After a long time, the lord of those servants comes and demands an account from them. God does not move away from people for a single moment, much less for a long time. His help to people flows like a full-flowing river from day to day, but His Judgment, His demand for people's accounting, takes place over a long period of time. God is a speedy Helper to everyone who calls upon him for help, and God is slow to repay those who insult Him and dissolutely squander His gifts. Here we are talking about the last, the Last Judgment, when the hour will come and all workers will be called to accept their wages.

And he who had received the five talents came and brought the other five talents, and said, "Lord! Five talents thou hast given me; behold, the other five talents I have gained with them. His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant! in a few things you have been faithful, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your master. He who had received the two talents also came and said, "Lord! Two talents thou hast given me; behold, the other two talents I have acquired with them. His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant! in a few things you have been faithful, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your master. One by one, the slaves approach their master and give an account of what they have received and what they have earned with the help of what they have received. One by one, we too will be compelled to approach the Lord of heaven and earth, and before millions of witnesses to give an account of what we have received and earned. At this hour, nothing can be hidden or corrected. For the Lord's radiance will so illuminate those present that all will know the truth about everyone. If we are able to double our talents in this life, then we will stand before the Lord with a clear face and a pure heart, like these two good and faithful servants. And let us be quickened forever by His words: Good and faithful servant! But alas for us, if we stand empty-handed before the Lord and His holy angels, like the third, evil and slothful, servant!

But what is the meaning of the words: in a few things you have been faithful, I will set you over many? They mean that all the gifts that we receive from God in this world, no matter how many of them there are, are small in comparison with the treasures that await the faithful in the other world. For it is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). The smallest labor for the sake of God's love is rewarded by God with generous royal gifts. For the little that the faithful will endure in this life out of obedience to God, and for the little that they will do in working on their souls, God will crown them with a glory such as none of the kings of this world has known or had.

And now let us see what happens to evil and unfaithful slaves:

And he who had received one talent came near, and said, "Lord! I knew thee that thou art a cruel man, that thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and that thou hast gathered where thou hast not scattered, and that thou hast gone and hid thy talent in the ground; Here's yours for you. Thus does this third servant justify his wickedness and laziness before the Master! But he is not alone in this. How many of us are there who shift the blame for their malice, negligence, idleness, and selfishness onto God! Not acknowledging their sinfulness and not knowing the humane ways of God, they murmur against God for their infirmities, illnesses, poverty, and failures. First of all, every word spoken by a lazy servant to the Master is a real lie. Does God reap where He did not sow? And does He gather where He has not scattered? Is there a good seed in this world that is not sown by God? And are there good fruits in the whole universe that are not the results of God's work? The wicked and the unfaithful complain, for example, when God takes their children away from them, saying, "What cruelty it is to take our children away from us untimely!"

Instead of murmuring against God and blaspheming Him on Whom all their breath depends, it would be better to say, as the righteous Job did: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it was done; blessed be the name of the Lord! And how the wicked and unfaithful murmur against God, when hail breaks their bread, or when their ship with cargo sinks into the sea, or when sickness and infirmity come upon them, they murmur and accuse God of cruelty! And this happens only because they either do not remember their sins, or cannot learn from it a lesson for the salvation of their souls.

To the false justification of His servant, the Master answers: And his Master answered and said to him, 'Wicked servant and slothful!' Thou knowest that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered; therefore it behooved thee to give my money to the merchants, and when I came, I would have received it with profit. People engaged in money transactions are also called money changers. These are those who exchange one kind of money for another and thus make a profit as a result of exchange. But all this has its own figurative meaning. By those who trade should be understood those who do good, by silver - the gifts of God, and by profit - the salvation of the human soul. You see: in this world, everything that happens to people externally is only an image of what is happening – or should happen – in the spiritual realm. Even the money changers are used as an image of the spiritual reality that takes place inside, in the people themselves! The Lord wants to say to the lazy servant: "

Instead, you hid the talent in the ground of your body, which decayed in the grave (for the Lord will say this at the Last Judgment) and which can now help you in no way!"

Oh, how clear and how terrible is the lesson for those who, having great wealth, do not distribute it to the poor; or, having much wisdom, he keeps it closed in himself, as in a grave; or, having many good and useful abilities, he does not show them to anyone; or, having great power, does not protect the suffering and oppressed; or, having a great name and glory, he does not want to illuminate those who are in darkness with a single ray! The mildest word that can be said about all of them is thieves. For they consider the gift of God to be their own: they have appropriated what is not theirs, and have concealed what has been given. However, they are not only thieves, but also murderers. For they did not help to save those who could be saved. Their sin is no less than the sin of a man who, standing on the bank of a river with a rope in his hands and seeing someone drowning, did not throw ropes to save him.

Воистину, и таким людям Господь скажет то, что в сей притче сказал лукавому рабу.

Итак, возьмите у него талант и дайте имеющему десять талантов, ибо всякому имеющему дастся и приумножится, а у неимеющего отнимется и то, что имеет; а негодного раба выбросьте во тьму внешнюю: там будет плач и скрежет зубов. И в этой жизни обычно бывает, что отнимается у имеющего мало и дается имеющему много. И сие есть только образ происходящего в духовной области.

Тот, кто не умел давать, пока имел, вынужден будет научиться побираться, когда отнимется у него имение. Если и не отнимется у какого-нибудь жестокого и скупого себялюбца данный ему дар именно до его смерти, его отнимут ближайшие потомки или родственники, получившие этот дар в наследство. Главное, что у неверного отнимается данный ему талант, и после того он подвергается осуждению. Ибо Бог не осудит человека, пока в нем сохраняется благодатный Божий дар. С осужденного земным судом, прежде чем привести приговор над ним в исполнение, снимают его одежду и одевают в одежду арестантскую, одежду осуждения и позора. Так и всякий нераскаянный грешник будет сначала обнажен от всего, что на нем было Божественного, а затем выброшен во тьму внешнюю: там будет плач и скрежет зубов.

Сия притча нас ясно учит, что осужден будет не только творивший зло, но и не творивший добра. И апостол Иаков учит нас: кто разумеет делать добро и не делает, тому грех (Иак.4:17). Все Христово учение, как и Его пример, направляют нас на творение добра. Уклонение от зла есть исходная точка, но весь жизненный путь христианина должен быть, словно цветами, усыпан добрыми делами. Творение добрых дел оказывает неизмеримую помощь в уклонении от дел злых. Ибо вряд ли кто-нибудь может уклониться от зла, не творя при сем блага, и сохраниться без греха, не упражняясь в добродетели.

И еще эта притча подтверждает нам, что Бог одинаково милостив ко всем людям; ибо всякого сотворенного человека наделяет Он неким даром, действительно, кого-то - большим, кого-то - меньшим, что нисколько не меняет дела, так как Он больше спрашивает с того, кому больше дал, и меньше с того, кому дал меньше. Но всякому Он дает достаточно для того, чтобы человек мог спастись сам и помочь спасению других. Потому было бы ошибкою думать, что в сей притче Господь говорит только о богачах разного вида, в этом мире существующих. Нет, Он говорит обо всех без исключения людях. Все без исключения приходят в мир сей с неким даром. Вдова, положившая в храме Иерусалимском две свои последние лепты, была весьма бедна деньгами, но не была бедна дарами пожертвования и страха Божия. Напротив, благоразумно распорядившись этими дарами, хотя и чрез две жалкие лепты, она удостоилась похвалы Самого Господа нашего Иисуса Христа. Истинно говорю вам, что эта бедная вдова положила больше всех (Мк.12:42-44).