Matthew 25:14-30

Her art to point both pagans and hypocriticals to hypocrites to Christ at the same time.

! She comes with a trigger warning.

! She always comes with shock.

But that's the point.

I think I like her, and I think she's also misunderstood for precisely the same reason.

It's because she was picking up the same thing as the biblical prophets and Jesus.

And I'm going to share a quote from her, the reason I tell you that story.

It's because she was asked one time, why does she write such graphic and absurd stories?

She said, when you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do,

you can relax a little and use a more normal means of talking to it.

You can assume.

When you have to assume that it does not, that they do not share your same beliefs,

then you have to make your vision apparent by shock.

To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind, you draw large and startling figures.

And I think she was a close reader of scripture, because this is exactly what the prophets were doing,

and this is exactly what Jesus is doing in these parables that we will be looking at.

So here's my challenge to you.

Do not let our cultural familiarity with these parables blind us to the shock Jesus originally intended.

We are so familiar with these stories.

Let us not forget that they were shocking then, and they should shock us back into belief today.

Let us not be the hard of hearing.

Let us not be the almost blind, as O'Connor says.

But let us hear these words of Jesus anew, and let these words shock us back into a better understanding of the truth.

So that's my challenge to you in the next four weeks.

Take these parables, read them, let them shape you, let them draw you closer to Christ.

So, to our parable, the parable of the talents.

I will read it, and then we'll do a closer reading, and then we'll sum up.

So, read with me.

Verse 14, chapter 25 of Matthew.

For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one.

To each according to his ability.

Then he went away.

He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.

So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more.

But he who received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

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.

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.

And he who had the two talents came forward, saying,

Master, you delivered to me two talents.

Here I have made two talents more.

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.

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.

So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.

Here you have what is yours.

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.

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.

So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

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

and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness.

In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So the reason I open up with,

we're going to talk about eschatology,

is because if you want to study eschatology,

the study of last things,

what will be in the future,

the best books to read,

and write this down if you want,

there's three.

It's Revelation, Daniel, and these two chapters, and Matthew.

Good books are good.

But as an aside,

you can read good books.

They're great.

But do not neglect the scripture.

We have the spirit,

and we have his word.

And we should do well

if we have questions about

what is to come,

then we should go to the source.

And so,

obviously,

Revelation and Daniel are good resources.

I can, like,

commend you to read it over and over

with the cross-references.

That's where you should begin.

But in Matthew 24 and 25

is a concentrated

vision of what is to come

when Jesus is asked that same question.

So,

if you look with me

in the beginning of chapter 24,

for context,

we'll start in verse 3.

As he sat on the Mount of Olives,

Jesus,

the disciples came to him privately,

saying,

Tell us when will these things be,

and what will be the sign of your coming

and of the close of the age?

And Jesus answered them,

and he goes on.

And he has several things to say,

a lot, comparatively,

two whole chapters.

And,

and particularly,

he ends it,

at the very end,

with our parable today.

But,

I want to,

I want you to notice that

this is the third

of a series of three

parables

that almost have the same point.

So,

look with me at the very end

of chapter 24.

From 20,

from verse 45

to the end of the chapter,

that's a small parable

that actually is not

titled in your

English Bibles.

But we can count that as one.

It has a lot of similarities

to the one we have

today,

the talents.

And then the second parable

in the series

is the parable

of the ten virgins.

And,

obviously,

ours today,

the parable

of the talents.

Now,

I'm pointing this out

because they have similar points,

and they're all answering

the question,

what does it mean

to be ready

for the Lord?

What does it mean

to be ready for the Lord?

Now,

we could take

three Sundays

and these three parables

and exegete,

and they would be

very profitable.

But I only have

one week with you,

so I'm going to choose

the third one.

So,

why this parable

besides that?

I'm going to say

something personal

and something textual.

So,

personally,

this,

there's some text

in the Bible

that haunts you.

And this one,

particularly,

has haunted me.

And I believe

haunted is the best word,

maybe there's another word,

but the best one

I could think of

because it sticks with me.

As you go through

your Bible reading plan,

there's always some

portion of Scripture

that you can't

just leave

there.

It always follows you.

And I hope that

this parable

also does the same

thing for you today

in a good way.

That it will

go with you

and you dwell on it.

Dwell on these words

that Jesus

has given us.

And it's probably

because

they were in my

marriage vows,

which is kind of

a big deal,

and we'll get to that

later.

But it always

follows me

and always

haunts me.

And I hope it

does the same

for you.

And contextually,

it's interesting

that this is the

last parable

that Matthew

records for Jesus

in the Gospel

of Matthew,

and it's

connected to

the first parable.

So,

turn with me

to chapter 13.

Chapter 13

of Matthew

is the first

parable

that Matthew

records.

And a structure,

the normal structure

of a parable

is that there's

a story,

there's a point,

we could say,

and then

there's a result.

And we'll see

that in ours.

But the point,

the four at the

very end,

is repeated

word for word

in ours,

but it was first

recorded in

chapter 13

in the first

parable.

The parable

of the sower,

we won't read

that,

but someone

asks him,

his disciples,

ask him,

why do you

speak to them

in parables?

In verse 11,

chapter 13,

and Jesus

answered them,

to you it has

been given

to know the

secrets of the

kingdom of heaven,

but to them

it has not

been given.

For,

here it is,

for to the

one who has,

more will be

given,

and he will

have an abundance,

but from the

one who has

not,

even what he

has will be

taken away.

Sounds familiar.

Now,

I would love

to dive deep

in how Jesus

is using that

there,

but I just

want to point

that out.

There are

bookends,

and I just

want you to

see,

one,

it's beautiful,

but there's

also something

pointed by

he begins

his parables

with this,

and he ends

with this.

And we'll get

there at the

end,

in verse 29.

So,

there are two

different readings

we can have

this.

A quick reading

of this parable,

and you can be

forgiven if you

have only read

it this way,

because I have

for a long

time.

Maybe that's

why it bothered

me so much,

is that I

think it's

more than

punishment and

reward.

A flat or a

quick reading of

this parable would

be, it'd be

punishment,

reward,

and God

rewards the

faithful and

punishes the

wicked, which is

definitely there.

But I think I'm

going to challenge

us to have

maybe a closer

reading of this

parable.

And I submit

to you that

maybe a closer

reading would

reveal that the

point of this is

more on how to

answer the question

how to be ready

for the day of

the Lord.

It is by daily

faithfulness.

Daily faithfulness.

Faithfulness is

the key difference

between the

differences between

the faithful servant

and the wicked

servant.

And so I submit

to you that the

point that he

is driving at

through this

parable is daily

faithfulness in

the light of

being ready for

the day of the

Lord.

So some details

before we deeply

dive into reading

it together is

that just to keep

you on track

in the characters,

it's always good to

write down the

characters of a

parable if you're

confused.

There is one

master and there

are three servants.

One master,

three servants.

And the servants

are divided into a

five-talent servant

who makes five,

he doubles,

five talents more.

So there's a five-talent

servant.

There's a two-talent

servant who doubles

two talents more.

And then there's a one-talent

servant who hid his

talent.

So he just has one.

So five, two, and one.

It's always good to write

down the details of the

parable to help you read

it.

So let's read.

So I actually want to

begin us a verse above.

So if you look at

chapter 25, verse 13,

the very end of the

parable of the ten

virgins, he says,

Watch therefore, for

you know neither the

day nor the hour.

I think this explains the

for and the it in verse

14.

So if we read verse 14,

For it will be like a

man going on a journey

who called his servants

and entrusted to them his

property or possessions.

What is the for?

The for links it to the

previous parable in the

ten virgins, like we just

read, Watch therefore,

for you know neither the

day nor the hour.

But what is the it?

The it is the kingdom of

God or the kingdom of

heaven, used

interchangeably in Matthew.

The for and the it is

linked to the kingdom of

God.

Verse 15, read with me.

To the one he gave five

talents, to another two,

to another, to another two,

to another one, to each

according to his ability or

capacity.

Then he went away.

So what is a talent?

Talent comes up here for the

first time.

It's a very large sum of

money, which is interesting.

It's almost inconceivable.

One talent equal to roughly

what a laborer might hope in

to earn in half a lifetime.

One talent.

Think about how much you make.

Think about when you're

middle age, what you think you

make, and that's one talent.

That's a lot of time.

That's a lot of wealth.

But think about five

talents.

This is an enormous,

almost inconceivable

amount.

So that helps.

This points to something

greater than what he's

actually.

It's not about the

talents.

It's about something else.

So verse 16, he who had

received the five talents, went

at once, and traded or

conducted business with them,

and he made or they gained

five talents more.

Went at once highlights his

eagerness for the work.

Notice the five-talent servant

went at once his eagerness to

do the work of his master.

And traded is to engage in

activity that involves effort,

and it involves work, obviously,

but if we stop and meditate on

this, it involves risk.

Trading involves risk.

And this servant was eager to do

the master's work, and he was

eager to jump in the work,

knowing the risk.

Now this is contra to the third

servant, and we'll get to him.

Verse 17, so similarly,

the one who received or had the

two talents gained two others,

but he who had received the one

talent went, going away, and dug

up the ground and hid his

master's money.

Now after a long time, the master

of those servants came, or comes,

and settled, or settles, accounts

with them.

I highlight the long time is a

reference to 24, 48, when

Pastor, in the previous chapter,

verse 48 says, but if that wicked

servant, this is the first parable in

the three series of parables, but if

that wicked servant says to himself,

my master is delayed, and that was

the wicked servant.

That was his first question, if you

go back and read.

The delay is a long time, so even

after a long time, these servants

worked.

So I highlight also those servants

came.

When you see came, it can actually

be rendered comes, because it's in

the present tense.

I only highlight that because in

English, it makes more sense to say

it came, past tense.

But I think Jesus is making this

intentional.

This is present because this

anticipates the master's return.

This shows that not only the third

servant, but all the servants, all

three servants, anticipated their

master's return, even after a long

time.

This is a key moment of the parable,

gospel.

And this is where the theme of daily

faithfulness comes in.

Because they were anticipating the

master's return, they knew he would

come back, even if it was a long time.

They still did the work.

Some.

The two first servants, they did the

work and with risk.

How much more should we reflect on

that today?

Verse 20.

And he who had received the five

talents came forward, bringing five

talents more, saying, Master, you

delivered or handed over to me five

talents.

Here, I have made five talents more.

His master said to him, Well done,

good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little.

I will set you over much.

over a few things you are faithful.

Over many things I will set you.

There's another way you can render

it.

Enter into the joy of your master.

And he also who had the two talents

came forward, saying, Master, you

delivered or handed over to me two

talents.

Here, I have made you two talents more.

His master said to him, Well done,

good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful over a little.

I will set you over much.

Or it can be rendered over a few

things you are faithful.

Over many things I will set you.

Enter into the joy of your master.

There's a couple of things I want you

to notice here.

We'll camp out here for a little bit.

Notice that the master's response to

the five talents servant is the same

as to the ten talent servant.

The one who ended up having, or the

five talent servant, sorry, originally,

is the same response as the two talent

servant.

That was a mistype.

And over a little or over a few

things is

is

is at the front of this

because it is there by emphasis.

So over a few things,

over a little,

you have,

they have set you over much.

See, it's contrast.

Jesus loves contrast.

And what's repeated twice,

I want you to

see is that

enter into

the joy of your master.

Enter into the joy of your master.

Here,

faithfulness,

daily faithfulness,

leads to joy

in the Lord.

You see

the work,

you see the risk,

you see

yes reward,

but

it is

joy

in the master.

So,

let's ask.

Faithfulness,

faith.

It's a really big,

it's actually a small word,

but it's a really big

Bible word.

It is everywhere.

It is everywhere in Paul,

and

sometimes

it's,

we would do well

to stop,

to think,

what is

this faith?

I think we

use it so much.

Let's stop and

think about what faith is.

So if you were asked,

what is faith?

By your child,

or even an unbeliever,

what would you say?

It would be a hard

question to answer.

But,

I want to

share with you

something that

has helped me

in this,

is that

the Heidelberg Catechism

is something that

I read in college,

and

actually,

very college of me,

printed it out

and put it on my

dorm room door,

like on the outside.

I guess I thought

it was Martin Luther

or something,

but

I don't remember

which

question or answer

I put on there.

I wish I did,

but this one

has always stuck with me.

There's a few questions

and answers that have

really stuck with me

with the Heidelberg Catechism,

and I

encourage you to read it.

But in question 21,

Catechism is a question

and there's a prescribed answer.

And the question 21 comes,

what is true faith?

So what is true faith?

And I guess

when I first read this,

I didn't expect this answer.

True faith

is not only

a sure knowledge

by which I hold as true

all that God

has revealed

to us in Scripture.

It is also

a wholehearted

trust.

And I'll read the whole thing.

With which the Holy Spirit

creates in me

by the gospel

that God

has freely granted

not only to others,

but to me also.

Forgiveness of sins,

eternal righteousness,

and salvation.

These are gifts

of sheer grace

granted

solely

by Christ's

merit.

So,

I'll point you to

the first two lines.

True faith

is like a two-sided coin.

One side.

You have to have both.

One side

is a sure knowledge

by which I hold as true

all that God

has revealed to us

in Scripture.

Sure knowledge

through Scripture.

But it is also

a wholehearted

trust.

A wholehearted

trust.

True faith

is one coin,

two sides.

You have to have both.

Sure knowledge

and wholehearted

trust.

I hope that helps you

understand

what faith is.

And faith

is everywhere

in the New Testament.

And I encourage you

to hang on to that

when you see that

and think about that.

the one coin,

the two-sided coin

of sure knowledge

and wholehearted

trust.

So,

I'm going to stop

here,

pause here,

and

because of

the line,

well done,

good and faithful

servant.

this came up

in my marriage

vows.

And I just want to

share this with you

because

maybe many of you

actually have been

married by

Nathan,

our pastor,

and he,

if I understand it

right,

he wrote these

vows.

And they're very good.

And I will not read

the whole thing to you.

But I will read you

the first four

of what he gets

the man

to affirm.

There are four

questions.

And so,

for Father's Day,

I know fathers,

but if you're a father,

you're probably

married.

So,

as an aside,

I want to speak to

specifically husbands

because this is

something that we

should dwell on

and be reminded of.

So,

Nathan's

marriage vows

that he has

required

most of us

to

take

is

very good.

But the fourth

question is

specifically the one

we want to

keep up with.

I'm going to read

the first four

to keep context.

So,

the first question,

husband,

do you affirm

before God

that your marriage

is appointed by God

and is ultimately

for God

by serving

as a representation

of Christ's love

for his bride,

the church?

Ask yourselves

this side of marriage,

these questions.

do you promise

to love Christ

above your wife

and your wife

above all others?

Third,

do you,

husband,

recognize that

you have been

given a divine

call to unconditionally

love your wife

by pastoring her,

providing for her,

and protecting her,

and that you are

to lay down

your life for her

just as Jesus Christ

died for the church?

The fourth question,

do you commit

to love your wife

by seeking

her spiritual growth

in Christ

that she may

one day appear

before God

clothed in Christ

and have it said

of her,

well done,

my good

and faithful

servant.

That fourth question

always gets me.

I think about that

every time I read

this parable.

I think it's a good

question for us husbands

to ask ourselves

regularly.

I'll read it one more time.

Do you commit

to love your wife?

Are you committing

to love your wife

by seeking

her spiritual growth

in Christ

that she may

one day appear

before God

clothed in Christ

and have it said

of her,

well done,

my good

and faithful

servant.

what can you

change

in your daily

life

to seek

her spiritual

growth?

Husband,

maybe making

time each day

for her to read

or meditate

on scripture,

forcing that time,

making that space

for her,

maybe making

the effort

to ask her

intentional questions

about what

she is thinking,

not what you're

thinking,

but what is

she thinking,

which is

extremely difficult.

I understand

that.

And not

immediately

attempting

to problem

solve.

Are you

laying your

life down

in that way?

Let's,

let's,

husbands,

let's,

let's think

about how

one day

we will present

our wives

and we

hope

that we can

present her

in a way

that is said

of her,

well done,

my good

and faithful

servant.

that haunts

me,

I hope

it haunts

you,

husband.

So happy

Father's Day.

Verse 24.

He also,

who had,

he who,

he also,

who had

received the

one talent

came forward

saying,

Master,

I knew you

to be a hard

or harsh

man,

reaping where

you did not

sow and

gathering where

you scattered

no seed.

so I

was afraid

and I

went and

hid your

talent in

the ground.

Here you

have what

is yours.

Verse 26.

But he,

but his

master

answered him.

Notice

that he

repeats his

own,

the servant's

own,

own words.

You wicked,

evil,

and slothful,

or lazy

servant,

condemning

words.

You knew,

or you did

not know,

did you know

that I reap

where I have

not sown

and gathered

where I

scattered

no seed?

That's slothful

or lazy,

shrinking from

something,

holding back,

lazy,

idle,

passive.

These are

condemning

descriptions.

You wicked

and you

slothful

servant.

He goes

on.

The master

in verse 27.

Then you

ought to

have invested

my money

with the

bankers,

and at

my coming

I should

have received

or recovered

what was

my own

with interest.

So take

the talent

from him

and give

it to him

who has

the ten

talents.

Notice

the master

points to

the servant's

foolishness

in his

logic

of the

master's

character.

master's

character.

The master

is just

repeating

his own

words

to point

out his

foolishness.

God

makes

demands

on his

people

and this

involves

risk.

Notice

banking

back then

and today

we kind of

forget about

banking being

risky

today in

our context,

banking

would have

also been

a risk

then.

This

servant

tried to

play it

safe

for his

own benefit

because he

did not

want to

feel

uncomfortable.

He wanted

to play it

safe.

Now let's

stop and

think about

what that

mean,

what that

might mean

in the

larger context.

What's

Jesus

trying to

say by

pointing

this out?

Risk,

as one

commentator I

read

recently

said,

risk is

at the

heart of

discipleship.

Risk is

at the

heart of

discipleship.

And we

think of

discipleship,

let's just

think.

That may

mean sitting

down one-on-one

with another

guy.

But

really,

when we're

thinking about

daily

faithfulness,

your daily

life,

what risks

are you

taking for

the Lord

in the

areas that

the Lord

has given

you?

Think about

your circles

that the

Lord has

placed you

in.

Not what

you want

to be

in,

but where

are you

right now?

Are you

in a

marriage

that you're

playing it

safe in?

Or are

you taking

risks for

the Lord

of calling

out sin,

sin,

and

sacrificially

loving your

wife as

Christ loved

the church?

And that's

risky.

But think

about parenting,

maybe.

Many of us

are in

parenting

area of

our life,

deep in

it.

Are you

playing it

safe with

your kids?

things for

the Lord

in the

way you

discipline

them,

raise them

up in

the Lord?

Are you

opening up

scripture,

which is

risky because

it takes

effort and

it takes

sacrificial

love for

that?

That's

risk.

Think about

the church

body,

another

that we're

all in.

are you

playing it

safe here

amongst

each other,

sliding in

and out,

or are you

one another?

It is a

risky

thing to

do.

Risk is

at the

heart of

discipleship.

I challenge

you to

think about

all the

other areas

of your

life and

ask that

question.

Are you

playing it

safe?

Are you

the third

servant

with a

shovel in

hand,

burying

and keeping

it safe?

Or are

you the

one of

the first

servants

where you're

taking risks

and working

for the

Lord?

Ask

yourself

that.

So,

we get

to the

point,

in the

center of

this

parable,

in verse

29.

For,

we know

that because

the for.

For,

and this

can be a

little confusing,

this is not

expected,

this is part

of the shock

value,

you don't

expect him

to say

this.

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.

Now,

this is a

bit hard

to understand,

but I

will give

you a

trick.

There,

this whole

thing is,

this whole

verse,

is,

there are

three verbs

here.

They're all

passive verbs,

meaning,

and they're like

passive,

and then future,

meaning,

all that

to say,

will be,

verb,

will be,

verb,

will be,

verb.

So,

will be

given.

The one

who has

will be

given,

the first,

will have

an abundance,

that's the

second,

and then

there's only

one,

with the one

who has

not.

The one

who has

not,

will be

taken away.

and the

four is

possibly

explanationary

aside by

Jesus,

so taking

us out

of the

parable,

taking us

out of

the story,

and

explaining.

God

gives,

through these

three verbs,

God gives

an abundance

to those

who serve

faithfully,

and God

takes away

from those

who serve

wickedly.

Now,

this reminds

me of two

things.

One,

you might have

seen that

evangelistic

track,

two ways

to live.

It's a

great

explainer

of the

gospel,

and we

see the

two ways

to live

in this

parable,

the wicked

and the

faithful.

But it

also reminds

me of

an early

document

that is

very

interesting.

It's called

the Didache.

You may

have heard

of it,

but it's

basically a

very early

church

manual,

church of

book order

for the

early church.

And it

has things

about,

like,

Lord's

Supper,

baptism,

all the

things.

But it

begins in

a very

interesting

way.

And it's

always stuck

out to me

too.

It begins,

early church

document,

early Christians,

think of this,

says,

there are

two ways,

one of life

and one of

death.

And there

is a great

difference between

these two ways.

Notice what

is not

there.

There is

no middle

way.

There is

wicked and

there is

faithful.

Even the

early Christians

saw this,

and I think

maybe they

were reading

this and

seeing that.

So think

about that

there are

maybe the

third way

could be

the third

servant.

So,

last verse.

Verse 30.

And here's

another shock.

You don't

see this

coming,

although it's

repeated.

And cast

the worthless

servant into

the outer

darkness.

In that

place,

they will be

weeping and

gnashing of

teeth.

Notice the

change of

description of

the wicked

servant.

A further

condemnation by

adding worthless

and useless.

He adds

condemnation by

adding a

description to

that third

servant.

The one

talent servant

was unready

to meet

his Lord.

At the end

of the day,

it ends

with the

one talent

servant,

the one

that refused

to take a

risk.

He was

unready

to meet

his Lord.

The one

talent servant

knew the

master would

return,

but chose

not to

make himself

ready.

It was a

choice.

He did

not choose

to live

by faith

in his

daily

life,

anticipating

the

master's

return.

Don't

forget that.

It's

connected to

the previous

two parables

and the

theme,

the second

coming,

the Lord.

It goes

back.

These

three

parables

have the

same

similar

conclusions.

What does

it mean to

be ready

for the

Lord?

Which is

really a

better question

when we

think about

eschatology.

not what

might

happen,

but what

does it

mean to

be ready

today?

I think

actually

concludes

in the

next verse

that's not

in our

parable,

which is

classic me,

right?

So,

ignore the

title between

verse 30 and

31.

We'll end

with 31,

because I think

this is a

better end.

I think it's

connected.

it says,

when the

Son of

Man comes

in His

glory,

and all

the angels

with Him,

then He

will sit

on the

glorious,

His glorious

throne.

This is

our hope,

this is our

encouragement,

that is the

foundation for

daily faithfulness

through the

work of

the Son,

past,

we can look

in the

future to

this,

when the

Son of

Man comes

in His

glory,

and all

the nations

with Him,

then He

will,

and that's a

promise,

He will

sit on His

glorious

throne.

And how

precious is

that truth.

Pray with

me.