1. Matthew 25: 14-15; 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.
Depending on your Bible translation you may or may not
see the word “talent.” The term talent
was first used as a unit of weight for about 75lbs. Later it was used as a unit of coinage. The present day use of the word talent is to
describe and ability or gift of a person.
This word and its present day meaning came from this parable.
The master gave each person a different amount based on
their abilities. By doing this none of the servants could use the excuse that
they were given more than they could handle and overwhelmed.
In the same way God will never give us more than we can
handle. Everything God gives us is based
on what our abilities and gifts. The
only problem with this sometimes it that God knows we can take more
responsibility even if we disagree.
2. Matthew 25:16-18; 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.
We read that 2 of the servants went to work with their
talents and doubled what they had been given.
The other did nothing with the money they were given.
Of course this is true with us many times. Someday God gives us a task or an opportunity
and we run with and have great success.
Other times we just drop the ball and do nothing with the opportunity
God put in front of us.
3. Matthew 25:19-21; 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.’
The statement “Well done good and faithful servant,” is
very powerful. This is what we should
all hope to hear someday when we meet Jesus.
4. Matthew 25:22-23; 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.’
Both servants had double the talents they had been given
and now both were going to be given more.
When God trusts us with a little and we are faithful he will later trust
us with more. This is both a spiritual
and practical truth of life. When we go
through trails and show ourselves to be faithful servants that become an
example to others. Overtime people we
look to you for guidance and as a person to lead.
On the practical
side when we work hard and are successful at work we usually get promoted. Some people complain that they get passed
over for promotions because they just don’t know the right people, but more times
than not if they were doing more than what was just expected they too would be
promoted.
There are many great football players in High School, but
only a few make it to play College. Of
those only a few more make it to the NFL.
And of those only a few go on to have Hall of Fame careers. Part of there success has to do with their natural
talent, but it also has to do with what they do with that talent. Take as an example Payton Manning and Ryan
Leaf. When Manning was drafted by the
Indianapolis Colts many of the experts said the Ryan Leaf was a better
quarterback. He was younger, bigger, and
stronger, had a better arm, and was more accurate. Leaf was the 2nd choice in the
draft and after a few years was out of the league. Unlike Manning who put in hours working to
make is talent better Leaf was lazy. He
was a head case and cared more about himself than he did his team.
Another example from the NFL is Drew Brees the former
Purdue QB and current New Orleans Saints QB and Super Bowl champion. When Drew as drafted it was in the 2nd
round after 6 other QB’s had been taken.
Everyone said that Drew was too small.
Today only 1 of those 6 QB’s are still playing and only Drew has won a
Super Bowl.
5. Matthew 25:24-25; 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.’
I think this might be a reference to how people see God
and wan to blame God for their own failures.
Because God doesn’t give someone everything they want He is hard. When he allows bad things to happen, then He
is taking away from people what belongs to them. But the fact is everything belongs to God and
His ways are beyond ours. It is not our
job to question God, but to do His Will.
Don’t get me wrong we can ask God for insight. But when we fail we need to seek God and not
blame God.
6. Matthew 25:26-27; 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.
In this NLT it says, “You think I’m a hard man,” and I
think this goes back to my point that we don’t understand God’s ways. A company, school, or church may have to make
deep budget cuts that could affect a lot of people, but while people may not
like it or even understand it may be what is needed to accomplish a greater
goal.
But even if we assume that what the servant was saying
was true about the master that he was hard, then why not invest it the
bank. The reason is that he was just too
lazy and didn’t want to follow his master’s directions. He was told to make money and he just didn’t
do it.
People say God is mean, but if they truly believe that
then they would do whatever it took to make this vengeful God happy. The fact is people choose not to serve God’s
will because they are selfish and lazy.
7. Matthew 25:28-30; 28 Therefore 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.’
This is a reference to what is coming. In the end when Christ returns there will be
those that were among our poorest who will be given riches beyond any that has
been known. And there are those who were
the richest on this earth that will become the poorest than we have ever
known. Where we spend our time in this
life will effect where we spend our time in the next life.
8. Talent on Loan from God
If I could sum up this parable it would be with these
five words…”Talent on loan from God.” Famous
radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has a saying, “With Talent on Loan from
God.” Some people have tried to say he
thinks he is God, but that is just not true.
This is what he says about that, “I believe I am what I am because of
the grace of God and that my time on earth, as is everyone’s is temporary. We are all on loan from God, you see.” (The Way Things Ought To Be)
References: Archaeological Study Bible form Zondervan, Life
Application Study Bible NLT from Tyndale House, Sermon Central; Adam
Deibert-Gifts and Service; Rush Limbaugh, The Way Things Ought To Be; biblegateway.com, NKJV
