<p>25:19&nbsp;<em>Now after a long time- Chronos</em>, &quot;time&quot;, can as a word imply delay or an interval. If time has &lsquo;length', as it does here, this can only be in the expectation of human beings. It would be fair to interpret this phrase, even simply on the basis of the original Greek, as meaning 'after a long delay'. And this would admirably fit the context- for the parables of Matthew 25 are a commentary upon the closing warning of the Olivet prophecy, that there is indeed a delay to the Lord's coming (24:48; 25:5). Our sufferings now are only for a moment compared to the glorious eternity of the Kingdom (Ps. 37:10; 2 Cor. 4:17), and yet the language of the Bible also expresses God&rsquo;s appreciation that from our perspective, our time of probation is &ldquo;a long time&rdquo; (25:19). See on 20:16.</p><p><em>The lord of those servants came and made a reckoning with them</em>- The Lord&rsquo;s coming was surely not in AD70 because He did not reckon up with all His servants then; there was no resurrection of the faithful in order to reckon with them. The Greek text here is <em>sunairo logos</em>- He reckons the&nbsp;<em>logos</em>&nbsp;with them, He considers the thought behind their actions. It wasn&rsquo;t so much a reckoning on a simply utilitarian, mercenary level. Rather was it an examination of their inner<em> logos</em>&nbsp;and motivation, as demonstrated by the discussion with the one talent man concerning his inner thoughts about his Lord.&nbsp;<em>Sunairo</em>&nbsp;is only used elsewhere in 18:23,24 where the Lord&rsquo;s reckoning with His servants begins now in this life. And they had miserably failed in money management. Yet He still wanted relationship with them, and frankly forgave them, whilst assuming they would on that basis forgive any of their own far smaller debtors. But even that didn&rsquo;t work out. Putting the Lord&rsquo;s parables together, so many of them are about servants; and the servants often behave in an incredibly bad way to Him. And we are those servants.</p>