To Every Man According to His Ability

“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.”  Matthew 25:14-15

This is a parable told by Jesus to illustrate the kingdom of heaven which is God’s sovereign rule over the earth and includes all people, saved and unsaved, until Christ returns to judge the earth and separate those who know Him as Lord and Savior from those who have rejected Him.  The traveler represents Christ who has ascended back to His Father in heaven, but will return one day to claim His own.  The servants represent the people on earth, both believers and unbelievers.  The Man gave His servants His goods, that is, talents, to invest and of which to make good use.  He distributed His talents in this manner: one received five, one received two, and one received only one.  Why the disparity?  Why didn’t they all get the same?  Those with a sense of entitlement would cry, “that’s not fair”, but the Master always knows exactly what He is doing.  Jesus said that distribution was based on each one’s ability to manage and multiply His talents.  God knows what each one of us can or cannot do.

After the Master placed the talents in the hands of His servants, He left on His journey.  The servant with the five talents, who was apparently very insightful, determined to do his best for his Master because his Master had done so much for him.  He was not striving to earn the Master’s favor for he already had than by the trust shown in him by the Master.  The servant doubled his talents.  Likewise the servant with two talents doubled his also.  Apparently he did not possess the same abilities as the first servant, but he was just as faithful to the Master and diligently worked to please Him.  We all are given different talents and abilities.  The third servant, the one who had been given only one talent, not only lacked the ability of the other two, he also had a totally different attitude toward the Master.  The first two had a reverential respect for their Master.  They saw Him as One who really cared about them.  They knew that He would return one day, and they would be accountable for what was entrusted to them by Him.  They didn’t want to let Him down.  The third servant, having no desire to please the Master, but only wanted to escape His wrath, buried his one talent in the ground thereby earning no profit and having nothing to show except for a talent covered in dirt.  Perhaps he thought the Master would never return, and he could dig up the talent and keep it for himself.  Scripture doesn’t tell us that, but that is the way of the world–people concerned only for their own welfare.  If that is what he assumed, he must have really been surprised when the Master returned after such a long time away.

The day of reckoning had finally come.  The Master did return and called His servants to account for their efforts while He was away.  The first servant who had been given five talents brought them and the additional five talents which had been gained by the servant’s diligent efforts to please and prosper the Master.  The Master was very pleased and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”  The one who had been given two talents brought them and the other two talents also.  The Master was also pleased with him and gave him the same response as the first.  The Master wasn’t so much concerned about the quantity of their success but more about the quality of their faithfulness.  He had not told them what to do with the talents.  He had left it up to them to rely on their faith in Him to direct them in their efforts.  The Apostle Paul wrote in Hebrews 11:6 that “…without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”  I think, even though the motive of the first two servants was to honor their Master, they likely believed that they would be rewarded for their efforts, but I doubt they had any idea that the reward would so vastly exceed the rather small task that they had faithfully executed.  Paul quoted from Isaiah 64:4 in I Corinthians 2:9 that “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

But what about the servant who had been given one talent?  His attitude and the condition of his heart showed that he was not looking at the Master with eyes of faith but rather as an unbeliever looks at the Lord, with a heart full of pride and not willing to humble himself or herself, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  This third servant was not without his excuses.  In effect, he was laying the blame for his lack of faithful service on the Master Himself by accusing Him of being, well, basically a tyrant.  He viewed the Master as cruel and unjust, the same way that sinners do rather than as a loving, benevolent, forgiving Father.  The Master had given him this one opportunity to obey and honor the Master and to become a faithful servant, but he squandered it.  Perhaps he thought that the Master would let him “slide” on his lack of commitment.  God doesn’t let anyone “slide” on sin.  The servant was also likely surprised at the result of his wasted opportunity, an eternity separated from the One who loved him the most.