Matthew 25:21-25

Mat 25:21 (KJB)
His lord said unto him, Well done, thou 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 master starts off the reckoning with the one who had the five talents. This man had gained five more talents thus doubling the master’s wealth which he gave him to do business with. The reward that the master gave this man was to be a ruler over many things. (Luke 16:11 KJV) If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Luke 16:11 speaks about a person being unfaithful in handling money which is the least of all things a person can be faithful in. This man was not faithful and his master asked then if you are unfaithful in that then who could trust the true riches to you. This parable of the faithful servants shows that if we learn the principles about handling money and even making money, then we can transfer those principles over to our spiritual lives. The master of these servants saw that they had the abilities to handle money and even prosper with it and that resulted in them being promoted to rule over something much larger than a sum of money. The master also tells them to enter into the joy which means they were no longer servants because servants did not mingle with the family or guests on their level but in this case they were given that privilege. They entered into the joy of their lord because of their faithfulness.

Mat 25:22 (KJB)
He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

Then the master came to the servant to which he entrusted two talents and found that this servant was also very diligent and astute and doubled his initial investment. Even though it was only two talents, nevertheless the man showed his abilities.

Mat 25:23 (KJB)
His lord said unto him, 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.

This servant received the same treatment as the one who had the five talents. He also was shown kindness by the master and elevated to a position whereby he enjoyed the joy of his lord. He too was also placed in charge of many things and what these are is not important but what is important is the reward for being a faithful servant and completing the tasks which the Lord has given us.

Mat 25:24 (KJB)
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strowed:

Strowed - Scattered

Then the master comes to the servant to which he gave one talent. The master was probably in a great mood right now since he found out that he had gained seven talents and had two good managers in his employ. This servant did not squander nor steal any portion of the one talent and as soon as the master came to him he immediately started to accuse his master of being a hard man. The word “hard” in the Greek carries with it the meaning of “cruel, unpleasant, harsh, bitter.” Those are not things to accuse your master of especially since he had just shown much appreciation in a tangible way to those servants who had been successful at business. He was even accusing him of being a covetous man concerning how he wants to reap what he did not sow and gathered where he scattered no seed, in other words, someone else’s crop. This man obviously had an ongoing dislike for his master and now he was verbalizing it. This is the same thing with how unsaved people view God, they see Him as a harsh, cruel taskmaster instead of the benevolent God He is.

Mat 25:25 (KJB)
And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

This servant also doubted his own abilities. If the master entrusted a talent of his wealth to him, then maybe he saw in him a person capable of doing business. It is the same with Christians, we are all given at least one spiritual gift and that means God is empowering us to do a certain ministry and instead of attempting to find that ministry, we instead, just live a stagnant Christian life bearing no fruit. The other servants had engaged their spiritual gifts and were able to bear much fruit. This servant hid his master’s talent in the ground and gave him back exactly what he gave him. He feared his master because of wrong motives which resulted in him failing in his duties. This was not a failure by trying, this was an intentional failure owing to fear.

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