1. THE MUNIFICENCE OF THE MASTER
a. Notice His Identity..
We are not told who the Master is; but there are enough clues: He is "like a
man" but no mere man. He is "on his way abroad": there is nowhere further
abroad than heaven. "A long time after, the master of those servants came
back": the Second Advent is already a long time since the First; can it be
much more delayed? Is not Christ speaking of Himself in this parable?
b. Notice His Liberality..
He gives to each "in proportion to their ability"; five two and one golden
talents. 25 denarii = 1 aureus; 240 aurei = 1 talent; therefore 1 talent =
6000 denarii. 1 denarius was a working man's wages for a day; so 6000d was
about 20 years' wages. Quite an advance of pay....
2. THE DILIGENCE OF THE TWO
a. They were diligent with their master's money..
They were diligent as well as faithful. They promptly went out and traded with
their master's stock. Those of us who are On His Majesty's Service have work
to do for the Kingdom. Our time is short; we do not know when our Lord might
return. The wise virgins watched and waited with Holy Spirit oil in their
lamps; the diligent servants worked and traded with Christ's Capital in their
banks.
b. They doubled their master's money..
There is a good deal to be got by industry in religion. However many talents
we start with, the gain is 100% each time. Five gains five; two gains two. Our
time and talents are the Lord's; we are responsible for how we use them. What
Talents has he given to us? How much time is left to us?
3. THE INDOLENCE OF THE ONE
a. He was idle with his master's money..
He was idle because he was fearful; fearful because he was faithless. He had
heard his master was a hard man; where did he hear that? Not from the Gospel,
but from the devil. Faithlessness and fearfulness go together to produce
inaction..
b. He buried his master's money..
If it were his own, he could have done with it as he pleased. But we are not
our own: we are His who made us and redeemed us. "You are bought with a price"
(1 Cor 6:20; 7:23). If he really thought his Master was like that, he should
at least have banked it, not buried it! Are you a 1-talent Christian? What
do you bank on?
4. THE REWARD OF THE LORD
a. To the Good-and-Faithful servants..
They are judged good and faithful; i.e. justified by faith. Their faith is
commended, not their success. We are not saved by our works, but by our faith
(Eph 2:8-9): even little mustard-seed faith (Matt 17:20). Those who are
faithful in little will be entrusted with much; the reward for good work is
more work! His service is a delight "in our Master's happiness". "The joy of
the LORD is my strength" (Neh 8:10). Eternal happiness. . ..
b. To the Good-for-Nothing servant..
He is judged wicked and lazy. Wicked, because he believed a false report of
the Master (hard, and reaping what was not His). Lazy, because he did not even
act consistently with his mistaken belief. "What he had" was not "taken away":
he returned it voluntarily (but compare Job 1:21b). He is consigned to "outer
darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth" (30, AV). Eternal
distress. . ..
In Christ,
Ben
--
Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm
