Matthew 25:14-30 Commentary

This parable about what we do with ourselves as we wait for Christ’s return seems to be getting us ready for Advent a little early. Given that it is still Ordinary time, though, we can find our emphasis in the call to discipleship found in this story rather than the focus on Christ our Master’s return.

In this story, an extraordinarily rich Master decides to go on a journey and divides at least some of his riches among three slaves, each according to what he knows they are able to competently do something with. For perspective, a talent was about 15 years’ worth of wages, so divided among them is 120 years’ worth of income. This Master is extravagantly wealthy and is willing to involve his servants in the use—and growth—of his riches.

It is not difficult to see the way that God enjoins God’s people through our covenantal bond. God’s riches are uncountable to us, the created riches of this universe to the uniqueness of every human being that has and will exist. In every way, God involves us in the flourishing of his wealth and invites us to be part of its propagation through wholeness and goodness.

But like in any covenantal agreement, trust is still at the centre. The Master describes the first two servants as trustworthy and promises to give them more because they have shown that they know what to do with what they have been given—in other words, they understand what their Master expects, hopes, and wants for and from them. They trust the Master and the Master’s methods and keep up the work of the Master even while the Master is away. So when the Master comes home and reviews matters, he says, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave… enter into the joy of your master.” 

Living for God enriches the way we live with God, and the word God chooses to use to describe the experience is joy. At the heart of things, trusting God and God’s purposes, being obedient to God’s gifts and callings and all of the responsibilities of discipleship thus entailed is not a heavy burden but a joyous life of expanding goodness.

The third slave’s experience epitomises the terror of believing lies about God. Though there is chatter in some commentaries on this passage about the inordinate wealth of the Master and how it points to shady dealings, I don’t read it that way—parables utilize exaggerated details that cannot be confused as the main point of the parable. In this case, the point of the parable is about trusting the character and method of the Master, so if the third slave truly believed that his Master was a cheat, he should have done what his Master would have done in his place. 

Instead, it’s all excuse and projection from the third slave. Either he doesn’t actually know the kind of Master he has, or he doesn’t want to do what he ought. He might have many reasons why he doesn’t want to do what he is responsible for in his Master’s absence, but they are more about him than they are about the Master. Was he really paralysed by fear? The Master says that excuse lacks integrity: if he was afraid, he knows the Master will always demand some profit. No, to the Master this seems like an easy excuse to cover a deeper issue; the slave doesn’t trust the Master and in that covenantal bond has proven himself not trustworthy to his Master. 

Or maybe, just maybe, the slave is afraid about what it meant that his Master did trust him with such a great amount of wealth. Maybe the slave didn’t trust himself—didn’t believe in what the Master clearly saw in him. If the Master truly gave each slave according to their ability, to not let that ability blossom is to not believe it yourself. To not let it play out or see where it might lead and what it might become is to doubt yourself and therefore to doubt what God sees in you.

When we settle for what we can see God has given us rather than mining the depths of its riches, we say more about ourselves than we do about the God who loves us and made us as his riches. When we settle for the lives we have rather than pursue growing God’s goodness, we stay in an outer darkness, disconnected from God’s growing Kingdom. When we ignore or belittle or demean or doubt the work of the Holy Spirit to lead us in our lives of discipleship, when we fear the work and riches of God in us, it can easily turn to doubt. How dangerous when we then run from our covenantal discipleship and have the audacity to blame our fear of failure on God. 

Textual Point

To underscore the difference between the first two slaves and the final one, notice the difference between the two. In the Greek, the sentence construction is the same for all three, they say, “See _____” to their Master. But there is a difference in what the Master is meant to see; for the first two, it is what they have made with what they’ve been given and for the final slave it is about what the Master has (which remains unchanged). This wording emphasises the third slave’s attempt to place everything back on the Master and away from himself and his responsibilities.

Illustration Idea

If the third slave reminds you a little of Jonah then you’re not alone. Of course, Jonah was at least “right” about God’s character, but he has the same poor attitude as the third slave and even though he eventually does what he is supposed to do, Jonah shows by the end of the story that he still doesn’t truly know or appreciate who God is. Was he left out on the outskirts of town, his own sort of “outer darkness”?