Luke chapter 19 tells a variation on the story of the talents. A nobleman gives three servants $10,000 each (literally ten minas, which represented about 30 months’ wages), then he goes away to be made king and returns some time later to see what the servants have done with the money. The moral of the story is “use it or lose it”. But there is a disturbing subtext: “His citizens hated him, and sent a messenger after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’”
If the nobleman in the story is supposed to be a good guy, why did his citizens hate him? And at the end of the story, the nobleman, now king, says, “Bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them in front of me.’” Is that not a bit harsh?
But if the nobleman/king represents God, perhaps these issues become more understandable. Death happens to everyone, and if someone has chosen not to believe in God, then in a sense that person does ultimately get killed in front of God. Further, someone who has chosen to trust in other gods or to disbelieve in God has made a decision, “I don’t want God to reign over me.” This decision is not a reflection on God’s character so much as a reflection of what the individual chooses to believe about God’s character.