit for contemplation, others for action; some to design, others to execute; some to govern nations, enact laws, and administer justice, others for inferior and private, yet necessary and useful employments. This variety is designed to fill up the various places and offices, which are proper in the great community of the world. (S. Brown.)

Parable of talents

Doctrine

I. That Christ Jesus is the great Lord and Owner.

II. That Christ, at His departure, appointed every man his work; and, at His ascension, gave gifts unto men, to be employed for His glory till He come again.

III. That it pleases the Lord to dispense His gifts variously among His people; to some more, to some fewer, talents. All have some talent. There is diversity, however

(1) Of employments and offices;

(2) In the kind of gifts;

(3) As to the measures and degrees. The account must be answerable to our receipts. (T. Manton.)

Varieties of gifts

Some are able to lay down the truth soundly; others able to apply it forcibly. Some have the gift of prayer and utterance, others are able to inform the judgment and convince gainsayers. Some to clear up doctrines, others to stir affections. Among hearers, some have more wisdom, some more knowledge, some more affection. Amongst the penmen of Scripture there is a great variety; John is sublime and seraphical; Paul spiritual and argumentative; Peter, in an easy, fluent, and mild way; Isaiah more court-like and lofty; Jeremiah more priest-like and grave. Among the saving gifts there is a diversity of graces, though all have all in some measure. The new creature is not maimed, yet some are more eminent, some for one grace some for another. Abraham for faith, Job for patience, Moses for meekness, Timothy for temperance. Every grace working according to the diversity of tempers, some are modest and mild, others bold and zealous; some are mourning for sin, others raised in the admiration of the grace of God in Christ; others exemplary for strictness and weanedness from the delights of the animal life. (T. Manton.)

Hiding, not wasting, Gods trusts

Mark, he not said he did embezzle his talent, as many waste their substance in riotous living, quench brave parts in excess, sin away many precious advantages of ordinances and education and powerful convictions. He did not misemploy his talent, as some do their wealth, others their wit, to scoff at religion, or to put a varnish on the devils cause; their power to oppress and crush the good. The precious gifts that many have, are like the sword in a madmans hand, they use them to hurt and mischief. No such thing is charged upon this evil and naughty servant. Tis fault enough to hide our talents, though we do not abuse them. (T. Manton.)

Modesty not to invalidate talent

It is true that the violet loves the shade, but then it manages to bloom there-to thrive and multiply. It makes itself known by its delicate, agreeable perfume. It does not hide itself in the earth. No flower is more sought for, and in an invalids room none more grateful. There are some Christians like towering cedars, some like branching oaks, some like willows by the water-courses. There are others like spring flowers; they are so modest and bashful that you must seek them and bring them into the light. They much prefer the shade. But, as we none of us live to ourselves, such a disposition must not be looked upon with too much favour. Modesty may become a disease. If a lady is so bashful that she never dare venture into the streets without a thick veil over her features, her sensitiveness of organization must be diseased. So in Christian congregations, there is a reserve about some which needs to be broken down. They never emerge into the daylight. They are timid, full of distrust-a distrust which almost amounts to self-excommunication. Now, the subject which suggested itself to my mind as I read these words was this-The temptation to depreciate small abilities and scanty opportunities. (R. Thomas.)

The increase of talent

A merchant going abroad for a time gave respectively to two of his friends two sacks of wheat each, to take care of, against his return. Years passed; he came back, and applied for them again. The first took him into his Storehouse, and showed him the bags of grain; but they were mildewed and worthless. The other led him out into the open country, and pointed out field after field of waving corn, the produce of the two sacks given to him. Said the merchant, as he gazed, You have indeed been a faithful friend; give me two sacks of that wheat. The rest shall be thine. I leave you to make your own application of the allegory. (R. Thomas.)

The law of use and neglect in the kingdom of heaven

The other day I met with a curious myth illustrative of this point. It comes from the East, from Mohammedanism; but it is very expressive. A tribe of men dwelt on the shores of the Dead Sea. They had forgotten all about truth, and had taken up with lies; and were fast verging towards the saddest possible condition. Whereupon it pleased a kind Providence to send them the prophet Moses with an instructive word of warning. But no-the men of the Dead Sea discovered that there was no comeliness in this Moses-no truth in his words; they received him with scoffs and jeers. Moses withdrew, but the laws of nature did not withdraw. The men of the Dead Sea, says the narrative, when next he visited them, were all changed into apes; sitting on the trees there, grinning now in the most unaffected manner, gibbering and chattering very genuine nonsense. There they sit and chatter to this hour, only, I believe, every Sabbath there returns to them a bewildered, half consciousness, half reminiscence, seeming to have some distant idea that once they were of another order, They made no use of their souls, and so they have lost them. Their worship on the Sabbath now is to roost there, and half remember that they once had souls. There is no little truth in this old Moslem myth. They made no use of their souls, and so have lost them. Brethren, that is Gods law. We keep what we use. We lose what we neglect to use. (R. Thomas.)

The pleasure of small abilities

Why is it not possible for us to acknowledge the abilities God has given to others, and render them their due without our coveting them ourselves? We have none of us been overlooked. If He has not given us the greater, He has given us the less, and if not the less then the least, and for each there is the fit and natural sphere of exercise. It is as much pleasure to the linnet to sing its unpretentious song as for the lark to mount high above the corn fields on a bright sunny morning, and pour down its flood of melody on the earth. It is as much pleasure to the sparrow-hawk to steal along the hedgerows as for the eagle to cleave the sky in the wildest storm. If God has given us small capabilities, He has likewise given us the position adapted to them, and in that position we may find the sweetest pleasure and the greatest usefulness of which we are capable. (R. Thomas.)

Talents for service not ornament

Man is not placed upon the earth merely to be a passive recipient of the favours of heaven. He is here in the capacity of a servant; and what is a servant for if not to serve? Some of us imagine sometimes, I fear, that we are here to occupy a kind of ornamental position in the church. I remember to have read of Oliver Cromwell that, on one occasion he was visiting one of the great churches of our land, and discovered in the niches of one of its side chapels a number of silver statues. What are these? demanded he sternly of the trembling dean who was showing him round the church. Please your highness, was the reply, they are the twelve apostles. The twelve apostles are they? Well take them away at once, and melt them down and coin them into money that, like their Master, they may go about doing good. Such is the mission that God has given to each one of us. The world we live in is not a great play-ground, but a vast harvest field, where every man, each in his own particular sphere, must thrust in the sickle and reap. None of us can say, like those of whom our Saviour speaks, standing in the market-place, No man hath hired me. (R. Morton.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 14. Called his own servants] God never makes the children of men proprietors of his goods. They are formed by his power, and upheld by his bounty; and they hold their lives and their goods, as in many of our ancient tenures, quamdiu domino placuerit – at the will of their Lord.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

There is much the same parable Luk 19:12, but the difference is so great in the narration, and the time, and circumstances, and scope seem so different, that the best expositors think it another, and spoken at another time, though there be much of this in that: I shall therefore leave the consideration of that in Luke, until I meet with it in him, (though some interpreters do think this the same with that), and only consider this, as it is before us in this evangelist. By

the kingdom of heaven, is doubtless here to be understood the economy of Gods providence in his gospel dispensations. The

man travelling into a far country, is Christ ascending up to heaven, who, when he ascended up on high gave gifts unto men, Eph 4:8. By

the goods, which the man is said to have delivered to his servants, are to be understood the gifts which God giveth to men, being himself (as to his glorious presence, and his principal residence, which is in heaven, at a great distance from us) as a man in a far country; for I see no reason to restrain these gifts to such as flow from Christ as Mediator, but rather choose to interpret it generally of all the gifts of God, whether of providence or grace. Whereas it is said, Mat 25:15, that this man divided his goods to his servants unequally,

to one five talents, to another two, to another one, to every man according to his several ability, it signifieth only Gods unequal distribution of his gifts to the sons of men, according to his own good pleasure; which is true both concerning natural parts, as wit, understanding, judgment, memory, as concerning those which the heathens call good things of fortune, as riches, honours, aud dignities; Christians call them the good things of Providence; under which notion also come all acquired habits, or endowments, such as learning, knowledge, moral habits, &c., which though acquired are yet gifts, because it is the same God who gives us power to get wealth, as Moses speaks, Deu 8:18, who also gives men power to get knowledge, and upon study and meditation to comprehend the natures and causes of things, and also to govern and bridle our appetites: or the gifts of more special providence, or distinguishing grace. I take all those powers given to men, by which they are enabled to do good, or to excel others, to come under the notion of the goods here mentioned, which God distributeth unequally according to his own good pleasure, and as seemeth best to his heavenly wisdom, for the government of the world, and the ordering of the affairs of his church; of all which God will have all account one day, and reward men according to the improvement, or no improvement, which they have made of them in their several stations.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

14. For the kingdom ofheaven is as a manThe ellipsis is better suppliedby our translators in the corresponding passage of Mark (Mr13:34), “[For the Son of man is] as a man,” c.,

travelling into a farcountryor more simply, “going abroad.” The idea oflong “tarrying” is certainly implied here, since it isexpressed in Mt 25:19.

who called his own servants,and delivered unto them his goodsBetween master and slavesthis was not uncommon in ancient times. Christ’s “servants”here mean all who, by their Christian profession, stand in therelation to Him of entire subjection. His “goods” mean alltheir gifts and endowments, whether original or acquired, natural orspiritual. As all that slaves have belongs to their master, so Christhas a claim to everything which belongs to His people, everythingwhich, may be turned to good, and He demands its appropriation to Hisservice, or, viewing it otherwise, they first offer it up to Him asbeing “not their own, but bought with a price” (1Co 6:19;1Co 6:20), and He “deliversit to them” again to be put to use in His service.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For [the kingdom of heaven] is as a man travelling,…. Our Lord adds another parable to illustrate the Gospel dispensation, or its visible church state; or the state of things respecting the church of Christ, before, and at his second coming, and during the interval between his ascension and that: for by the man here, is meant Christ, who in the everlasting covenant agreed to become man, was prophesied of as such, frequently appeared in human form, under the Old Testament dispensation; and in the fulness of time, really became man; though he was not a mere man, but was God as well as man; having all the perfections and fulness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in him: this man is said to travel

into a far country; by which heaven is designed, and is so called, not only because of its great distance from the earth, and which is very great indeed; but because the better country and land afar off, is out of sight; and what views we have of it, are very distant ones; and is afar off, in respect of our state of pilgrimage in this world, in which, whilst Christ was here, he was a pilgrim and a stranger too; who might be said to be as a “man travelling”, whilst he was in it, and when going out of it, and ascending to heaven: he came from thence, and stayed here a while, walking up and down, and doing good; and when he had finished what he came about, he ascended on high, went to his God and Father, entered into heaven, where he is received until the times of the restitution of all things:

who called his own servants; before he took his journey, to commit some things to their trust and management; and to give them some instructions how to behave during his absence: for, according to the Jewish u canons,

“a master that had a mind to go out of the land (of Israel) could not take his servant with him, unless he pleased; and this is a rule at all times, even at this time, that the land is in the hand of the Gentiles.”

And here no mention is made of any going with him, only how they were to be employed whilst he was gone: by “his own servants” are meant, not all mankind; for though they are all in some sense his servants, or ought to be, yet they are not so called in Scripture, much less with such an emphasis, his own servants; and besides, more than what are in the kingdom of heaven, or Gospel church state, cannot be intended; since the parable reaches to, and concerns no other: nor all the elect of God only, or all are not the elect of God that are designed; for though these are the servants of Christ, and his own peculiarly, yet all intrusted with talents, are not such; one of these was wicked, slothful, graceless, and at last was eternally lost, and perished; which is not true of anyone of the elect: but ministers of the word are here meant, who are eminently the servants of Christ, his own, whom he has called, qualified, commissioned, and sent forth; for the ministers of the word, whether faithful or slothful, good or bad, are in a very lively manner described in this parable, which is a distinct one from the former; for whereas that gives an account of the different members of the visible church, this describes the several ministers of it: nor can it be any objection to this sense of it, that these servants are all of them said to be his own servants, and called, commissioned, and gifted by him; since Judas, as well as the rest, was called, ordained, qualified, and sent forth by Christ, as an apostle.

And delivered unto them his goods; the Gospel, that rich treasure of divine truths, the dispensation of it, and gifts to preach it; all which are Christ’s goods and his gifts, and not man’s; and which was in a very eminent manner done, when Christ ascended on high, and received gifts for, and gave them unto men. Just before it, as he was ready to go, he gathered his disciples together; he renewed and enlarged their commission to preach the Gospel; and quickly after it, gave them greater and larger gifts of the Spirit than before; and has been ever since giving ministerial gifts to men, to some more, others less, and which are signified by the talents following.

u Maimon. Hilch. Abadim, c. 8. sect. 9.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Parable of the Talents.

      14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.   15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.   16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.   17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.   18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.   19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.   20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.   21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.   22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.   23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.   24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:   25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.   26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:   27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.   28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.   29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.   30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

      We have here the parable of the talents committed to three servants; this implies that we are in a state of work and business, as the former implies that we are in a state of expectancy. That showed the necessity of habitual preparation, this of actual diligence in our present work and service. In that we were stirred up to do well for our own souls; in this to lay out ourselves for the glory of God and the good of others.

      In this parable, 1. The Master is Christ, who is the absolute Owner and Proprietor of all persons and things, and in a special manner of his church; into his hands all things are delivered. 2. The servants are Christians, his own servants, so they are called; born in his house, bought with his money, devoted to his praise, and employed in his work. It is probable that ministers are specially intended here, who are more immediately attending on him, and sent by him. St. Paul often calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. See 2 Tim. ii. 24.

      We have three things, in general, in this parable.

      I. The trust committed to these servants; Their master delivered to them his goods: having appointed them to work (for Christ keeps no servants to be idle), he left them something to work upon. Note, 1. Christ’s servants have and receive their all from him; for they are of themselves worth nothing, nor have any thing they can call their own but sin. 2. Our receiving from Christ is in order to our working for him. Our privileges are intended to find us with business. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 3. Whatever we receive to be made use of for Christ, still the property is vested in him; we are but tenants upon his land, stewards of his manifold grace, 1 Pet. iv. 10. Now observe here,

      (1.) On what occasion this trust was committed to these servants: The master was travelling into a far country. This is explained, Eph. iv. 8. When he ascended on high, he gave gifts to men. Note, [1.] When Christ went to heaven, he was as a man travelling into a far country; that is, he went with a purpose to be away a great while. [2.] When he went, he took care to furnish his church with all things necessary for it during his personal absence. For, and in consideration of, his departure, he committed to his church truths, laws, promises and powers; these were the parakatatheke—the great depositum (as it is called, 1Ti 6:20; 2Ti 1:14), the good thing that is committed to us; and he sent his Spirit to enable his servants to teach and profess those truths, to press and observe those laws, to improve and apply those promises, and to exercise and employ those powers, ordinary or extraordinary. Thus Christ, at his ascension, left his goods to his church.

      (2.) In what proportion this trust was committed. [1.] He gave talents; a talent of silver is computed to be in our money three hundred and fifty-three pounds eleven shillings and ten pence halfpenny; so the learned Bishop Cumberland. Note, Christ’s gifts are rich and valuable, the purchases of his blood inestimable, and none of them mean. [2.] He gave to some more, to others less; to one five talents, to another two, to another one; to every one according to his several ability. When Divine Providence has made a difference in men’s ability, as to mind, body, estate, relation, and interest, divine grace dispenses spiritual gifts accordingly, but still the ability itself is from him. Observe, First, Every one had some one talent at least, and that is not a despicable stock for a poor servant to begin with. A soul of our own is the one talent we are every one of us entrusted with, and it will find us with work. Hoc nempe ab homine exigiture, ut prosit hominibus; si fieri potest, multis; si minus, paucis; si minus, proximis, si minus, sibi: nam cum se utilem cteris efficit, commune agit negotium. Et si quis bene de se meretur, hoc ipso aliis prodest quod aliis profuturum parat–It is the duty of a man to render himself beneficial to those around him; to a great number if possible; but if this is denied him, to a few; to his intimate connections; or, at least, to himself. He that is useful to others, may be reckoned a common good. And whoever entitles himself to his own approbation, is serviceable to others, as forming himself to those habits which will result in their favour. Seneca de Otio Sapient. Secondly, All had not alike, for they had not all alike abilities and opportunities. God is a free Agent, dividing to every man severally as he will; some are cut out for service in one kind, others in another, as the members of the natural body. When the householder had thus settled his affairs, he straightway took his journey. Our Lord Jesus, when he had given commandments to his apostles, as one in haste to be gone, went to heaven.

      II. The different management and improvement of this trust, which we have an account of, v. 16-18.

      1. Two of the servants did well.

      (1.) They were diligent and faithful; They went, and traded; they put the money they were entrusted with, to the use for which it was intended–laid it out in goods, and made returns of it; as soon as ever their master was gone, they immediately applied themselves to their business. Those that have so much work to do, as every Christian has, need to set about it quickly, and lose not time. They went, and traded. Note, A true Christian is a spiritual tradesman. Trades are called mysteries, and without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; it is a manufacture trade; there is something to be done by upon our own hearts, and for the good of others. It is a merchant-trade; things of less value to us are parted with for things of greater value; wisdom’s merchandize,Pro 3:15; Mat 13:45. A tradesman is one who, having made his trade his choice, and taken pains to learn it, makes it his business to follow it, lays out all he has for the advancement of it, makes all other affairs bend to it, and lives upon the gain of it. Thus does a true Christian act in the work of religion; we have no stock of our own to trade with, but trade as factors with our master’s stock. The endowments of the mind–reason, wit, learning, must be used in subserviency to religion; the enjoyments of the world–estate, credit, interest, power, preferment, must be improved for the honour of Christ. The ordinances of the gospel, and our opportunities of attending them, bibles, ministers, sabbaths, sacraments, must be improved for the end for which they were instituted, and communion with God kept up by them, and the gifts and graces of the Spirit must be exercised; and this is trading with our talents.

      (2.) They were successful; they doubled their stock, and in a little time made cent. per cent. of it: he that had five talents, soon made them other five. Trading with our talents is not alway successful with others, but, however, it shall be so to ourselves, Isa. xlix. 4. Note, The hand of the diligent makes rich in graces, and comforts, and treasures of good works. There is a great deal to be got by industry in religion.

      Observe, The returns were in proportion to the receivings. [1.] From those to whom God hath given five talents, he expects the improvement of five, and to reap plentifully where he sows plentifully. The greater gifts any have, the more pains they ought to take, as those must that have a large stock to manage. [2.] From those to whom he has given but two talents, he expects only the improvement of two, which may encourage those who are placed in a lower and narrower sphere of usefulness; if they lay out themselves to do good according to the best of their capacity and opportunity, they shall be accepted, though they do not so much good as others.

      2. The third did ill (v. 18); He that had received one talent, went, and hid his lord’s money. Though the parable represents but one in three unfaithful, yet in a history that answers this parable, we find the disproportion quite the other way, when ten lepers were cleansed, nine of ten hid the talent, and only one returned to give thanks,Luk 17:17; Luk 17:18. The unfaithful servant was he that had but one talent: doubtless there are many that have five talents, and bury them all; great abilities, great advantages, and yet do no good with them: but Christ would hint to us, (1.) That if he that had but one talent, be reckoned with thus for burying that one, much more will they be accounted offenders, that have more, that have many, and bury them. If he that was but of small capacity, was cast into utter darkness because he did not improve what he had as he might have done, of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, that tramples underfoot the greatest advantages? (2.) That those who have least to do for God, frequently do least of what they have to do. Some make it an excuse for their laziness, that they have not the opportunities of serving God that others have; and because they have not wherewithal to do what they say they would, they will not do what we are sure they can, and so sit down and do nothing; it is really an aggravation of their sloth, that when they have but one talent to take care about, they neglect that one.

      He digged in the earth, and hid the talent, for fear it should be stolen; he did not misspend or misemploy it, did not embezzle it or squander it away, but he hid it. Money is like manure (so my Lord Bacon used to say,) good for nothing in the heap, but it must be spread; yet it is an evil which we have often seen under the sun, treasure heaped together (Jas 5:3; Ecc 6:1; Ecc 6:2), which does good to nobody; and so it is in spiritual gifts; many have them, and make no use of them for the end for which they were given them. Those that have estates, and do not lay them out in works of piety and charity; that have power and interest, and do not with it promote religion in the places where they live; ministers that have capacities and opportunities of doing good, but do not stir up the gift that is in them, are those slothful servants that seek their own things more than Christ’s.

      He hid his lord’s money; had it been his own, he might have done as he pleased; but, whatever abilities and advantages we have, they are not our own, we are but stewards of them, and must give account to our Lord, whose goods they are. It was an aggravation of his slothfulness, that his fellow-servants were busy and successful in trading, and their zeal should have provoked his. Are others active, and shall we be idle?

      III. The account of this improvement, v. 19. 1. The account is deferred; it is not till after a long time that they are reckoned with; not that the master neglects his affairs, or that God is slack concerning his promise (2 Pet. iii. 9); no, he is ready to judge (1 Pet. iv. 5); but every thing must be done in its time and order. 2. Yet the day of account comes at last; The lord of those servants reckoneth with them. Note, The stewards of the manifold grace of God must shortly give account of their stewardship. We must all be reckoned with–what good we have got to our own souls, and what good we have done to others by the advantages we have enjoyed. See Rom 14:10; Rom 14:11. Now here is,

      (1.) The good account of the faithful servants; and here observe,

      [1.] The servants giving up the account (Mat 25:20; Mat 25:22); “Lord, thou deliveredst to me five talents, and to me two; behold, I have gained five talents, and I two talents more.“

      First, Christ’s faithful servants acknowledge with thankfulness his vouchsafements to them; Lord, thou deliveredst to me such and such things. Note, 1. It is good to keep a particular account of our receivings from God, to remember what we have received, that we may know what is expected from us, and may render according to the benefit. 2. We must never look upon our improvements but with a general mention of God’s favour to us, of the honour he has put upon us, in entrusting us with his goods, and of that grace which is the spring and fountain of all the good that is in us or is done by us. For the truth is, the more we do for God, the more we are indebted to him for making use of us, and enabling us, for his service.

      Secondly, They produce, as an evidence of their faithfulness, what they have gained. Note, God’s good stewards have something to show for their diligence; Show me thy faith by thy works. He that is a good man, let him show it, Jam. iii. 13. If we be careful in our spiritual trade, it will soon be seen by us, and our works will follow us, Rev. xiv. 13. Not that the saints will in the great day make mention of their own good deeds; no, Christ will do that for them (v. 35); but it intimates that they who faithfully improve their talents, shall have boldness in the day of Christ, 1 John ii. 28-iv. 17. And it is observable that he who had but two talents, gave up his account as cheerfully as he who had five; for our comfort, in the day of account, will be according to our faithfulness, not according to our usefulness; our sincerity, not our success; according to the uprightness of our hearts, not according to the degree of our opportunities.

      [2.] The master’s acceptance and approbation of their account, Mat 25:21; Mat 25:23.

      First, He commended them; Well done, good and faithful servant. Note, The diligence and integrity of those who approve themselves the good and faithful servants of Jesus Christ, will certainly be found to praise, and honour, and glory, at his appearing, 1 Pet. i. 7. Those that own and honour God now, he will own and honour shortly. 1. Their persons will be accepted; Thou good and faithful servant. He that knows the integrity of his servants now, will witness to it in the great day; and they that are found faithful, shall be called so. Perhaps they were censured by men, as righteous overmuch; but Christ will give them their just characters, of good and faithful. 2. Their performances will be accepted; Well done. Christ will call those, and those only, good servants, that have done well; for it is by patient continuance in well-doing that we seek for this glory and honour; and if we seek, we shall find; if we do that which is good, and do it well, we shall have praise of the same. Some masters are so morose, that they will not commend their servants, though they do their work ever so well; it is thought enough not to chide: but Christ will commend his servants that do well; whether their praise be of men or not, it is of him; and if we have the good word of our Master, the matter is not great what our fellow-servants say of us; if he saith, Well done, we are happy, and it should then be a small thing to us to be judged of men’s judgment; as, on the contrary, not he who commendeth himself, or whom his neighbours commend, is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

      Secondly, He rewards them. The faithful servants of Christ shall not be put off with bare commendation; no, all their work and labour of love shall be rewarded.

      Now this reward is here expressed two ways.

      1. In one expression agreeable to the parable; Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. It is usual in the courts of princes, and families of great men, to advance those to higher offices, that have been faithful in lower. Note, Christ is a master that will prefer his servants who acquit themselves well. Christ has honour in store for those that honour him–a crown (2 Tim. iv. 8), a throne (Rev. iii. 21), a kingdom, ch. xxv. 34. Here they are beggars; in heaven they shall be rulers. The upright shall have dominion: Christ’s servants are all princes.

      Observe the disproportion between the work and the reward; there are but few things in which the saints are serviceable to the glory of God, but there are many things wherein they shall be glorified with God. What charge we receive from God, what work we do for God in this world, is but little, very little, compared with the joy set before us. Put together all our service, all our sufferings, all our improvements, all the good we do to others, all we get to ourselves, and they are but a few things, next to nothing, not worthy to be compared, not fit to be named the same day with the glory to be revealed.

      2. In another expression, which slips out of the parable into the thing signified by it; Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Note, (1.) The state of the blessed is a state of joy, not only because all tears shall then be wiped away, but all the springs of comfort shall be opened to them, and the fountains of joy broken up. Where there are the vision and fruition of God, a perfection of holiness, and the society of the blessed, there cannot but be a fulness of joy. (2.) This joy is the joy of their Lord; the joy which he himself has purchased and provided for them; the joy of the redeemed, bought with the sorrow of the Redeemer. It is the joy which he himself is in the possession of, and which he had his eye upon when he endured the cross, and despised the shame, Heb. xii. 2. It is the joy of which he himself is the fountain and centre. It is the joy of our Lord, for it is joy in the Lord, who is our exceeding joy. Abraham was not willing that the steward of his house, though faithful, should be his heir (Gen. xv. 3); but Christ admits his faithful stewards into his own joy, to be joint-heirs with him. (3.) Glorified saints shall enter into this joy, shall have a full and complete possession of it, as the heir when he comes of age enters upon his estate, or as they that were ready, went in to the marriage feast. Here the joy of our Lord enters into the saints, in the earnest of the Spirit; shortly they shall enter into it, shall be in it to eternity, as in their element.

      (2.) The bad account of the slothful servant. Observe,

      [1.] His apology for himself, Mat 25:24; Mat 25:25. Though he had received but one talent, for that one he is called to account. The smallness of our receiving will not excuse us from a reckoning. None shall be called to an account for more than they have received; but for what we have, we must all account.

      Observe, First, What he confides in. He comes to the account with a deal of assurance, relying on the plea he had to put in, that he was able to say, “Lo, there thou hast that is thine; if I have not made it more, as the others have done, yet this I can say, I have not made it less.” This, he thinks, may serve to bring him off, if not with praise, yet with safety.

      Note, Many a one goes very securely to judgment, presuming upon the validity of a plea that will be overruled as vain and frivolous. Slothful professors, that are afraid of doing too much for God, yet hope to come off as well as those that take so much pains in religion. Thus the sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason, Prov. xxvi. 16. This servant thought that his account would pass well enough, because he could say, There thou hast that is thine. “Lord, I was no spendthrift of my estate, no prodigal of my time, no profaner of my sabbaths, no opposer of good ministers and good preaching; Lord, I never ridiculed my bible, nor set my wits to work to banter religion, nor abused my power to persecute any good man; I never drowned my parts, nor wasted God’s good creatures in drunkenness and gluttony, nor ever to my knowledge did I injury to any body.” Many that are called Christians, build great hopes for heaven upon their being able to make such an account; yet all this amounts to no more than there thou hast that is thine; as if no more were required, or could be expected.

      Secondly, What he confesses. He owns the burying of his talent; I hid thy talent in the earth. He speaks as if that were no great fault; nay, as if he deserved praise for his prudence in putting it in a safe place, and running no hazards with it. Note, It is common for people to make a very light matter of that which will be their condemnation in the great day. Or, if he was conscious to himself that it was his fault, it intimates how easily slothful servants will be convicted in the judgment; there will need no great search for proof, for their own tongues shall fall upon them.

      Thirdly, What he makes his excuse; I knew that thou were a hard man, and I was afraid. Good thought of God would beget love, and that love would make us diligent and faithful; but hard thoughts of God beget fear, and that fear makes us slothful and unfaithful. His excuse bespeaks,

      1. The sentiments of an enemy; I knew thee, that thou art a hard man. This was like that wicked saying of the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal, Ezek. xviii. 25. Thus his defence is his offence. The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and then, as if that would mend the matter, his heart fretteth against the Lord. This is covering the transgression, as Adam, who implicitly laid the fault on God himself; The woman which thou gavest me. Note, Carnal hearts are apt to conceive false and wicked opinions concerning God, and with them to harden themselves in their evil ways. Observe how confidently he speaks; I knew thee to be so. How could he know him to be so? What iniquity have we or our fathers found in him? Jer. ii. 5. Wherein has he wearied us with his work, or deceived us in his wages? Mic. vi. 3. Has he been a wilderness to us, or a land of darkness? Thus long God has governed the world, and may ask with more reason than Samuel himself could, Whom have I defrauded? or whom have I oppressed? Does not all the world know the contrary, that he is so far from being a hard master, that the earth is full of his goodness, so far from reaping where he sowed not, that he sows a great deal where he reaps nothing? For he causes the sun to shine, and his rain to fall, upon the evil and unthankful, and fills their hearts with food and gladness who say to the Almighty, Depart from us. This suggestion bespeaks the common reproach which wicked people cast upon God, as if all the blame of their sin and ruin lay at his door, for denying them his grace; whereas it is certain that never any who faithfully improved the common grace they had, perished for want of special grace; nor can any show what could in reason have been done more for an unfruitful vineyard than God has done in it. God does not demand brick, and deny straw; no, whatever is required in the covenant, is promised in the covenant; so that if we perish, it is owing to ourselves.

      2. The spirit of a slave; I was afraid, This ill affection toward God arose from his false notions of him; and nothing is more unworthy of God, nor more hinders our duty to him, than slavish fear. This has bondage and torment, and is directly opposite to that entire love which the great commandment requires. Note, Hard thoughts of God drive us from, and cramp us in his service. Those who think it impossible to please him, and in vain to serve him, will do nothing to purpose in religion.

      [2.] His Lord’s answer to this apology. His plea will stand him in no stead, it is overruled, nay, it is made to turn against him, and he is struck speechless with it; for here we have his conviction and his condemnation.

      First, His conviction, Mat 25:26; Mat 25:27. Two things he is convicted of.

      1. Slothfulness; Thou wicked and slothful servant. Note, Slothful servants are wicked servants, and will be reckoned with as such by their master, for he that is slothful in his work, and neglects the good that God has commanded, is brother to him that is a great waster, by doing the evil that God has forbidden, Prov. xviii. 9. He that is careless in God’s work, is near akin to him that is busy in the devil’s work. Satis est mali nihil fecisse boni–To do no good is to incur very serious blame. Omissions are sins, and must come into judgment; slothfulness makes way for wickedness; all become filthy, for there is none that doeth good, Ps. xiv. 3. When the house is empty, the unclean spirit takes possession. Those that are idle in the affairs of their souls, are not only idle, but something worse, 1 Tim. v. 13. When men sleep, the enemy sows tares.

      2. Self-contradiction (Mat 25:26; Mat 25:27); Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers. Note, The hard thoughts which sinners have of God, though false and unjust, will be so far from justifying their wickedness and slothfulness, that they will rather aggravate and add to their guilt. Three ways this may be taken; (1.) “Suppose I had been so hard a master, shouldest not thou therefore have been the more diligent and careful to please me, if not for love, yet for fear, and for that reason oughtest not thou to have minded thy work?” If our God is a consuming fire, in consideration of that let us study how to serve him. Or thus, (2.) “If thou didst think me to be a hard master, and therefore durst not trade with the money thyself, for fear of losing by it, and being made to stand to the loss, yet thou mightest have put it into the hands of the exchangers, or goldsmith, mightest have brought it into the bank, and then at my coming, if I could not have had the greater improvement, by trade and merchandize (as of the other talents), yet I might have had the less improvement, of bare interest, and should have received my own with usury;” which, it seems, was a common practice at that time, and not disallowed by our Saviour. Note, If we could not, or durst not, do what we would, yet that excuse will not serve, when it will be made to appear that we did not do what we could and durst. If we could not find in our hearts to venture upon more difficult and hazardous services, yet will that justify us in shrinking from those that were more safe and easy? Something is better than nothing; if we fail of showing our courage in bold enterprises, yet we must not fail to testify our good will in honest endeavours; and our Master will not despise the day of small things. Or thus, (3.) “Suppose I did reap where I sowed not, yet that is nothing to thee, for I had sowed upon thee, and the talent was my money which thou wast entrusted with, not only to keep, but to improve.” Note, In the day of account, wicked and slothful servants will be left quite without excuse; frivolous pleas will be overruled, and every mouth will be stopped; and those who now stand so much upon their own justification will not have one word to say for themselves.

      Secondly, His condemnation. The slothful servant is sentenced,

      1. To be deprived of his talent (Mat 25:28; Mat 25:29); Take therefore the talent from him. The talents were first disposed of by the Master, as an absolute Owner, but this was now disposed of by him as a Judge; he takes it from the unfaithful servant, to punish him, and gives it to him that was eminently faithful, to reward him. And the meaning of this part of the parable we have in the reason of the sentence (v. 29), To every one that hath shall be given. This may be applied, (1.) To the blessings of this life–worldly wealth and possessions. These we are entrusted with, to be used for the glory of God, and the good of those about us. Now he that hath these things, and useth them for these ends, he shall have abundance; perhaps abundance of the things themselves, at least, abundance of comfort in them, and of better things; but from him that hath not, that is, that hath these things as if he had them not, had not power to eat of them, or to do good with (Avaro deest, tam quod habet, quam quod non habet–The miser may be considered as destitute of what he has, as well as of what he has not), they shall be taken away. Solomon explains this, Prov. xi. 24. There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty. Giving to the poor is trading with what we have, and the returns will be rich; it will multiply the meal in the barrel, and the oil in the cruse: but those that are sordid, and niggardly, and uncharitable, will find that those riches which are so got, perish by evil travail,Ecc 5:13; Ecc 5:14. Sometimes Providence strangely transfers estates from those that do no good with them to those that do; they are gathered for him that will pity the poor, Prov. xxviii. 8. See Pro 13:22; Job 27:16; Job 27:17; Ecc 2:26. (2.) We may apply it to the means of grace. They who are diligent in improving the opportunities they have, God will enlarge them, will set before them an open door (Rev. iii. 8); but they who know not the day of their visitation, shall have the things that belong to their peace hid from their eyes. For proof of this, go see what God did to Shiloh, Jer. vii. 12. (3.) We may apply it to the common gifts of the Spirit. He that hath these, and doeth good with them, shall have abundance; these gifts improve by exercise, and brighten by being used; the more we do, the more we may do, in religion; but those who stir not up the gift that is in them, who do not exert themselves according to their capacity, their gifts rust, and decay, and go out like a neglected fire. From his that hath not a living principle of grace in his soul, shall be taken away the common gifts which he hath, as the lamps of the foolish virgins went out for want of oil, v. 8. Thus the arm of the idle shepherd, which he had sluggishly folded up in his bosom, comes to be dried up, and his right eye, which he had carelessly or wilfully shut, becomes utterly darkened, as it is threatened, Zech. xi. 17.

      2. He is sentenced to be cast into outer darkness, v. 30. Here,

      (1.) His character is that of an unprofitable servant. Note, Slothful servants will be reckoned with as unprofitable servants, who do nothing to the purpose of their coming into the world, nothing to answer the end of their birth or baptism, who are no way serviceable to the glory of God, the good of others, or the salvation of their own souls. A slothful servant is a withered member in the body, a barren tree in the vineyard, an idle drone in the hive, he is good for nothing. In one sense, we are all unprofitable servants (Luke xvii. 10); we cannot profit God, Job xxii. 2. But to others, and to ourselves, it is required that we be profitable; if we be not, Christ will not own us as his servants: it is not enough not to do hurt, but we must do good, must bring forth fruit, and though thereby God is not profited, yet he is glorified, John xv. 8.

      (2.) His doom is, to be cast into outer darkness. Here, as in what was said to the faithful servants, our Saviour slides insensibly out of the parable into the thing intended by it, and it serves as a key to the whole; for, outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, is, in Christ’s discourses, the common periphrasis of the miseries of the damned in hell. Their state is, [1.] Very dismal; it is outer darkness. Darkness is uncomfortable and frightful: it was one of the plagues of Egypt. In hell there are chains of darkness, 2 Pet. ii. 4. In the dark no man can work, a fit punishment for a slothful servant. It is outer darkness, out from the light of heaven, out from the joy of their Lord, into which the faithful servants were admitted; out from the feast. Compare Mat 8:12; Mat 22:13. [2.] Very doleful; there is weeping, which bespeaks great sorrow, and gnashing of teeth, which bespeaks great vexation and indignation. This will be the portion of the slothful servant.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Going into another country (). About to go away from one’s people (), on the point of going abroad. This word in ancient use in this sense. There is an ellipse here that has to be supplied,

It is as when or

The kingdom of heaven is as when . This Parable of the Talents is quite similar to the Parable of the Pounds in Lu 19:11-28, but they are not variations of the same story. Some scholars credit Jesus with very little versatility.

His goods ( ). His belongings, neuter participle used as a substantive.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Travelling [] . The sense is more nearly about to travel, like our going abroad.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

DIVINE ESTIMATES OF MEN AND JUDGMENT IN JUSTICE

Mat 25:14-46.

CHRIST was prophesying His own departure. He was foretelling the period of probation in which His servants, with greater or less talents, should be tested; and He was picturing the time of His Return, and the basis upon which He would pronounce His judgments of commendation or condemnation. But, running through this talent parable is another thought, woven into it as the scarlet line is woven into the cordage of the English navy; and that thought is the Masters method of estimating men; and that thought I want first to elaborate, and then conclude with the judgment declaration.

Perhaps this can best be done by considering some of the plainest suggestions of the talent parable first.

SPECIAL GIFTS INDICATE GODS ESTIMATE OF A MAN.

For the Kingdom of Heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods;

And unto one he gave five talents; to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability (Mat 25:14-15)

God recognizes natural abilities. To every man according to his several ability. God is not responsible for the natural abilities of men. There is a theological opinion to the effect that God is the direct and only author of every man, for which there is no scriptural basis. God created Adam and Eve, but at the same time He ordained a law, which covered not alone the vegetable and lower animal kingdom, but also the human, when He said, let the earth bring forth a living creature after his kind. When Adam and Eve had sinned, and through transgression of law made it possible for every child to say with the Psalmist, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me, they put an end to the Divine responsibility for the natural man. As Dr. Hillis, in A Mans Value to Society, says, A mans original capital comes through his ancestry. Nature invests the grandsires ability and compounds it for the grandson. Plato says, The child is a charioteer driving two steeds up the long life hill. One steed is white, representing our best impulses; one steed is dark, standing for our worse passions. Who gave these steeds their color? Our fathers, Plato replies. And Plato is scriptural, for it is the law of life that it should bring forth after its kind. Oliver Wendell Holmes was giving us sound philosophy when he declared that a mans value was, to a great extent, determined one hundred years before his birth. And when you find out that there is some deficiency in your life that affects evilly body, mind or spirit, dont rail at God for having made you so; for God created your first father perfect, and any deficiencies that have come into the human race to deface the body, degrade the mind, destroy the soul, have been brought there, either through the law of inheritance or by some other will or power than that of the infinitely wise and affectionate Father. Our fathers have sinned and are not, and we have borne their iniquities (Lam 5:7).

In His gifts of grace, God regards natural abilities.

Unto one He gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability. We sometimes wonder why the world has in it so few of Gods great men; why it should take fifteen centuries to bring forth a Luther, and the same for a Savonarola; why in all England there should be but one Spurgeon, and in all America but one Moody. If one reasons that these men were great solely on account of what grace did for them, he is compelled to ask, Why does God limit His grace to so few when the world is in such dying need? But if one remembers that God makes natural abilities the medium of His grace, we have an explanation of why few are great. The most of us belong to the two-talent company. There are few men who become millionaires, and only a few who die of starvation. There are few men who are sages and only a few who are fools. There are few men who do great things for God, and only a few of His professed followers who refuse to do anything whatsoever for Him. The middle-class are the overwhelming majorityneither rich nor poor, but enjoying a competency; neither scholarly nor unlettered, but possessed of the average modicum of learning; neither apostles of the Pauline order, nor yet apostates of the Demas makeup, but mediocre Christians instead; and the reason is they are mediocre men and mediocre women.

Phillips Brooks says, Sometimes when we let it crowd itself upon us, this fact of the predominance of mediocracy, or of the average in life, becomes oppressive. It seems to level life into a great broad, flat, dreary plain. We cannot get rid of such oppression and the demoralization which it brings, by simply denying or ignoring the fact of the preponderance of mediocracy. Only by redeeming mediocracy in our own and other mens esteem; only by asserting and believing that the man of two talents has a great place and a great chance in the world; only so can we restore the healthy thought of life which the first sight of his numerousness disturbs. If, therefore, any of us are tempted to complain because we have not more talents, we do well to ask what use we are making of the talents we have. God expresses His estimate of a man by the gifts of His grace to a man, and that estimate is always commensurate, exactly commensurate with a mans ability and disposition. He knows who can use five talents and who will use them wisely and well, and when He finds a Spurgeon, He bestows them; or a Moody, He puts them upon him. When He finds a Peter Cooper, or a James Lennox, He honors the business man above the preacher, because He sees that He can be made the best medium of blessing to his fellows. And God, in His measure of a man, never makes a mistake. If, therefore, a one of us comes short of belonging to the five-talent company, it is not because Gods grace is limited, but because mans ability is circumscribed and the uses to which he will put divinely-imparted talents are known to God.

In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour and some to dishonour.

If a man, therefore, purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work (2Ti 2:20-21).

Gods special gifts are always for Divinely-appointed purposes. The purpose of the lord of our text, in giving to his servants talents, was that they might trade with them and increase them, so that when he came he might have his own with the increase.

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ;

Wherefore, He saith, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men; * *

And He gave some apostles, and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph 4:7-12).

God never bestowed a special gift upon a man that he might employ it to sensual or selfish ends. If God gives a man the ability to make money, the man ought to use it for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ. If God gives a man a talent for scholarship, he has no right to search the realm of science and ignore that of the Spirit; to use it in the upbuilding of the minds of his fellows, while leaving their souls untaught. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, and it is not his personal profit, but the profit of his lord for which he should labor. Have we not been impressed with the fact that the world has very few singerspeople to whom a voice for the expression of music has been given. And if we ever ask why they are so few it will be found that, if the two talent singers of this country should make use of this gift from God for His glory, we would shortly have a multitude of four-talent singers instead; or, if the one-talent singers, instead of hiding their little abilities away, imagining that they can best keep it by not using it, they might become possessed of at least two-talents, and return to the Lord His own with increase. One reason why the Welsh people have such excellent voices, as a rule, is that the whole Welsh Church sings.

We never look into the face of a person to whom God has given an ability to sing, but we covet his talent for Christs sake; and if we find that he is unwilling to employ it in the service of the Christ, it fills us at once with sadness and fear; fear lest it should be taken from him, and sadness that such a Divine gift should be appropriated only to selfish uses, or remain altogether unemployed.

One night, many years ago in Chicago, a young tenor singer from the East was being shown about the city by a Chicago friend. During the day he had looked at the Board of Trade, the Auditorium, and a number of wholesale establishments. This night the friend was giving him a glimpse of the other side of city life where sin held high carnival. In one place they found a number of people singing ribald songs, and when these strangers entered, they called out to them to sing. In his distant home he had made himself familiar with sacred music and with that alone. He knew what they expected, but he determined to stand by his principles, and so in clear sweet tones Jesus Lover of My Soul floated out over the rough crowd. When he finished it, there was a clicking of glasses and an encore and they shouted, sing again, and he responded with

Nearer my God to Thee,Nearer to Thee,Een though it be a cross That raiseth me.Still all my song shall beNearer my God to Thee,Nearer to Thee.

Before he finished drunken men were beginning to sober. That night there were many surprised mothers, and sweetly surprised wives and children, because under the spell, son, husband and father quit the saloon and went home sober.

I have preached as best I could and pled with men to the utmost of my ability that they might accept Jesus and be saved, to see my pleadings come to naught; and after the sermon I have seen another stand up and sing and melt to tenderness the hearts which had been too hard for my preaching; and I never hear one make such a use of this talent without feeling afresh the fact that Gods special gifts are for spiritual purposes.

DIVINE ENDOWMENT MEASURES HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY.

On one occasion Jesus said, Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required. When a man has received five talents, he must account for five talents; when a man has received two talents, he must account for two talents; and when a man has received one talent, he will be called to account for that one only.

Neither nature nor grace talent men alike. The race of man is unequal from the first. Nature knows no such thing as identical twins. Jacob and Esau may be born at the same time, but in physical and mental characteristics they are utterly unlikeone a domestic lad, the other a child of the field; one handsome, the other homely; one cunning and deceptive, the other generous and frank. It would have been impossible for Jacob to have followed Esaus career, and equally impossible for Esau to fill up the Jacobic measure of the man. It seems to me that we are prone to forget this fact. We have followed the preamble to the constitution of the United States, all men are born free and equal, forgetting that that document is not divinely inspired. Only a few men are born free, and no men are born equal. I used to have in my church a young man who had worked his way up from sexton to sovereign, from office-boy to first officer in a large business. When, during the great strike in Chicago, precipitated by the Pullman troubles, I expressed sympathy with working men, he replied, Their condition is their own fault. I began as poor as any of them, but I have made my way up; why cannot they do the same? Of course, he forgot that they did not have his father for their father, and his father was a brainy man. Of course, he forgot that they did not have the training of his mother, and his mother was a wise and gentle woman. In other words, he forgot that they were inferior from birth, and never had the latent powers which were bound up in his babyhood, and which in their unfoldings lifted him into larger mental, larger social, and larger financial spheres. It is easy enough for the great statesman to ask why the little politicians do not do as he does; for the great poets to ask why the poorer writers of verse put forth such productions; for the millionaire to ask why the poverty stricken have not made money; for the peerless preacher to condemn the humble minister as indolent and indifferent; but, after all, the easy speech may be a very unjust one, and the two-talented man may be just as faithful, and of his abilities making even better use than the ten-talented man, for Nature does not talent men alike: To one she gives five, another two, and another one.

And grace follows the lines of nature. The parable of the sower is a perfect illustration of this thought,

Behold, a sower went forth to sow: and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away:

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. * * *

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

When any one heareth the Word of the Kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside.

But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the Word, and anon with joy receiveth it.

Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the Word, by and by he is offended.

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the Word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the Word, and he becometh unfruitful.

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word, and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty (Mat 13:3-8; Mat 13:18-23).

Abilitynatural and spiritualis the measure of responsibility. Evidently, here, the Master expected a return from these servants proportionate to what they had received. When the five-talent man shows an increase of five talents, he is commended and advanced; when the two-talent man shows an increase of two talents, he receives equal commendation and similar advancement. The Lord was as well pleased with him, evidently, as with his more prosperous brother. If the one-talent man had only made a commensurate use of his one-talent, doubling it, the same encomium would have been his portion, for he too would have met the measure of his responsibility. A man who has but a single talent has no less a serious obligation to God for the proper employment of it. He has no more right to waste it because it is small, as compared with the ability of some other brother, than the man who has $1,000 has a right to throw it away because a neighbor is a millionaire. There was a time when that very neighbor did not have a $1,000, but by using what he had he increased it. Who can tell unto what a little ability may be grown if only it is properly employed? Samuel Smiles tells us that Sheridan, Walter Scott, Chatterton, Robert Burns, Goldsmith, Robert Clive, Napoleon and Wellington were all dull boysthe dunces of the schools in which they had their early training, and yet, as Goldsmith said of himself, they were plants that flowered late. And if one recognizes any obligation to God at all, he is compelled by that sense of obligation to make the best use of those powers for Christs sake. For, as Hillis says, Christ comes to hasten mans step along that pathway which leads from littleness unto largeness. Before our admiring vision, the Divine Teacher seems like some sacred husbandman; His garden our earth; good man and great, earths richest fruit. He asks each youth to love and make the most of himself, that later on he may be bread to the hungry, medicine to the wounded, shelter to the weak. He bids each love his own reason, getting wisdom with that eager passion that Hugh Miller had for knowledge. He bids each make the most of friendship, emulating Plato in his love for his noble teacher. He asks each to love industry, emulating Peabody, whose generosity gushed like rivers. He asks each to make the most of courage and self-reliance, emulating Livingstone in self-denying service. He bids each emulate and look up to Jesus Christ, as Dante, midst the pitchy night, looked up toward the star. He bids each move heaven and earth to achieve for himself a worthy manhood.

Every talent is a trust to be given account of before God. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. He reckoned with the five-talent one; he reckoned with the two talent one; he reckoned with the one-talent one. He reckoned with them because they were trading with His gifts, and our God will reckon with you and me for the same reason. Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights. There is no sane man but has his talents, and whether yours be of time, of money, of influence, of power, of thought, of expression, of organization, you must give an account of it, and that account will be a revelation of your character and will form the basis of your judgment. It will show you to be a good and faithful servant, or a wicked and slothful one. It will result in your exaltation to Heaven, or else in your utter and eternal overthrow. When there are duties laid out before us then, we dare not consult our whims as to whether we will discharge them. When there are opportunities opening up before us of service to God, if we prize our standing in His sight, we dare not consult the flesh as to whether we will fill them, for the day of reckoning is approaching in which it will appear in the white light of final judgment whether we were faithful or slothful.

Louis Banks tells us how Bishop Whipple learned in Egypt the story of a pacha who had for his treasurer a devout Jew, whom the nobles hated, and they accused him to their master to be one who denied the Koran; and they said that the Jew deserved to be cast out. The pacha summoned the treasurer and said, Tell me which is the best religion. The Jew replied, O Highness, I will tell thee an Eastern story, and from that thou mayest judge which is the best religion. The pacha bowed assent, and the treasurer went on; There was at Cairo a jeweler who had three sons. On one of his visits to Damascus to buy goods, an old merchant said to him, Abou Hassan, I have a talismanic ring which I will give thee. It will make its owner wise, truthful, generous and pure. Take it and wear it for my sake, and bequeath it to thy children. Abou Hassan accepted the ring and wore it; and as he walked the streets some would say, There goes Abou Hassan, the wise; and others, That is Abou Hassan, the truthful; or the pure, or the good. When the old man drew near his end, he said to himself, If I give this ring to any one of my sons, it will fill the others with envy. I will, therefore, make two other rings exactly like this talis-manic one, so that no one can tell the difference. This was done, and not long before his death, Abou Hassan called his eldest son, and having assigned him his portion of land and goods, handed him a ring, saying, Keep this ring for thy fathers sake, and mayest thou be wise and just, truthful and kind. In like manner he gave to his other sons their portions and to each a ring, charging all of them not to wear their rings ostentatiously, but to carry them concealed in their girdles. When the days of mourning were ended, the younger brothers dined with the eldest brother, and after the feast was over the host said to his brothers, Our father was a good man. See, he gave me this talismanic ring! No, cried each of the others in one breath; he gave me the ring! The three .rings were examined carefully, and no difference could be discovered in them. Sorely puzzled, they agreed to leave the question to a wise rabbi, who gravely said, It will not be known which is the true ring until life with each of you is ended. The son who exercises the greatest wisdom, justice, truthfulness, and kindnessthis will have been the true ring. It is a spiritual parable, yea, even a Scriptural one; He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved.

The lord did no injustice to the slothful servant. When he took that talent from him, he took that which belonged to the lord, and what had been of no profit to the servant. When a man parts with that which he puts to no use, he suffers no injury, he sustains no loss!

The fakirs of India have a custom of refusing to use an arm. They bind it at the side and leave it unemployed for years, Is God unjust, when the muscles shrivel; when the bones grow soft and the joints stiffen? Or, is the man wholly to blame?

Some years since, the newspapers reported how a man had died in a Chicago hospital a pauper patient. After his death, it was discovered that his ragged clothes were filled with money. Bills were sewed under patches; gold pieces lined the coat collar, and when the work of investigation was finished, several thousand dollars had been brought to light. Who was responsible for his pauperism? What profit was all of that money to him? And, when a man leaves the talents of life unused, and the God who gave them removes them, does He do an injustice to the man? No! He only takes away what the man despised, what the man was making a medium of insult to God.

When Butler, the author of Analogy went into retirement in the little country parish of Stanhope, Queen Caroline asked the Bishop of Blackburn, Is Mr. Butler dead? No, madam, the Bishop replied, not dead, but buried. And that is the literal truth of many a mans talents, not dead, but buried.

If, therefore, God shall take them away and bestow them where one will keep them alive and make fruitful use of them, is God unjust? Aye, rather, would He not be unjust did He anything short of that? In Shakespeares Measure for Measure, we read,

Heaven does with us as we with torches do;Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues Did not go forth of us, twere all alikeAs if we had them not.

DIVINE JUDGMENT DETERMINES HUMAN DESTINY.

This fact is clearly set forth in the remaining verses of this chapter (Mat 25:31-46).

Evidently this judgment involves the children of the millennium. We believe it takes place at the close of that period.

Many pre-millennialists have been led, as we think, into a misinterpretation here, simply because God does not, on every page in Scripture, put forth the full program of the ages. They have thought that this assembling of the nations to receive the sentence of judgment, at the lips of Jesus, occurred immediately upon the coming of Christ to His throne because of what is written into Mat 25:31. That would be a Biblical dislocationjudgment at His Coming. Why should we insist that there is no lapse of time between His appearance here and this separating of men to the right and to the left? As a great teacher has contended, there are many instances in Scripture in which the juxtaposition of sentences do not involve a kindred closeness of the events mentioned. For instance, in reading Isaiahs words concerning the Messiah, To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, who would have imagined that in this single sentence two grand and distinct areas were brought together and spoken ofthe era of grace and the era of judgment. But the Lord, by His penetrating exegesis, cleft the passage asunder, and breaking off in the middle of a sentenceto preach the acceptable year of the LordHe closed the book, and sat down, saying, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. Two thousand years have already gone by and the latter part of the passage still awaits its application.

A comparison of Scripture with Scripture will show that the judgment of Mat 25:31-46 does not precede the Millennium. It has the essential features that enter into Rev 20:11-15; and there is a harmony between the Gospel and the Apocalypse. When the Son of Man in all His glory, with all His holy angels, sits upon the throne for His last judgment, then, and not till then, shall the sheep be divided from the goats, the one taken to the kingdom and the other turned away into eternal punishment. But, the order of the judgment is against the children of the Millenniumor the living rebels first, and later, against the unbelieving dead, raised to receive their sentence. It is perfectly evident that there are living rebels or else Satan could not find a following at the end of the millennial period; and we are told that his following there (Rev 20:8-9) is to have exactly the same fate as that meted out to those that are raised to hear judgment pronounced.

The children of the Millennium are the only people that can be justly judged on the basis of their works, whether they are good or bad! All others stand or fall according to faith or unbelief; but these, having lived all their lives in the presence of the living GodChrist on the thronefaith will have given place to sight, and works alone will remain to test the true and to prove the false. The true, having been regenerated, and having been changed from mortal to immortal, enjoy the same glorious reward accorded to the raised ones, who were changed from the corruptible to the incorruptible.

The false having been unregenerate, will meet the same sentence as that meted out to their rebel brethren that have slept in their graves, for the dead, the great and the small, are to stand before the throne, and the books will be opened, and another book will be opened, which is the Book of Life, and the dead will be judged out of the things which are written in the books, according to their works. The sea shall give up its dead, and death and hell will give up the dead that are in them, and they will be judged every man according to his works. The man that is without faith can only work the works of the flesh, and the works of the flesh are these: Fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practice such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-21). These are the very works found characterizing the company excluded from heaven in Rev 21:8.

If it is complained that this is a dark presentation of the Millennium, let it be understood that this is no presentation of the Millennium at all. It is the Biblical event that closes it. That glorious era is not herein described, but as we have remarked, it is parenthesized. A mans birth is the hour of awful travail, and a mans death the moment of breaking hearts and agonizing spirits; but these do not mean an elimination of a glorious intervening period, that the mans spirit may not have been as great as that of the Apostle Paul, his conquests more multitudinous than those of an Alexander, and his life as sweet as that of John the Apostle.

The Millennial Age is the partial glory. The perfect glory comes with the new heaven and the new earth, our God in the midst!

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat. 25:14. For the kingdom of heaven, etc.See R.V. Servants.Slaves. Delivered unto them his goods.The outward framework of the parable lies in the Eastern way of dealing with property in the absence of the owner. Two courses were open as an approximation to what we call investment. The more primitive and patriarchal way was for the absentee to make his slaves his agents. They were to till his land and sell the produce, or to use the money which he left with them as capital in trading. In such cases there was, of course, often an understanding that they should receive part of the profits, but being their masters slaves, there was no formal contract. The other course was to take advantage of the banking, money-changing, money-lending system, of which the Phnicians were the inventors, and which at the time was in full operation throughout the Roman empire. The bankers received money on deposit and paid interest on it, and then lent it at a higher percentage, or employed it in trade, or (as did the publicani at Rome) in farming the revenues of a province. This was therefore the natural resource, as investment in stocks or companies is with us, for those who had not energy to engage in business (Plumptre).

Mat. 25:15. Talents.Value uncertain.See note on chap. Mat. 18:24.

Mat. 25:24. An hard man.The word hard points to stiffness of character (Plumptre). Reaping where thou hast not sown.The sense is obvious: I knew thou wast one whom it was impossible to serve, one whom nothing would please; exacting what was impracticable, and dissatisfied with what was attainable (Brown). But Dr. Morison paraphrases thus: Not only reaping thine own fields, and leaving no gleanings for the poor behind, but unscrupulously passing the boundary line that separates thy fields from the fields of thy neighbours, and thrusting thy sickle, whenever thou hast an opportunity, into their standing corn. Sir, thou art so hard as to be not only ungenerous, but positively unjust. Gathering where thou hast not strawed.Where thou didst not scatter (R.V.). Gathering into the garner from anothers threshing-floor, where thou bast not winnowed (Meyer).

Mat. 25:26. Thou knewest that I reap, etc.We must suppose the infusion of such tones as would express the most indignant querying or amazement (Morison).

Mat. 25:27. Exchangers.Bankers (R.V.). Literally, to those who stand at tables, because the bankers had tables before them (Carr). Usury.Of old just meant interest, and was an unexceptionable term. It denoted the commission that was given for the use of borrowed money (Morison).

Mat. 25:29. Unto every one that hath, etc.See note on chap. Mat. 13:12.

Mat. 25:30. Outer darkness, etc.See note on chap. Mat. 8:12.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mat. 25:14-30

Diligence.There is one striking point of resemblance between this portion of Scripture and that which goes before it. Both speak in the same awful way of what follows the end (cf. Mat. 25:30 with Mat. 24:51). There is one striking point of difference also. Nothing is said here, as so often before (Mat. 24:36; Mat. 24:42; Mat. 24:44; Mat. 24:50; Mat. 25:13), of the uncertainty of the exact time of the end. Accordingly, it is not so much watchfulness in waiting for the end, as diligence in preparing for it, that seems insisted on here. The end being such as it is, do you work meanwhile as men ought to work with such an issue in view. How this should be done is then shown us by showing us, first, How Christ and His church are really related meanwhile; secondly, How some men fancy they are; and thirdly, What this proves of themselves.

I. The real relation (during the Saviours absence) between Himself and His church.It is one on His part, in the first place, of absolute sovereignty and authority. God has appointed Him to be Head over all. Therefore, especially so to His church (Eph. 1:22). Sooner or later, all must bow before Him (Php. 2:10). His people are expected to acknowledge this now. They are not only His servantsthey are His own servants (Mat. 25:14)known to be His. His by creationHis by redemptionHis by inheritance, too. His very bondmen, in short. In consequence of this, the relation, on their part, is one of corresponding honour and responsibility. This sovereign Lord puts these His servants into a position of trust. He puts His goods in their charge (Mat. 25:14). He does so, which is very much more, during His own absence from home (ibid., and end of 15). Also, He does this with a marked amount of discrimination and care. Nothing whatever is laid on any servant beyond his power to discharge. He is too good a Master to desire anything else; too wise to do it. To every man according to his several ability; some more, some less; none more than enough (Mat. 25:15; cf. Rev. 2:24; Joh. 16:12, etc.). Hence, therefore, the relation is one involving, next, a solemn day of account. It may be a long time before their Master comes back. That is a question with which they have little to do. Matters much too deep for their consideration have to determine that point. What they may be sure of is, that, when He does come, it will be with that object in view. What more befitting, indeed, on both sides of the case, when he who trusts meets those whom he has trusted, than that they should go into the case? And hence, once more, if the issue be favourable, a day of special triumph and joy. The confidence that has been responded to loyally is treated with greater confidence still. The honour that has been honourably dealt with is crowned with more honour still (Mat. 25:21; Mat. 25:23). How vividly the parable puts this before us! Most of all, perhaps, in the words with which, in all such cases, the Masters recognition concludes. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Hitherto thou hast found joy in serving Me faithfully. Find it now in taking thy place by My side. What faithful bondman can even imagine anything better than this?

II. What is thought about this same relation by someby some, even, who yet regard themselves as loyal servants and true. One such onlyas though even one such were more than enoughis pourtrayed to us here. His thoughts are shown us, on the one hand, by that which he did. Receiving, as he had, only a fractional partone-half in one case and one-fifth in the otherof the amount received by his fellow-servants, he did not make use even of that which he had. Instead of this, he simply treated it as though it were wholly his own, and not his lords money at all (see Mat. 25:18). A line of action significant, of course, of equal hate and mistrust. I wish that the trust had never been mine. I desire to forget it as far as I can. In any case, let it be out of my sight. This evil servants thoughts are shown us, on the other hand, and that even more forcibly, by that which he said. See from his words, for example, what he thought of his master, and his relation to himselfviz., as a hard master and an unjust one, asking more than he ought (Mat. 25:24); and not only so, but as being so much in the habit of doing so, that nothing better was to be looked for at his hands (Mat. 25:25). What he thought, on the other hand, of his relation to his master, and of what was due in consequence from himself: Lo, there thou hast that is thine. In other words, Thou expectedst me to increase the deposit. I consider that I ought to be thanked for not making it less.

III. What all this proves about such.How it shows, first, what such servants are. How wicked in action!really robbing their Lord, because preventing Him from obtaining what was really His due, and what, also, He would have otherwise gained (Mat. 25:27, where observe expression , and cf. 1Co. 9:7). How wicked in heart!their secret slothfulness being really in contempt of their Lords interests and welfare and will, and due, in fact, to bitter dislike of Himself. How it shows, next, what kind of treatment such servants must expect to receivehow they must expect to be classed, on the one hand, with open transgressors and opponents, and to share the same doom (beginning Mat. 25:30; Mat. 13:41-42). Also, how awful a doom that is! What terrible loss in it, on the one side (Mat. 25:28-29)! What terrible pain on the other (end of Mat. 25:30)! And yet, for all that, having a certain awful symmetry and proportion about it! Can even the worst fate be too bad for those who thus, practically, charge unrighteousness upon God?

From these considerations observe:

1. How serious a thing it is for those who name the name of the Saviour not to be abounding in His work. What blindness of judgment, what perversion of will, what blasphemous thoughts, what an awful end, it implies! She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

2. How great a privilege it is for us to be permitted to do anything for Him! To be trusted by Him at all, being such as we are! To have the opportunity, in any manner, of adorning His doctrine! To be enabled to do so in any degree! And to have the prospect of hearing the least done in this way fully acknowledged at last! Is not this the utmost that any faithful bondservant can really desire? Or any prince, indeed, for the matter of that?

3. How wise it is to seek for the guidance of Christ Himself on this point! Lord, what wouldest Thou have me to do? The direction of our diligence is not less important than either its zeal or amount.

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat. 25:14-30. The talents.This parable illustrates the great principle which regulates the distribution of rewards and punishments in the kingdom of Godthe principle that men shall be judged according to the means at their disposal.

1. The talents represent everything over and above natural ability, by which men can advance the interests of the kingdom; position, opportunities, and especially the measure of grace given to each man. All the interests of Christ upon earth are entrusted to His people. And every servant of His is endowed with means enough to accomplish his own share in Christs work.
2. In order that the judgment may be fair, the reckoning is not made until after a long time. We are not called upon to show fruit before autumn. The Lord does not quickly return in a captious spirit, but delays till the wise have had time to lay up great gains, and even the foolish to have learnt wisdom. So with ourselves; we cannot complain if strict account be taken at the end, because we really have time to learn how to serve our Lord. We have time to repair bad beginnings, to take thought, to make up in some degree for lost time.
3. It is not without significance that the servant who did nothing at all for his master was he who had received but one talent. No doubt those who have great ability are liable to temptations of their own; they may be more ambitious, and may find it difficult to serve their Master with means which they see would bring in to themselves profits of a kind they covet. But such men are, at all events, not tempted to bury their talent. This is the peculiar temptation of the man who has little ability, and sullenly retires from a service in which he cannot shine and play a conspicuous part.
4. The insolence of this mans words is not intentional. He reads off correctly his own state of mind, and fancies that his conduct was appropriate and innocent. All wrongness of conduct is, at bottom, based on a wrong view of God.
5. But this view of God is unpardonably narrow, and the action flowing from it is, after all, inconsistent. It is unpardonably wrong, and the very heartiness with which these other servants were greeted refutes it. You hear the hearty Well done! ringing through the whole palacethere is no hesitating scrutiny, no reminding them they had, after all, merely done what it was their duty to do. Not at allit is the genial, generous outburst of a man who likes to praise, and hates to find people at fault.
6. There are numberless ways in which the most slenderly equipped among us can fulfil the suggestion here given, and put our talent to the exchangers, into the hands of men who can use it. There is no lack of great works going on for our Lord to which we may safely attach ourselves, and in which our talent is rather used by the leaders of the work, invested for us, than left to our own discretion.
7. The law which is exhibited in this parabolic representation is also explicitly announced in the words: For unto every one that hath, etc. This may be called the law of spiritual capital.M. Dods, D.D.

The relation between this parable and the preceding one.The first represents the church as waiting, the second as working, for her Lord; the first shows the necessity of a constant supply of inward grace, the second the need of unremitting outward activity; the teaching of the first is, Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life; of the second, Do good as ye have opportunity; Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. The parable of the Virgins comes appropriately before that of the Talents, inasmuch as a Christians inner life should be his first care, the outer life being wholly dependent on it. Keep thy heart with all diligence is the first command, Do thy work with all diligence the second. The first parable calls aloud to every member of the church Be wise; the second follows it with another call, as urgent as the first, Be faithful.J. M. Gibson, D.D.

Is this another version of the parable of the Pounds (Luk. 19:11-27)?It is a strange instance of superficial reading that it should ever have been supposed to be but another version of Lukes parable of the pounds. The very resemblances of the two are meant to give force to their differences, which are fundamental. They are the converse of each other; that of the pounds teaching that men who have the same gifts entrusted to them may make a widely different use of these, and will be rewarded differently, in strictly graduated proportion to their unlike diligence. The lesson of the parable before us, on the other hand, is that men with dissimilar gifts may employ them with equal diligence; and that, if they do, their reward shall be the same, however great the endowments of one, and slender those of another. A reader who has missed that distinction must be very shortsighted, or sworn to make out a case against the Gospels.A. Maclaren, D.D.

Mat. 25:16-17. Industry.I. Its high importance rests on the fact that it is so plain a duty.

II. It is a duty which is the Divine remedy and safeguard against an infinite amount of evil.

III. It is a duty, with a far-reaching purpose and reward.E. C. Wickham.

Business.The busiest are the happiest. Employment so certainly produces cheerfulness, says Bishop Hall, that I have known a man come home in high spirits from a funeral because he had the management of it. Work is the salt of life.Thwing.

Mat. 25:18. Omitting small duties.He who waits to do a great deal at once will never do anything.S. Johnson.

God can bring large results from small beginnings.You may count the apples on a tree, but you can never count the trees in an apple. You may count the acorns on an oak, but not the oaks in an acorn. Let no one despise the day of small powers. The clock that will not strike one shall not strike twelve.Dr. Hurlbut.

Mat. 25:19. Personal responsibility.

I. Nature and extent of responsibility.

1. Proportioned to natural endowments.
2. Its extent determined by possessions.
3. Affected by our relations in life.
4. Is equal to our opportunities.

II. Reckoning with the faithful servant.

1. Talents the gift of God.
2. Immediate and faithful improvement.
3. Happy account rendered.
4. Approved and rewarded.

III. Reckoning with the unfaithful servant.

1. His false reasoning.
2. No improvement of the talent.
3. Account rendered with shame and guilt.
4. He was dispossessed and punished.Homiletic Review.

Mat. 25:20-21. Fidelity and recompense.The teaching of this parable is for us all.

I. It implies a common responsibility for the use of talents which have been universally distributed, although not in equal measure.

II. This responsibility is all-pervading; it extends to the whole man and to the whole life.

III. The recompense of fidelity.Faithfulness is rewarded:

1. By increased powerevery duty performed makes future duty easier.

2. By increased responsibilityfound faithful in a farthing, the man is made ruler over many things. And this is Gods law of recompense, to reward work well done by more and greater work.W. M. Punshon, LL.D.

Mat. 25:21. The joy of the Lord.I. The character.

1. A servant.

2. A good servant.

3. A faithful servant.

4. A diligent servant.

5. A persevering servant.

II. The reward.

1. The joy of rest.

2. The joy of conquest.

3. The joy of home.

4. The joy of society.

5. The joy of discovery.

6. The joy of his Lord. Joy

(1) procured,
(2) bestowed,
(3) possessed,
(4) arising from the vision and fruition of his Lord,
(5) issuing in the glory of his Lord.
7. Proportionate joy, (Luk. 19:16, etc.).

8. Uninterrupted joy.

9. Eternal joy.D. in Wesley Banner.

The faithful servants reward.Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. The words are almost too strong for the framework of the parable. A human master would hardly use such language to his slaves. But here, as yet more in the parable that follows, the reality breaks through the symbol, and we hear the voice of the Divine Master speaking to His servants and He bids them share His joy, for that joy also had its source (as He told them but a few hours later) in loyal and faithful service, in having kept His Fathers commandments (Joh. 15:10-11).E. H. Plumptre, D.D.

Mat. 25:22-23. Small capabilities.I. God gives to some but small capabilities.

II. The purpose which is served in this unequal distribution of gifts.

1. Variety is one great characteristic of Gods workmanship.
2. The work for one to do requires the exercise of five talents, the work for another the exercise of only two, and for another the exercise of only one.

III. We must account to God for the use of our two talents, or for the exercise of our one talent, as much as others must account for the exercise of their five talents.

IV. When two talents are faithfully used there is the same commendation and reward as when five talents are faithfully used.S. G. Matthews, B.A.

Mat. 25:23. The joy of the Lord.I. The state of the blessed is a state of joy.Not only because all tears shall then be wiped away, but all the springs of comfort shall be opened to them, and the fountains of joy broken up; where there is the vision and fruition of God, a perfection of holiness, and the society of the blessed, there cannot but be a fulness of joy.

II. This joy is the joy of our Lordthe joy which He Himself has purchased and provided for themthe joy of the redeemed, bought with the sorrow of the Redeemer; it is the joy which He Himself is in the possession of, and which He had His eye upon when He endured the cross, and despised the shame; it is the joy which He Himself is the fountain and centre of; it is the joy of our Lord, for it is joy in the Lord, who is our exceeding joy.

III. Glorified saints shall enter into this joy; that is, shall have a full and complete possession of it. Here the joy of the Lord enters into His saints, in the earnest of the Spirit; shortly they shall enter into it, and shall be in it to eternity, as in their element.M. Henry.

Mat. 25:24-30. Trifling with talents.The unprofitable servant.

I. His character.
II. His condemnation.Wickedness does not consist in gross sins only. Negative evil is as much a sin as positive, and the sins are more dangerous.

1. Because there is less hope of reformation.They are mostly fixed with self-conceit.

2. Because they are most numerous.Every moment unemployed for God is a sin.

3. Because they are hardest to repair.A lost opportunity never returns.

III. His sentence.

1. Severe.

2. Merited.

3. A greater loss, for he had to give up what he had.B. in Homilist.

Slothfulness linked with a desire to be honest.There was in this man some sense of right governed by the principle of honesty. But this was not strong enough to conquer the prevailing passion of his lifenamely, his sloth-fulness.

I. His honesty is seen in the fact that he considers himself responsible to his master for the talent that had been given him.If he did not seek to improve his talent, he evidently desired to give it back having the same value as when he got it. This man is the type of the person whom we all knowthe easy-going, the inoffensive, and the well-meaning man. He is one who does not care to be troubled much about any religious duty, however pressing it may be. He will place no obstacle in the way of others to do good, but he himself will not move one foot in that direction.

II. His honesty can be seen also in the care that he took not to lose his talent.He was too fond of ease, idleness had too great a charm for him, to think of making any use of his talent. He wanted to go to heaven, but he would take no yoke, he would bear no burden.

III. Thus far the honesty of this mans conscience has exerted some influence over his life; but the influence has been that of fear, and not of love.If our religion be a religion of fear merely, it will be barren as this mans was.

IV. This man unwittingly condemns himself in giving in his account.And so will every man who sins in a similar manner condemn himself, for the excuse framed to shield his slothfulness can never be a valid one.

V. This man is reproved and condemned, not for being a robber, blasphemer, or unbeliever, but for doing nothing.Slothfulness in spiritual matters is a sin in the sight of God.W. Collins Davies, B.A.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

5. Illustration of the wise and foolish stewards (25:1430)

14 For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability; and he went on his journey. 16 Straightway he that received the five talents went and traded with them, and made other five talents. 17 In like manner he also that received the two gained other two. 18 But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lords money. 19 Now after a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them. 20 And he that received the five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents; lo, I have gained other five talents. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 22 And he also that received the two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: lo, I have gained other two talents. 23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24 And he that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter; 25 and I was afraid, and went away, and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, thou hast thine own. 26 But his lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I did not scatter: 27 thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back mine own with interest. 28 Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents. 29 For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away. 30 And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the other darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

a.

Jesus began this parable by saying, For it will be as when a man going on a journey, etc. What, exactly, is like a man going? With what does the word For, connect this story? Do you think this for is important to the interpretation of this parable?

b.

Why did this lord distribute his goods so unequally among his servants? Should he have done things this way?

c.

Do you see anything in the situation that would indicate that the masters explicit wish was that each steward make him a profit? Do you see any kind of contract that would condemn the unprofitable servant and justify the others?

d.

Why did the lord praise and reward the first two stewards equally?

e.

What, if anything, does the expression, Enter into the joy of your master, indicate about our final reward for faithful service?

f.

If this parable is often thought to teach something about Christian stewardship, what is it doing in the middle of Jesus sermon on the Second Coming? What is the connection between stewardship and the Last Day?

g.

If the philosophy is correct that righteousness should be its own reward and that we should do nothing for rewards, then how are we to understand Jesus who does not hesitate to tell stories like this one which promises high rewards to those who serve Him well? Does this not constitute a pay-off for being good and actually corrupt that good by its self-seeking, calculating motivation?

h.

Would not the lord in Jesus story have gotten further with his third servant if, instead of intrusting him with but one talent, he had placed, say, two or even five at his disposal? Would not this show of trust have communicated more to the servant, motivating him to do a better job than he did? What is the lords fundamental reason for not intrusting any more to him? Why did he give him as much as he did?

i.

When the lazy steward returned the one talent, why did not his lord accept it back?

j.

How does this illustration carry forward concepts introduced in previous stories Jesus told? What are these points of contact with the other stories?

k,

What do you think motivated the one-talent man to hide it rather than invest it?

1.

On what reasonable basis could that third servant have dared describe his boss the way he does? Was there any truth in the accusations he uses as justification for his fear?

m.

How do you explain the fact that the master did not debate his servants evaluation? Was the evaluation too true and well-known to doubt? If not, then why did the lord use the servants own analysis to condemn him?

n.

The master ordered: Cast out the unprofitable servant. How does this description of the wicked, slothful servant serve to underline the point of Jesus story?

o.

This entire story is centered around making money, either by profitable trading or by banking interest, and the only person condemned is the one who made no money. How do you harmonize this concept with Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God (Luk. 6:20), Sell your possessions and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail (Luk. 12:33), etc.? If it is wrong to make lots of money, how could Jesus condemn the steward who did not make a profit with his masters money? But, if one keeps making himself poor through charity, how can he ever become a good and faithful (= profitable) servant by seeking to make more money?

p.

How is it possible to take from a man what he does not have? Jesus affirmed, From him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. Explain.

PARAPHRASE

The way God operates His Kingdom, which not incidentally affects the manner in which our lives are to be spent watching, may be compared to a man about to leave home on a trip. He called his slaves in and put his property in their hands. To the first one he committed some money equivalent to ten years pay for the average day-laborer. To another servant he handed over the equivalent of roughly four years pay. The third man received the equivalent of two years pay. The owner distributed this money to each man according to his relative ability. Then he went on his journey.
The man who had received the largest sum went immediately to put the money to work, and doubled his sum. Similarly, the second man did business with his, and doubled his sum. However, the slave who had been trusted with the smallest sum, went and dug a hole in the ground and buried his masters money.
A long time later the master of those slaves returned and asked them to give account of his money. The one who had been entrusted with the largest sum stepped up, bringing his profit. Sir, he said, you entrusted me with five talents. Look: I have doubled your capital! His master responded, Good work, you excellent, trustworthy servant! You have shown you can be faithful with a small amount. I will put you in charge of something big! Come and share the happiness of your master!
Likewise, the man who had the two talents came forward, Master, he began, you handed me two talents. Look here: I have earned you two more! To him the master replied, Splendid! Sound and reliable servant, you have proven yourself trustworthy in a small way. I will trust you with greater things. Come and share your masters happiness!
Then the man who had received the smallest amount came forward. Master, he began, I knew you were a harsh, stubborn man that enriches himself at the expense of others. So, I was scared and went and buried your money in the ground. Here is your money back. But his lord answered him, You ungenerous, lazy servant! You thought that I enrich myself at others expense? In that case, you should have placed my money on deposit with the bankers and, upon my return, I would have received my capital with interest! So, take the money away from him and give it to the man who now has the most. The person who uses well what he has will be entrusted with more, and he will have plenty. But the person who thinks he has nothing will forfeit even his nothing. Also, fling that good-for-nothing servant into the darkness outside where people mourn and grind their teeth in frustrated rage!

SUMMARY

During Jesus absence, the present moment is a stewardship of Gods goods entrusted to us according to our individual ability to handle them. These are to be invested for His advantage, because an accounting will be given. However, there is promotion for good stewards of Gods grace, but also crushing humiliation for those who do nothing to promote the Lords profit. Thus, the period before Jesus returns must be put to responsible use in productive service for Him.

NOTES

Mat. 25:14 For it is as when a man . . . For . . . as (Hsper gr) unquestionably binds this stewardship story to what precedes it, but how? What is the connection?

1.

McGarvey (Matthew-Mark, 217) argues that the kingdom of God in general is not the immediate subject, but, rather, the way we are to watch, thus linking our story to the conclusion drawn from the parable of the ten virgins (Mat. 25:13). But this overemphasizes his objection to supplying the Kingdom of heaven as subject, as did the King James translators. However, the larger, contextual picture painted in Matthew 24, 25 is truly the Kingdom of God, i.e. how He intends for us to understand and respond to various phases of His government. (See note on Mat. 25:1.) So, Jesus has not really changed the subject, but merely amplifies one more phase of it.

2.

Rather than bog down in technical definitions of Gods Kingdom, Jesus focuses all attention on activity, the human actions that will be judged by their true Lord and King. So, by saying, For, He proceeds to explain how best to watch in light of the fact that His return date cannot be known. The Talents Parable, therefore, teaches that our time, now graciously conceded to us by God, is most profitably used, not as the foolish virgins of the previous story, but in faithful, fruitful use of everything He entrusts us with for His glory, while the time and opportunity are ours, as the five wise virgins and the businesslike stewards of this story. The Virgins Parable rightly precedes the Talents Parable, because the former lays stress on the constant state of individual readiness and the need for spiritual power within, while the latter emphasizes the devoted, individual labor required to achieve it. Alford (I, 251) noted another antithesis: the foolish virgins thought their part too easy, while the wicked steward thought his part too hard. Continuing to develop his faithful and wise servant theme (Mat. 24:45; see on Mat. 25:2), Jesus now illustrates how conscientious His disciple must be in seeking his Lords advantage through correct management of His affairs during His absence.

A man, going into another country. Once more our Lord implies that His absence from earth is going to require some time (cf. Mat. 21:33) and that His return would not be imminent (cf. Luk. 19:11 f.), a point repeated later (Mat. 25:19). In this way He continues to correct the mistaken notion involved in the disciples original questions that assumed that His Second Coming and the end of the world would be more or less contemporaneous with Jerusalems fall. (Cf. Mat. 24:3; Mat. 24:8; Mat. 24:14.)

He called his own servants (= slaves, doloi). Modern views of ancient slavery cannot but warp our understanding of this illustration, since the relationship between masters and slaves in antiquity was not always that of ranting tyrant and grovelling serf. Rather, as Jesus implies, slaves could be entrusted with any phase of their masters affairs, even to the point of handling great sums of money. (Cf. Mat. 18:24.) Merely because someone sold himself into slavery to pay debts does not mean that he necessarily toiled at menial labor until his debt to his owner was paid. Were he a skilled artist, musician or teacher captured in war, or perhaps a good businessman fallen on hard times, his skill would be especially valuable to his lord. Hence, he could be expected to labor in his area of expertise for his masters profit.

These called are his own servants who, because part of his household, could be trusted with the employment he now has in mind. Here are Jesus disciples and all those who believe on Him through their word and who accept responsibility to Him as His stewards. These are not worldlings nor hirelings, but His own property (tos idous dolous). Just because they belong to Him, He has a proper, prior right to their time and effort.

Nevertheless, we may not exclude unbelieving worldlings altogether from stewardship responsibility, even if they are not contemplated primarily by Jesus parable. In fact, the ungodly are Gods property too. Whether they acknowledge or understand it or not, their Creator has a proper and prior demand on them too. While there is a true, unique sense in which believers alone are servants of Jesus Christ, this does not rescind that ancient and unchanged demand that every man fear God and give Him glory. This is the eternal gospel to every man (Rev. 14:6). The original, high calling of man was to be a responsible steward of Gods creation (Genesis 1, 2; Psalms 8).

Where the former illustration featured women entrusted with a responsibility for which they must give account, this story introduces men similarly accountable, almost as if Jesus wished to place the relative human responsibility of both sexes on an equal footing before God. (Cf. Mat. 24:40 f.; Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11.)

As the sequel shows, he delivered unto them his goods for investing his liquid assets profitably for him during his absence. While not expressly stated here, this was clearly his expectation and his servants so understood it. Not putting all his eggs in one basket, this wise owner divided his assets among several agents whom he trusted to be responsible. Not merely logical business procedure, his plan ennobled and motivated his stewards to prove themselves worthy of such a trust. In fact, he was turning over all this wealth to men who were but slaves. This should impress them with the importance of their high responsibility and leave them determined to rise to the challenge this great honor entailed.

However, for the man in the street in first-century Palestine, such a parable as this is unquestionably wrong-headed. The Kingdom of God, for him, meant reigning, relaxing and rejoicing, not rigorous responsibility! But Jesus does not flinch from prospecting a hard, concentrated, risk-filled TOIL that requires attentiveness, creativity, determination and other requisites to turn a profit for God. Jesus thinks that our ability to work now determines our qualification to rule later, Hence, we are currently being tested. Shortly before Jesus ascended to the heavenly Throne, He acted precisely as this man by placing into the hands of His own people the Gospel and its precious promises of spiritual life, the means to obtain it and the gifts to develop it (Mat. 28:18 ff.; Mar. 16:15 ff.; Luk. 24:44-51; Joh. 20:21 ff.; Act. 1:1-9). Then, upon conferring the administration of His affairs to His servants, He too left at once. Thus, the stewards of this parable represent, not merely first-century Christians, but His administrators of all ages.

Mat. 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his several ability; and he went on his journey. His goods were talents of silver (t argria, Mat. 25:27), quantities of money on the value of which see note on Mat. 18:24. Therefore, these talents are not primarily natural abilities, as this story is often interpreted to mean. While its principles justly apply to natural talents, this parables initial focus is money. In fact, that the two kinds of talents are distinct in Jesus story is proven by three considerations:

1.

Because the distribution of talents occurred on the basis of native ability, or natural talents, the monetary talents must refer to the distribution of something each steward did not possess prior to that moment.

2.

Verse 28 contemplates the taking away of the talent from one steward and giving it to another. Talents are something external to ones native abilities and of which, presumably, he cannot be deprived without violence to his nature.

3.

The talents distributed are uniquely the masters goods, something the slaves did not have until their lord entrusted them to them.

And yet it would be useless hair-splitting to attempt to distinguish further the wealth of Jesus Christ from our own natural ability, since God is at work in us both to will and to work according to His good purpose (Php. 2:13; Eph. 3:20; Isa. 26:12). All that we are or have has been given to us by God for His purposes and glory. So, His gifts disbursed to us may be seen as distinct from our natural talents, even if these latter are empowered by the further abilities with which He endows us, whether these endowments be natural or supernatural. (Cf. Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; 1Pe. 4:8-11.) Therefore, in the reality intended by Jesus illustration, these talents represent the variety and complexity of means whereby we can be useful to the Lord.

To each according to his several ability. Lying on the surface of this parable is the startling fact that it is simply not true that all Christians are equal. This sagacious master knows the personal character and business ability of each man and dispenses his possessions accordingly (Rom. 12:3-8; 1Co. 12:11; 1Co. 12:18). How irresponsible he would have been to have required, or even expected, a servant with less ability to produce as much as one more experienced. So, in reality, the distribution commensurate to each ones individual ability was evenly matched, even though the sums differed. Merely because God saves everyone on the same basis (Gal. 3:28) does not mean He treats us all alike. Our regeneration does not dissolve our individual differences. Our bountiful Lord knows the capacity of the vessel into which He pours His grace, the ability of the person to whom He supplies His plenteous opportunities to serve. His very discrimination is evidence of His love, because He is too kind a Master to load any of His servants beyond their strength to bear it, and too wise an Administrator to want it any other way (Rev. 2:24; Joh. 16:12; 1Co. 10:13). Happy, then, is the steward who understands that to each according to his several ability means that none may

unfavorably compare the quantity of service opportunities he possesses with that of others who have more or less than he. Finally, if the masters goods were all distributed to each according to his ability, we see that Christs earthly interests are entrusted to all His people. There is no Christian who is not gifted in some way with sufficient means to fulfill his own share of the Lords work. However great or small his part, for this he is fully responsible.

Further, as the sequel shows, there is indicated here a certain liberty of action, as if the stewards could invest their lords money more or less as they saw fit, so long as their management brought him the desired profit. Here is fore pictured our magnificent Christian liberty in that Jesus has not legislated nor predetermined thousands of everyday choices whereby we may demonstrate our usefulness to Him. This is decided, rather, by our own free response to every advantage and blessing He furnishes for us to employ in His service. Our free investment of His goods is controlled only by His very general directives that govern our free enterprise by furnishing generalized indications of His will without predetermining our specific choices. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 6-10; Romans 14, 15; see my Vol. III, 382ff.)

And he went on his journey. Jesus Ascension is the key element that makes our stewardship exciting, because His absence leaves us fully responsible and because His unknown return date keeps us working against time to get as much done as possible for His glory before our personal, final accounting,

At this point some manuscripts insert the word, straightway (duths), which other manuscripts and editors connect with verse 16. Connected with verse 15, the sentence would be: Then he (the master) went away at once. Although this word, when connected with either sentence, would make excellent sense, which is better?

The Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament (63) rejects the connection with verse 15, not only because the limited textual evidence for connecting immediately with verse 16 is of good quality, but also because this reading best explains the origin of the others. Further, Matthew generally connects euths with what follows. However, (1) what would Matthews general habit prove conclusively about one special case that may in fact be the exception? (2) Manuscripts that connect immediately with verse 15 are not only more numerous, but in some cases contemporary with the few that connect it with what follows. (3) The sense of the parable must be determined from the words, not the words from the sense of the parable.

The Textual Commentary argues, There is no point in the masters departing immediately; there is much point in the servants immediately setting to work. On the contrary, if Jesus intended to hint that He would leave shortly after entrusting His earthly affairs to His disciples,which, in fact, He did through the Great Commission,then immediately, interpreted in harmony with the history, belongs to the foregoing sentence. This point is crucial in order to correct the false notion of disciples who supposed He must personally supervise a long, earthly Messianic reign from a material throne in Jerusalem. Not only is His absence a doctrine they must accept, but also the suddenness of His departure.

Two Intelligent, Trustworthy Executives

Mat. 25:16 Straightway he that received the five talents went and traded with them, and made other five talents. If, on the other hand, straightway belongs rightly with this verse, this servant is pictured as recognizing the preciousness of every opportunity to promote the interests of his master. Like his colleague (v. 17), he instantly grasped his responsibility to be a dependable trustee.

Why does Jesus relate that these first two administrators doubled their capital? merely to embellish the story, and not, rather, to indicate something of the time involved? How much time would ordinarily be required for a wise investor to DOUBLE his capital on the market of first-century Palestine? If this passage of time is significant, it implies once more the delay between the Lords departure and His return. (Cf. Mat. 25:19.)

Mat. 25:17 In like manner he also that received the two gained other two. In like manner: what is predicable of the former servant is also true of this one. The two-talent steward is no less successful than the fellow servant, even though the quantity handled and gained is less than half the others amount. People with even less gifts than others can yet prove themselves equally faithful and diligent in multiplying the value of what Jesus entrusts to them.

This two-talent steward is not mere scenery in Jesus story, because this man could feel the power of temptations to which, in relation to the other two, he would be susceptible:

1.

Because he possessed less than the five-talent man, he could have felt deficient and incapable, and tempted to conceal his abilities.

2.

Because he possessed more than the one-talent man, he could have judged himself one notch better than his inferior, falling into unjustified pride.

So, standing between the others, he represents both mens temptations to be arrogant or feel inferior to anyone with gifts more or less than their fellows. But the Lord who distributes these gifts has in mind that each simply utilize the abilities with which he personally has been gifted for his Masters glory.

A Man Too Lazy to Try

Mat. 25:18 But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lords money. This unimaginative chap differs from the evil servant of Mat. 24:48 f., in that the latter was openly and actively wicked, whereas this one simply does nothing. Unlike the overconfident, foolish virgins who made at least some preparation for the wedding, this over-cautious, unenterprising administrator errs because of under confidence. He remains stolidly insensitive to his responsibility to gain a profit for his master. Ironically, he takes a greater risk of losing everything. This fellow is not a great waster, like the prodigal son (Luk. 15:13) nor a great debtor, like the unforgiving servant (Mat. 18:23-35). He simply hides what belongs to his lord and refuses to put it to work.

He went away and digged in the earth. Back in the days of the uncertainties of banking and war in countries where banking was untrustworthy, the earth itself became the common safe deposit box of the uncertain, a fact evidenced by later, providential discoveries of casks of valuable coins (cf. Mat. 13:44). So, this lazy steward really risked losing his treasure to some fortunate finder who accidentally dug it up. Far more praiseworthy would have been to risk losing the talent through investment, for he would at least have attempted something positive for his lord who, not unlikely, was thoroughly versed in the uncertainties of markets and business. Nevertheless, with the last shovelful of dirt piled over the money, he considered his conscience silenced. Perhaps he even prided himself on being both honest and prudent, even quite scrupulous. He would return it to its owner, possessing the identical worth it had when he received it.

But it was his lords money entrusted to him to invest, not his own to remove from circulation! This over-caution is not simply an excess of scruple. It is equivalent to a breach of trust. He refuses to be answerable to his master beyond the barest duty of returning the money intact.

Even before the final accounting, his true attitude is exposed. M. Dods (P.H.C., XXII, 575) applies this:

It is not without significance that the servant who did nothing at all for his master was he who had received but one talent. No doubt those who have great ability are liable to temptations of their own; they may be more ambitious, and may find it difficult to serve their Master with means which they see would bring in to themselves profits of a kind they covet. But such men, at all events, are not tempted to bury their talent. This is the peculiar temptation of the man who has little ability, and sullenly retires from a service in which he cannot shine and play a conspicuous part.

Ultimately, as always, there are really only two types of stewards in Gods judgment: the trustworthy administrators who expend their best efforts to please their Master, and the irresponsible, undependable ones who, in the end, do nothing. (Cf. Joh. 5:41-44; Joh. 8:29.) And these latter He condemns in no uncertain terms!

The Turning Point

Mat. 25:19 Now after a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and maketh a reckoning with them. This period of a long time is the indefinite interval that tries the true motives and character of each steward. During this time the lazy steward could have repented and unearthed that one talent and hurried either to invest it or place it with the bankers for interest. The two faithful stewards could have grown careless and relaxed their efforts. Instead, they considered it simply an additional grace period to labor longer! This long time serves to underline the fairness of the judgment finally given, because the final account does not have to be in until all the servants shall have had suitable time to make their Lord a profit. This delay is itself mercy so that we might correct false starts, cover lost ground and serve profitably. After a long time combines with he went away into another country (Mat. 25:14) to imply that Jesus Second Coming and the final judgment pictured here will be delayed longer than people expected, and is parallel to other similar clues given earlier (Mat. 24:48; Mat. 25:5; cf. 2Pe. 3:4-13).

It is the lord of those servants who comes, a fact which emphasizes how completely the time, energies, talents and efforts of those slaves really belonged, not to themselves, but to their master (cf. 1Co. 6:19 f.). Could such a master forget to demand an accounting for the wealth he had entrusted to his slaves? Here, then, is the final judgment, or reckoning, which we all must render our returning Lord. (Cf. Mat. 18:23 ff.; Mat. 21:33 ff.; Mat. 22:1 ff.; Luk. 19:15.) That we too must answer is as certain as the wealth of privileges and material riches that pass through our hands.

Mat. 25:20 And he that received the five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: lo I have gained other five talents. You delivered to me: without this magnanimous trust, the slave could have done nothing (Joh. 15:5; Luk. 19:16). How gracious the privilege to be allowed to do anything for Jesus Christ! Considering our real worth, that He should trust us with such priceless treasures brings us inexpressible joy over this unjustified privilege (2Co. 4:7; Col. 2:2 b, Col. 2:3)! And to think that, in some minor way, we can contribute to HIS glory, mightily empowered to do so by His Spirit, and then, at last, to be certain that even the most insignificant service done for Him shall be recognized,is not all this the very definition of grace?!

Lo, means Look here, notice, as if the happy steward enthusiastically welcomed his lord to see the money for himself. Though all we do and are is by the Lords grace (Act. 17:24-28; 1Co. 15:10), it is also correct to say, I have gained, because our personal commitment and efforts to express our loyalty and love to Him do count (1Co. 15:58). No wonder there is joyous excitement and unshaken confidence in our final reckoning before our Lord! (Cf. 1Th. 2:19; Php. 2:16; Php. 4:1; 2Co. 1:14 all speak of Pauls joy at Christs coming, due to his converts faith. Our confidence before the Lord: Eph. 3:12; Heb. 10:19; Heb. 4:16; Heb. 9:28; 1Pe. 4:13; 1Jn. 2:28; 1Jn. 3:21; Jud. 1:24.)

Rewards Beyond All Deserving

Mat. 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant. Here is the true spirit and character of this master, that gives the lie to the negligent servants attitude. M. Dods (P.H.C. XXII, 575) scores that ingrate thus:

(His view of God) is unpardonly wrong, and the Very heartiness with which these other servants were greeted refutes it. You hear the hearty Well done! ringing through the whole palacethere is no hesitating scrutiny, no reminding them they had, after all, merely done what it was their duty to do. Not at allit is the genial, generous outburst of a man who likes to praise, and hates to find people at fault.

Good and faithful servant: what a glorious title! What splendid rewards are attached to it! What joys await its wearer! He proved good by his dedication to the task assigned him, and faithful (pists) by being reliable or trustworthy. He was not entitled good and successful servant, but good and FAITHFUL. Praise for this highly successful manager is not based on the amount of his gain, but on the quality of dedicated service he expended, as shown by what follows.

Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will set thee over many things. How very little capital he had actually handled for his master: a mere five talents in contrast to his lords incalculable wealth and even to his own future responsibilities! (See Special Study: The Reasonableness of the Redeemers Rewards for Righteousness, my Vol. I, 198ff.). He gives beyond all dreams and deserving! His lowliest servants final pleasure is double because duty to such a Master is already an inexpressibly gratifying favor. So, if the wealth of gifts He entrusts to us in this life is, in His estimate, but a few things, what immeasurably greater treasure must constitute the many things over which He would set us later!

I will set thee over many things. Whatever the joy of thy lord entailed, his reward was not an extended vacation, but nobler employment. I will set you over means you shall rule over or be responsible for. While there is more work to do, it is to be an employment that involves reigning. Rather than be discharged from investment service, these stewards are advanced to bigger things. To the men who had demonstrated themselves eager and dependable at a lower level of responsibility, their master intends to give prolonged opportunities for even greater service (cf. Mat. 24:47).

Enter thou into the joy of thy lord. What is this joy in which they would share?

1.

A feast to celebrate the masters return, perhaps accompanied by manumission of the slave on the basis of his outstanding fidelity and industriousness? (Trench, Parables, 94; cf. Joh. 15:15; Luk. 12:37; Rev. 3:20). To share in such a banquet with his lord would be partial reward for his exceptional service.

2.

The masters pleasure upon his newly acquired, even greater wealth?

3.

The masters personal sense of joy over his servants accomplishments?

4.

Or is it the joy of lordship . . . admission to fellowship in possession, partnership? (Bruce, Expositors Greek Testament, 303; cf. Heb. 3:14).

All of these could be true of Jesus. This hearty welcome says to the wise and faithful steward: I want you to share in the happiness I enjoy! (cf. Heb. 12:2; Isa. 53:11). Servants who have their Masters true interests at heart can participate whole-heartedly in what pleases Him. They can work for Him forever, because they share His program and are satisfied with achieving His goals. Their heart is in their (= His) work. No wonder then, that unlimited progress lies ahead for Christs disciples who take seriously their goal to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Mat. 5:48).

Nor is it any surprise, too, that Jesus teaches us to believe that the world cannot grant us honors or praise equal to His. Only He can commend and reward. Long before judgment He established this final commendation, so we would seek to please Him and thus keep ourselves loyal to Him, longing to hear from Him, Well done, good and faithful servant. (Study Joh. 5:44; Joh. 12:26; Joh. 12:42 f.; 2Co. 10:12; 2Co. 10:18.)

Mat. 25:22 And he also that received the two talents came, . . . 23 His lord said unto him, . . . He who received less gifts, a narrower position and more limited opportunities in life is commended in the same way as the one whose gifts outnumbered his. So, it is not the quantity of talents or the disadvantages of our social position or degree of education that determines our Lords attitude toward us, but our sense of responsibility to Him, demonstrated by our diligent use of what He has entrusted to us.

Self-righteous Dismissal of Duty

Mat. 25:24 And he also that had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter. After the enthusiastic expressions of graciousness on the part of the returned master, it must have taken no little courage for his little ingrate to accuse him of a grasping, tight-fisted attitude. But this trapped, badly-motivated hypocrite must make a flimsy self-defense of some kind. So he attempts to shift all the blame onto his lord for his own failure.

I knew thee, he says? How little he knew him! Thou art a hard man. Nothing would have been farther from the truth, had this servant but sought to promote his masters good, a hypothesis confirmed by the lords expansive reaction to the others who did. With poetic justice, this servants accusation will be fulfilled in his own case, because, ironically, he pushed his lord to be harsh with him, a tactic which succeeded only in slamming the door of mercy in his own face. But it was his own indifference to duty that created in his mind this image of his lord as a hard man who makes unreasonable demands and expects back more than he gives. He hoped to establish his case by two parallel illustrations: reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering (winnowed grain) where thou didst not scatter (sheaves to be threshed). Others sow and YOU reap! Others scatter unthreshed grain on the threshing floor and then thresh it, and YOU take the wheat, the fruit of their labors! He implies that there was no real motivation to labor, because any potential return from any investment, be it market or bank investment, would have fallen to his master, hence he would have gotten nothing for his pains. What hope of personal gain was there to motivate anyone to take investment risks for such a crusty, ill-tempered old man?

This stewards reaction is probably not intentionally insolent (Pro. 26:16). Not unlikely, he supposes that, under the circumstances, his approach is just, his words sincere and appropriate. His blindness to his own misconduct stems from a totally wrong view of his lord. He did not love his master, so he willfully misunderstood him, and in this alienation of sympathy, refused to serve him. By attempting to protect his own interests, he asserted his fundamental intention to work for himself.

His grave error is that of all sinners. Men justify their sin on the basis of a firmly believed but false view of Gods character. They accuse Him of demanding what they suppose belongs to them. They assume that all the time, energy, talents and cash that flow through their lives really belongs to them, and that Gods expectation that He be given His portion thereof is but an unreasonable, self-calculating money policy on His part! Ironically, there is just a grain of truth in the slaves words. All our work, our lives, our talents, our very being must be utilized to the glory of God alone. Nothing we handle is really ours. It would appear that He alone is enriched by our efforts. This is but half of the truth, hence more treacherously deceptive. In His story Jesus faces this accusation head-on, shouting for all to hear that . . .

1.

Gods gifts are proportionately bestowed according to our ability. He is so kind and understanding that He would never overload anyone with more than he can bear.

2.

Our service is only preparation for yet greater things to come FOR US.

3.

Our rewards are rich and desirable beyond all we could ever hope to deserve.

So, any rebellion against such a Master as Jesus arises from our real ignorance of God. No harsh, demanding Boss, He considers the smallest favor to insignificant people as done directly to Himself (Mat. 25:40)! He watches for the chance to help the weakest servants and accepts the will for the deed, loves to praise, encourage and uplift. It is only a gross and deliberate misrepresentation of His Kingdom that could ever suppose that what is given to Him or done for Him could ever be lost or forgotten or go unrewarded (1Co. 15:58).

Mat. 25:25 and I was afraid, and went away and hid thy talent in the earth: lo thou hast thine own. I was afraid, he says. Really? He did not hesitate to insult his master to his face or return him the money without making even the smallest attempt to bring him a profit. The man feared making mistakes, so he did nothing, which was the greatest mistake of all. He implies, Driven to it by your harsh, unreasoning character and compelled by what would happen, if I lost your money through bad investment, I hid your talent in the earth.

How does God consider the one-talent man? This slave had the lightest responsibility of the three, but it was still no more than he could easily manage. Jesus rivets our attention on the man with the most limited potentiality and the least of his masters goods, because, in comparison to the highly gifted, more influential brethren in the limelight in the Church, we easily think ourselves handicapped and hampered with little means at our disposal to do anything for God. It is precisely because of this that we feel severely tempted to hide our light under a bushel, bury our talent in inactivity and then criticize God for not being more generous. We too are tempted to create the same hypothesis contrary to fact, Had God given me more money, talents, intellect, etc., I would have produced more, when, as a matter of fact, we are not using what we have.
As this improductive steward handed the solitary talent back to its owner, he concludes with an unconscious falsehood: Lo thou hast thine own. This is deceiving, because no account is given of his own time and activity, both of which were as much the possession of his master as the talent. He was a slave (dolos, Mat. 25:26), so he himself belonged to his lord, but did not, in reality, return to his master what was his. Although he had not squandered or absconded with his masters money, he cannot possibly escape blame, because his abilities, healthy body, time and energies were never used any more than the buried talent, but were all fruitless, as far as the master was concerned. Rather than confess any wrong, he boldly implies that his lord should praise him for his prudence and exonerate him from any blame for returning the money intact. Such is the depth of his self-deception, and the justification for his condemnation that comes next.

The Premises of His Defeat

Mat. 25:26 But his lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I did not scatter; Feel the contrast that marks the good and faithful from the wicked and slothful. Whereas this steward defended himself as prudent, because he apparently took no risks, his master now attacks his inoperosity precisely because he had done nothing at all.

1.

He was wicked (poner; Bruce, Expositors Greek Testament, 303 prefers mean-spirited or grudging) toward so generous a master. Why?

a.

Because he slandered his master first to himself, then to the lord himself.

b.

Because he had not done his duty as slave required to invest his masters money.

c.

Because his unwillingness to work was motivated by his disdain for his masters concerns, prosperity and clearly expressed demands before he left.

2.

He was slothful (oknr, lazy, slow, indolent, idle). The masters proof of this accusation comes in Mat. 25:27.

Thou knewest? This is not unlikely a question to draw out what the slave could have known, hence could have produced. His master waives his own right to expect the energies of his slave to be utilized for his profit, and simply defeats the sluggard by his own arguments. You knew? Then you will be judged by your own standards expressed in your own words! This lord is not for one minute conceding the slaves judgment as true in reality, but conceding it for sake of argument. If the servants argument means that the master enriched himself by the labor of others, then he could have known that the lord would demand a profit from this servants own labors. This alone should have made him more afraid NOT to invest that money in the surest kind of investment then known.

The Proper Conclusion From Such Premises

Mat. 25:27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers and at my coming I should have received back mine own with interest. Were the slave troubled by other forms of risk through speculative investments, surely he should have been comforted by the guarantees afforded by the bankers. Although it was illegal to charge interest on money lent to fellow Hebrews (Exo. 22:25; Lev. 25:36 f.; Psa. 15:5), interest could be charged to non-Hebrews (Deu. 23:19 f.). Such a low-risk investment could have commanded high interest in those days and turned a reasonably handsome profit. But how apply this option in Christian practice?

1.

Hendriksen (Matthew, 883) notes Jesus utilization of this argument in the masters rebuttal:

In passing, a safe inference would seem to be that Jesus, who tells this parable, is not opposed to responsible capitalism. Profit prompts employment and makes possible helping those in need, etc.

2.

Those who discover little direct use for their talents in Christs service may well put what they do possess at the disposition of others to be invested profitably. Do they have enough talent to earn income? There is no shortage of missionary enterprises, charitable organizations and Christian education programs to which those with smaller gifts may dedicate their contributions. While this seems not to be a direct investment of life and talents, the efforts of the front-line Christian bankers brings profit to Jesus and those disciples who invest for His glory in this way shall be suitably recognized.

3.

Why should our Lord, represented by the master in His illustration, be so driven by the profit motive? I should have received back mine own with interest, is the word of Gods Son. In Himself, therefore, He furnishes the example of the spirit that must drive His disciples: get in there and make a profit, improve your opportunities, buy up the market, know how to seize the advantage. (Cf. Eph. 5:16, esp. in Greek: buying up the opportunity; Luk. 16:8 f.) How many Christians actually believe that their one goal in life is to turn every energy and talent into a way of making positive gain for Jesus Christ? To fail to grasp this is to contribute to the sluggishness and lack of progress of His Kingdom on earth. You should have put my money to the bankers means You did not. Idleness, laziness and irresponsibility for others and their goods is soundly condemned in Scripture (2Th. 3:6-13; Heb. 6:11 f.; 1Th. 5:14; 1Th. 4:11; Pro. 6:6-11; Pro. 10:4 f. Pro. 13:4; Pro. 18:9; Pro. 19:15; Pro. 20:4; Pro. 20:13; Pro. 21:25; Pro. 22:13; Pro. 24:30-34; Pro. 26:14-16; Pro. 27:18; Pro. 28:19). Will a Christian rob his Lord? Yet, by preventing Him from receiving what is His right to expect and what He otherwise would have obtained, he cheats Him, even though the Christian returns his talent back to God in mint condition.

The Lazy Are Dispossessed and Punished

Mat. 25:28 Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath the ten talents. This order proves that the master had not touched, much less accepted, the one talent from his indolent steward. As it lay there burning the useless servants hand, it reminded him how many opportunities had been wasted while the money was in his hands. Whereas he expected the master to take the solitary talent back, incredibly, the lord rejected it.

As another stepped forward to relieve him of that unwanted talent, the limited stewardship of the inactive servant ended. There is now no further time nor opportunity to make good, exactly as, for the five foolish virgins, the coming of the bridegroom ended all opportunity for them.
Why give it unto him that hath the ten talents (cf. Luk. 19:25)? Several reasons are suggested:

1.

Indifference to ones stewardship finally makes others wealthy and empoverishes oneself (Pro. 10:4 f; Pro. 11:24 f; Pro. 12:11; Pro. 14:23; Pro. 17:16; Pro. 20:13; Pro. 21:17; Pro. 22:29; Pro. 27:18).

2.

This owner may do what he will with his own possessions. God, too, is sovereign in precisely the same way. (See note on Mat. 20:15.)

3.

Who was better qualified to accept additional responsibility than he who had demonstrated himself most capable by profitably handling the most money and in whose hands the masters interests were safest?

A Universal Rule of Life

Mat. 25:29 For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away. (Cf. Luk. 19:26.) This rule of life in Gods Kingdom is often illustrated in human psychology (Mat. 13:12; esp. Mar. 4:24 f.). What is it that one has or has not? And how could anyone, who possesses nothing, be stripped of it? In our story all three slaves possessed two fundamental assets: their servanthood and their lords talents to invest. The two slothful stewards grasped the preciousness of both, increased their lords wealth and insured the permanency of their position. The lazy slave has now been stripped of his one talent, and thus, has not. He is now to be deprived of the last precious possession, his privilege to serve this generous lord. He had treated his stewardship as if he did not have it. Now what he really possessed all along shall be taken away.

This principle is one of lifes moral laws, especially with regard to opportunities for service and abilities. To the man who had proven that he had the trustworthiness and ability to handle large sums of money, more could be entrusted. The more he was given, the more he could earn with it, the more he could be rewarded for his work, and the more he shall have abundance. Each trial of trust proves whether each of us is ready to move on to higher responsibilities. Those who know how to take advantage of their spiritual opportunities will be given others. But those who make no good use of theirs, however small or insignificant they may seem to them, will even lose their chance to do anything. (Consider Luk. 16:10-12.)

How God Sees Uselessness

Mat. 25:30 And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Unprofitable not only describes the crime of this servant, but also establishes the point of Jesus illustration.

The slaves failure lay in what he could, but would not, do. His was voluntary inertia. He lacked, but did not want to develop, creativity, initiative, foresight, alertness, aggressiveness, dependability or responsibility. So, why should anyone want to keep such a useless slave any longer?

Cast out . . . outer darkness . . . weeping . . . gnashing of teeth. These combined expressions repeat a well-known paraphrase for hell. (Cf. notes on Mat. 8:12; Mat. 13:42; Mat. 13:40; Mat. 22:13; Mat. 24:51; see also Luk. 13:28; 2Pe. 2:17; Jud. 1:13.) In what other ways in this discourse has Jesus underscored the destiny of the wicked already (Mat. 24:39; Mat. 24:43; Mat. 24:51; Mat. 25:12; cf. Mat. 25:41; Mat. 25:46)? These expressions picture a banishment to a futile self-accusation and frustrated anger. This punishment accents the severity of the sentence Jesus pronounced upon refusal to be stewards. (Cf. Mat. 21:33-41; Luk. 12:45-48.) No great sinner by most standards, this offender is rejected for unfaithfulness to his trust by simply doing nothing. There is no need to break down the broad class of unconscientious stewards to show all the various degrees of failure. After all, if our Lord so severely punishes the unprofitable use of ONE talent, what would He do to those who squander or fail to invest MORE?

This parable compares with that of the Pounds and complements it. The message of the Pounds Parable is that people given identical gifts may produce quite dissimilar results and be quite differently rewarded in strictly graduated ratio to the differing diligence. The point of the Talents Parable is that people who have unequal gifts may still utilize them equally well or badly and be rewarded in proportion to their work.

FACT QUESTIONS

1.

Tell all the differences between the Parable of the Talents and the Parable of the Pounds (Luke 19). Show how the occasions on which each was told differed from each other.

2.

Why are some given more talents than others? What rule did the master follow to distribute his money to each slave?

3.

Of what phase of Gods program is the Parable of the Talents illustrative? List the points of comparison.

4.

What is a talent as this word was used in Jesus story? What is its relative value? How may this value be calculated?

5.

List the results obtained by the first two stewards.

6.

Describe the attitude and actions of the third steward.

7.

List the points in this parable that have parallels in other stories Jesus told on the same day.

8.

Explain in what sense the stewards master termed them good and faithful servants. On what basis could he determine this?

9.

Indicate the rewards of the good and faithful servants.

10.

Explain what it means for the profitable servants to enter into the joy of their lord.

11.

What was the third stewards opinion of his master? Wherein was he mistaken?

12.

How did the lord think his steward should have acted, given his present opinion?

13.

To whom did the master give the lazy stewards talent? Why to him?

14.

Explain how a person who has nothing can still lose what he has. What did the lazy steward have and what did he have not?

15.

Explain the terms (a) outer darkness, and (b) weeping and gnashing of teeth.

16.

State the central point of Jesus story in one, well-honed statement.

17.

What does this parable teach about the Second Coming of Jesus?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(14) For the kingdom of heaven.The italicised words are introduced for the sake of grammatical completeness. The Greek runs simply, For as a man . . . called his own servants, with no formal close to the comparison. The parable thus introduced has obviously many points in common with that of the Pounds recorded by St. Luke (Luk. 19:12-27), but the distinctive features of each are also so characteristic that it will be well to deal with each separately, and to reserve a comparison of the two till both have been interpreted.

The outward framework of the parable lies in the Eastern way of dealing with property in the absence of the owner. Two courses were open as an approximation to what we call investment. The more primitive and patriarchal way was for the absentee to make his slaves his agents. They were to till his land and sell the produce, or to use the money which he left with them as capital in trading. In such cases there was, of course, often an understanding that they should receive part of the profits, but being their masters slaves, there was no formal contract. The other course was to take advantage of the banking, money-changing, money-lending system, of which the Phnicians were the inventors, and which at the time was in full operation throughout the Roman empire The bankers received money on deposit and paid interest on it, and then lent it at a higher percentage, or employed it in trade, or (as did the publicani at Rome) in farming the revenues of a province. This was therefore the natural resource, as investment in stocks or companies is with us, for those who had not energy to engage in business.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

PARABLE OF THE TALENTS, Mat 25:14-30.

The parable of the virgins illustrates the watch for the judgment in life or in death; so the parable of the talent teaches the duty of working while the day lasts.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

14. Man travelling into a far country Our Lord ascending into heaven, until he comes to judge the quick and the dead. His own servants The slaves of antiquity were frequently educated men, trained to the various kinds of business, and who toiled for the benefit of their masters.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants, and delivered to them his goods.”

‘It is as –.’ That is, ‘the Kingly Rule of Heaven is as –.’ Note the relationship of the Kingly Rule of Heaven to the man who is going away. It is He Who has the Kingly Rule. And those to whom He gives responsibilities are under His Kingly Rule. On going away for a while He hands over all that is His to His servants for them to make use of while He is away. They are to use it in recognition of His second coming, the time for giving account. Each is to make of them what they can.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Parable of the Talents (25:14-30).

In this third of three major parables on the need to be ready for His coming Jesus likens Himself to a man who goes to another country and hands over control of all that He has to servants so that they can look after His affairs. Two of them do well and double what He gives them. They receive His “well done!” But one makes no use of what he is given and buries it in the ground in order to keep it safe. When called on to give account he admits that he knows what he should have done and is accused of abusing what he has been given, by not using it for the benefit of his master. The result is that he is utterly condemned. The important lesson here is that all must use what God puts under their control to the glory of God, and that if we refuse to make use of what He puts under our control for His glory, building on it so that it multiplies, we can only expect judgment. Note that it is not a case of a man who does great wrong (as similarly in the first parable). It is the case of a man who does nothing, as in the case of what follows in Mat 25:31-46.

Analysis.

a “For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants, and delivered to them his goods, and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his several ability, and he went on his journey” (Mat 25:14-15).

b “Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. In the same way he also who received the two gained another two” (Mat 25:16-17).

c “But he who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money” (Mat 25:18).

d “Now after a long time the lord of those servants comes, and makes a reckoning with them” (Mat 25:19).

e “And he who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you handed over to me five talents. Lo, I have gained another five talents’ ” (Mat 25:20).

f “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’ ” (Mat 25:21).

g “And he also who received the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you handed over to me two talents. Lo, I have gained another two talents’ ” (Mat 25:22).

f “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’ ” (Mat 25:23).

e “And he also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter, and I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Lo, you have your own’ ” (Mat 25:24-25).

d “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter’ ” (Mat 25:26).

c “You ought therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own, with interest” (Mat 25:27).

b “Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents” (Mat 25:28).

a “For to every one who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away, and cast you out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth” (Mat 25:29-30).

Note that in ‘a’ the man delivers his goods to his servants, and in the parallel what they do with them determines their future destiny. In ‘b’ the five and two talents are given to two servants respectively, and in the parallel the receiver of the five talents receives an extra talent. In ‘c’ the one who received the one buried it in the earth, and in the parallel he is accused of wasting its value. In ‘d’ the lord returns to reckon with his servants, and in the parallel he castigates the one who failed for not recognising the reckoning that he would have to make. In ‘e’ the one who shone out had made five talents more, and has no criticism of his lord, while in contrast the one who had failed hands it back, blaming his lord for his behaviour. In ‘f’ the one with five talents receives his lord’s ‘well done’, and in the parallel the one with two talents receives the same. Centrally in ‘g’ the one who received two talents has doubled what he had received. But as sometimes happens with a chiasmus the central emphasis is to be seen in the central three points. Success is attended by a ‘well done’.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Parable of the Talents ( Luk 19:11-27 ) In Mat 25:14-30 Jesus gives His disciples a second parable to illustrate to them how to prepare themselves for His Second Coming. This refers to the event that will come at the end of the seven-year Tribulation Period in which Christ will return and set up His earthly kingdom and rule from Jerusalem for a thousand years. This parable is about being responsible and about how God wants us to spend our time wisely.

In the Parable of the Talents the work of servants in Mat 25:14-18 to gain more for their master could represent our life on earth before the Day of Judgment when God’s servants are to faithful with the gifts and anointings imparted unto them. Mat 25:19-30 could represent the Lord’s Second Coming and the Judgment Seat of Christ where every believer will be judged. This time of judgment stands in contrast to the Great White Throne Judgment that takes place at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Reign of Christ, where all sinners will be judged and cast into the lake of fire for eternity (Mat 25:31-40).

Principles of Stewardship – As a station manager of Lighthouse Television, I manage a team of marketing agents, or sales agents. When we terminated the marketing manager, I had to make a decision on how to distribute her clients. One of the directors suggested that I distribute them equally among the existing agents and I requested to follow the principle found in the Parable of the Talents. Upon their approval, I quickly gave the most important clients to one particular marketing agent who had exhibited much marketing skills and loyalty. I found that this person managed these important clients well while others were slothful with even their small clients. This skilled marketing agent began to bring in over seventy-five percent of the monthly sales and make a lot of money. However, I promised him that I would never place him on a set salary for making too much money. I gave him the opportunity and liberty to make as much money as he wanted. Sometimes, the other agents complained and wanted good clients. I was never moved by such complaints as I examined their lesser skills. At one meeting on June 14, 2004 I read the Parable of the Talents. In the place of the word “talents,” I put “clients.” In the place of the word “lord” I used the word “boss.” In other words, I paraphrased this passage of Scripture so that they clearly understood how I thought and how I handed out walk-in clients to particular marketing agents based upon their monthly sales. No one in that meeting could criticize this principle that I placed before them, because it was so true to their daily work environment.

Mat 25:14  For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

Mat 25:14 “For the kingdom of heaven is as” – Comments – This passage is a comparison to Jesus’ Second Coming. His second coming is a vital part of the topic of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mat 25:14 “delivered unto them his goods” – Comments – God owns everything and what we have has been delivered, or loaned, to us for a season.

Mat 25:14 Comments – In the Parable of the Talents, the context of the passage is Jesus’ Second Coming, when the faithful shall receive their rewards (Luk 14:14), and when the wicked shall receive their surprises.

Luk 14:14, “And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

Mat 25:15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

Mat 25:15 Word Study on “several” Webster says the English word “several” means, “s eparate; distinct, particular, single. ”

Mat 25:15 Comments – The different amounts of talents of this parable can represent the things in this life that God has given to us as stewards. For example, these talents can be figurative of the gifts and callings that God places upon our lives (Rom 12:6).

Rom 12:6, “ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us , whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;”

Some people are saved while they are young and therefore, they have a lifetime to begin serving God. Others are saved late in life, with only a few short years left to serve the Lord. Still others are saved with lots of material wealth to contribute to the kingdom of God, etc.

Mat 25:16  Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

Mat 25:16 Comments – One pastor from Denver, Colorado named Gerald Garzia explained to me that our work in serving the Lord is like doing business in the secular world. If a person makes wise business decisions, the business prospers. Each decision is basically the act of trading one commodity for another. When a person learns how to trade so that each transaction is a gain and not a loss, then the business prospers. In the same way, the Lord gives us talents, or commodities, in which to trade. Pastor Garzia explained it by saying that we can trade in our sin for righteousness, and we trade in doubt and unbelief for faith in God’s Word. We trade in depression for joy, sorrow for peace and hypocrisy for sincerity. In all of this trading, we find ways to serve the Lord. In the end, we prosper in Christian service much like a business prospers through trade.

Mat 25:17  And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

Mat 25:17 Comments – These first two servants became busy for their lord, knowing that he wanted to receive the gain on their talents.

Mat 25:18  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

Mat 25:19  After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

Mat 25:19 “and reckoneth with them” Word Study on “reckoneth” Strong says the Greek word (G4868) means, “to make up together, to compute.” The Enhanced Strong says this word is used 3 times in the New Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “take 1, reckon 1, reckon + 3056 1.”

Comments – This reckoning is referred to in Heb 4:13, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do .”

Mat 25:19 Illustration – When I leave the television station in Uganda and travel to the U.S., I hand over money and other items to several faithful staff members. When I return I sit down with each one of them separately I receive back what I handed to them. I reconcile the money and expense report with them. When the expenses reconcile with the cash properly, I am pleased with them. If there is a discrepancy, then I make them give an account.

Mat 25:20  And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

Mat 25:20 Comments – What talents, or responsibilities, does God give us today? These talents can be summed up in four areas of our life: our relationship to God, to our family, to our church body and to our work environment and those outside the body of Christ.

1. Relationship to God – This is our relationship with God through Bible study, prayer, church attendance and doing God’s Word.

2. Relationship to Family – This is our relationship with a husband, a wife and children. The husband provides “food, raiment and the duty of marriage” (Exo 21:10). He teaches the children about godliness and he works on a job to provide for his family.

Exo 21:10, “If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.”

3. Relationship to Church – This is our relationship with our pastor and fellow believers. We give tithes, offerings and we assemble together.

4. Relationship to Those Outside the Body of Christ This is our relationship with those at work and others who are outside the body of Christ.

If a person will be faithful in these four areas of his life, he will not have time to become idle, nor will he have time to busy himself with nonsense, as does the busy secular world.

Talents can represent souls, wisdom, gifts, anointings, and many other things. For example, a shepherd, or pastor, has been entrusted with God’s flock or sheep (Eze 34:4, 1Sa 12:23).

Eze 34:4, “The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.”

1Sa 12:23, “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:”

Mat 25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Mat 25:21 ; Mat 25:23 “I will make thee ruler over many things” Comments – One of our rewards is to be able to rule and reign with Christ Jesus on this earth (Rev 20:4).

Rev 20:4, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years .”

Mat 25:24 Word Study on “strawed” Webster says the English word “straw” means, “ To spread or scatter.”

Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

Mat 25:26 Comments – Note that this word “slothful” is the opposite of “faithful.” A faithful servant cannot be lazy in the things of God. Note how hard of a worker the servant was towards his master in the parable of the unprofitable servant (Luk 17:5-10). The servant in this passage may have been a hard pursuer, or worker, in the cares of this world (Mar 4:19). So much so that he had no time for God’s work anymore. We must be busy about the work of the Lord, “full of good works” as it says in Act 9:36. Rom 16:6; Rom 16:12 (many hard workers in church at Rome). Also, we are to be full of the Holy Ghost in wisdom, faith and power (Act 6:3; Act 6:5; Act 6:8; Act 11:24). You cannot be slothful in the things of God.

Mar 4:19, “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”

Act 9:36, “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.”

Rom 16:6, “Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.”

Rom 16:12,”Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.”

Act 6:3, “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”

Act 6:5, “And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:”

Act 6:8, “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.”

Act 11:24, “For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.”

Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

Mat 25:27 Word Study on “exchangers” Gesenius says the Greek word (G5133) means, “money-changer, banker,” which may have been derived from the Greek word (G5132), referring to the dinner table on which a meal was placed, and also refers to the table used by the money-changers ( Gesenius, Strong). For example, Luke uses (table) in the Parable of the Pounds figuratively to refer to the place where interest is gained by doing business with the money changers (Luk 19:23). Although the KJV translates as “bank” in Luk 19:23, the word actually refers to the table used these ancient businesses of exchanging currency. We find a description of these money-changers working at their tables in Mat 21:12, Mar 11:15 and Joh 2:15, where the Scriptures tell us that Jesus cast them out of the Temple for bringing their business into this sacred place of prayer.

While the Greek word refers to a money-changer or banker, the Scriptures also use the Greek word (G2855) to refer to a “money-changer” ( Gesenius), or more literally, “a coin-dealer” ( Strong), who sat at these (tables) to do business (see Mat 21:12, Mar 11:15 Joh 2:15).

Luk 19:23, “Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?”

Mat 21:12, “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,”

Mar 11:15, :And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;”

Joh 2:15, “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;”

Comments There was a need to change money change in Palestine because of the various currencies used throughout the Empire, such as the Roman denarius, the Greek drachma and tetradrachma, and the Phoenician coins. Thus, Jews coming from the Diaspora to Jerusalem would bring an array of currency that needed to be exchanged in order to pay the customary half shekel annual temple tax for all males above the age of twenty (Exo 30:11-15). [660] In additional money changing, A. R. S. Kennedy says the wealthy members of this profession developed a business system in which people could deposit their money with them in order to gain interest. [661] This type of usury would describe what Jesus was referring to in Mat 25:27 and Luk 19:24.

[660] Edward Bagby Pollard, “Money-changers,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., c1915, 1939), in The Sword Project, v. 1.5.11 [CD-ROM] (Temple, AZ: CrossWire Bible Society, 1990-2008).

[661] A. R. S. Kennedy, “Money-changers,” in A Dictionary of the Bible Dealing with its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology, vol. 3, ed. James Hastings and John A. Selbie (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1901), 432-433.

Money finds its greatest value, not in being hoarded, but by placing it in circulation so that it may gain profit to its owner. A healthy economy is one where money is being exchanged and spent. Regarding the kingdom of God, we are to invest our material wealth into the kingdom of God, rather than hoarding it for ourselves.

Mat 25:30 Comments – Note The phrase “outer darkness” is used three times in the Scriptures and is unique to the Gospel of Matthew (Mat 8:12; Mat 22:13; Mat 25:30). The identification of this place does not necessarily refer to Hell. The parable tells us that the Lord gave one talent unto one of his servant. This would represent a believer and not a sinner, but an unfaithful believer with the goods that God had given to this servant to use in the work of the kingdom.

In his book The Final Quest Rick Joyner likens the five foolish virgins to those Christians who get saved, but do not live for the Lord. They live for themselves and do know the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. When they appear before the judgment seat of Christ, they will suffer tremendous grief for not having known the Lord through the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is meant by the statement, “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” They will suffer the loss of all things, except their souls, according to 1Co 3:13-15. Rick Joyner met them on the way to the throne in a place distant from the throne called “outer darkness.” One witness to him called it the “lowest part of Heaven.” [662]

[662] Rick Joyner, The Final Quest (Charlotte, North Carolina: Morning Star Publications, 1977), 86-90.

However, we find the phrase “outer darkness” in the New Testament Apocrypha writing The Revelation of Paul. In this ancient writing it is used to describe the place where scornful sinners are taken after death to be tormented by the angel Tartaruch.

“Let him therefore be handed over to the angel Tartaruch, who is set over the punishments, and let him place him in outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, and let him be there till the great day of judgment. And after these things I heard the voice of angels and archangels saying: Thou art just, Lord, and thy judgment is just.” ( The Revelation of Paul 16) ( ANF 8)

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Parable of the Talents.

The talents entrusted:

v. 14. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

v. 15. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

v. 16. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

v. 17. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

v. 18. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

The transition from the previous parable to this one is very abrupt, indicating a very close connection in thought. It is the question of faithfulness and its test in the judgment of the last great day. Since the hour of the Lord’s return is unknown to us, and since He will require a reckoning from us, therefore the lesson of this parable is so important. The master, in preparing for his journey, called his own servants, his favorite slaves, of whose faithfulness and willingness to serve he was convinced, and gave his wealth into their keeping, entrusting to one of them five talents, each talent of silver being worth about 41,200, to a second two, and to a third only one. He had carefully observed them, and was convinced that the amount given to each to do business with corresponded with his business ability. After the master had left, the first servant lost no time in investing the money he had received profitably. So well did he succeed in his business ventures that he had soon doubled his capital. In the same way the second servant gained two talents by the judicious investment of the two entrusted to him. But the third servant lacked both energy and enterprise. He dug a hole in the ground, and hid the talent of silver there.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mat 25:14. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling For He [the Son, Mat 25:13.] is as a man, &c. The kingdom of heaven, added by our translators, appears to be repeated from the first verse; but the connection seems to require the version here given. See Luk 19:12. Instead of his goods, Dr. Heylin reads his effects.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 25:14 . The parable of the talents , extending to Mat 25:30 , [20] is introduced as an additional ground for the , and that by viewing it as a question of work and responsibility. The parable in Luk 19:12 ff., which, notwithstanding the differences in regard to individual features, resembles the present in its leading thoughts and illustrations, is to be regarded as a modification, arising in the course of the Gospel tradition, of the more original and simpler one before us (in opposition to Calvin, Olshausen, Neander, Holtzmann, Volkmar), and which Luke also represents as having been spoken at a different time; comp. Weizscker, p. 181. In this latter Gospel we have what was originally an independent parable (that of the rebellious subjects) blended with that of the talents (Strauss, I. p. 636 f.; Ewald, p. 419 f.; Bleek, Keim, Weiss, 1864, p. 128 ff.). If it be maintained, as Kern, Lange, Cremer, are disposed to do, that in Matthew and Luke we have two distinct parables, spoken by Jesus on two different occasions, then there is no alternative but either to accept the unnatural view that the simpler (Matthew’s) is the later form, or to suppose, in opposition to what is recorded , that Jesus spoke the parable in Matthew, where, however, the connection is perfectly apposite, somewhat earlier than that in Luke (Schleiermacher, Neander). The one view as well as the other would be all the more questionable, that the interval during which Christ “intentionally employs the same parabolic materials for the purpose of illustrating different subjects” (Auberlen) would thus comprise only a few days. Mar 13:34 is extracted from what Matthew has taken from the collection of our Lord’s sayings.

, . . .] a case of anantapodosis similar to that of Mar 13:34 , and doubtless reproducing what already appeared in the collection of sayings from which the passage is taken. Comp. Rom 5:12 . Fritzsche on Mat 25:30 . At the outset of the discourse it would be the intention to connect the whole parable with , and, at the conclusion, to annex an apodosis by means of (probably . , or . . ).; but, considering the somewhat lengthened character of the parable, this had to be omitted.

. ] on the point of going abroad (Mat 21:33 ).

] not strangers, such as exchangers, but his own servants , of whom, therefore, he had a right to expect that they would do their best to lay out for his advantage the money entrusted to them.

[20] In connection with this parable, compare the following traditional sayings attributed to Christ: ( Hom. Clem . ii. 51, iii. 50, xviii. 20, etc.; Clement of Alexandria, Origen; Apostolical Constitutions ); and , (Justin, c. Tr . 47). Eusebius gives a kindred parable from the Gospel of the Hebrews, and for which see Mai’s Nova patrum biblioth . IV. p. 155.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

FOURTH SECTION
THE FINAL JUDGMENT AS RETRIBUTION ON INDIVIDUALS. THIRD PICTURE OF THE JUDGMENT. [THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS]

Mat 25:14-30

14For the kingdom of heaven is [he is] 30 as a man travelling into a far country [going abroad, . ], who [. He] called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability [his own ability, ]; and straightway took his journey [he went abroad, ]. 16Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same [with them, ], and made them 17[gained]31 other five talents. And likewise [Likewise also, ] he that had received two [the two, ],32 he also gained other two. 18But he that had received 19one [talent]33 went and digged [dug] in the earth, and hid34 his lords money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20And so he that had received [the] five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them35 five talents more 21[other five talents beside them, . ]. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou36 good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:37 enter thou into the joy of thy 22lord. [And] He also that had received [the] two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. 23His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:38 enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 24Then he which [who] had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed:39 25And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the 26earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine [thou hast thine own, ]. [And] His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed: [?]40 27Thou oughtest therefore to have put [thrown, ]41 my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury [interest].42 28Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which [that] hath [the] ten talents. 29For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30And cast ye the unprofitable servant into [the, ] outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The Signification of the Parable of the Talents.In this parable the idea of retribution, as affecting individual Christians, comes prominently forward; as the first referred that retribution to office-bearers in the Church, and the second to the Church itself as a whole. As there the former parable laid the stress upon the watchfulness, internal religion, here we have the requirement of watchfulness in persevering, unwearied fidelity and activity through the Spirit. [Compare the remarks of Trench: While the virgins were represented as waiting for the Lord, we have here the servants working for Him. There the inward spiritual rest of the Christian was describedhere his external activity. There, by the end of the foolish virgins, we are warned against declensions and decays in the inward spiritual lifehere against sluggishness and sloth in our outward vocation and work. That parable enforced the need of keeping the heart with all diligencethis the need of giving all diligence also to the outward work, if we would be found of Christ in peace at the day of His appearing. Alford likewise refers this parable to the active side of the Christian life, while the preceding parable sets forth the contemplative side. There, the foolish virgins failed from thinking their part too easyhere the wicked servant fails from thinking his too hard. The parable is still concerned with Christians ( ), and not the world at large. We must remember the relation of master and slave, in order to understand his delivering to them his property, and punishing them for not fructifying with it. But this may be understood as well from the stand-point of free labor.P. S.]

As it respects the relation of the parable of the Talents, to the parable of the Pounds (Min) in Luk 19:2-27, it is somewhat analogous to the relation of the parable of the marriage of the Kings Son, Mat 22:2, to the parable of the Supper, Luk 14:16. We must not be misled by the appearance of likeness into a denial of the fact, that we have to do here with an altogether new and different parable. Meyer says: The analogous parable in Luke 19 is to be regarded as a modification, which arose, in evangelical tradition, of our present original and simpler parable. In its form in Luke, probably an original and independent parable (concerning the rebellious subjects) had become blended with that of the talents (comp. Strauss, i:636 sq.; Ewald, p. 339 sq.). Such perfect confusion of parable with fiction would be discarded at once by a careful estimate of the practical doctrinal scope of the former. That would altogether set aside the following alternative (of Meyer): If we entertain the thought that the parables in Luke and those in Matthew were delivered by Christ at different times, we must either admit the unnatural supposition that the simpler form in Matthew was the later (as Kern maintains), or contradict the narrative by assuming that Jesus delivered the parables in Matthew earlier than those in Luke (Schleiermacher, Neander). The idea of simpler has nothing to do here, where, as even de Wette acknowledges, the parables are internally different in their scope. The differences are plain: 1. As to their respective motives. In Luke, Jesus designs to repel the supposition that the advent would soon, or immediately, in a chronological sense, make its appearance; in Matthew, He intends to quicken the expectation that, in a religious sense, it would soon come. 2. In the former, the Lord is a high-born noble, who was to receive a kingdom; here, He is simply a landowner. There, the Lords absence is distance in space; here, it is length of time (there: ; here: ). There, the servants are ten, the number of the worlds age (see the ten virgins); here, they are three, the number of the Spirit. In the former, all the servants receive one pounddoubtless the one equal office of testimony; here, the first servant receives five talents, the second two, the third onethus noting individually different endowment, diverse degrees of the gift of the Spirit and grace. There, the gain is not in relation to the poundsthere are ten pounds from the the one, five pounds from the onebecause the result of official blessing may be past all reckoning; here, the gain is proportioned to the giftfive pounds from five, two from twobecause the gift of the Spirit as such can have an objective blessing only according to its subjective degree. There, the last servant lays up the one pound, which mikes him equal to the rest, in a napkin, unused, signifying his idleness; here, he buries it in the earth, signifying the prostitution of spiritual gifts to the service of the world and the flesh. There, the recompense of fidelity is the extension of the charge and vocation, the being placed over ten and over five cities; here, it is an entrance into the joy of their Lord:the former in harmony with official relation, and the latter in harmony with the personal spiritual life. There, the die servant was punished by the pound being taken from him (removal from office); here, he is cast into the outer darkness, condemned to eternal woe. In Luke, the parable closes with the nobleman being changed into a king, who punishes his rebellious servants; in Matthew, it closes with the just administration of the landowneralthough the king comes into all the more glorious prominence in the last parable, Mat 25:31 seq. The resemblance in the tone of the wicked servants words, and the Lords rejoinder, can have no effect in disturbing our conviction of the distinctness of the two parables. And upon this point, it is to be carefully noted that the servant in Luke, in accordance with the official relation, wraps his pound in a napkin; while the servant in Matthew, in accordance with the spiritual relation, hides it in the earth; further, that the former ought to have put his gold into the bank (the office is given back to the Church); while the latter should have taken it to the exchangers (spiritual gifts are quickened by contact with earnest leaders and members of the Church). Thus the former parable sets before us simply the external, social, official side of the Christian calling; the latter, the internal and the individual. This explains the difference between the gain of fidelity in the one case and in the other: and, further, that the slothful servant in office and the slothful servant in the service of the Spirit for the most part coincide, although in individual traits they differ. Official vocation produces its outward results broadly through the world; and an apostle might gain half the population of the earth, or bring the whole generation under his own influence. On the other hand, the spiritual gift works inwardly in the spiritual domain. In this it gains just so much life as corresponds with its related capacity of the Spirit. Externally, this gain may seem less; but in the estimate of the kingdom of grace it is otherwise. It is a higher reward to enter into the joy of our Lord, than to be set over the cities in the other world. In harmony with this distinction, the one slothful servant did not work at all; the other hid his spiritual gift in the earth. This , too, has a specific predicate attached to him, ; and his requital is not merely discharge from office, but spiritual woe.

Mat 25:14. For he is as a man.Here it is customary to explain the construction as an abrupt transition and an incomplete clause (an anantapodoton), as in Rom 5:12. But the previous verse is latently carried on in the sense: you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh; for He is, etc.

Delivered unto them his goods.The spiritual blessing of His life and salvation. Christ entrusts to Christians in this world the treasure of His spiritual life.

Mat 25:15. To every man according to his own ability, .Spiritual gifts are regulated by the kind and degree of personal susceptibility and capacity. Compare the doctrine of the 1 Corinthians 12 [There is no Pelagianism in this; for each mans powers are themselves the gift of God. Alford. But the words imply that every man has a natural endowment, a sacred trust and mission to fulfil in this world.P. S.]

And straightway he went abroad.The nearest possible approximation of the parable to the fact, that the ascension and Pentecost are closely connected; although the order is inverted.43 There had been, however, a preparatory bestowment of the Spirit before the ascension. See the farewell discourses in John, and Matthew 20. Meyer: Straightway, without precise orders for the application of the money. But some general orders are presupposed by the subsequent judgment; while the particular employment of the personal endowment is entrusted to the individual. Every one must know his peculiar vocation.

Ver 18. Hid his lords money.Contrary to duty and to dignity. The money in the earth is the spirit in the flesh.

Mat 25:20. Gained beside them, .In addition to what was entrusted, and by means thereof. [Comp. the plainer statement in Luk 19:16 : Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds, and Joh 15:5 : Without Me, ye can do nothing Every gift of God may be doubled and even increased tenfold by faithful and conscientious use, while it may be lost by neglect. This is true of spiritual and temporal gifts of all kinds.P. S.]

Mat 25:21. The Vulgate and Cod. A.44 read , which may stand absolutely, as in Luk 19:17; the , on the other hand, as Meyer observes, must be connected with the verb. [Alford, however, thinks that , according to later Greek usage, need not be connected with , but may bear the sense of : well done! as in the English Vers.P. S.]

[I will set thee over much.This implies new spheres of activity and usefulness in the kingdom of glory in heaven; oraccording to Stier, Alford, and all who refer this and the preceding parable to the pre-millennial adventin the millennium on earth.P. S.]

Into the joy of thy Lord.De Wette: Kuinoel and others interpret after Est 9:17 (Sept.), where =, entertainment; better, probably, from the feast of joy which the lord would celebrate on his return; Fritzsche, after Chrysostom, of the Messianic blessedness,the parable passing over into the reality. Doubtless, the Lords joyful festival is meant; but this signifies the inheritance of Christ. [Alford refers the not to a feast, but to the joy arising from the completion of the work and labor of love, of which the first sabbatical rest of the creation was typical, Gen 1:31; Gen 2:2; Heb 4:3-11; Heb 12:2; Rev 3:21.P. S.]

Mat 25:24. That thou reapest where thou hast not sown.The picture of a hard, and withal selfish man. The saying shows: 1. That the servant, as a self-seeker, separated his own interest from his lords, and therefore reckoned his lord to be a self-seeker also; 2. that he promised himself no personal spiritual joy in trading with the entrusted pound; 3. that he would tacitly reproach his lord with having given him too little: 4. that he would not only self-righteously excuse his own slothfulness of spirit, but also overrule and censure his lord; 5. that, with all this, he realty held his master to be not an over-hard man, but an over-gentle man, against whom he could dare to use such language with impunity.Where thou hast not strewed.Meyer understands here again, as in Mat 21:43, a winnowing, against Erasmus, Beza, and others, who interpret the of sowing; thinking that otherwise there would be a tautological parallel. But the new idea introduced is that of intensification: sowing and reaping, abundantly scattering and bringing into the barn. In winnowing, it is the straw that is scattered, and not the wheat. [Alford directs attention to the connection of thought between the last parable of our Lord with His first on the Sower (Mat 13:3-9). He looks for fruit where He has sown, but not beyond the power of the soil. He expects not so much success, as faithfulness which does not depend on the absolute amount, but is measured by the degree of ability and opportunity. Hence He says: good and faithful (not: successful) servant.P. S.]

Mat 25:25. And I was afraid.De Wette and Meyer: He might have lost the talent in trading. But that would have been in some sense praiseworthy. His fear was more abject: he would not take trouble for the benefit of a selfish lord.*

Mat 25:26. Thou knewest that I reaped.Kuinoel and de Wette: Concessively and ironically spoken; but according to Meyer, a question of surprise. Doubtless de Wette is right. The servant has condemned himself as a liar. If he really regarded his lord as a hard man, and yet would risk nothing in trade, he might have adopted a safe method of gain for his master, and placed the money into the hands of the changers. Thus at least the interest would have been secured.

Mat 25:27. Thrown my money to the bankers.Meyer: Throw it on the money-table; exhibits the sloth of his manner. The changers held a public bank among the ancients, at which they received and lent money. [Olshausen and Trench apply the to those stronger characters who may lead the more timid to the useful employment of gifts which they have not energy to use. Alford objects to this interpretation, and refers to the machinery of religious and charitable societies in our day as very much in the place of the .P. S.]

I might have received mine own.If thou didst thus separate thy interest from mine, thou wast bound to give the money to the changers, that I might have received mine with interest. A striking rebuke ex concessis!

Mat 25:28. Take from him therefore.The negative punishment, entering into the judgment of the servant himself: separation.And give it to him that hath the ten talentsThus even his judgment passes over into the praise of God.

Mat 25:29. For unto every one that hath.See Mat 13:12, p. 240.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On the meaning of the parable, see the Exegetical Notes. All its individual traits are regulated by the different relation of the talents; as in Luke 19 they signify offices, and here the individual gifts of grace. Thus, the concluding circumstance, that the one pound is given to him who had ten pounds, has in the two cases a diverse significance. In Luke, the sense of the parable is this, that the neglected office devolved or passed over to the highest fidelity; in Matthew, the truth is set forth, that the unfaithfulness of the slothful servant increases the spiritual life of the faithful, as affording him matter of constant warning and spiritual meditation, and the means of enlarging his knowledge of the divine government of souls.

2. If we refer this parable to the doctrine of election, we find in it the unlimited differences which the Scripture teaches, as opposed to the unlimited contrast of destiny which the Augustinian doctrine of predestination maintains. Each has his special religious talent or capital (the , Mat 25:15) in his original nature, and this becomes to him in the Church a charisma or gift ( ). The destination to salvation is thus universal: the capability and the call to fidelity in all the same, the measure of the gift is different, as are the degrees of glory. But if the least endowed in regard to fulness of life (for in reference to truth and fidelity no one is less endowed than another) scorns and neglects his pound, that was not his destiny, but is his fault. The less richly he was provided in himself, the more anxious should he have been to enrich himself by connection with the more eminent members of the Church. (Comp. the authors Positive Dogmatik, p. 956 sqq.)

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The judgment of the Lord upon all the individual members of the Church: 1. Its rightful ground: the appointment and the obligation of the servants. 2. Its test: the true application of gifts. 3. Its universality: the most richly and the least endowed are brought to account. 4. Its requital: on the one hand, the praise and the joy of the Lord; on the other hand, the despoiling and casting out into the fellowship of the lost.Thy gifts are entrusted to the day of reckoning.Manifold gifts, but one duty and one spirit.The endowment of a Christian is a call to work for the Lord.Every one receives the pound of the heavenly spiritual life according to the measure of his capacity.The double obligation which the absence of the Lord imposes upon Christians: 1. They are bound to fidelity, because the Lord is so far (and has committed to them all His interests in this world); 2. they are bound to fidelity, because He is so near (invisibly present in His gifts, and may come at any moment to reckon).The grand and stimulating thought, that Christ has committed to His servants in this world all His goods.The confidence of the Lord the source of His servants fidelity.Trading with the riches of Christ the highest and noblest gain.Christs business prospers only through fidelity.The Church is a place of trade, the noblest and the richest.The principles of commerce with spiritual gifts: 1. As regards God: giving up all, to gain all. 2. As it respects our neighbor: to give is more blessed than to receive. 3. As it respects ourselves: to gain the one thing needful in exchange for many things.45 4. As it respects the world: to give up the visible for the invisible.Trading with spiritual gifts the most perilous and yet the safest commerce.The praise and the reward of the faithful servants of Christ in the hour of reckoning: 1. The praise, of having been faithful over a little; 2. the reward, of being set over much, and of entering into the joy of the Lord.The end of our spiritual work a divine rest forever, a Sabbath of God.The wicked servant; or, let no man undervalue the gift which God has entrusted to him.How far a grudge against Christ underlies all unfaithfulness in the use of spiritual gifts.Man becomes wicked evermore through thinking evil of God.The Christian becomes wicked evermore through thinking evil of Christ.The self-seeker ascribes his own self-seeking to God also, to excuse himself.The unfaithful are obliged to condemn themselves at last by their own excuses.The frightful pit of earth in which the heavenly gifts of the Christians are buried.The infinite spiritual woes which must be entailed by the prostitution of spiritual light to the service of the flesh.The nameless work without which the slothful will have to do when the faithful rest.

Starke:We men in the world are stewards of the manifold gifts of God, 1Co 4:1-4; Luk 16:2.Hedinger: God distributes His gifts strangely, but holily: let no man think that he has received too little, Rom 12:6.In the gifts of God no one must be vain, or envious; but every one must use his own portion to the glory of God and the good of his fellows.God bestows his gifts and goods on men, not that they may be buried, wasted, appropriated to self, or imagined their own, but that they may faithfully trade with them, 1Co 12:7.Of a steward nothing more is expected, and nothing less, than fidelity, 1Co 4:2.Canstein: Few gifts may be turned to much account.Truth does not shun the light, but comes to it, Joh 3:21.He buries his Lords goods who seeks only his own.He who neglects nothing in his Christianity, will have confidence in the day of judgment, 1Jn 3:21.In the future reckoning no man will be forgotten or overlooked, 2Co 5:10.To be called a good and faithful servant of God, is a title more honorable than any that this world can give, Psa 116:16.The wicked servant does not know Jesus as a merciful Master, but as another Moses who requires more than man has strength for.When we do not see the gracious countenance of God in Christ, God appears to us hard and fearful.Slothfulness and baseness the two characteristics of the unfaithful servant.Luther: His knavery consisted in this, that he condemns his Lord for hardness, and scorns the way of grace (self-denial).How many, who now receive an unlimited number of honorable names, will one day be called, Thou fool!Hedinger: He who makes a good use of the first beginnings of grace, will go on well and soon grow rich; he who lets his grace decline within him, will soon be without it altogether.

Braune:There is no standing still, either progress and gain, or retrogress and loss. [Forward and finally all, or backward and finally nothing.]

Lisco:The humility of the faithful servants, who attribute all blessing and increase not to themselves, but to the entrusted pounds.It does not depend upon whether one has effected much or little according to the measure of his power and his sphere, but whether he has been faithful and diligent or not: the spirit is the main thing.This servant represents such as excuse their neglect in various ways: by pleading the little which has been entrusted to them, or the fear they had of encountering the dangerous influences of the world, or the consequent necessity which they felt of retreating into solitude and quiet piety.

Gerlach:Unbelieving despondency is always connected with slothfulness, when unbelief becomes a permanent condition.

Heubner:Fidelity in little things is a pearl of great price.There, thou hast thine own: perfect breach with God; he throws up his service altogether .Wicked () he is called, because his heart was false, attributing falsely to God this unloving hardness. His conscience smote him in secret, and testified to him that God was not as he painted Him.When God lays much upon us, He offers us abundance of strength to do and to bear.

[Burkitt (condensed):1. Christ the Lord of the universe, and owner of all His servants goods. 2. Talents: riches, honors; gifts of mind, wisdom, learning; gifts of grace. 3. Freedom of distribution to all, but in different measure. 4. Every talent is given to improve for our Masters use. 5. Every one is accountable for every talent. 6. All faithful servants will be rewarded with the joy of their Lord. 7. No excuses shall serve the slothful or unfaithful servant at the bar of Christ. 8. The unfaithful servant will be punished (a) negatively, by the loss of his talent, (b) positively, by suffering the misery of hell with gnashing of teeth, i.e., rage and indignation against God, the saints, and against himself.(Similar practical remarks with a more minute analysis, see in Matthew Henry.)D. Brown (condensed):1. Christ exhorts us in this parable, not Wait for your Lord, but Occupy till I come. Blessed is he whom the Lord shall find working (as well as watching, according to the preceding parable). 2. Christians are all servants of Christ, but differ in natural capacity, acquirements, providential position, influence, means, and opportunities. 3. Fidelity will be rewarded, not the amount or nature of the work. 4. Idleness and unprofitableness in the Lords service is sufficient to condemn.W. Nast:1. The talents of all men are free gifts of God, so that there is no room either for self-boasting, or for self-reproach; 2. they are given in trust, the Giver still retaining a claim upon them; 3. they are given to be employed and turned to the best account for the glory of the Giver.P. S.]

Footnotes:

[30]Mat 25:14.[The interpolation of the Authorized Version is unwarranted and unnecessary, and not found in the earlier English Versions. Lange inserts he is (viz., the Son of Man, ver 13); others: it is: Ewald and Conant omit all insertions, and translate simply: For as a man going abroad (Ewald: Denn sowie ein Verreisender, etc.). See Langes Exeg. Notes. Meyer in loc. takes as anantapodoton, as Mar 13:34; comp. Rom 5:12. It was intended to connect the whole parable with , and then to add a with an apodosis such as: , or . ., which was given up on account of the length of the protasis. Alford thinks, the ellipsis is rightly supplied in the Authorized English Version.P. S.]

[31]Mat 25:16.[Codd. A. , B., C., D., L., Lachmann, and Tregelles, read: , he gained. Alford thinks, it was inserted from Mat 25:17; Mat 25:22. The reading of the text, rec.: , is sustained by Cod. Sinait., and retained by Tischendorf and Alford. But the meaning is the same: he made, i.e., he produced, he gained, and was so rendered by the English Versions preceding that of the Bishops. See Conant in loc.P. S.]

[32]Mat 25:17.[Comp. , the fire, Mat 25:16. The is necessarily implied in the second clause, and hence the interpolation had received (or rather in the imperf.: received) is justified. The verb can be easily spared in Greek. Ewald imitates the Greek brevity in his version: Ebenso gewann auch der die zwei andere zwei. But this is too harsh, and would not do at all in English. Some MSS. add after : , which is thrown out by the text. rec., Tischendorf, Alford, etc. Lachmann and Tregelles omit also the words: , he also, in which they are sustained by Codd B., C., and also by Cod. Sinaiticus.P. S.]

[33]Mat 25:18.Lachmann adds after A. and ancient versions.

[34]Mat 25:18.Lachmann, Tischendorf, [Tregelles, Alford], read: , for the lect. rec.: , according to most witnesses. [Cod. Sinait. likewise reads: .P. S.]

[35]Mat 25:20.The words: , beside them [the enabling cause of his gain], here and in Mat 25:22 are omitted in Codd. B., D., L., al., [also in Cod. Sinait.], and stricken by Lachmann and Tischendorf. They may have been added to increase the modesty of the expression.

[36]Mat 25:21.[Thou is an unnecessary interpolation, and should be omitted, as in Mat 25:23.P. S.]

[37]Mat 25:21.[Lit.: thou wast (hast been) faithful over little, I will set thee over much, , . So the German Versions of Luther, de Wette, Ewald, Lange; also the English Versions of Coverdale, Kendrick, Conant.P. S.]

[38]Mat 25:23.[Comp. note 8. Mat 25:21.]

[39]Mat 25:24.[The British Bibles here and in Mat 25:26 read strawed, the rarer form for strew, streuen. I followed here, as elsewhere, the spelling of the Am. BibleP. S.]

[40]Mat 25:26.[A question of surprise and displeasure, and hence with an interrogation mark, as in the Lat. Vulg., Coverdale, Campbell, Conant, and nearly all the German Versions. De Wette and Lange, however, regard it as an ironical concession, in which case the punctuation of the Am. Bible Societys edition (colon) is correct. The British Bibles have a period.P. S.]

[41]Mat 25:27.[Lange: hinwerfen. The verb expresses not the worthlessness of the money which was a good gift of God, but the perfect ease with which it might have been made to produce interest in the hands of brokers and bankers, who then as now received money on deposit at interest and lent it to others at higher rates.P. S.]

[42]Mat 25:27.[ , from (, ), birth; child; gain, interest, in the LXX for . The passage implies the lawfulness of taking interest. There was a saying in the ancient Church, (Origen, on Matthew 22), which was attributed to Christ, and may possibly have been derived from this verse, as expressing the moral lesson of this and the kindred parable in Luke 19. See Suicers Thesaurus, sub .P. S.]

[43][Comp. the remarks of Trench: In the things earthly the householders distribution of the gifts naturally and of necessity precedes his departure; in the heavenly it is not altogether so; the Ascension, or departure, goes before Pentecost, or the distribution of gifts; yet the straightway still remains in full force: the interval between them was the smallest, one following hard upon the other, however the order was reversed. The four verses which follow (1619) embrace the whole period intervening between the first and second coming of Christ.P. S.]

[44][There is an inconsistency between that pretended fear and this insolent speech, which betrays the falsehood of the .P. S.]

[45][In German: Das Eine erkaufen um das Viele (no doubt an allusion to Luk 10:32), which the Edinb. translator has upset thus: to sell one thing, to gain much! He probably mistook erkaufen for verkaufen.P. S.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. (15) And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. (16) Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. (17) And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. (18) But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. (19) After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. (20) And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. (21) His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (22) He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. (23) His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (24) Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strowed: (25) And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. (26) His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strowed: (27) Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. (28) Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. (29) For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. (30) And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The Lord illustrates the same doctrine, as before, under another beautiful parable of a bountiful Lord, which is Jesus himself, committing different talents to his servants, and in the close, taking account of their improvement, or misimprovement, of the things committed to their charge. Two servants, to whom great charges were entrusted, are represented as making good use of their time and talents, and in the end receiving the approbation of their Lord. One, and to whom less was committed, is shewn to have proved unprofitable, and is condemned to utter darkness; and the talent entrusted, to this man is said to be taken from him, and given to the servant which had most improved in his Lord’s stewardship.

The obvious sense of this, as well as the former parable, renders all observations upon them unnecessary. I would only, therefore, beg it may be properly understood, that the rewards given to the faithful servant, must not be considered in a light contrary to the whole tenor of the gospel, as if any man merited divine Favour. We must not strain the sense to this extent. When we have done all, we are still unprofitable servants. The grace of God cannot be made debtor, to the services of man. The Lord is not moved to bestow his blessings on account of any supposed good in his creatures, neither is he restrained by our ill. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. But the whole is with an eye to Christ. The talents here spoken of, given to the two former servants, were evidently the gifts of grace, and consequently the Lord’s, and no merit in the receivers. Both the original stock and increase were the Lord’s. Lord! (saith the Prophet,) thou hast wrought all our works in us. Isa 26:12 . But the One Talent the unprofitable servant received, could be only the gift of nature, for grace is that good part which cannot be taken away; whereas everything in nature may, and at death must, and will. And the taking this talent from the slothful and unworthy, and giving it to the diligent, means to say, that the souls of the redeemed, who, through grace, abound in spiritual things, shall also if needful, be blessed in the sanctified use of temporal things. All are yours, (saith the Apostle,) whether the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. 1Co 3:22-23 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

Ver. 14. And delivered unto them his goods ] There is scarcely any man but hath some one thing or other in him, that is excellent and extraordinary; some special talent to trade with, some honey to bring to the common hive, have he but a heart to it. Sua cuique dos est. Let every man, according to his own abilities, improve what he hath to the common benefit. Freely he hath received, freely let him give; ability he hath none but from God; who yet, for our encouragement, is pleased to call that ours that is his own work in us.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

14 30. ] PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. Peculiar to Matthew . The similar parable contained in Luk 19:11-27 is altogether distinct, and uttered on a different occasion: see notes there.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

14. . . ] The ellipsis is rightly supplied in the E. V., For the Kingdom of Heaven is as a man, &c. We have this parable and the preceding one alluded to in very few words by Mar 13:34-36 . In it we have the active side of the Christian life, and its danger, set before us, as in the last the contemplative side. There, the foolish virgins failed from thinking their part too easy here the wicked servant fails from thinking his too hard . The parable is still concerned with Christians ( ), and not the world at large .

We must remember the relation of master and slave, in order to understand his delivering to them his property, and punishing them for not fructifying with it.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 25:14-30 . Parable of the Talents ( cf. Luk 19:11-28 ), according to Weiss (Mt.-Ev., 535) and Wendt (L. J., i., 145) not a Parusia -parable originally, but spoken at some other time, and inculcating, like the parable of the unjust steward, skill and fidelity in the use of earthly goods.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mat 25:14 . : suggests a comparison between the parabolic history and the course of things in the kingdom, but the apodosis carrying out the comparison is omitted. implies that the point of comparison is in the view of the evangelist the same as in the preceding parable. , about to go abroad. , etc., called his own servants and delivered to them his means; not an unnatural or unusual proceeding introduced against probability for the sake of the moral lesson; rather the best thing he could do with his money in his absence, dividing it among carefully selected slaves, and leaving them to do their best with it. Investments could not then be made as now ( vide Koetsveld, p. 254).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 25:14-18

14″For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them. 15To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

Mat 25:16 “Immediately the one who had received the five talents” This parable is paralleled in Luk 19:11-27. There is a Greek manuscript variant over how “immediately” relates to Mat 25:15 : (1) does it describe the slave owner or (2) the slave? Although the Greek texts vary, the context and Matthew’s usage of “immediately” mandate option two.

“five talents” A talent was equivalent to 6,000 denarii. A denarius was the daily wage of soldiers and laborers. The RSV footnote says “more than fifteen years’wages of a laborer.” See Special Topic at Mat 17:24.

“each according to his own ability” This states a biblical principle (cf. Mat 13:8; 2Co 8:3; 2Co 8:11).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

the kingdom of heaven. Or, supply the Ellipsis from Mat 25:13, “[the coming of the Son of man]”.

travelling, &c. See note on “went”, &c, Mat 21:33.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

14-30.] PARABLE OF THE TALENTS. Peculiar to Matthew. The similar parable contained in Luk 19:11-27 is altogether distinct, and uttered on a different occasion: see notes there.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 25:14. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

This parable has to do with you who are professors of Christianity. He called his own servants, those who, by their own consent, were numbered amongst his household servitors: He called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. Not theirs, but his; and therefore to be used for him. If you are Christs servant, your abilities are his, he has lent them to you to be employed for your Lord. He called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

Mat 25:15. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

He is gone; our Lord has risen; and we, his servants, are left behind to trade with his goods for his glory.

Mat 25:16-18. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had receded one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lords money.

We are grieved to know that there are persons with five talents, and others with two talents, who do as this man did; but the case is put in this way, so as to reach us all. Since most persons have but one talent, they are the most often found each one saying, I have so little ability, I will not do anything. If I had five talents, I might become distinguished; if I had two, I might be very useful; but with one, I need not attempt anything. I am a private person, a mother, quite obscure, with my little family around me, what can I do? It is very often a strong temptation from Satan, to those who have but one talent, to make them think that they may, with impunity, hide that one. And then, you see, the argument cuts the other way. If it be wrong to hide one talent, much more wrong is it to hide two, and far worse to dig in the earth, and bury five.

Mat 25:19. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

Always remember the reclining. We have heard of one, who went into a house of entertainment, and fed most luxuriously; but, when the landlord brought him the bill, he said, Oh, I never thought of that! And there are many who spend their whole lives without ever thinking of the reckoning; yet it must come, and for every hour, for every opportunity, for every ability, for every sin, and for every omission of duty, they must give account. The lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

Mat 25:20-21. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

I do not doubt that this man had often reckoned with himself, for he that never reckons with himself may well be afraid of being called to reckon with his God; and I expect that he had often grieved to think that he had not turned the five talents into twenty. He must have thought that, to gain only five talents more, was very little; but he found his master was well content with what he had done. Do you think, brother, that all of you who have five talents have gained five talents more? You were richly endowed as a youth; have you increased the ability to serve your God? You see, the parable speaks not so much of what they had done for other people, as of what they had themselves gained, and still had in hand. Have you more grace? Have you more tact? Have you more adaptation to your Masters service? Are you conscious that it is so? I should not wonder if you are mourning that you are not more useful, and more fit to be used. It is well that you should mourn in that way; but when your Master comes, I trust that he will say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

Mat 25:22-23. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

That is a beautiful reward, not so much to have a joy of our own as to enter into the joy of our Lord. It is not a servants portion that is given to us; it is the Masters portion shared by his servants. How it ennobles Christian work to feel that it is not simply our work, but work done by the Master through the servant; and the reward shall not so much be our joy as our entrance into our Masters joy. That is indeed giving to us the best of the best in return for our poor service here.

Mat 25:24-25. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth. See, friends, how fear may often be the mother of presumption. Confidence in God begets holy fear; but unholy fear begets a doubt of God, and leads us to desperate rebellion of unbelief. God save us from such fear!

Mat 25:26-27. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

His lord took him on his own ground, and condemned him out of his own mouth.

Mat 25:28-29. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance:

He that has faith shall have more faith. He that has a secret taste for heavenly things shall have a greater love for them. He that has some understanding of the truth of God shall get more understanding of it. God gives to those that have; it is equally true that he gives to those who confess that they have not.

Mat 25:29. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

If you want an instance of taking away from a man what he has not got, you may have seen it sometimes in the case of a person without any education or knowledge, who is quite content to remain in that condition. Rut, on a sudden, he is introduced into learned society; he hears what educated people have to say, and he exclaims, What a fool I am! What he thought he had, though he never had it, suddenly goes from him.

Mat 25:30. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

If we give any description of the world to come which is at all terrible, those who reject the Scriptures begin to cry out that we have borrowed it from Dante, or taken it from Milton; but I take leave to say that the most awful and harrowing descriptions of the woes of the lost that ever fell from human lip do not exceed or even equal the language of the loving Christ himself. Listen: Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. He is the true lover of mens souls who does not deceive them. He that paints the miseries of hell as though they were but little is seeking to murder mens souls under the pretense of being their friend. May God give all of you grace to trust in Jesus for yourselves, and then to point others to him, for Christs sake! Amen.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Mat 25:14.-, goods) For the distribution of them, see the next verse.[1089]

[1089] There are intimated by these, spiritual gifts, temporal resources, time itself, and finally opportunities of every kind.-V. g.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

by Faithfulness Win Reward

Mat 25:14-30

We are not only guests, but servants, who must give an account of their stewardship. Each bond slave has been entrusted with at least one talent. The number of talents varies with our ability to manage them. The Master is not unreasonable, and never overtasks. It is by use that the power to use grows. By carefully employing our opportunities, our sphere of service may be greatly widened, so that, at the end of life, we shall be able to do twice as much as at the outset.

Christ is always coming to reckon. Every communion season, every birthday, is a standing at the judgment seat of Christ, preliminary to the great white throne, 2Co 5:10. Let those who are entrusted with one talent only be specially on the watch, for they are most exposed to the temptation of saying, We can do so little, we will do nothing. What you can do best, and which most accords with your circumstances, is probably your talent. If you cannot do much yourself, work with your church and under the direction of your pastor, Mat 25:27.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 75

The Parable of the Talents

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lords money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

(Mat 25:14-30)

This parable, like so many of our Lords parables, clearly teaches us that in this world the church and kingdom of God is a mixed multitude. There are many among the professed people of God, many who have been baptized in the name of Christ, many who are very confident that they have a saving interest in Christ who do not know Christ at all. In the parable of the ten virgins, five were wise and five foolish. Here, among those who claim to be the people of God and the servants of Christ, two are represented as being faithful; the other is described as wicked and slothful. Both parables are intended to remind us that among all the multitudes who profess to be the people of God, there are but few who shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. The warnings of Scripture in this regard are abundant both in number and in clarity (Mat 7:21-23; Mat 13:18-23; Mat 22:14; Luk 13:23-25; Luk 17:32-33; 2Co 13:5).

Applicable to All

Without question, the parable is applicable to those who are pastors, preachers and teachers, in the church of God. Some have greater talents and greater spheres of usefulness than others, according to the decree of God and by the gift of Christ. Yet, all who are Gods servants are faithful in the place of their calling and in the use of the talents trusted to them. Be sure you do not miss this: The servant who was faithful over two talents received the same reward and entered into the same joy as the servant who was faithful over five (Mat 25:20-23). The man to whom two talents were given was not expected to do the same thing as the man to whom five were given; but both were expected to do what they could with what they had. All who do what they can with the gifts of grace bestowed upon them are rewarded as good and faithful servants (Mar 14:8).

However, it would be a great mistake to apply the parable to none but those who are responsible to teach and preach the gospel of Christ. This parable speaks to us all. In the day of judgment we shall be held accountable to God for every blessing, benefit, and privilege he has given us in this world.

Talents and Rewards

The lord in this parable portrays the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, who gives different talents to his servants and shall in the day of judgment justly reward each for his use or abuse of the things committed to his charge. The two servants to whom great charges were entrusted are represented as making good use of their time and talents. They were at the coming of their lord approved of and rewarded. The one to whom less was committed proved himself an unprofitable servant, and was condemned to utter darkness at his lords coming. And the talent with which he was trusted was taken from him and given to the servant who had best used that which was trusted to him.

Robert Hawker very properly warns, The rewards given to the faithful servant, must not be considered in a light contrary to the whole tenor of the gospel, as if any man merited divine favor. When we have done all, we are still unprofitable servants. We do not make God a debtor to us by anything we do for his honor. The Lord God is not moved, or in any way compelled, to bestow his blessings because of anything a man does that might be called good. And his blessings of grace can never be restrained by, or withheld from, any because they are undeserving. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance (Rom 11:29).

The talents given to the two faithful servants portray the gifts of grace bestowed upon Gods elect, by which they are made faithful. Being gifts of grace, they do not become meritorious! Both the original gifts (talents) of grace bestowed upon us, and the increase of grace are Gods. LORD, thou also hast wrought all our works in us (Isa 26:12).

The one talent the unprofitable servant received cannot represent anything except the gift a man has from Gods hand by creation, nature, and providence. Grace is that good part which cannot be taken away (Luk 10:42). But every good thing of nature, both created and providential, that men enjoy in this world, shall be taken away from the ungodly when Christ comes again. And all good shall be given to Gods elect. It is written, All things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christs; and Christ is Gods (1Co 1:21-23).

Seven Obvious Lessons

Seven lessons are clearly set before us in this parable. Certainly there are more; but the following lessons should be obvious to all who read this parable.

1.First, this parable shows us how readily religious men and women wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction.

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. (Mat 25:24-25).

The wicked servant described in this parable twisted the Masters sovereignty into a doctrine that represented him as an unjust tyrant, and sought to excuse his disobedience and sin by blaming God for it. That is exactly what Adam did in the garden. He said to God, the real problem here is the woman thou gavest me.

Many, attempting to justify doctrines that are clearly contrary to the message of Holy Scripture, turn to this very passage and wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction. They would have us to believe that this parable teaches that Gods grace and salvation may be taken away from one who truly has been saved. Others point to this parable and assert that believers, by diligently improving Gods gifts of grace, earn for themselves a greater degree of acceptance with God and a greater reward and eternal happiness in heaven.

We do not build our doctrine upon parables. Our doctrine must be built upon the plain statements of Holy Scripture, not upon parables, illustrations, and obscure texts. Any honest man will build his doctrine not by piecing verses and phrases together, but by the plain statements of Holy Scripture. The clear, obvious message of Holy Scripture is this: Salvation is of the Lord (Jon 2:9), by grace alone (Eph 2:8; Tit 3:5), through faith alone (Rom 3:28; Rom 3:31; Rom 4:16), and in Christ alone (Rom 3:24-26; 1Co 1:30-31)

Wherever there appears to be a conflict between the obvious and the obscure, we must always interpret the obscure by the obvious. Only dishonest men will ignore the obvious, plain statements of Holy Scripture, and interpret the Scriptures by pointing to imaginary proof texts, found by diligently searching a concordance, or digging out a minute rule of grammar in the Hebrew or Greek text to validate their doctrine. Such self-serving teachers are not to be followed or even heard. They cannot be reasoned with, because they will not bow to the authority of the Word of God. Their authority is the traditions of men, held forth in creeds, confessions, catechisms, liturgies, and historic church dogmas. Our only authority is the Word of God (Isa 8:20; 2Ti 3:16-17). And you do not need to know Hebrew and Greek to understand Gods Word. He has providentially given it to you in your own language, and has done so in simple, easily understood words.

2.Second, we are here taught that the Lord Jesus Christ is the sovereign Master of all things; and that all men are his servants. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods (Mat 25:14).

Here our Lord Jesus calmly speaks of his death and all the sorrow and suffering he must endure to save us as a well planned long journey, a journey which he was determined to take. And he describes himself as the sovereign Lord, Master, Owner, and Possessor of all things. The servants are his, the bad as well as the good (2Pe 2:4). The goods are his. And the kingdom is his.

3.Third, this parable teaches us that all men have received certain talents from the Lord, with which to serve him. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey (Mat 25:15).

Anything given to us by which we may glorify God is a talent given to us to use for him. The word talent, as it is used here, does not refer to special abilities, but to any ability or opportunity by which we may glorify our God. Our gifts, our money, our health, our strength, our time, our knowledge, our senses, our memory, our affections, our privileges, even our families, all are talents loaned to us by God. And we are responsible to use them all for God.

All these talents are given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ, not according to our ability, but according to his ability. The words, according to his several ability, do not refer to the servants ability, but to the Masters ability. The talents he gives determine our ability (Psa 68:18-19; Eph 4:8-11).

4.Fourth, our Lord shows us that many who profess to be his servants terribly abuse the talents he gives them. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lords money (Mat 25:18).

This man represents many in the visible church. They do not use their talents for evil. They are not adulterers, murderers, or riotous people. They simply hide their talents. Rather than using the opportunities God has given them to know, worship, serve, and glorify him, they neglect them. Does this man represent you? He represents anyone who has a Bible, but does not read it. He represents anyone who has opportunity to hear the Word of God, but chooses not to hear it. He represents anyone who uses his powers, abilities, and talents for sensual pleasure, rather than the glory of God.

If this mans behavior is representative of you, then Daniels words to Belshazzar must be addressed to you, too. The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified (Dan 5:23). Daily you rob God, using what he has given you to honor him for yourself.

5.Fifth, we are again taught that, when our Lord comes again, there will be a great day of reckoning with God. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them (Mat 25:19.

Soon we must meet God before the Great White Throne in judgment. We shall all give account before him of every privilege that was granted to us, and of every ray of light that we enjoyed. In that great day we will be dealt with as accountable and responsible men and women. And to whomsoever much is given, of them much will be required. Be wise and remember this. Live every day in the prospect of that great day. Let us judge ourselves that we be not condemned with the world (1Co 11:31-32).

After this the judgment (Heb 9:27). What solemn words those are! There is a day coming in which God shall judge all men. Every man will be judged according to exact truth, righteousness, and justice. The standard by which we shall be judged is the holy law of God himself. We shall be judged according to the books of God, in which are recorded all our earthly thoughts, words, and deeds (2Co 5:10-11; Rev 20:11-12; Mat 25:31-46). In that great and terrible day of the Lord everyone will receive exactly what is justly due to him. None will be punished who do not deserve to be punished. And none will be received into heavens eternal glory who do not deserve to enter in. Those who are found guilty of any sin, or infraction of Gods holy law, shall be cast into hell. Those who are perfectly holy, holy as God himself, shall enter into heaven (Psa 24:3-4; Rev 21:27; Rev 22:11).

In that day the Judge of all the earth, who must do right, will do right. He who sits upon the Great White Throne will not show any lenience, partiality, or favoritism. He will not bend his law. At the bar of God there will be no mercy and no grace. The judgment seat is not a place of mercy. It is a place of strict, unbending, unwavering, immutable justice. Only the facts will be considered when we stand before God. Guilty or not guilty, righteous or unrighteous, holy or unholy, these will be the only matters of consideration in that day. Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed (Pro 13:21). The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Eze 18:20). He that hath done that which is lawful and right shall surely live (Eze 33:16). God will by no means clear the guilty. And he will not punish the righteous.

In the light of these facts, most plainly set forth in the Word of God, it is obvious that the only hope any sinner has of eternal salvation and acceptance with God is that he might be saved by the infinite merits of an able, all-sufficient Substitute. And that substitute is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Christ, by his precious blood, has completely washed away the sins of his people, so that they are no longer recorded in the book of Gods law and justice against us (Isa 43:25; Isa 44:22; Jer 50:20). And his righteous obedience to God is imputed to all who believe on him, making us worthy of eternal life (Rom 5:19; Col 1:12). Again, I say, let us judge ourselves that we be not condemned with the world (1Co 11:31-32).

6.Sixth, this parable shows us that in the day of judgment all true believers receive the same joyful, abundant reward from their Master.

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Mat 25:21-23).

Every faithful servant of Christ, that is to say, every believer, every sinner saved by his grace, washed in his blood and robed in his righteousness shall hear the Savior say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Perhaps you think, How can that be? The answer is as simple as it is glorious. Christs obedience to God is our obedience. Just as he was rewarded for our sins, when our sins were made his at Calvary, so we shall be rewarded for his righteousness, which has been made ours by his grace. The glory he earned by his obedience unto death for us (Joh 17:5), our Savior has given to us by his grace (Joh 17:22). And we shall possess it with him. In that great day he will say to every saved sinner, Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!

7.Seventh, our Lord once more shows us that in that great and terrible day of reckoning every unprofitable servant will be cast away and condemned by the Son of God.

His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mat 25:26-30).

In that great and terrible day every condemned soul will acknowledge that his damnation is fully deserved. Each will be judged by the things that he now knows, but will not obey. As he casts the wicked into everlasting hell, the Judge will say, Thou knewest!

You and I are the stewards of God. Let us be found faithful (1Co 4:2), using what he has put in our hands for the glory of his name.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

The Parable of the Talents

Mat 25:14-15. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

Our Saviour had been speaking of himself as the heavenly Bridegroom; now he compares himself to “a man travelling into a far country.” The word “travelling ” suggests that our Lord has only gone away for a season, and that he will return when his purpose in going into the “far country “is accomplished. When he went back from earth to heaven, it was a long journey; but he did not leave his servants without needful supplies during his absence. He “called his own servants”, his bondservants, his household servitors; “and delivered unto them his goods.” The servants were his, and the goods also were his; his slaves could not claim as their own either their persons or their possessions; all belonged to their lord, and were to be used for him.

He did not entrust to all the same quantity of goods: “Unto one he gave Jive talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability.” He was the judge of the ability of each of his servants, and he made no mistake in his allotment of the talents to them. “We may rest assured, if we are the Lord’s servants, that he has bestowed upon us as many talents as we can rightly use, and quite as many as we shall be able to account for when he returns. The all-important matter for us is to be faithful to the trust committed to us.

“And straightway took his journey: “our Lord knew all that was to happen before he left the earth,-his passion, crucifixion, and resurrection; but he calmly talked of it as a man might speak of his preparations for travelling into a foreign country. He has gone, and his servants are left behind to make the best use they can of his ascension-gifts while he is absent.

This parable, like that of the ten virgins, has to do with real and nominal Christians, with all who are or who profess to be the servants of Christ. The “talents” are anything and everything that our Lord has given to us for use here as his stewards.

Mat 25:16-18. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

It is very significant that our Saviour said that “he that had received one” talent “went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.” Many who have “five talents” or “two” have not “traded with the same” and so gained “other five “or “other two “; but Jesus knew that it was the servant with one talent who was most exposed to the temptation to do nothing because he could only do a little. There are perils connected with the possession of five talents, or two; but the man who has only one talent is in equal if not greater danger. Let us all remember that, as it is a sin to hide one talent in the earth, it is a greater sin to hide two or five talents. It was “bis lord’s money “that the slothful servant hid. It would have been wrong to bury what belonged to himself; but he was doubly blameworthy in hiding that which had been entrusted to him by his lord, instead of trading with it so as to increase it. Are any of us thus sinning against our Saviour?

Mat 25:19. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

There is a reckoning-day coming, even though “a long time “may elapse before “the lord of those servants cometh.’1 Jesus is coming back from the far country whither he has gone; his own word is, “Behold, I come quickly.” We must not leave this great fact out of our reckoning; and as his stewards, we must be prepared at any moment for him to come and reckon with us as to the talents with which he has endowed each of his servants.

Mat 25:20-21. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him,

Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Have all of us, who “received five talents” from our Lord, “gained beside them five talents more”? I trow not. Have we double the grace we had at first? Twice the tact with which we began our service for God? Twofold adaptation to the work he has given us to do? It was so with this servant; and therefore, his lord commended and rewarded him. There was no proportion between his service and its reward: “Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.” He who is faithful to his Lord shall have greater opportunities of proving his loyalty and devotion in a higher sphere; and in addition, he shall share the bliss of his Lord’s return: “Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” This is not the servant’s portion, but the Master’s portion shared with his faithful servants. This will be the consummation of all heavenly delights; not so much that we shall have a joy of our own as that we shall enter into the joy of our Lord.

Mat 25:22-23. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliver-east unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

This servant’s commendation and reward are exactly the same as those given to his more highly privileged brother; as if our Saviour would teach us that it is not the number of our talents, but the use we make of them, that is the essential matter. He does not expect as much from the man with two talents as from the one to whom he has given five; what he does expect is that they should both be faithful over the few things he has committed to their care. It was so with the two servants mentioned in the parable. The second had doubled the capital received from his lord, even as the first had done with his larger amount of trust-money; therefore they were equally praised and blessed.

Mat 25:24-25. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

At the day of reckoning, the unfaithful as well as the faithful have to give account of their stewardship. This man’s words were self-contradictory, and his excuse was self-condemnatory. He said that he knew that his lord was a hard man, reaping where he had not sown, and gathering where he had not strawed, yet he confessed that the talent he brought back had been given to him by this master whom he represented as severe and unreasonable. He also admitted that it was his lord’s money that he had hidden in the earth: “thy talent.” It was entrusted to him, and yet even the servant owned that it did not belong to him: “Lo, there thou hast that is thine.” “I have not made any addition to thy talent; but I have not lost it, nor given it away; I have brought it back, lo, there it is.” He seemed to speak as though this was all that could be rightly expected of him; yet he was evidently not satisfied with himself, for he said, “I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth.” See how fear may become the mother of presumption. Faith in God begets holy fear; but servile fear is the parent of doubt, which in its turn has a family of unbelieving rebels.

Mat 25:26-27. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

”His lord” took the ” wicked and slothful servant” on his own ground, and condemned him out of his own mouth. The master did not mean to admit that he was such a one as he had been called by the “malicious and lazy slave”, as the original might be literally rendered; but supposing the servant’s words had been true, what ought he to have done? If he was afraid to trade with his lord’s talent on his own responsibility, he might have taken it to the bankers, who would at least have kept it securely, and added interest to it while it was deposited with them.

If we cannot trade directly and personally on our Lord’s account, if we have not the skill or the tact to manage a society or an enterprise for him, we may at least contribute to what others are doing, and join our capital to theirs, so that, by some means, our Master may have the interest to which he is entitled. His talent must not be buried in the earth; but must be invested wherever it will bring to him the best return at his coming.

Mat 25:28-30. Take therefore the talent from him, and (five it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The servant who had gained five talents to his lord’s five was allowed to keep them all, for his master spoke of “him which hath ten talents.” The unused talent of the slothful servant was also given to him, for he who uses well that which is entrusted to him shall receive more. He who has faith shall have more faith. He who has a taste for divine things shall develop a greater appetite for them. He who has some understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom shall understand them more fully: “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance.”

To lose the talent that had remained idle, was only a small part of the doom of “the unprofitable servant.” His lord ordered him to be “cast into outer darkness”, and his punishment is indicated by that oft-repeated refrain of our Saviour’s revelation of the horrors that await lost souls: “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” If we give any description of the world to come which is at all terrible, we are supposed to have borrowed it from Dante or Milton; but the most awful and harrowing descriptions of hell that ever fell from human lips do not exceed the language of the loving Christ himself. He is the truelover of men who faithfully warns them concerning the eternal woe that awaits the impenitent; while he who paints the miseries of hell as though they were but trifling is seeking to murder men’s souls under the pretence of friendship.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s The Gospel of the Kingdom

the kingdom of heaven is

Omit the italicised words, “the kingdom of heaven is”.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

as: Mat 21:33, Mar 13:34, Luk 19:12, Luk 19:13, Luk 20:9

and delivered: Luk 16:1-12, Rom 12:6-8, 1Co 3:5, 1Co 4:1, 1Co 4:2, 1Co 12:4, 1Co 12:7-29, Eph 4:11, 1Pe 4:9-11

Reciprocal: Eze 46:17 – to the year Mat 3:2 – for Mat 18:23 – is Mat 20:1 – the kingdom Mat 22:2 – kingdom Mar 12:1 – and went Luk 12:48 – For Luk 16:12 – in 1Co 4:7 – and what 1Co 7:31 – use 1Ti 4:14 – Neglect 1Pe 4:10 – every

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

5:14

Jesus spoke another parable that teaches the duties of the Lord’s servants from another angle. Note that the man delivered unto his servants his (the man’s) goods. In 1Ti 6:7 Paul says “we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” On that basis we should realize that what is in our hands does not belong to us, but it is delivered to us as a trust which the parable shows.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

THE parable of the talents which we have now read is near akin to that of the ten virgins. Both direct our minds to the same important event, the second advent of Jesus Christ. Both bring before us the same persons, the members of the professing Church of Christ. The virgins and the servants are one and the same people,-but the same people regarded from a different point, and viewed on different sides. The practical lesson of each parable is the main point of difference. Vigilance is the key note of the first parable, diligence that of the second. The story of the virgins calls on the Church to watch, the story of the talents calls on the Church to work.

We learn, in the first place, from this parable, that all professing Christians have received something from God. We are all God’s “servants.” We have all “talents” entrusted to our charge.

The word “talents” is an expression that has been curiously turned aside from its original meaning. It is generally applied to none but people of remarkable ability or gifts. They are called “talented” people. Such an use of the expression is a mere modern invention. In the sense in which our Lord used the word in this parable, it applies to all baptized persons without distinction. We have all talents in God’s sight. We are all talented people.

Anything whereby we may glorify God is a talent. Our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible,-all, all are talents. Whence came these things? What hand bestowed them? Why are we what we are? Why are we not the worms that crawl on the earth? There is only one answer to these questions. All that we have is a loan from God. We are God’s stewards. We are God’s debtors. Let this thought sink deeply into our hearts.

We learn in the second place, that many make a bad use of the privileges and mercies they receive from God. We are told in the parable of one who “digged in the earth and hid his Lord’s money.” That man represents a large class of mankind.

To hide our talent is to neglect opportunities of glorifying God, when we have them. The Bible-despiser, the prayer-neglecter, and the Sabbath-breaker,-the unbelieving, the sensual, and the earthly-minded,-the trifler, the thoughtless, and the pleasure-seeker,-the money-lover, the covetous, and the self-indulgent,-all, all are alike burying their Lord’s money in the ground. They have all light that they do not use. They might all be better than they are. But they are all daily robbing God. He has lent them much and they make Him no return. The words of Daniel to Belshazzar, are strictly applicable to every unconverted person: “the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.” (Dan 5:23.)

We learn in the third place, that all professing Christians must one day have a reckoning with God. The parable tells us that “after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reckoned with them.”

There is a judgment before us all. Words have no meaning in the Bible, if there is none. It is mere trifling with Scripture to deny it. There is a judgment before us according to our works, certain, strict, and unavoidable. High or low, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, we shall all have to stand at the bar of God and to receive our eternal sentence. There will be no escape. Concealment will be impossible. We and God must at last meet face to face. We shall have to render an account of every privilege that was granted to us, and of every ray of light that we enjoyed. We shall find that we are dealt with as accountable and responsible creatures, and that to whomsoever much is given, of them much will be required. Let us remember this every day we live. Let us “judge ourselves that we be not condemned of the Lord.”

We learn, in the fourth place, that true Christians will receive an abundant reward in the great day of reckoning. The parable tells us that the servants who had used their Lord’s money well, were commended as “good and faithful,” and told to “enter into the joy of their Lord.”

These words are full of comfort to all believers, and may well fill us with wonder and surprise. The best of Christians is a poor frail creature, and needs the blood of atonement every day that he lives. But the least and lowest of believers will find that he is counted among Christ’s servants, and that his labor has not been in vain in the Lord. He will discover to his amazement, that his Master’s eye saw more beauty in his efforts to please Him, than he ever saw himself. He will find that every hour spent in Christ’s service, and every word spoken on Christ’s behalf, has been written in a book of remembrance. Let believers remember these things and take courage.-The cross may be heavy now, but the glorious reward shall make amends for all. Well says Leighton, “Here some drops of joy enter into us, but there we shall enter into joy.”

We learn in the last place, that all unfruitful members of Christ’s Church will be condemned and cast away in the day of judgment. The parable tells us that the servant who buried his master’s money, was condemned as “wicked,” “slothful,” and “unprofitable,” and cast into “outer darkness.” And our Lord adds the solemn words, “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

There will be no excuse for an unconverted Christian at the last day. The reasons with which he now pretends to satisfy himself will prove useless and vain. The Judge of all the earth will be found to have done right. The ruin of the lost soul will be found to be his own fault. Those words of our Lord, “thou knewest,” are words that ought to ring loudly in many a man’s ears, and prick him to the heart. Thousands are living at this day without Christ and without conversion, and yet pretending that they cannot help it. And all this time they know in their own conscience that they are guilty. They are burying their talent. They are not doing what they can. Happy are they who find this out betimes. It will all come out at the last day.

Let us leave this parable with a solemn determination, by God’s grace, never to be content with a profession of Christianity without practice. Let us not only talk about religion, but act. Let us not only feel the importance of religion, but do something too. We are not told that the unprofitable servant was a murderer, or a thief, or even a waster of his Lord’s money. But he did nothing,-and this was his ruin. Let us beware of a do-nothing Christianity. Such Christianity does not come from the Spirit of God. “To do no harm,” says Baxter, “is the praise of a stone, not of a man.”

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Mat 25:14. For it is. The events illustrated in the previous parable, The kingdom of heaven is not specific enough. The omission of the Son of man, etc. (Mat 25:13) forbids our supplying he is.

As when a man going into another country, going abroad. Here Christ is represented as a man of wealth; in Luke as a nobleman gone to receive a kingdom.

His own servants, the professed followers of Christ, not merely the ministry.

And delivered unto them his goods. The spiritual blessings which are his; more general than chap. Mat 24:45, where the office of the ministry is plainly referred to.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Observe here, the person intrusting, Christ; the persons intrusted, all Christians; the talents they are intrusted with, goods; that is, goods of providence, riches and honours; gifts of mind, wisdom, parts and learning; gifts of grace: all these goods Christ dispenses variously; more to some, fewer to others, but with expectation of improvement from all.

Learn, 1. That Christ is the great Lord of the universe, and Owner of all his servants’ goods and talents.

2. That every talent is given us by our Lord to improve and employ for our Master’s use and service.

3. That it pleases the Lord to dispense his gifts variously among his servants; to some he commits more, to others fewer talents.

4. That to this Lord of ours every one of us must be accountable and responsible for every talent committed to us, and intrusted with us.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mat 25:14-15. For, &c. To show us more clearly the nature and duty of Christian watchfulness, to which he exhorts us in the preceding verse, our Saviour immediately subjoins another parable, wherein he represents to us the different characters of a faithful and slothful servant, and the difference of their future acceptation. Like the former, the present parable is intended to stir us up to a zealous preparation for the coming of our Lord, by diligence in the discharge of our duty, and by a proper employment and a careful improvement of our talents: as well as to unmask still more fully the vain pretences of hypocrites, and to demonstrate that fair speeches and outward forms, without the power of godliness, will stand us in no stead at the last day. The kingdom of heaven is as a man, &c. The words kingdom of heaven are improperly supplied here. The sentence should rather run thus: For he (namely, the Son of man, mentioned in the preceding verse) is as a man travelling into a far country Alluding to Christs withdrawing his bodily presence from his church when he ascended into heaven, or to that long-suffering by which he waits for the fruit of our works: who called his own servants , his own, because created by his power, preserved by his providence, and purchased by his blood; and delivered unto them his goods The goods of which he was the sole proprietor. Unto one he gave five talents As being able to traffic with them; to another two As not being sufficient to manage more; and to another one, as being still more infirm. So Origen. A talent being in value about 187l. 10s., he who was intrusted with five, received 937l. 10s.; and he who had two, 375l. sterling. And who knows whether, all circumstances considered, there be a greater disproportion than this in the talents of those who receive the most and those who receive the fewest? By the talents here we are to understand gifts or endowments conferred for a spiritual end, powers of body and mind, abilities natural and acquired, health, strength, long life, understanding, judgment, memory, learning, knowledge, eloquence, influence, and authority over others, wealth, privileges, or offices, civil or religious, and indeed every power and advantage of which a good or bad use may be made. To every man according to his several ability , to each according to his individual or respective capacity, namely, to manage the sum, and according to the prospect there might reasonably be of his improving it. Or, according to the prudence, ability, and activity which he knew each to be possessed of.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mat 25:14-30. The Parable of the Talents (cf. Luk 19:11-27).There is also a resemblance to Mar 13:33-37, especially Mat 25:34. Loisy thinks this parable had originally no reference to the Parousia and the Judgment, but was simply meant to show that reward in the Kingdom of Heaven is proportionate to merit. As it stands, however, it is akin to the preceding parable of the bridesmaids. Though the Parousia be long delayed (Mat 25:19) it will surely come, and those who wish to share its blessings must use the time of waiting wisely; they must employ the endowments God has given them in His service, which is that of their fellow-men. All parties will be the better for thisGod, the individual, and the community. Gifts that are not employed are lost; capacity is extirpated by disuse. The real reward (despite Mat 25:28, which really serves to bring in Mat 25:29) is a place in the Kingdom to share in the Messianic joy (Mat 25:21), and as the two-talent man gets the same guerdon as the five-talent man, it is not a question of much or little, but of loyal purpose and honest endeavour.

In Gods clear sight high work we do,

If we but do our best.

The excuse of the one-talent man is part of the paraphernalia of the parable, not to be pressed as a conception of God. Even if the man held this mistaken notion, he should have acted more zealously and so won his masters praise. Possibly the parable originally ended with Mat 25:29; the extra punishment of Mat 25:30 seems needless. It may reflect the feeling of the early Church that something more than mere deprivation awaited the unprofitable servant.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 14

His goods; his property.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

25:14 {2} For [the kingdom of heaven is] as a man travelling into a far country, [who] called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

(2) Christ witnesses that there will be a long time between his departure to his Father and his coming again to us, but yet notwithstanding that, he will at that day take an account not only of the rebellious and obstinate, how they have made use of that which they received from him, but also of his household servants, who have because of slothfulness not employed those gifts which he bestowed upon them.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The parable of the talents 25:14-30

The other important quality that will make a servant blessed when Jesus returns, in addition to prudence, is faithfulness (cf. Mat 24:45-46). This parable explains what Jesus regards as faithfulness. Essentially it involves using what God has entrusted to one to advance His interests in the world. It involves making a spiritual profit with the deposit God has entrusted to each disciple (cf. Jas 2:14-26). The parable of the ten virgins speaks of salvation, but this one emphasizes the importance of rewards and judgment.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

"For" links the following parable with the lesson expressed in Mat 25:13. The antecedent of "it" is the kingdom of heaven (Mat 25:1).

"Probably this parable is so tightly associated with the last one as to share its introduction . . ." [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 515.]

Thus the point of the parable of the 10 virgins and the parable of the talents is the same. The difference is a matter of emphasis. The emphasis of the first one is the importance of spiritual preparation whereas the emphasis of the second is the importance of spiritual service. The second parable deals with the period of waiting that the first parable only mentioned in passing. Both parables deal primarily with the judgment of Jews at the end of the Tribulation, though both apply to Christians today as does the whole Olivet Discourse.

Some slaves (Gr. douloi) in the ancient biblical world enjoyed considerable responsibility and authority. In the parable the man taking the journey turned over his money to three of his slaves. They understood that they could share in the profits if they managed well what they had received.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)