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Matthew 25:14-30— 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. ¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 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.’ 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. ³⁰ And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 25 is a series of three parables about the return of Christ. The first parable, which we looked at last week, was the parable of the Ten Virgins. Jesus told that parable to teach you that you need to be ready for His return. Today’s parable, the Parable of the Talents, teaches what your attitude toward Christ return should be. Your attitude should be one of bold excitement. Next week’s parable, the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, teaches why you should be excited. I don’t want to preach next week’s sermon, but if we don’t see what happens in next week’s text, we won’t understand the parable before us today.

In next week’s parable, Christ says that He will separate all people. His sheep will be placed on His right and the goats on His left. Jesus will tell His sheep about all the good works they have done. Jesus will tell them about all the times they fed the hungry, gave a drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, and visited the sick and imprisoned. And the sheep will be surprised because they aren’t aware of doing any of those things. The goats will be surprised too. Jesus will tell them that they didn’t do any good works. The goats all thought they had a done all sorts of good works. But Jesus tells them that none of their works are good enough. Then He sends them off on the bus headed for the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Believer, when Christ returns, He will not see one single, solitary sin in you. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 8:1).

Again, I don’t want to say too much and spoil next week’s sermon, but if you don’t see how Christ will judge you believer, you won’t understand this week’s text. When Christ returns to judge you, there will not be one mark against you. You will stand before God completely sinless and pure. God will not see any sin you have ever committed. God will look at you and see only perfect obedience. He will see the righteousness of Christ. Remember that as we look at this week’s parable.

When we look at this week’s parable and are honest, most of us identify ourselves as the third servant. We think we need to play it safe and take no risks. We look at God as a tyrant who makes hard, impossible demands of us. But that is not who God is!

God is a giver. God the Father has given you everything you have. He has given you your body and soul, your eyes and ears, food and clothing, home and family, and all your property. God the Son has given you His body and blood. Jesus has given you His obedience and His righteousness. And God the Holy Spirit has given you faith. He has delivered Jesus’ forgiveness to you. God is a giver.

God has done and still does exactly what the Master does in this parable. He gives and He goes. Jesus suffered, bled, died, rose again, and ascended into heaven. Ephesians 4:7–8 ⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.”

God gives generously to all, but God’s generosity does not mean equality. “To one servant he gave five talents, to another two, to another one.” One talent is equivalent to about 20 years’ wages. The average income in America right now is just over $50,000, so we’re talking about $5, $2, and $1 million. I want to give these servants names. For the sake of ease, I’m going to use prophet’s names. Isaiah gets $5 million. Jeremiah gets $2 million. And Jonah gets $1 million. Notice that this Master doesn’t give any directions, any instructions as to what to do with these gifts. The Master simply dishes out the cash saying, “Here you go boys. Five for you, two for you, and one for you. Now, I’m going away.”

The Master gives to His servants because He trusts them and their ability. Trusting is risky. It would have been safer for this Master to take His $8 million with Him. Most of us, probably all of us, would bring that money with us on our trip. But that is not God’s way. God is a giver. He gives, and He trusts His servants with what is His.

Isaiah and Jeremiah, see that their Master is a generous giver. So they go, and they go recklessly. They don’t read up on what is and what is not a good investment. They go straight to the trading floor, and each of them double their gift. That’s a nice return. But the return says more about the nature of the gift than the ability of the servants. The gifts of the Master just seem to magically double because they are the Master’s gifts.

But then there is Jonah. Jonah cannot see that his Master is a generous giver. The Master hands Jonah a gift of $1 million, and he is scared out of his mind because he wrongly thinks that his Master is a hard, impossible, merciless man. Instead of using the gift, Jonah buries it in the ground. In other words, Jonah does nothing.

Look at how differently the three servants address the Master when He returns. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah say the same thing. They both speak about the Master’s generosity. “Master, You delivered, You gave, me x talents. Look! I have doubled it.” But notice how differently Jonah addresses the Master – he says, “Master, I knew You to be a hard Man, an impossible Man, a merciless Man.”

Can you imagine the audacity of Jonah, after being given a free, no-strings-attached gift of $1 million, calling his Master a hard, merciless man? “Yeah, Master, You gave me $1 million, but I know You to be a hard, merciless Man.” That’s crazy talk! The problem with Jonah was that he thought that his Master would be angry with him no matter what he did with his gift. So he did nothing, nothing at all.

Remember, the Master gave no instructions about what to do with the gifts He gave. You know what would have happened if Jonah had just gone out and bought himself something nice? Let’s say Jonah had gone out and bought himself a $1 million yacht. When the Master returned, the boat would have been appraised at $2 million, and Jonah could have gone to the Master in the same awe that both Isaiah and Jeremiah had for the Master.

But Jonah didn’t do anything. So the Master condemns Jonah with his own words. “I gave you $1 million and you think I’m a hard Man with no mercy. Then, yes Jonah, you should be afraid of Me. And in that fear, you should have at least gone and put My money in the bank so it would have earned interest. But, let Me tell you something, Jonah. You could have gone out and lost every last penny, and I wouldn’t have cared. At least you would have recognized Me for the merciful, gracious Master that I really am. But since you fear Me, I’ll give you a reason to be afraid. Take the talent, give it to Isaiah, and throw Jonah out.”

Brothers and sisters, open your eyes! God has given you everything, absolutely everything you have. And while you were still His enemy in open, active rebellion against Him, He gave you what was most precious to Him – He gave you Jesus, His only begotten Son. While you were a sinner and under His wrath against sin, He gave you grace. He freely gave you the full forgiveness of sins. Believe it!

And, “there is therefore now no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 8:1). You have no need to fear God. God is a giver. God is a gracious giver. Use His gifts. Use them freely and recklessly, and He will say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.” Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.