As to God’s judgment of us believers, Jesus’s Parable of the Talents found in the Gospel of Matthew provides us a good example. God’s judgment of us will focus on one question: In this life, were we faithful servants of God? The Cambridge Dictionary defines a “parable” as “a short simple story that teaches or explains an idea, especially a moral or religious idea.”[1] The Parable of Talents teaches us about God’s evaluation or judgment of us believers.
In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven (a/k/a Kingdom of God) is like a wealthy man who traveled to a far-away country. While on his journey to a far-away place, the wealthy man entrusted his possessions or property into the hands of his servants. The servants were actually called “doulos,” which is defined as a “slave or servant”[2] (Matt. 25:14). In the parable, the wealthy man is representative of God, while the servants are representative of us believers. Most of us believers, however, are not willing to consider ourselves as slaves of Jesus Christ.
To provide helpful background commentary on the parable, I relied upon the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary and the article of Dr. Michael J Wilkins regarding the Gospel of Matthew. Dr. Wilkins noted, “Wealthy landowners often entrusted their property and affairs to trustworthy servants when they went away on business or for personal dealings.”[3] In the parable, the wealthy man entrusted five talents to one servant, two talents to another servant, and one talent to a third servant (Matt. 25:14-30). First, it should be noted that Dr. Wilkins determined that each talent should be valued at approximately $247,200.[4] Dr. Wilkins also observed that the “exact monetary value [of a talent] is difficult to determine, because a [talent] is not a coin but a unit of monetary reckoning.”[5] Nevertheless, it is clear that the wealthy man distributed great sums of money to his servants.
Next, it should be noted that the great sums of money were divided according to the ability or power of the servants (Matt. 25:15). The Greek word dynamis is defined as “power, strength, or ability.”[6] Our power or ability to serve God comes only from God. As we demonstrate faithfulness, God can give us more power or ability. The Holy Spirit is our source of power. The servants given two and five talents, respectively, each doubled the wealth to which they were entrusted. However, the servant given one talent dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money (Matt. 25:18).
At Matthew 25:19, we read, “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.” There was an accounting, reckoning, or assessment. There was a time of evaluation by the master. As to the slaves who doubled their master’s money, the master said to them, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21, 23). The faithful slaves were appointed to places and positions of authority and responsibility in their master’s kingdom.
Since the Fall of Humankind, we encounter good and evil on a daily basis. We can accomplish good only by being faithful servants of God. We cannot become a faithful servant by accomplishing random acts. Instead, we should do the works that God gives us to do. We are required to do Spirit-directed acts. Our ability to faithfully serve God comes only from God. The faithful servants of God will be rewarded and will share in God’s rule and ownership of His creation.
On the other hand, the unfaithful servant did not accomplish anything with his master’s wealth. The unfaithful servant said, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man…. [a]nd I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours” (Matt. 25:24-25). Dr. Wilkins noted that the wickedness of the third servant “primarily stems from his attitude about his master.”[7] If you believe that someone is impossible to please, most likely you will not even try to please such a person. However, quite to the contrary, our Lord is very gracious and easy to please. At Matthew 11:29-30, we read, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”
The third servant refused to serve because he believed that his master was unreasonable and impossible to please. The master responded, “You worthless, lazy, slave! Did you not know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed?” (Matt. 25:26). God is very productive. Then the master said, “Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest” (Matt. 25:27). Dr. Wilkins noted that this comment probably referred to the money changer’s table.[8] The money changers charged a fee for their services of exchanging foreign currency, and therefore, the wealthy man could have earned money with his money. Additionally, Dr. Wilkins noted that Jews could earn interest on money loaned to Gentiles (Deut. 23:20).[9]
At Matthew 25:28-30, we read that the master said, “Therefore: take the talent from him, and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but for the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In my opinion, these verses do not mean that the third servant will go to the lower parts of Hades (a/k/a Sheol) after his death. These verses mean that the unfaithful servant will not inherit the Kingdom of God, and he will not share in the ownership and rule of God’s Kingdom. It is my opinion that a significant minority of believers will inherit the Kingdom of God, but a significant majority of believers will be very disappointed to learn that they will miss out on many fantastic blessings.
We will all appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10). Our evaluation as believers will focus on whether or not we have been faithful servants. Being a faithful servant is “good” (agathos), but being an unfaithful servant is phaulos, meaning “worthless, bad, or of no account” (2 Cor. 5:10).[10] To be a faithful servant, God’s will must be our highest priority. Additionally, we do not serve God with random acts. We must serve God by walking by the Spirit and the Word, while continuing to trust in God’s Providence. Faithful servants of God have noble and good hearts (Luke 8:15). Only God is good (Mark 10:18), and we can be good only by God’s help. To be good (agathos), we must be receptive to God’s good Spirit and good Word.
[1] “Parable.” Cambridge Dictionary, Cambridge University Press and Assessment 2024, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/parable, accessed 21 Jan 2024.
[2] “G1401 – doulos – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 21 Jan, 2024. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1401/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[3] “Matthew.” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Volume 1, Gen. Editor, David E Garland, et al., Zondervan Academic, 2002, p. 155.
[4] “Matthew,” p. 156.
[5] Id.
[6] “G1411 – dynamis – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 21 Jan, 2024. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1411/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[7] “Mathew,” p. 156.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] “G5337 – phaulos – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 21 Jan, 2024. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5337/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.