Chapter

Matthew 25:21

ESV His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
NIV "His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
NASB His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’
CSB "His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’
NLT The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together! ’
KJV 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.
NKJV His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

What does Matthew 25:21 mean?

A parable about a master and three trusted servants communicates to Jesus' servants how they should live while waiting for His return (Matthew 25:14–20). The master in the story left town after giving these three servants large sums of tradable cash. These are counted using the measure of "talents," which in the ancient world was an enormous weight of precious metals. A single talent might have been as much as a common laborer could earn in twenty years. Now the master has returned after a long time away and has come to these servants to settle accounts with them. He wants to see what they have done with the money he has left them.

The first servant has made his report. He used his master's five talents to earn another five talents. The master trusted the servant with great wealth, and the servant earned the equivalent wealth for his master.

Now the master responds. He calls the man a good and faithful servant and tells him "well done." He rewards him in two ways. First, he tells the servant that because he has been faithful over little, he will make the servant responsible for a great deal more. Second, he welcomes the servant to share in his own personal joy. In other words, the master welcomes the servant into closer connection to himself, managing more of his own estate and walking in joyful relationship with him.

Jesus is showing that those who use what He gives to them to increase what is His will also be rewarded with greater opportunity and joy when He returns.
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