18, 19. (a) Why did the master not compare the slave given two talents with the slave given five talents? (b) What does the parable of the talents teach us about commendation and comparisons? (c) Why was the third slave judged adversely?

¹⁸ First, let us consider the slaves who were given five and two talents respectively. To each of these slaves, the master said: “Well done, good and faithful slave!” Would he have said this to the slave with five talents if that one had gained only two? Unlikely! On the other hand, he did not say to the slave who gained two talents: ‘Why did you not gain five? Why, look at your fellow slave and how much he gained for me!’ No, the compassionate master, who pictured Jesus, did not make comparisons. He assigned the talents “to each one according to his own ability,” and he expected nothing more back than what each one could give. Both slaves got equal commendation, for both worked whole-souled for their master. All of us can learn from this.

Matthew 25:14-