What does Matthew 25:18 mean?

Jesus' parable has described two amazingly impressive servants. Their master left them massive sums of money to manage for him while he was on a journey. They have both doubled their master's funds by using the money to start trading businesses. That is remarkable (Matthew 25:14–17). This represents God's intent for the skills, abilities, and resources He gives to His people: to be used wisely and for God's benefit. To do otherwise is to "waste our talents."

Here Jesus describes the third servant, given a single talent. Compared to what was offered to the other servants, this does not sound like much. It's worth noting that even a single talent, in that era, might have been nearly 20 years' wages for a common laborer. Even if it was not as much as given to others, it was still extremely valuable.

The servant with the one talent did not go into business to try to multiply his master's money. Nor did He invest it, or work with it. He simply buried it. He dug a hole and put the entire amount in the ground. He literally hid it and did nothing constructive. His master's response will show that this was the worst thing the servant could have done (Matthew 25:27).