The Olivet Discourse: Part Nine

Matthew 25:14-30 – “The Parable of The Misjudged Master” 

A sermon by Pastor Joe Haynes

Preached on October 20, 2024 at Beacon Church

One person judges God as unfair and unkind. And another praises God with songs like Amazing Grace. And God judges each person accordingly. Back when Jesus began speaking to the crowds in parables, the disciples asked him why he did that. And Jesus told them a hard truth. The crowds were not interested in God’s will, in what God wants (Mat 12:50). So they were not allowed to understand, it was not “given to them” to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 13:11). That’s why Jesus only taught unbelievers in parables after that. But He said the disciples eyes and ears were blessed to see and hear Jesus. “It was given to them” to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven: Jesus explained things plainly to them. And Jesus told them why. He said people who don’t want to listen to Him will not be allowed to understand Him, but God will give more and more grace to those who want to listen so that they understand more and more. This is what He said: “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away,” (Matt. 13:12 ESV). That’s why Jesus taught hard-hearted people in parables.

Our text this morning, what Jesus teaches here in verses 14-30, is the second of two parables. And you can either open your ears and humble your heart to be taught by Jesus, or you can close your ears and harden your heart. Last week we looked at the parable of the ten young bridesmaids in verses 1-13. Jesus said they are a picture of what the Kingdom of Heaven will be like (1). Five of them failed as bridesmaids but five of them showed great devotion to the bridegroom (and His bride!) and took their duty very seriously. Now their gratitude at being chosen to be bridesmaids is only implicit in that parable. But that kind of gratitude is now an explicit theme of this next parable. Let me be blunt: when Christ’s Kingdom comes, and you see all the people with Christ in His Kingdom, you aren’t going to find anyone in it who didn’t take their duty to Jesus Christ seriously. But you also aren’t going to find anyone who doesn’t sincerely love the Lord Jesus with heartfelt gratitude. This next parable is also about the duty Christians owe to the Lord Jesus but it goes a bit deeper. It goes to the heart. To the attitude and motives in the heart of Christians who embrace their duty to the Lord Jesus. So are you going to listen to what Jesus teaches here? One person judges God as unfair and unkind. And another praises God with songs like Amazing Grace. And God treats each person accordingly.

In this parable there are three scenes that probe your attitude toward Jesus. There is an attitude that believes in Jesus. And there is an attitude that doesn’t. But first, look at verses 14-30 with me so you can see these three scenes in our text. It’s a story about a man going on a journey. The first scene is in verses 14-15, before he goes away. The second scene is in verses 16-18, while the master is gone. The third scene is in verses 19-30, when the master comes back. What this shows you about you might be hard to hear. But will you listen? To help you do that, I have three applications to help you understand what this means for you. If you hear the word of Christ with a humble and  open heart, you will find encouragement to help you embrace your duty to the Lord Jesus Christ. The first application is this…

Understand the trust Christ has placed in you (14-15)

The first words in verse 14 mean the Kingdom of Heaven is also like this parable. Remember verse 1 says, “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps…” (Matt. 25:1 ESV). And verse 15, in the ESV, says, “For it will be like a man going on a journey…” (Matt. 25:14 ESV). The Greek of verse 14 uses the word, Ὥσπερ (“conjunction; (just) as, like as…”) to make this second parable a second object of comparison with the Kingdom of Heaven.[i]

14 "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.  15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.  (Matt. 25:14-15 ESV)

Look with me at verse 14, and notice three things: 1) The man is preparing to go on a journey; 2) He calls his servants; 3) he entrusts his property to them. First, then, He is preparing to go on a journey. The Kingdom is like this. Just two days after Jesus said all these things, Jesus was crucified. He was killed on Friday. He was raised on Sunday. Acts 1:3 says 40 days later He was lifted up and disappeared into the clouds, up to Heaven where He sits at His Father’s right hand. And when those disciples lost sight of Jesus in the clouds, two angels asked why they were just standing there. They said, “This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven,” (Acts 1:11). The Kingdom of Heaven is like this man preparing to go on a journey because Jesus was preparing to go to His Father in Heaven.

Second, then, the man calls his servants. They are his servants. Slaves or servants were common in the Roman Empire at that time. But it wasn’t like slavery you might have in mind. In Rome, slaves ran businesses, managed property, and could become very rich and powerful. But they were still bound to their masters. The disciples understood what Jesus is saying. In Acts 4:29, when the church prays, they call themselves the Lord’s servants. In Rom 1:1, in that letter, the Apostle Paul introduces himself as “a servant of Christ Jesus.” In Philippians 1:1, Paul and Timothy call themselves, “servants of Christ Jesus.” In James 1:1, the half brother of Jesus, in his letter calls himself “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” In 2 Pe 1:1, Peter calls himself “a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.” And in his letter, another half-brother of Jesus introduces himself as “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,” (Jude 1:1). Then in Revelation 1:1, John writes that the vision God gave him is “to show his servants the things that must soon take place,” and that God made it known, “by sending his angel to his servant John.” The disciples understood that they were servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Kingdom is like a man who calls “his servants.” Do you see yourself a servant of Christ?

Third, then, he entrusts his property to them.

14 "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.  15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.  (Matt. 25:14-15 ESV)

 Pay attention to the giving verbs. He “entrusted to them his property” (14); “he gave” five talents to one, two to another, and one to another. He’s going away so he puts all his property in their hands. But what Jesus said here is meant to raise eyebrows. In English the word “talent” has come to mean an ability or skill. But back then it just meant a weight of money. About 75lbs. The word for “money” in verses 18 and 27 is “silver.” So the master gives 375lbs of silver to one servant, 150lbs to another, and 75lbs to the third servant. That’s a lot of silver. Back then it was worth several fortunes. Scholars estimate just one talent of silver back then was worth between 6,000-10,000 days’ wages.[ii] [iii] [iv] Up to forty years’ wages. A lifetime of earnings. But according to the ability of each servant (15), the master gave the first one five lifetimes’ wages, the next two lifetimes’ wages, and the next one lifetime’s wages. So I’m not saying what God has given you does not include your talents, your abilities or skills or aptitude. But look at the value of eight talents of silver back then! Maybe you can sing, or you’re good with your hands, or skilled at administration? But five lifetimes’ wages? Nobody who pushes a rubber puck around ice is worth a million dollars a year. Nobody who wears tights and throws a little leather ball around a field is worth a million dollars a year. And your skill or ability is certainly not comparable to five lifetimes’ wages. You aren’t that talented. This is about so much more than your talents, and the amount of money entrusted to them is so vast, it forces us to one conclusion. In a word: it’s about grace. Kindness. The generosity of God. Well, coming back to verse 15, then he left.

This is eyebrow-raising stuff. The Lord Jesus is comparing himself to an extremely rich man who puts his vast fortune in the hands of his servants. Do you understand the trust Christ has placed in you?  I said, “there are three scenes that probe your attitude toward Jesus.” There is an attitude that believes in Jesus. And there is an attitude that doesn’t. The first scene should make you remember what Christ has given you. Next…

Understand the work Christ expects from you (16-18)

In this second scene, we see how the three servants use the master’s fortune while he is gone. The scene is in three sentences, three verses, one for each servant. And think about what these servants do: what their actions reveal about their attitude to their master.

What does the first servant do? “He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more,” (Matt. 25:16 ESV). First, see the subject of the sentence in verse 16? “He who had received the five talents…” That’s who he is, how Jesus describes him. He is defined by what he received, by what was given to him. Is that how you see yourself? Someone defined by what Jesus has given you? Well then, do you see yourself in this first servant? What does he do? He jumped up and got to work. It says “at once,” he went and used the five talents of silver to make five more. To paraphrase James 1:18, show your faith in God’s grace by your work. Then what does the second servant do? “So also he who had the two talents made two talents more,” (Matt. 25:17 ESV). “So also” means he did the same thing. At once, immediately, right away, he jumped up and got to work. He went out and used the two talents of silver the master had entrusted to him, that he had given to him, and made two more. And then what does the third servant do? “But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money,” (Matt. 25:18 ESV). Jesus begins with the word “but.” He does not jump up and get to work. He goes out and digs a hole. He doesn’t use the fortune of a lifetime to go and make one more. He hides his master’s 75lbs of silver in a hole in the ground. Then what does he do? Nothing. What do his actions say about his attitude toward his master?

There is an attitude that believes in Jesus. And there is an attitude that doesn’t. And what does the end of verse 18 say? You need to see those damning words: it was “his master’s money” that he buried. The silver wasn’t his. It was his master’s. The master entrusted his property to these three servants. He put it all in their hands. The first two get right to work and they work hard because of the great trust their master placed in them. The third servant does nothing to repay the kindness of his master. The next scene is clear, he doesn’t even think of it as kindness. He is blind to grace.

What has the Lord Jesus Christ entrusted to you? What is His that He has placed in your care; in your hands? What grace have you received from God through Jesus Christ? Have you any idea? What good works flow in your lie from gratitude for such expansive grace to you in Christ? Do you see yourself in the first two servants, or in the third servant?  I said, “there are three scenes that probe your attitude toward Jesus.” There is an attitude that believes in Jesus. And there is an attitude that doesn’t. The first scene should make you remember what Christ has given you. The second scene should make you examine what you do for the Lord Jesus Christ and why you do it. Next…

Understand the calling Christ has given you (19-30)

The third scene in this parable is where the master comes back and calls his servants to account for the money he entrusted to them. “Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them,” (Matt. 25:19 ESV). Pause here for a moment and think about what this means. Verse 14 teaches the Kingdom of Heaven (see verse 1) is like this. Jesus suggests here that it would be a long time before He comes back again. The delay of the bridegroom in verse 5 hints at the same thing. The first two servants use that time to double the money their master entrusted to them. But the third servant wastes the time. Yet verse 13 overshadows this whole parable. The Kingdom of Heaven is also like this man going on this journey, and so the warning from the end of the first parable looms over this one too: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour,” (Matt. 25:13 ESV). So notice three things about each servant in verses 20-30: 1) how Jesus describes each servant; 2) what each servant says to his master, and 3) what the master says to each servant.

20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.'  21 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'  22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.'  23 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'  24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,  25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.'  (Matt. 25:20-25 ESV)

How Jesus describes each servant: Jesus does not call these guys “the first servant, the second servant, etc.” but refers to them by what was given to them: He who had received the five talents (20), he who had the two talents (22), and he who had received the one talent (24). Each man is known by what the master gave him. I can’t help thinking this is exactly how John, the disciple, describes himself, for example in John 25:20, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” But is that how these servants see themselves? Well, let’s see…

What each servant says to his master: The first servant can’t wait to give the master what belongs to him—he comes forward first. But look at those first words out of his mouth: “Lord,” (lit.) “you delivered to me five talents…” (that’s how he sees himself! The man his master gave 5 talents!). Only then does he add, “here! I have made five more!” Notice the order because it’s important. He starts with what His master had given him. Then he happily shows his master what he did for him. The master’s generousity to him comes first, then what he accomplished for his master comes second. Or to put that in more familiar New Testament language: grace comes first, then works. Paul says, “I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” (Eph. 4:1). Grace then work.

Well the second servant is the same (22). Look at the first words out of his mouth: “And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more,'” (Matt. 25:22 ESV). First he talks about the grace his master gave to him, and then he shows the work he did for his master. Grace comes first, then works. But now look at the third guy. What comes out of his mouth? Well he starts well by calling his master, “Master” (or Lord), but he doesn’t mention his master’s kindness at all; he doesn’t talk about what his master gave him, he doesn’t mention grace. It’s the opposite.

24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,  25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.' (Matt. 25:24-25 ESV)

He doesn’t see his master like the first two servants saw him. And that’s the problem. He sees his master differently. He says he knows his master but it shows how badly he misjudged him. And since this master is a picture of Jesus, you need to consider whether you’ve misjudged Jesus too. Do you see yourself as someone given vast riches of grace you never deserved? Do you see yourself as someone called therefore to do good works for Jesus because of the grace Jesus has given you? Or do you see Jesus as a stingy, tight-fisted, miserly, Scrouge of a Master? Are you motivated in your heart by what Jesus has given you to serve Him with devotion? Or do fear him as if he will punish you if one penny is missing on Judgement Day? Which servant is most like you—in your understanding of the trust the Lord placed in you; in your understanding of the duty Christ expects from you; in your understanding of your calling Christ has given you? But lastly, see…

What the master says to each servant.  “His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master,'” (Matt. 25:21 ESV). Wait, what?? That’s “a little”? The first servant hands his master ten talents—ten lifetimes’ wages—and Jesus calls it “little.” Do you know what this means? “…No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him,” (1 Cor. 2:9). He says exactly the same thing to the second servant:  “His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master,'” (Matt. 25:23 ESV). The work they did was a response to the grace they received, and they did it all for Him. And He says “well done!” to both. He calls both of them, “good and faithful.” So He gives them much greater honour and entrusts them with far greater things, and invites them to enter into his own joy. What is the Lord’s joy? Hebrews 12:2 says it was “for the joy that was set before him [that Jesus] endured the cross, despising [its] shame,” (Heb. 12:2). And Luke 24:26 says, “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk. 24:26) Revelation 21:7 says the believer who stays faithful, “will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son,” (Rev. 21:7). And David says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore,” (Ps. 16:11). Do you praise God with songs like Amazing Grace? Or do you judge God as unfair and unkind? God treats each person accordingly.

The third servant never saw his master as gracious, didn’t want to work for his master, and wasted all the time he had.

26 But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?  27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.  28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.  29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  (Matt. 25:26-29 ESV)

Notice the end of verse 26, there’s a question mark. It’s an indicting question. Like a judge interrogating the accused. Is this how you see the Lord Jesus? Do you see Him as stingy? As miserly? Was this master an Ebenezer Scrouge to these servants? No! This servant’s opinion of his master flies in the face of the facts! The master entrusted incredible wealth to these three servants—even to the one with the least ability. And the master rewarded the first two with even greater, more lavish generosity, inviting them in to share his own joy from then on. But notice how just this judgment then is: this wicked slave never believed in his lord’s grace, so he was judged according to his own works. “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” (Matt. 25:30 ESV). In verse 30, we see this is a parable about the coming Kingdom, and the master is the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the world when He comes. So how do you see yourself in this parable?

Here is the bottom line: “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away,” (Matt. 25:29 ESV). There is an attitude that believes in Jesus. And there is an attitude that doesn’t. If you close your ears to the Lord Jesus, draw your own conclusions about Him contrary to what His Gospel reveals about Him, and refuse to listen to His teaching, the little you had will be taken away and you will be judged for all your sins. But if you open your ears and your heart to what Jesus says, God will give more and more grace and your understanding will grow. You will understand the grace He has lavished on you, you will want to work hard to live a life that honours Jesus. Because when He calls you to serve Him it is so that He will share everything He has with you forever: He calls you to share His inheritance; He calls you to be with Him in His Kingdom and share His own joy. His grace to you will grow and multiply forever.

So may “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, …give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come,”  (Eph. 1:17-21).