The verse - Matthew 25:14-30
14 "For (referring to the kingdom of Heaven) it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another, one--to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately 16 the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. 17 In the same way the man with two earned two more. 18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.
19 "After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I've earned five more talents.' 21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter your master's joy!' 22 "Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I've earned two more talents.' 23 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter your master's joy!'
24 "Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, 'Master, I know you. You're a difficult man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.' 26 "But his master replied to him, 'You evil, lazy slave! If you knew that I reap where I haven't sown and gather where I haven't scattered, 27 then you should have deposited my money with the bankers. And when I returned I would have received my money back with interest.
28 "'So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
The context
The way I see it, and this is open to debate of course, “the master” was a successful investor. He probably had no children, at least none hold enough to manage his estate, and that’s why he handed his estate over to his slaves while he was away. Another possibility is that his kids were going with him on the journey.
I suspect he was a serious investor in businesses, those dealing in agriculture, animal husbandry and trade (the chief businesses of the day); well-versed in business matters, and also well-informed and well-connected (notice his reference to the bankers).
It’s likely he had a portfolio of business investments and spent his days meeting with the managers of the companies he’d invested in or was about to invest in (either via equity or loans). Ten to one he took a slave or two along with him as he made his rounds. It’s unlikely he would have made his rounds on foot, and someone would have had to guide the camel or the horse he rode on. Thus his slaves must have known a lot about his business dealings. They knew the places he went, who he met with, etc. And he knew that they knew.
The situation
The master is travelling. He calls in his three slaves and entrusts his estate to them. His house, fields, horses, cattle, sheep, etc. It’s likely he had other slaves but these three were like his personal assistants (“PAs”); his chief slaves, if you will. The master tells his PAs to take care of the place, and just before he leaves, he gives each some money (probably one of his investments just matured, and he did not have enough time to make new investments before he had to travel).
Notice that he gives each slave a different amount. Why? The verse says he gave each “according to his own ability”. He must have gauged the ability of each in their time with him (while going on business calls, while running his estate, etc). So he gave according to his estimation of their abilities, using himself as a standard (to judge something you need a standard to measure against).
I believe the master did not tell his slaves what to do with the money specifically. I believe he said something along these lines “Take this money. I’ll ask for it when I get back. Something for you to hold on to, just in case”. He left it to them to decide what to do with the money.
I believe this was a test to separate those with initiative from those without. They were accountable to him and he wanted to see/confirm his suspicions about who was most like him amongst the three, i.e. who had what it took to become a successful investor like himself.
Slave 1 immediately goes about making money. I suspect he went to the same people he’d seen his master have business dealings with and asked if they needed money for their businesses. He’d seen his master do it, and here was his own chance to run his own portfolio, even if it was only for a while. He jumped at the chance. He’d made up his mind he wasn’t going to be a PA all his life. Here was his chance for advancement. He saw opportunity in the situation and grasped it with both hands. He was taking a risk – there was no guarantee he would be able to give his master back the principal of five talents if he invested the money – but he was determined to try.
Slave 2 likely did the same thing. Slave 1 was the obvious leader of the three, the brains of the group; his master gave him five talents, compared to three for the other two slaves. I suspect slave 2 realized this and sought slave 1’s advice about what to do with the money. They must have discussed business prospects, how to assess the credit worthiness of a business, etc. He then went on to make his own investments, likely with the same people his master had dealings with.
Where slaves 1 and 2 saw opportunity, slave 3 saw a noose around his neck! Slave 3 saw the money given to him not as a chance to prove himself, but as a burden to escape from. Here he was been given money he had not asked for, and he was expected to return it when his master returned. What if he spent it? What would he tell his master? It’s either slave 3 could not see the possibilities of doing business with the same people his master did, or he was too scared to make a move. Either way, his mindset of irresponsibility, coupled with his lack of a vision for a better life for himself, held him back. He hid the money. He didn’t take a chance like the other two slaves. His fear immobilized him. Like his master said, he didn’t even think about giving the money to the bankers to earn a return. The man just had no initiative. Worst of all, he didn’t have the common sense to emulate his master’s ways with money when he was given some to be a steward for.
I believe slave 3 knew what 1 and 2 were up to. How could he not have? I suspect he thought they were being fool-hardy. What made them think they could do things like the master? Who did they think they were? How dare they? Slave 3 must have thought he was doing the right thing, playing the role of the slave as his master intended for him to do. But did it not bother him that he was given the least of the three slaves?
Months passed and slave 3 stuck to his guns. I suspect the master was away for an agricultural season, giving his slaves enough time to invest in new crops being planted and cash in when the crops were harvested. Slave 3 likely thought his peers were going to “get it” when their master returned. How wrong he was.
When the master returned he called his three slaves to get an account of how they’d managed his estate in his absence. I suspect they all did well as regards the estate itself (the verse does not mention how the rest of the estate was managed). However we do know how the master felt about how the funds he’d given his slaves were managed.
With slave 1, the master was incredibly happy. His suspicions had been confirmed – here was a slave with initiative and brains, someone who could run a business on his own if given the resources. Perhaps it was this type of test the master himself had to scale before he achieved his great wealth. The master says he would give him more to manage, and true to his word, we see the master refer to him as the “one who has 10 talents” in verse 28. He went from having no talents to having five, and then ten. Success builds on itself.
Slave 1’s account showed that he had 10 talents available to give back to his master, but it is not mentioned what costs slave 1 had to incur to generate the money. It is likely slave 1 had revenues greater that 10 talents, but had to spend money moving around, eating on the road instead of at home, etc. He probably even kept a little for himself.
Slave 1 basically ran his own company and then presented his accounts to his company’s sole shareholder (his master) for review when he asked. And he thoroughly delighted his company’s shareholder. He was rewarded by been giving more to manage – retained earnings ploughed back into the business plus the original investment.
Slave 2 also delighted his master. He made less in absolute terms, but his ROI was the same as that of slave 1 – 100%. He’s proven he is capable. Perhaps not the ideas man that slave 1 is, but a capable steward as well.
Slave 3 on the other hand, incurred the wrath of his master by giving him an ROI of zero. He had actually robbed his master, for had his master known he was going to hide the money, he would have stopped at the bank on his way out of town to deposit the money and earn interest on it. Not only has slave 3 not added value, he has destroyed value. He has not been useful to himself, and neither has he been useful to his master. The estate can do better without him. He is asked to leave.
Lessons from the story
* God gave you life. You are accountable to him. He expects you to appreciate his gift and do the best you can with it. This means you have to love and cherish yourself. The Bible says, “love your neighbour as yourself”. This implies that the love you have for yourself be the standard for the love you show your neighbour. Living this will empower you and give you vision and motivation for a better life (something slave 3 lacked)
* Remember whom you are accountable to and make sure you please them (within limits of course as your accountability to God comes first)
* Copy the ways of successful people, especially if you are accountable to those successful people. We all like people that are like us
* When others are given more resources and responsibilities than you are, then it is a sign that they are perceived in a better light than you are. It is up to you to find out why
* If you are given less then you’d better work extra hard to make sure you correct the impression that lead to you being given less
* Keep company with people you can learn from. No one knows it all
* Work to add value wherever you are. When you stop adding value you become dispensable. The more value you add the more indispensable you become
