Introduction
Are you living like Jesus could return at any moment, and like your everyday choices will be lovingly, truthfully evaluated by your King? The central teaching I want to press into your heart is this: in the “in-between” time between Christ’s cross/resurrection and His return, Jesus entrusts His servants with His kingdom resources, especially His mercy, and He calls us to faithful, fruitful investment rather than fearful neutrality.
In Matthew 25, Jesus speaks privately with His disciples as He nears the cross. He is preparing them for what life and ministry will look like after He suffers, dies, rises, and then ascends, while they wait for the King to come again. The question is not whether we are waiting, but how we are waiting. Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30) is His discipleship training for that long, ordinary, demanding stretch of time.
Main Points
In Matthew 25 Jesus Speaks Privately
In Matthew 25, Jesus speaks privately with His disciples as He nears the cross. He is preparing them for what life and ministry will look like after He suffers, dies, rises, and then ascends, while they wait for the King to come again.
- The question is not whether we are waiting, but how we are waiting.
- Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30) is His discipleship training for that long, ordinary, demanding stretch of time.
- Jesus frames the lesson with kingdom language: “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (Matthew 25:14).
- A nobleman departs to a far country, but before leaving he calls his servants and entrusts them with his goods.
That storyline is not accidental, Jesus is teaching His disciples what to expect when He is “away” and they carry on His mission until He returns. The parable also trains our patience.
So I Disciple You Here With
So I disciple you here with a simple recalibration: don’t treat one sermon, one spiritual moment, or one burst of motivation as if it were the whole Christian life. This is long obedience, daily faithfulness, and steady hope, because the King truly will return.
- The first servant receives five talents, an immense sum of money in their world, and he trades and gains five more (Matthew 25:16, 20).
- When the master returns, the servant reports, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them” (Matthew 25:20).
- The master responds with the words every soul secretly longs to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21).
- Here is the perspective shift you and I must keep: fruitfulness does not upgrade you out of servanthood. Even the most productive servant still says, in essence, “You gave; I m.
It refuses the illusion that we “own” our life, our results, our career, or our resources. Our consumer slogans preach a rival gospel: Life is short; work hard; buy the shoes. Yet Jesus trains us to ask, “Who am I working for?
The Second Servant Receives Two Talents
The second servant receives two talents and gains two more (Matthew 25:17, 22). What is striking is the absence of envy, resentment, or excuse. He does not complain that his assignment is smaller. He does not measure his faithfulness against the five-talent servant’s platform or visibility. He simply labors with what he has been given. And the master gives him the exact same commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:23). That teaches us what heaven celebrates. God is not merely impressed by size of outcome; He is pleased with faithfulness. The kingdom breaks our hierarchies. The disciples once asked who would be greatest, and Jesus overturned their assumptions: the greatest is the servant of all (cf. Matthew 20; the question echoes into this section of Matthew). So I want you to stop outsourcing your obedience to a fantasy life you do not have.
Many Of Us Live Distracted By
Many of us live distracted by comparisons: If only I had their influence, their money, their gifting, their opportunity… then I would serve. But Jesus is not asking you to be someone else. He is asking you to be faithful where you are. When you feel small, remember examples Jesus Himself highlights: - The widow who gives two small coins is honored above the wealthy donors because she gives her livelihood (Luke 21:1–4). - Not everyone will preach to stadiums; some will love one overlooked person in a hard place, and heaven will call it faithfulness. The third servant receives one talent and buries it. His explanation exposes something deeper than caution: he portrays the master as harsh, then uses that distorted view to justify doing nothing (Matthew 25:24–25). The master’s reply is severe: “Wicked and lazy servant” (Matthew 25:26). At minimum, he could have placed it with bankers for interest (Matthew 25:27). Instead, he chose sterile safety. This is the warning you and I need: there is no neutral position in the kingdom. We cannot receive God’s gifts, truth, mercy, calling, opportunities, and then imagine that doing nothing is spiritually harmless. A religion focused only on “don’ts” can trick us into thinking obedience is merely avoiding scandal. But Jesus presses further: what are you actively doing with what He entrusted to you?
The Parable Concludes With A Kingdom
The parable concludes with a kingdom principle: those who are faithful with what they have are entrusted with more; those who refuse the King’s purposes lose even what they had (Matthew 25:28–29). Then Jesus speaks of outer darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30). That language confronts us with the reality that fruitlessness is not merely a missed opportunity, it reveals a heart that does not want the King or His kingdom. At this point, we must ask what these “talents” represent in our discipleship. Skills matter, and we should offer them to God. Resources matter, and we should steward them as not our own. Yet the parable presses beyond both, because Jesus immediately continues in Matthew 25 with the judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31–46), where the King commends those who fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, visited the sick, and came to the prisoner. “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). That connection helps us see the deeper “goods” Jesus puts into His servants’ hands. The currency of this kingdom is not coins; it is mercy. God pours love, grace, forgiveness, and compassion into bankrupt sinners, cancels debt we could never repay, and then calls us to invest that mercy outward. Like Peter and John in Acts 3, we may not always have silver and gold, but we do have something real to give: “What I do have I give to you… in the name of Jesus Christ… rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). The early church advanced not by economic dominance but by Spirit-empowered mercy and courageous love.
Some Of You Are Richer In
Some of you are “richer” in certain forms of mercy because you have known the depths of forgiveness. Jesus taught in Luke 7 that the one forgiven much loves much. Others have been carried through grief and betrayal and have received deep comfort, and that comfort is meant to become comfort for others. These are not trophies to store; they are treasures to multiply. Why would anyone bury what the King gives? Because love is costly. Investing mercy in “the least of these” is messy. People can be unreasonable, ungrateful, suspicious, and even cruel. Love makes you vulnerable; it can break your heart. The temptation is to protect yourself by living small, receive God’s kindness just enough to feel safe, then bury it under distraction, isolation, and self-preservation. But kingdom faithfulness refuses the dead-end life. We love anyway because, in the end, our service is offered to God even when people do not applaud it.
The Righteous In Matthew 25 Are
The righteous in Matthew 25 are almost surprised: “When did we see you…?” (Matthew 25:37–39). They were not serving for recognition. They were serving because mercy had taken root in them. I want you to carry this clarifying conviction: it was never ultimately between you and them; it is between you and God. When you pour yourself out in love, do not measure success by whether people repay you. Measure it by faithfulness to the King who entrusted you with His mercy and will one day say, with perfect justice and perfect tenderness, “Well done.” Jesus teaches Matthew 25:14–30 so you will not drift through the in-between years as a spiritual consumer or a fearful bystander. The King has entrusted you with His goods, and He will return to settle accounts. The goal is not frantic achievement or anxious comparison, but steady faithfulness, remembering that even our best “success” never makes us anything other than grateful servants.
Conclusion
Jesus teaches Matthew 25:14–30 so you will not drift through the in-between years as a spiritual consumer or a fearful bystander. The King has entrusted you with His goods, and He will return to settle accounts. The goal is not frantic achievement or anxious comparison, but steady faithfulness, remembering that even our best “success” never makes us anything other than grateful servants.
So I urge you to live with the horizon in view. Refuse neutrality. Do not bury what God has deposited into your life, especially His mercy, forgiveness, and love. Invest it in real people, including the least of these, because when you love them in Jesus’ name, you are loving Jesus Himself, and one day you will enter into the joy of your Lord.