Matthew 25:18 Commentary and Bible Study

The last of the three servants behaved very differently when faced with the same situation. What the other two servants regarded as a privilege he regarded as a burden. Later in the parable we learn the attitudes that prompted him to act in this way. For now we note that although he intended to hand back his master’s goods, he did nothing with them. By digging a hole and burying it he put it entirely out of use. He was deliberately wasting this amazing opportunity. The master never expected any of his servants to behave in this foolish way. He quite reasonably assumed that they would welcome his gift and take advantage of it.Would anyone do this? It doesn’t make sense. The parable contains gripping material and the preacher should take advantage of it. Here are the means of being elevated above a mere servant, of having new experiences, and he buries it. The pleasure of watching the growth of money was all buried. The rich acted as the welfare state of those days. As a rich man he could have done so much good. Also, in those days there were tremendous returns on their money. All of this was buried. This is the staggering thing. Why did he do it? There could have been a number of reasons – later in the parable he explains the attitude towards his master that made him act as he did. It could have been cowardice: he was frightened of the opportunity in case he failed. It could have been a desire to be independent; he was so prejudiced against his master that he was not prepared to be beholden to him in any way. It might have been cynicism: of that whole world of business that he knows nothing about. Suggests a number of attitudes which parallel those who reject God. Having seen the attitude in another, we may be helped to see it in ourselves. The parable raises a number of possibilities, and most of them lead us to consider aspects of behaviour in the unbeliever that are seldom talked about.