The means which a sinner should use to be saved, are,
1. Deep humiliation of heart - he fell down.
2. Fervent prayer.
3. Confidence in the mercy of God - have patience.
4. A firm purpose to devote his soul and body to his Maker - I will pay thee all.
A sinner may be said, according to the economy of grace, to pay all, when he brings the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus to the throne of justice, by faith; thus offering an equivalent for the pardon he seeks, and paying all he owes to Divine justice, by presenting the blood of the Lamb.
Verse 27
Moved with compassion - Or with tender pity. This is the source of salvation to a lost world, the tender pity, the eternal mercy of God.
Verse 28
A hundred pence - Rather denarii. The denarius was a Roman coin, worth about seven-pence halfpenny English. The original word should be retained, as our word penny does not convey the seventh part of the meaning. A hundred denarii would amount to about 3l. 2s. 6d. British, or, if reckoned as some do, at seven-pence three farthings, the sum would be 3l. 4s. 7d.
Took him by the throat - Κρατησας αυτον επνιγε. There is no word I am acquainted with, which so fully expresses the meaning of the original, επνιγε, as the Anglo-saxon term throttle: it signified (like the Greek) to half choke a person, by seizing his throat.
Verse 29
Fell down at his feet - This clause is wanting in several ancient MSS., versions, and fathers. Several printed editions also have omitted it; Griesbach has left it out of the text.
Pay thee all - Παντα, all, is omitted by a multitude of MSS., versions, and fathers.
Verse 30
And he would not, etc. - To the unmerciful, God will show no mercy; this is an eternal purpose of the Lord, which never can be changed. God teaches us what to do to a fellow-sinner, by what He does to us. Our fellow-servant's debt to us, and ours to God, are as one hundred denarii to ten thousand talents! When we humble ourselves before him, God freely forgives us all this mighty sum! And shall we exact from our brother recompense for the most trifling faults? Reader, if thou art of this unmerciful, unforgiving cast, read out the chapter. "All the souls that are were forfeit once,
And he who might the 'vantage best have took,
Found out the remedy. How would you be,
If He, who is the top of judgment, should
But judge you as you are? O! think on that,
And mercy then will breathe within your lips
Like man new made
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of Mercy. - "
Verse 31
His fellow-servants saw what was done - An act of this kind is so dishonorable to all the followers of Christ, and to the spirit of his Gospel, that through the respect they owe to their Lord and Master, and through the concern they feel for the prosperity of his cause, they are obliged to plead against it at the throne of God.
Verse 32
His lord, after that he had called him - Alas! how shall he appear! Confounded. What shall he answer? He is speechless!
Verse 33
Shouldest not thou also have had compassion - Ουκ εδει και σε, Did it not become thee also? What a cutting reproach! It became Me to show mercy, when thou didst earnestly entreat me, because I am Merciful, It became thee also to have shown mercy, because thou wert so deep in debt thyself, and hadst obtained mercy.
Verse 34
Delivered him to the tormentors - Not only continued captivity is here intended, but the tortures to be endured in it. If a person was suspected of fraud, as there was reason for in such a case as that mentioned here, he was put to very cruel tortures among the Asiatics, to induce him to confess. In the punishments of China, a great variety of these appear; and probably there is an allusion to such torments in this place. Before, he and all that he had, were only to be sold. Now, as he has increased his debt, so he has increased his punishment; he is delivered to the tormentors, to the horrors of a guilty conscience, and to a fearful looking for of fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. But if this refers to the day of judgment, then the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched, are the tormentors.
Verse 35
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you - The goodness and indulgence of God towards us is the pattern we should follow in our dealings with others. If we take man for our exemplar we shall err, because our copy is a bad one; and our lives are not likely to be better than the copy we imitate. Follow Christ; be merciful as your Father who is in heaven is merciful. You cannot complain of the fairness of your copy. Reader, hast thou a child, or servant who has offended thee, and humbly asks forgiveness? Hast thou a debtor, or a tenant, who is insolvent, and asks for a little longer time? And hast thou not forgiven that child or servant? Hast thou not given time to that debtor or tenant? How, then, canst thou ever expect to see the face of the just and merciful God? Thy child is banished, or kept at a distance; thy debtor is thrown into prison, or thy tenant sold up: yet the child offered to fall at thy feet; and the debtor or tenant, utterly insolvent, prayed for a little longer time, hoping God would enable him to pay thee all; but to these things thy stony heart and seared conscience paid no regard! O monster of ingratitude! Scandal to human nature, and reproach to God! If thou canst, go hide thyself - even in hell, from the face of the Lord!
Their trespasses - These words are properly left out by Greisbach, and other eminent critics, because they are wanting in some of the very best MSS. most of the versions, and in some of the chief of the fathers. The words are evidently an interpolation; the construction of them is utterly improper, and the concord false.
In our common method of dealing with insolvent debtors, we in some sort imitate the Asiatic customs: we put them in prison, and all their circumstances there are so many tormentors; the place, the air, the company, the provision, the accommodation, all destructive to comfort, to peace, to health, and to every thing that humanity can devise. If the person be poor, or comparatively poor, is his imprisonment likely to lead him to discharge his debt? His creditor may rest assured that he is now farther from his object than ever: the man had no other way of discharging the debt but by his labor; that is now impossible, through his confinement, and the creditor is put to a certain expense towards his maintenance. How foolish is this policy! And how much do such laws stand in need of revision and amendment! Imprisonment for debt, in such a case as that supposed above, can answer no other end than the gratification of the malice, revenge, or inhumanity of the creditor. Better sell all that he has, and, with his hands and feet untied, let him begin the world afresh. Dr. Dodd very feelingly inquires here, "Whether rigour in exacting temporal debts, in treating without mercy such as are unable to satisfy them - whether this can be allowed to a Christian, who is bound to imitate his God and Father? To a debtor, who can expect forgiveness only on the condition of forgiving others? To a servant, who should obey his Master? - and to a criminal, who is in daily expectation of his Judge and final sentence?" Little did he think, when he wrote this sentence, that himself should be a melancholy proof, not only of human weakness, but of the relentless nature of those laws by which property, or rather money, is guarded. The unfortunate Dr. Dodd was hanged for forgery, in 1777, and the above note was written only seven years before!
The unbridled and extravagant appetites of men sometimes require a rigour even beyond the law to suppress them. While, then, we learn lessons of humanity from what is before us, let us also learn lessons of prudence, sobriety, and moderation. The parable of the two debtors is blessedly calculated to give this information.
Introduction
Jesus leaves Galilee, and comes into the coasts of Judea, and is followed by great multitudes, whom he heals, [Mat 19:1], [Mat 19:2]. The question of the Pharisees concerning divorce answered, and the doctrine of marriage explained, [Mat 19:3-9]. The inquiry of the disciples on this subject, [Mat 19:10]. Our Lord's answer, explaining the case of eunuchs, [Mat 19:11], [Mat 19:12]. Little children brought to Christ for his blessing, [Mat 19:13-15]. The case of the young man who wished to obtain eternal life, [Mat 19:16-22]. Our Lords reflections on this case, in which he shows the difficulty of a rich man's salvation, [Mat 19:23-26]. What they shall possess who have left all for Christ's sake and the Gospel. [Mat 19:27-29] How many of the first shall be last, and the last first, [Mat 19:30].
Verse 1
Beyond Jordan - Or, by the side of Jordan. Matthew begins here to give an account of Christ's journey (the only one he mentions) to Jerusalem, a little before the passover, at which he was crucified. See [Mar 10:1]; [Luk 9:51].
Jesus came from Galilee (which lay to the north of Judea) into the coasts of Judea; and from thence, in his way to Jerusalem, he went through Jericho, ([Mat 20:17], [Mat 20:29]), which lay at the distance of sixty furlongs, or seven miles and a half from Jordan, to the western side of it. See Joseph. War, book iv. chap. 8. sect. 3. It seems, therefore, most probable, that the course of Christ's journey led him by the side of the river Jordan, not beyond it. That the Greek word περαν, especially with a genitive case as here, has sometimes this signification, see on [Joh 6:22] (note); see also Bp. Pearce.