The author of Hebrews provides us with this sober warning: “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Believers have been spared from eternal judgment for their sin. But whether we die and enter into eternity, or we live to see Christ return and rapture His church, we will nevertheless have to give an account for our stewardship of the gifts and opportunities which the Lord has bestowed on us (cf. Romans 14:12). We will each have to answer for what we did with the time and resources He gave us.

In the Olivet discourse, Christ used a parable to prepare His disciples (and His people throughout church history) for that coming judgment. He told the story of three stewards who were given responsibility over some of their master’s resources while he was away (Matthew 25:14–15). The first two made the most of the opportunity, each doubling the funds that had been entrusted to them (vv. 16–17).

However, the third steward wasted his opportunity. “But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money” (v. 18), guaranteeing he would have nothing to show for his time. This was an utter dereliction of his duty, as he completely missed the point of the trust he’d been shown.

Verse 19 tells us the master returned after a long absence to settle his accounts. Last time, we looked at his lavish rewards for his faithful stewards (vv. 20–23).

A Faithless Failure

But for unfaithful stewards, the story is dramatically different. In Jesus’ parable, the character of the third slave is clearly revealed in his reply to the master: “The one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours’” (vv. 24–25).

This is an incredibly brash and arrogant reply. He seems to be trying to turn away the master’s displeasure by preempting it with a deliberate slur against the master’s character. He portrays his master as an unprincipled opportunist with a cruel streak—someone who reaps and gathers what he has no right to. And then he excuses his own inactivity by blaming it on fear caused by the master’s “hard” demeanor. In other words, according to this slave, the real fault lies with the master. Instead of giving account, he was making an accusation.

It was a wicked and false accusation. It is obvious that the master was a gracious and generous man. He required of his servants only what he had every right to require—that they be faithful in carrying out the duties he had delegated to them. The servant’s accusation merely proves that he had no real knowledge of the master.

His excuse was, moreover, a total lie. He didn’t hide that money in the ground because he feared his master; he buried it because it got in the way of his selfish lifestyle. He had no interest in increasing his master’s wealth. He was not committed to the honor and glory of his master by extending the master’s realm. He had other things he wanted to do, and as long as the master was not around to hold him accountable, he was perfectly happy to pursue his own interests and utterly neglect his duties. The real problem was that he was lazy and selfish and cared nothing about his duty to the master.

The lie was exposed by the unfaithful servant’s own words. He claimed he feared the master because the master was so shrewd, harsh, and demanding. Yet he buried the talent in the ground, where it was guaranteed to earn exactly nothing. He had deliberately and knowingly squandered every opportunity to make something of his stewardship. If he had really feared the master so much, the very least he could have done was put the money in the bank, where it would be earning compound interest. The slave himself would still be guilty of avoiding his assignment, but at least the talent would be earning a minimal gain. The wasted opportunity was therefore costly. Burying the talent was like stealing from the master. Even though the unfaithful servant did not embezzle money (like the unjust steward in Luke 16:1–9) or squander it in riotous living (like the prodigal son, Luke 15:13), his lack of diligence nonetheless cost his master money. It was morally tantamount to embezzlement or wanton extravagance.

Though he professed to fear the master, he had behaved in the most brazen and impudent manner—not only in squandering the opportunity he had been given, but also by trying to use his own day of reckoning as an occasion for such deliberate defamation of the master.

This sort of thing happens in real life all the time. People know very well that they have done wrong, but instead of humbly admitting their wrong, they concoct an accusation against the person to whom they are accountable. As the symbolism of the parable suggests, many even attempt this same vain tactic to try to justify themselves before God. They accuse Him of being too harsh or too demanding. I suppose many even think they can employ such a stratagem before the judgment throne. But it will not work. “Every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God” (Romans 3:19). Like the wicked servant, the sinner will be condemned by his own words (Matthew 12:37).

The inconsistencies of the slave’s rationalizing self-defense did not escape the master: “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest’” (Matthew 25:26–27). Ancient Rome had a banking system much like ours today. Deposits earned interest at about half the prime rate for loans. It wasn’t much, but it would have been better than burying the money in the ground.

It is important to see that the master was not in any way conceding any truthfulness in the slave’s accusations. He was merely pointing out that if there had been any truth whatsoever to the slave’s complaint, it still did not explain the slave’s behavior. He deliberately squandered every opportunity he had been given; but if the master’s character had been as the slave portrayed, the slave’s fear of the master would only have been more reason for him not to bury the talent in the ground. The slave was thus caught by his own wicked, slanderous lie.

The truth of the matter was that the slave had neither fear nor affection for his master. He was totally indifferent. He cared nothing for the master’s interests, and that was made clear by his behavior. Contrast this wicked servant with the other two. The first two seized the opportunity to serve their master in his absence; the third man took advantage of the master’s absence to pursue his own selfish ends. The first two were glad when the master returned, eager to see him, and ready to give an account; the third man was ashamed and guilty, and he responded by lashing out with a false accusation. The character of the men could hardly have been more different.

The third slave’s sin lay not merely in the fact that he lost a profit. He might have worked hard and invested and still not done as well as the other two. He had less to work with than either of them anyway. But what really made his behavior galling was his utter disregard for his duty. He wasted the opportunity. He never lifted a finger on behalf of his master. Had he honestly tried and lost money, it would have been less of a sin than his utter indifference and inactivity.

Recompense and Reward

The third slave was not merely unfaithful. He was faithless. He was loveless and disrespectful toward the master. His behavior showed a complete lack of concern about his master’s business. His verbal attack showed a similar lack of any true or intimate knowledge of the master. The unfaithful servant clearly represents a professing Christian who is actually an unbeliever. Consider his master’s condemning words:

“Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.”

For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (vv. 28–30)

There’s a dramatic contrast between the reward for the faithful servants and the recompense given the unfaithful man. They heard the words, “Well done.” He received a stern rebuke (“You wicked, lazy slave,” v. 26). They were given increased responsibility. He was stripped of all he had. They were ushered into the joy of the Lord. He was cast into “outer darkness,” an expression denoting hell, where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (cf. Matthew 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51). Again our Lord departs from the temporal imagery of the parable and makes an explicit reference to hell in order to make the point and the symbolism of the parable clear: The wicked and lazy servant symbolizes the person cast into hell—all because of squandered opportunity.

Christ, the Master, is coming soon. Opportunity slips away with each passing minute. When He returns, it will be too late to recover lost opportunity. His judgment will occur immediately, and it will result in the final, irreversible disposition of all souls alive at His appearing—both faithful and unfaithful. Now is our only time to prepare. Today is the only opportunity we are guaranteed. All the resources we have belong to our Lord. Our opportunities for sharing the gospel, our spiritual opportunities, and all temporal blessings come from His gracious hand. If these resources were ours, we could do with them as we please. But they are His, committed to us as His stewards, and we will give account at His coming for how we have used them.

(Adapted from The Second Coming.)