Matthew 18:25
But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
The debtor had nothing with which to pay his enormous debt of ten thousand talents, so his lord ordered him with his wife and children and all that he had to be sold for payment, following the custom of the time to complete the picture without a separate meaning for the wife, children, and goods. The debt stands for the great debt sinners owe God, and the order expresses the justice and ruin that debt deserves, while the debtor's helplessness pictures humanity condemned under the broken law with nothing with which to earn or repay divine pardon. The severe and just sentence shows how great the debt was and sets the scene for the servant's plea, until moved by compassion his lord loosed him and freely canceled the whole debt, made possible because Christ paid an infinite price to redeem sinners from this hopeless condition. It belongs to Christ's answer to Peter that forgiveness must not be limited to a set number of offenses and that believers are never to become weary of forgiving. Those thus relieved of so great a debt are obligated to show the same compassion, patience, forbearance, and forgiveness to others rather than severity and harshness, walking and working in Christ's love since grace and mercy are needed daily and every moment.
Parable Setting and Meaning
This verse belongs to Christ's answer to Peter that forgiveness must not be limited to a set number of offenses, for believers are never to become weary of forgiving. It belongs also to His instruction on how His followers are to act, which forbids striving for supremacy and teaches that greatness in His kingdom comes from inward excellence rather than position, splendor, or authority. It is part of His lesson to all professed Christians against self-sufficiency and strife to be first. When self interposes between men and God, when men trust their superior discernment yet cannot discern their own spirit, when they withhold work unless specially requested and take satisfaction in the deficiencies of brethren, when they feel their judgment and capabilities are not sufficiently appreciated and allow their words to hinder instead of building up the Redeemer's kingdom, they grieve the Spirit of the Saviour and hinder the work. They become a curse that retards instead of advancing it through inward concealed strife for supremacy and manifest strife to be first, and power and grace cannot be manifested until this unsanctified element is cleansed from the soul temple.
The chapter must be studied and brought into practical life in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. It teaches not to despise one of the little ones, whose angels always behold the face of the Father in heaven, and to seek the one straying sheep with rejoicing, for it is not the Father's will that one of the little ones should perish. It stands against the masterly spirit of lording it over God's heritage, which closes the gates of heaven to men.
The servant owed an enormous debt of ten thousand talents and had nothing with which to repay, so his lord ordered him, his wife, his children, and all that he had to be sold so that payment could be made. The order followed the custom of the time and fills out the parable's picture, with no separate spiritual counterpart for the wife, children, and goods. The debt represents the great debt sinners owe God through years of misusing what belongs to Him, and the order expresses the justice and ruin their debt deserves. The debtor's helplessness pictures humanity condemned under the broken law and unable to save itself, with nothing with which to earn or repay divine pardon. The property and debt illustrate how people should deal with one another, while the king's pardon represents God's supernatural forgiveness of all sin, for the sinner cannot save himself or give anything equivalent in return. Human beings are thus shown as dependent on God's mercy and forgiveness, and God judges people by the spirit they show toward erring fellow believers.
Christ paid an infinite price to redeem sinners in this hopeless condition from despair. The severe and just sentence against the helpless debtor sets the scene for the servant's plea for patience and highlights how great the debt was. Moved by compassion, the lord instead loosed him and freely canceled the entire debt. This severe treatment both sets up the lord's later compassion and forgiveness and contrasts with the servant's failure to show mercy to his fellow servant.
Mercy Received and Extended
Those forgiven so great a debt are relieved of it and are bound to show the same compassion, patience, forbearance, tenderness and forgiveness to others rather than severity, harshness, criticism, censure and condemnation. The severity of the sentence upon inability to repay — that the servant, his wife, his children and all he owned be sold so payment could be made — expresses the justice the debt deserves, and sets off the compassion of the lord who loosed him and canceled the whole debt of ten thousand talents owed through years of misusing what belongs to God. This stands as the contrast between God's compassion in dealing with those in error and man's harshness in dealing with similar cases, and requires walking and working in the love of Christ and conducting all business on His lines, for God will not sanction the work of those who refuse to forgive when they themselves have been forgiven. Because grace, forgiveness, mercy and compassion are needed constantly, daily and every moment, it is unbecoming and out of place to be severe and exacting with the erring, and with hearts filled with gratitude the same tenderness, forbearance and love received must be exercised toward brethren of like passions. The servant's helplessness with nothing to pay shows the desperate condition of every sinner justly facing punishment, yet met by mercy that forgives sins and transgressions at infinite price to redeem from hopeless despair, and those rescued must treat others with compassion rather than condemnation.
The forgiven servant forgot the mercy he received and acted as an oppressor toward a fellow servant who owed him a much smaller sum. When tested he refused the same patience and forbearance he had received, and instead enforced a similar severe sentence against his fellow servant, imposing sale with family and possessions though his own sentence had been revoked and his entire debt canceled upon his plea for patience. This illustrates the difference between the compassionate lord's treatment of the debtor and the debtor's treatment of one who owed him much less, and the contrast between receiving mercy and withholding it. The pardon of a person who refuses from the heart to forgive others is revoked, so those who seek pardon and grace from God must forgive their fellow believers.
The parable exposes a hardhearted, unsympathetic husband who fails as houseband, the one who binds the family together, and as priest in the home carrying accountability and responsibility. Though shown love and patience amid many errors and sins, he feels at liberty to find fault and express his natural heart, blaming his wife at home and his brethren in the church for trials caused by his own unconverted heart, and where his wife errs he shows her no pity, no patience, and none of the love that suffers long and is kind, tender and pitiful. Unless he falls upon the Rock and is broken all to pieces, unless his hard heart is melted and softened, repents, dies to self, and is entirely renewed in heart and mind and spirit as a new man in Christ, the Lord will repay for all these things. Such a spirit carried in home and church would unfit him for heaven, where he would find fault and resist discipline and want his own way.
Those in positions of responsibility must follow this instruction in Matthew 18 by not acting as lords or kings, but by giving wise counsel and protecting and strengthening God's people, setting an example others can safely follow. The verse gives discipline of the Word that takes the reader in hand as a learner in the school of Christ and reprimands self, correcting a selfish, unholy spirit and withdrawing from brethren to labor alone. It requires daily humbling before God and overcoming entertained temptations and receiving the lessons of Christ in order to be fit and competent to handle sacred things and enter upon work in ministration of the Word. One mercifully forgiven great sins must not treat brethren as though they owed an unpayable debt because their decisions injured his dignity, nor harshly hold others to account for lesser wrongs.
The servant's inability to pay leading to the stated consequences illustrates that people reap what they sow. The chapter calls for humbling oneself before God and turning from self-centeredness toward sympathy, love, and personal effort for those outside Christ. Matthew 18 teaches that disaffection and its evil consequences must be traced to their cause. The parable warns against pressing a brother's debt too harshly and calls for forgiving it, just as one asks the Lord to forgive one's own debt to Him.