And after a long time the lord of those bondmen comes and reckons with them.
In this parable a master gives his property to his servants and goes away for a long time. This verse is the moment he returns and opens the books. Why the long wait? What gets counted? Who has to answer?
The long gap is not just background. It is what puts each servant's heart to the test.
In fact, all this would be like a man who goes to a distant country. He trusts his goods to his servants according to their ability. Then, after a long interval, he returns. So the question is whether the servants stay faithful while they are left, to outward appearance, to themselves, and for a long time. Their heart is put to the proof. Is it truly the Master's? Do they identify themselves with His interests when there is no sign of His return? Or do they forget Him, as Israel did at Sinai when they believed it was all over with Moses? But note this: it is not simply a matter of being ready in grace. It is the activity that confidence in the Lord inspires.
One writer notes both sides of that delay:
It shows that the Lord meant to keep the church waiting and expecting Him. Even so, there are clear signs that the Bridegroom's delay was intended.
The "goods" are not money, and not natural talent either. The Lord gives them, and He fits them to what each servant already is.
It is plain that the substance which the Lord entrusted to His servants for work in His absence means gifts of a spiritual kind. For He delivered to each according to his respective ability. They are different from each servant's own ability, which was natural, and they suit it. They are not just "sanctified capacity" or "theological learning." They are a gift from the Lord fitted to the ability of each servant as the vessel... The reception of a gift was the ground of exercising it in dependence on the Giver, and for His glory.
The master calls in every one of those servants — a wider group than we might expect.
Every professing Christian takes the place of being a servant of Christ. The Lord will treat him as one in the day of reckoning. He is surely coming, even if it be "after a long time."
The reckoning decides reward and place, not whether a person is saved. One writer sets this scene beside 1 Corinthians 3.
The Lord's servants should keep their Lord's return before them. On that day He will look into all that they have done... This corresponds with 1 Corinthians 3. There we have some commended and rewarded, and others who have missed the reward; and a third class of servants who are destroyed because they are evil. Service does not affect the salvation of our souls, since that rests on the accomplished work of Christ. But it will greatly affect our reward at the Lord's return, and our place in His kingdom during His thousand-year reign.
What divides the servants is not the size of the trust. It is what they thought of the Master while He was away.
Here it is the Lord working through a variety of gifts. He is sovereign. So confidence in Him is what separates the "good and faithful" servants from the wicked and slothful one... Zeal that flowed from that confidence was followed by blessing and fruit... When confidence in Him is lacking, all is wrong. It may show itself in fear to use what He had given for profit. Had he truly known the Lord, he would have served Him gladly, especially as he had a gift of power.
A similar parable in Luke names the reward exactly. Matthew's account does not.
When the day of reckoning comes, in Luke we find a definite reward that matches the work. In Matthew the word is, "I will make you ruler over many things; enter into the joy of your lord." They are not told what they are to have, or how many things they are to rule over. The master is sovereign both in His gifts and His rewards. The crowning point of all is, "Enter into the joy of your lord."
The words from verse 21 quoted there follow an older translation.
- Trust given. The Lord hands out spiritual gifts. Each one matches the servant's own ability, and each servant uses his gift in dependence on the Giver.
- Trust tested. The "long time" is the test. Does the servant's heart stay with the Master's interests when there is no sign of His return?
- Trust owned. Everyone who takes the place of a servant of Christ will answer as one on the day of reckoning. No one opts out.
- Trust reviewed. This reviews service, not salvation. Reward and place in the kingdom are at stake. The soul itself rests on Christ's finished work.
- Trust rewarded. Confidence in the Master marks the good and faithful. Their reward is not measured out for them; it ends in entering His joy.
And he that had received the five talents came to [him] and brought five other talents, saying, [My] lord, thou deliveredst me five talents; behold, I have gained five other talents besides them.
The five-talent servant steps forward first when his master comes home. He speaks of what the master gave him before he speaks of what he gained. Two questions run through the scene. What has the Lord put into our hands? And what does He look for when He asks for an account?
So what are the talents? One writer draws a firm line between them and the property we already own.
You get more of the sovereignty of God here than in the parallel parable in Luke, where it is more the responsibility of man. Here the Lord gives to every man according to his ability: to one five talents, to another two. Everyone will be responsible for his wealth, but that is not a talent. The talents are what Christ gave when He was going away. He gave gifts — apostles, prophets, and so on. He did not give money!
Commentators differ here. Others read the talents more widely, as anything a believer can use for Christ. They also point to the two words the master praises:
Here in our parable there are talents committed to each. Not merely the gift of an evangelist, pastor, or teacher, but anything, I take it, which we might use for Christ. Abilities, time, money, and so on. And, as many have noticed, the praise is not "good and successful," but "Well done, good and faithful servant."
The servant hands back ten after receiving five. That increase is no accident. It came from putting the gift to work, and the gain has an owner.
This parable teaches another great principle: the gift itself can grow and increase. The two traded with the talents and doubled them. Use any gift, no matter how small, and that gift will increase. There will be gain, and that gain must be gain first of all for the Lord Himself. It will be for Him, as these servants laid before Him what they had received and what they had gained.
The difference between this servant and the man who buried his talent is not talent size. It is what each one believed about the master.
Their lord was dealing in grace and wisdom. He says to both alike, "Enter into the joy of your lord." Then comes the third. What marked him was a lack of trust in his master's character... He did not know the blessedness of the grace in Christ's heart. The others had the mind of Christ; they trusted His heart, and were therefore good and faithful servants. So I find that responsibility in service rests on knowing the heart of Christ... He trusts us, whether it is only a cup of cold water or the gift of an apostle. He trusts His servant and expects him to act. If you have five talents, trade with them. If you have a cup of cold water, trade with that.
The servant comes forward because the master has come back. The long wait ends in a reckoning.
The Lord's servants should keep their Lord's return in view. On that day He will look into everything they have done. "After a long time the lord of those servants comes, and reckons with them" (verse 19)... Service does not affect the salvation of our souls, since that rests on the finished work of Christ. But it will greatly affect our reward at the Lord's return, and our place in His kingdom.
The man with two brings a smaller pile to the same master, and hears an identical sentence.
So we find that the parable of our Lord in Matthew 25:14-30 gives the reward in the same words to both servants. One put two talents to work and made two more. The other made five more from five. There was a difference in their gifts. But each showed the same devotedness in doubling what his master put in his care, and their reward was the same.
Rewards are real and specific. Yet one thing in the master's answer outshines them all.
There will be a full, clear, and definite reward for responsibility carried out, for service given, and for work done. Everyone will receive his reward. But above and beyond all shines this precious word, "Enter into the joy of your lord." No reward can match this... One smile from Him will touch the heart far more deeply and powerfully than the brightest crown ever set on the head.
- Given — The servant owns up first: the talents were never his. Christ handed them out when He went away, measured to each man's ability.
- Trusted — He traded because he knew his master's heart. The man who buried his talent misjudged that heart, and fear stopped his service.
- Doubled — Any gift grows when you use it, however small it is. The increase is gain for the Lord before it is gain for anyone else.
- Reckoned — He settles the account at His return. Salvation rests on Christ's finished work. Reward rests on what you did with what He gave.
- Welcomed — Five and two hear the same sentence, because the Master measures faithfulness, not the size of the return. And the best reward of all is entering His joy.
His lord said to him, Well, good and faithful bondman, thou wast faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things enter into the joy of thy lord.
The master speaks to a servant who traded with the money left in his care. In one breath come three things: a verdict on the servant's character, a promotion, and an invitation.
The commendation names a quality, and it is worth noticing which quality it is not.
And here in our parable there are talents committed to each. Not merely the gift of an evangelist, pastor, or teacher; but anything, I take it, which we might employ for Christ. Abilities, time, money, and so on. And, as has often been noticed, the praise is not "good and successful," but "Well done, good and faithful servant."
That distinction turns the parable into a question each servant must ask himself. It also shows why some hold back.
Am I a faithful servant? Am I a wise steward? It is not a question of success. The Lord never asks me to be successful. The point is, am I wise, and am I faithful? To be truly successful I must be faithful and wise. Many servants have stopped short of the truth, because they were afraid it might spoil their success.
The man with two talents hears the same words as the man with five.
He does not speak a higher and better word of approval to the one who had the five talents and brought Him five other talents. Both hear the same word of approval. It is therefore not a question of how much we have received of the Lord, but how we use what He has given to us. Faithful service will bring approval, even in the smallest matter, and even if there is only one talent.
The wording shifts from the previous chapter, and the shift is deliberate.
In chapter 24 it was the "faithful and wise" servant, because, where it is a question of the household, wisdom is needed. But here it is "good and faithful servant." Both are called "faithful." Yet when a servant uses the gifts the Lord sends out into the world with the message of grace, the goodness of God is what stands out. What is the source of all grace in the servant of the Lord? It is the appreciation of God's goodness. This comes out by contrast in the case of the slothful servant.
Trading, then, begins in what the servant believes about his master.
This confidence in Christ is the source of all true service. It is a complete and blessed confidence in the grace of Christ, and in His heart toward us, who deserve nothing. He has trusted us, and the heart trusts Him, and the servant goes on to serve Him and trade with his talents.
The master counts what he handed over as small. What he gives in return is a place of rule.
It is true that the two who traded showed nothing more than faithfulness. Why hand goods to them, if not for them to increase them? But the Lord keeps account of it. What He had entrusted was only a little thing in His eyes. Yet they had known Him and had been faithful. There was one heart between Him and them. Now, at His return, they must enter into His joy: one heart in service, and one heart in joy. Also, "many things" were entrusted to them in His kingdom at the hour of His glory.
Reward for service must be kept separate from a place given purely by grace.
The results will have their answer in the kingdom. He that has been faithful in that which is little, will be entrusted with much there. We must distinguish between our place in the Father's house, which is all of grace, and the place we shall occupy in the kingdom.
The last words offer the servant more than any reward.
Amazing! The saints enter into God's own joy: they have not only the joy which God bestows, but the joy which God enjoys.
Compared with this, even the crowns lose their weight.
True, there will be the ten cities and the five cities. There will be full, clear, and definite reward for responsibility met, service given, and work done. Every servant will receive his reward. But above and beyond it all shines this precious word, "Enter into the joy of your master." No reward can match this... One smile from Him will touch the heart far more than the brightest crown that could ever be placed on his head.
- Trust starts it. Service flows from confidence in the Master's grace. The goodness a servant shows is the goodness he first saw in Him.
- Faithfulness, not figures. The praise is "good and faithful," never "good and successful." A talent may be any ability, time, or money used for Christ.
- Equal words, unequal gifts. Two talents earn the same praise as five. The question is never how much He gave, but how the servant used it.
- Little now, much then. What He entrusted was small in His eyes. Faithfulness with it leads to rule in the kingdom — a place distinct from the place grace gives in the Father's house.
- Joy crowns it. Beyond every reward stands the invitation into His own joy. One smile from Him outweighs the brightest crown.