Matthew 25: 14 – 30
Investor
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Are you looking for a new career? Are you tired of the numbers rush brought on by finance careers like Wealth Management Jobs, Hedge fund positions, and accounting jobs?
Those positions often require extremely long hours and can only offer low job stability – they’re not exactly conducive to a relaxed lifestyle. However, there are jobs that allow individuals to work in the finance industry without having to take one of these high-pressure positions. One such job is called Investor Relations.
Investor Relations jobs can allow a finance-minded individual to work within the industry without having to crunch the numbers themselves. Publicly traded companies often make use of relations specialists to pitch investment opportunities or explain standards and practices to would-be investors. For this job, you need twin talents: you need to be a ‘People person’ with strong public speaking and outreach capability. You also need the financial knowledge necessary to sell individuals on the benefits offered by your firm.
This knowledge will also be necessary to help in every effort that the firm is undertaking in educating potential investors in putting their money into your company’s account.
Your success will be greatly noticed by the corporate management and the compensation will be lavishly given to you. A pretty nice job if you ask me.
Today we are going to witness three individuals who were given this type of job. Two out the three were very successful, one was not. Let’s see how they did.
In these 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.
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
‘It is as --.’ That is, ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is described as a relationship and involves a man who is going away. It is He Who has all authority. And those to whom He gives responsibilities are under His Rule. 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.
15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
Please note that no one is expected to do more than they are capable of. Each is given a task to do in accordance with their ability. Each has been assessed and is called on only to do what they can.
16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents.
The first goes out ‘immediately’. He is joyful and dedicated in his service. And he makes full use of what has been entrusted to him by his Lord. He trades and turns the five talents into ten talents. A talent, which is a weight of silver or gold so that five talents was a large amount (possibly half a lifetime’s wages), and it therefore involved him in being very busy, with his mind concentrated on what he was doing. He was ‘watching’, but he did not have time to stand and stare. He was busy for his Master.
17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
The man who had received the two talents, a lesser amount, but still very large, behaved similarly. And he too doubled what he had been given. He gained two talents more.
18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his lord’s money.
But the one who received the one talent, which did not after all require all that much of him, although it was still a useful sum (it was beyond most people’s dreams), went away, and instead of making use of what had been entrusted to him he buried it in the earth. Burial was a recognized way of keeping treasures safe in those days. He was just doing what many people did. But the point is that he was refusing to make use of what had been entrusted to him, possibly because in his misguided view of his lord he was either frozen with fear, or resentful and unwilling to serve. Either he was terrified at the thought of losing the money, or he simply did not want to be bothered with it. We should recognize that he was a servant, and knew that his responsibility was to make use of what he had been entrusted with. But he chose not to do so. He thus had no excuse when called to account. In the same way many are so terrified of God that they never come to appreciate His mercy, and others just cannot be bothered with Him, and resent His demands. Both can fit into this picture.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
Inevitably the day came when the Lord returned and called them all in for reckoning. In the context this refers to Jesus’ second coming. Thus, all were to be busily occupied until His return. Note that it was ‘after a long time’. This idea of delay occurs in a number of parables about the second coming (. Jesus did not know when He was coming, but He did know that it would not be too soon (according to His own words it could not occur before the destruction of Jerusalem, nor before the Gospel had been proclaimed ‘worldwide’.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’
The first servant came to give his account and was able to point to the fact that he had doubled his five talents. The Lord had entrusted him with five talents and he had made use of them to produce five talents more. His Lord had greatly benefited from his endeavors and his skill. And he came with joy at what he had been able to do for his Lord.
21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
And he thus received his Lord’s commendation of ‘well done, good and faithful servant’. For this is what the Lord requires of all of us. Faithfulness, goodness and commonsense. The result is that he learns that, because he has been faithful over a few things, the Lord will set him over many things. He is to enter into his Lord’s favor and share His joy.
22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’
The one who had received the two talents also came to render account and was able to point out that he had doubled what he had been given. He too had used what was entrusted to him wisely and well.
23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
And he too received the same commendation and the same reward. But the greatest reward of all was in being pleasing to his Lord. He too was ‘set over many things’.
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
However, the man with the one talent had nothing extra to offer, for he had made no use of what had been entrusted to him. He had simply hidden it away. But he knew who was to blame for that. It was his Lord’s fault. If his Lord had not been such a hard and exacting master, he would have behaved differently. But he knew that his master was one who expected to reap where he did not sow, and to gather where he had not scattered. He was unfair, and greedy, and not to be trusted. Thus, he had taken no risks. He had gone away and hidden the talent in the earth. And now here it was. He could have it back safe and sound.
His words were like a mirror of his heart, and by them he was self-condemned. First, he had a blurred view of his Lord, a view which we know from the remainder of the parable was untrue. He considered him to be hard and unfair, and to be someone who expected too much. And he was sure that if he lost what had been entrusted to him he would be severely punished. There are many who see serving Christ in the same way. They see Him as too demanding. And yet his words also reveal that he knew what he should have done. He knew where his duty really lay. He knew that he should have multiplied the talent so that his Lord would be pleased. By his words he was passing sentence on himself, for he had blatantly refused to do what was required of him because of his resentment about his Lord. And such an attitude lies behind the failure of all men who fail to make use of what God entrusts to them for His glory. Belief in God is not rejected because it is irrational. That is the face-saving excuse. It is because it makes too many demands and interferes with our being able to have our own way.
So he thrust the talent back at his Master, and said, ‘There you are, take it. You have it back, just as you gave it to me, unused and untouched.’ And the fact that it was untouched revealed that the servant had failed in his duty, and in his responsibility.
Paul in Romans 1.18 onwards speaks similarly of man’s awareness of what his responsibility is, and of his refusal to acknowledge it. No man, he says, will be able to say in the last Day that he was not aware of what he should have been, and of what he should have done. For all are aware from the least to the greatest. All have an inward awareness of the reality of God. All are aware of the moral ‘ought’, the fact of what they ought to do. All can see the divine plan and beauty in nature. That is why in the end all who refuse to turn to Him try to seek to justify their actions, whatever they may be, for they know that they have not behaved as they ought. Thus, they are as foolish as this man was. And like this servant the majority simply bury what God has entrusted them with, or misuse it to their own advantage, ignoring the fact that one day they must give account.
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
But his Lord answered him in his own coin. In contrast with the ‘good and faithful’ servants, this servant had failed in his duty. He was the very opposite. He was a ‘wicked and slothful’ servant. His attitude was wrong, his heart was wrong, and he was lazy too. For he had himself admitted that he knew what was required of him, and indeed that it was his duty, and by his own admission he had refused to do his Lord’s will. The very minimum that he should have done was to invest the money so that it gained interest that he could hand to his Lord. All that the Lord had wanted was that he should do what he could. But he had refused to do even that, and that because of his wrong attitude towards his Lord.
28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents.
So his sentence was twofold:
. First that he should lose what had been entrusted to him, simply because he could not be trusted to use it properly. He was rather to see it given away to another who had proved to be worthier of it, and would use it properly.
. Second that he be sent away for severe punishment. He had said, ‘Take it’ and so his Lord would. And then his Lord revealed His own generous nature by giving it to the one who had ten talents, exposing once for all the calumnies of the wicked servant.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
And thus, was fulfilled the proverb that to those who ‘have’, because they have been good and faithful, will more be given. They will receive an abundance. But as regards the man who was unfaithful and had therefore handed back all that he had been entrusted with, even what he had would be taken away from him, both his talent and his life. (This would have applied even if it had been the man with five talents who had failed. But Jesus used the man with one talent as His example, because he was the one who was like most of us).
30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
These words are left until the end to bring out their emphasis. This was what the parable was finally leading up to. It is not an added note, it is at the heart of the parable, the failure of men and women to respond to Jesus Christ with their lives. The Holy Son of God Jesus was warning all who were listening, that this was what had to be avoided at all costs.
For the one who refuses to serve his Lord and fails to make use of what He entrusts to him, is unprofitable. And he or she will thus be cast into the outer darkness, away from the light. Light is regularly the picture of eternal bliss (Revelation 21.23; 22.5). It is a symbol of living in the presence of God. And that is what this man has lost. He is cast into outer darkness, away from the light, and there, as he observes all that he has lost, he will weep and gnash his teeth.
