The Parable of the Talents (25:14-30).
In this third of three major parables on the need to be ready for His coming Jesus likens Himself to a man who goes to another country and hands over control of all that He has to servants so that they can look after His affairs. Two of them do well and double what He gives them. They receive His “well done!” But one makes no use of what he is given and buries it in the ground in order to keep it safe. When called on to give account he admits that he knows what he should have done and is accused of abusing what he has been given, by not using it for the benefit of his master. The result is that he is utterly condemned. The important lesson here is that all must use what God puts under their control to the glory of God, and that if we refuse to make use of what He puts under our control for His glory, building on it so that it multiplies, we can only expect judgment. Note that it is not a case of a man who does great wrong (as similarly in the first parable). It is the case of a man who does nothing, as in the case of what follows in Matthew 25:31-46.
Analysis.
a “For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his own servants, and delivered to them his goods, and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his several ability, and he went on his journey” (Matthew 25:14-15).
b “Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. In the same way he also who received the two gained another two” (Matthew 25:16-17).
c “But he who received the one went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord's money” (Matthew 25:18).
d “Now after a long time the lord of those servants comes, and makes a reckoning with them” (Matthew 25:19).
e “And he who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you handed over to me five talents. Lo, I have gained another five talents' ” (Matthew 25:20).
f “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord' ” (Matthew 25:21).
g “And he also who received the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you handed over to me two talents. Lo, I have gained another two talents' ” (Matthew 25:22).
f “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord' ” (Matthew 25:23).
e “And he also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter, and I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Lo, you have your own' ” (Matthew 25:24-25).
d “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter' ” (Matthew 25:26).
c “You ought therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own, with interest” (Matthew 25:27).
b “Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents” (Matthew 25:28).
a “For to every one who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away, and cast you out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:29-30).
Note that in ‘a' the man delivers his goods to his servants, and in the parallel what they do with them determines their future destiny. In ‘b' the five and two talents are given to two servants respectively, and in the parallel the receiver of the five talents receives an extra talent. In ‘c' the one who received the one buried it in the earth, and in the parallel he is accused of wasting its value. In ‘d' the lord returns to reckon with his servants, and in the parallel he castigates the one who failed for not recognising the reckoning that he would have to make. In ‘e' the one who shone out had made five talents more, and has no criticism of his lord, while in contrast the one who had failed hands it back, blaming his lord for his behaviour. In ‘f' the one with five talents receives his lord's ‘well done', and in the parallel the one with two talents receives the same. Centrally in ‘g' the one who received two talents has doubled what he had received. But as sometimes happens with a chiasmus the central emphasis is to be seen in the central three points. Success is attended by a ‘well done'.