Sin and Forgiveness Between Brethren.

  25 But forasmuch as he had not wherewith 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 law of Moses allowed such a sale-- Leviticus 25:39-47 ; 2 Kings 4:1 .]

  26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

  27 And the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

[Seeing the man's apparent willingness to pay, and knowing the hopelessness of his offer to do so, the lord compassionately forbore to sell him and forgave him the whole debt.]

  27 And the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him an hundred shillings [The denarius or shilling was worth about seventeen cents. The debt was, therefore, about $100]: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. [This frenzy to collect might have been somewhat pardonable had the lord still been demanding his debt, but, that debt being forgiven, such harsh conduct was inexcusable.]

  29 So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee. [Compare this conduct with that depicted in verse 26 above.]

  30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due. [Prison life was far worse than slavery. The Roman law permitted such a punishment, and it was practiced in this country until after the beginning of the last century.]

  31 So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. [They were sorry for the sin of the one and the suffering of the other. Human nature rarely grows so wicked that it fails to resent sin in others.]

  32 Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me:

  33 shouldest thou not also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee?

[God's forgiveness places us under obligation to be forgiving. The lord does not call the servant wicked because he had contracted a debt which he could not pay, but because of the merciless, unforgiving spirit which he had manifested toward his fellow-servant. Thus God freely forgives sin against himself, but the sin of refusing to forgive our fellow-man is with him an unforgivable sin. No doctrine of the Bible is more plainly taught than this.]

  33 shouldest thou not also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee?

  34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. [The picture is to be interpreted by the usages of the East, where even at the possession of property which they suspected of hiding. Thus the man had escaped being sold into slavery only to receive sentence of death by torture.]

  35 So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. [Jesus reminds us that God is a Father unto him whom we have refused to forgive. The key to the parable is introduced by the words, "So shall also." God will so deliver to the tormentors the unforgiving. Incidentally the parable draws comparisons between the forgiving spirit of God and the revengeful spirit of man, and the magnitude of our debt to him and the insignificance of our debts to each other. The retraction of forgiveness is merely a part of the parabolic drapery, but it is nevertheless true that those who are delivered from sin come to a worse state than ever if they return to it-- 2 Peter 2:20-22 .]