The Parable of the Talents Teaches Faithful Stewardship (Matthew 25:14-30)

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 is about faithful stewardship. Read or listen to this material from Your Finances God’s Way to learn what the parable of the talents teaches us about managing money. Table of ContentsEncouraged By the Parable of the TalentsGod Judges Christians’ Stewardships Versus Their SinsFirst, God Gives What We Can HandleSecond, God Judges Our Proportion Versus Our PortionThird, God Does Not Compare Us with OthersThe First Danger of Comparing: DiscouragementThe Second Danger of Comparing: PrideThe Same Reward for Going to Battle and Guarding the SuppliesAre You the 400, 200, First Servant, or Second Servant?Footnotes Everything belongs to God. Deuteronomy 10:14 says, “Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.” God said, “Every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine” (Psalm 50:10-11). Psalm 89:11 says, “The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them.” First Corinthians 10:26 quotes Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” Of course, God’s possessions include all the wealth throughout history. This means your money isn’t your money! It’s God’s money. In Haggai 2:8, God said, “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine.” David wanted to build a house (or temple) for God. When he was told he couldn’t, he did everything he could to help his son Solomon make this happen, only stopping short of doing the building himself. David collected the materials, including the silver and gold. After the people gave even more than was needed, David prayed in 1 Chronicles 29:14, 16: Who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your hand we have given You…O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own. David understood they were giving back to God what He had given them. John 3:27 says, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” Our entire perspective of money changes when we understand that all wealth belongs to God. We come to view our finances correctly as one big stewardship. If we understand money is a stewardship, we will be wiser with the money God has given us. We will be less likely to waste it because we understand it is God’s money versus our own. We will even find it easier to be generous and give it away because we know it is God’s money versus our own. Encouraged By the Parable of the Talents The apostle Paul said, “It is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). If you’ve ever put someone in charge of something that belongs to you, you know the one thing you value more than anything else is faithfulness. The parable of the talents gives us the encouragement we need to be faithful. A talent was the largest denomination of money in the Greco-Roman world, estimated to be worth as much as 6,000 denarii. Because a denarius was one day’s wage, this was approximately 20 years’ work. Although the talents in the parable can represent any stewardships in our lives— time, marriage, children, abilities, possessions, positions in life—because Jesus chose a unit of money, the parable of the talents particularly applies to the stewardship of finances. John MacArthur said parable of the talents “illustrates the tragedy of wasted opportunity.”84 Second only to time, there aren’t many things we waste more than money. This parable should inspire us to act otherwise and be faithful stewards: The kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 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. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.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.” 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.” 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.” 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” (Matthew 25:14-23). The “man” or “lord” in the parable of the talents is Jesus, and the trip “to a far country” is His return to heaven. So far, “a long time” has been 2,000 years. The master expects the servants to carry on the work he started; therefore, he gives them talents. The servants are professing believers. I must say “professing” because the third servant is unsaved. The words “delivered his goods to them” reveal this pictures a stewardship—God entrusts us with His goods that He expects us to use for His service. When the master returned from his journey, he wanted to know what the servants did with the talents he had given them. The first man said, “Lord, you delivered to me,” showing that he understood the talents were entrusted to him rather than earned by him. God Judges Christians’ Stewardships Versus Their Sins The master returns and judges the servants, introducing one of the more common questions I receive as a pastor: Will Christians be judged? Yes and no. No, our sins are not judged because they were paid for at the cross. If you’re in Christ, you will never stand before the Great White Throne, which is the terrifying judgment at which unbelievers will learn they will pay for their sins by spending eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). But even though we won’t find ourselves before the Great White Throne, we will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of our stewardship: “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God ” (Romans 14:10). “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Paul uses the word “we” to show he’s talking about himself and other believers. The “evil” we have done is mentioned because even though we won’t be punished for our sins, they can result in loss of rewards: “If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved” (1 Corinthians 3:15). To put it simply, at the end of our lives, our sins will not be judged, but our stewardships will. If we’ve been faithful, we will be rewarded. Keeping this in mind encourages us to be faithful stewards of our finances. Returning to the parable of the talents, we might expect God to give each person the same amount because He distributes the talents. Instead, one received five, another two, and the third only one. Likewise, each of us receives a different amount of money. This might seem unfair, but there are three ways God creates equity. First, God Gives What We Can Handle The first way God creates equity is evident in the words “according to his ability.” The Lord “[knows] all people and [needs] no one to bear witness about man [to Him]” (John 2:24-25). He knows how much to give each person. God does not overestimate or underestimate our abilities: The man with much ability was given five talents. The man with average ability was given two talents. The man with minimal ability was given one talent. If the man with minimal ability had been given five talents, he would’ve been overwhelmed by the responsibility. Conversely, if the man with much ability had been given only one talent, his potential would’ve been wasted. Instead, God gives everyone exactly what he or she should have because He knows what we can (and can’t) handle. This is both encouraging and challenging. It’s encouraging that God does not give us more wealth than we can faithfully steward. It is challenging because if we are unfaithful, we can’t make the excuse that we would have done better if we had received a different amount. If nobody receives more than they can handle, this begs some questions: Why do people use the wealth God has given them in ungodly ways? Why do people act like the third servant and squander what God has given them? When people are poor stewards, does that mean God was unwise in the amounts He gave them? Not at all. We are free moral agents who choose to be faithful or unfaithful. This is the main point of the parable of the talents. When we are bad stewards, it does not reflect God’s wisdom in distribution. Instead, it is a reflection of our unfaithfulness. When we squander what the Lord has entrusted, the blame rests squarely on us. The third servant demonstrated this when he tried to blame God for his results and was rebuked. Second, God Judges Our Proportion Versus Our Portion The second way God is equitable is shown in the second servant’s reward. He heard the exact words as the first servant: “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” (Matthew 25:23; cf. 25:21). Considering the second servant produced only two talents—less than half of what the first servant produced—we mig