The use and misuse of opportunity are set forth in comparison and in contrast in chapter twenty-five. Two of the servants in the parable of the talents proved worthy of their trust while one failed to appreciate his opportunity. Did the unequal division anger the man who received the one talent? The opportunity of the three servants is essentially the same, which appears plainly when their lord reckons with them. In identical terms he commends the two who so used their talents as to increase their holdings. How could he commend the servant who brought back his lord’s money without increase and in addition lodged a complaint against him? “The servant with the one talent considered himself a brilliant example of a harmless man,” says Dr. Deems. His talent is returned unused and without loss or increase. He is condemned on two counts, inactivity and insincerity. If he really thought his master was exceedingly strict why did he not act accordingly? His conduct belied his profession. Our thoughts are usually called to the man with the one talent but the man with the two and the man with the five deserve our attention quite as much. The men with the most do the best. They are trustworthy. They are faithful servants and are left in possession of what they were given and what they gained. The man who had most of all received the unused one talent as an additional trust and as a mark of his lord’s complete confidence. Equality of possessions is not the purpose of God toward men but equal opportunity to use well what they have. Talents are a test of character. A servant of God can safely become a custodian of wealth. He must enter into partnership with God before he can expect to hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant: enter into the joy of thy Lord.” Devotion or Desertion The anointing of Jesus in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper is told in eight verses of the twenty-sixth chapter while the next three verses give an account of Judas in the act of selling the Master. In the first account we have devotion and in the second desertion. Extremes have done what they often do and here we behold them each confronting the other. A woman poured precious ointment on the head of Jesus as he sat at meat. Her devotion transcended all ordinary bounds being justified by His transcendent ministry. Had He not taught her lessons which no other teacher ever unfolded? Had he not befriended her when Lazarus lay in the tomb? Her ministry, so sincere and so timely, fills a place in his life and work and hence her deed of devotion is accepted with approval and even woven into the gospel record as a memorial of her.