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.’ 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.” (Matthew 25:24–28 ESV)
God has called believers in Christ to serve Him (Eph. 2:10). It is one the great privileges He has entrusted to the church. All we do is to be for His glory alone (I Cor. 10:31). This is the case whether God calls us into vocational and pastoral ministry, or we serve as a layman in the local church.
10 “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV)
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:1–3 ESV)
“On the popular religious level, many people believe that God somehow stands in need of His creation or is otherwise dependent on it for His satisfaction. The Bible presents no such deity, and it would be bad news indeed if the Lord actually needed us. A God who needs us cannot ultimately help us because He requires assistance from us,” explains one commentator.
Although God does not need us to serve Him, He has called believers in Christ to do so. Therefore, we are to be obedient and faithful wherever He has called us. This must be understood in light of today’s text and the master’s encounter with his third servant.
Whereas the master’s first two servants were good and faithful in their service to him (Matt. 25:19-23), the third one was not. He did not wisely use the master’s finances as the previous two, but rather dug a hole in the ground and buried the one talent he received (Matt. 25:18).
As the master began settling accounts with his servants, the third one approach him 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.”
The third servant did not take responsibility for his faithless stewardship, but rather blamed the master. He called the master a hard man. The word hard (σκληρός; skleros) means sever, demanding and harsh. He also accused the master of being an unethical thief.
“What the wicked servant is saying, then, amounts to this, “If in doing business with the talent which you entrusted to me I had lost it, you would have demanded it of me nevertheless. That’s the kind of man you are. I was afraid, therefore. That fear was not really my fault but yours. You made it so that the only thing I could do was to dig a hole in the ground and hide the talent.” Then, calling his master’s attention to the bag holding the money, he adds, Look, (here) you have what is yours; as if to say, “I did not keep anything back. You should be thankful that I kept it intact, and that I now return to you whatever is yours,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.
It is evident the third servant did not love his master. He is representative of professing believers who do not truly possess a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
“His characterization of the master maligns the man as a cruel and ruthless opportunist, “reaping . . . and gathering” what he had no right to claim as his own. This slothful servant does not represent a genuine believer, for it is obvious that this man had no true knowledge of the master,” states Dr. John MacArthur.
In the parable, the master’s words to the wicked servant mirror are direct. “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.”
“In repeating the slave’s charge against him, the master was not acknowledging that it was true. He was allowing the man’s own words to condemn him. If the slave really believed the master to be the kind of man he portrayed, that was all the more reason for him not to be slothful. His accusation against the master—even if it had been true—did not justify his own laziness,” comments Dr. MacArthur.
The master’s word parallel the warning Jesus gave in his Sermon on the Mount.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21–23 ESV)
John Calvin says, “There will be no excuse of the indolence of those who both conceal the gifts of God, and waste their time in idleness.”
May we make every effort to confirm our calling and election by God (2 Peter 1:3-11). While we are saved solely by the person and work of Jesus Christ, our relationship in Christ is evidenced by our work for Christ.
Soli deo Gloria!
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