Luke 19:21

I feared thee. The basic cause of the fear of this servant was his own wrong attitude toward his master, who apparently expected every man to do his best, and not one whit less. The servant was obviously lazy. The test that the “nobleman” had given him was one which, if capitalized on, would have led him to overcome these traits.

Austere. Gr. austeros, literally, “harsh to the taste,” hence, “harsh,” “severe,” or “rough.” How could the laziness of this servant elicit anything but such a reaction from the master?

Layedst not down. The servant says, in effect, “You would take whatever I earned anyway, and I would have no reward for my efforts. So what is the use of going to all that bother?” The rewards given to the first and second servants are proof that the fault lay with the third servant and not with his master (see on Matt. 25:24).