Matthew 18:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

NIV: Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

NASB: But since he did not have the means to repay, his master commanded that he be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment be made.

CSB: Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.

NLT: He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold — along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned — to pay the debt.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.

Jesus is telling a parable to illustrate why those who follow Him must be ready and willing to forgive everyone for everything. He has described a king who is owed the impossible figure of 10,000 talents by a servant. Jesus has named this number as a kind of hyperbole. It may have made those who were listening chuckle because it was so impossibly, astronomically large. A common laborer would earn about one talent over the course of twenty years; the figure Jesus mentioned could be the modern equivalent of million or even billions of dollars (Matthew 18:23–24). Nobody could come close to paying this.

However, since the man could not pay, the king decided to get what he could. He ordered that the servant be sold into slavery, along with his wife and children and all he owned, so some payment could be made. It was a common practice in ancient times to sell into slavery those who owed more than they could pay, although the Jewish people did not practice this.

The king's take for such a sale would have been tiny in comparison to what was owed. The price for a slave was 2,000 days' wages at the most. Even if the king got that price for each member of the servant's family, it would have come nowhere near to a fraction of a percent of the amount owed.

Matthew 18:21–35 answers Peter's question about how many times he should forgive a brother who sins against him. Jesus tells a parable about the servant of a king. The king forgives the man's enormous, unpayable debt. In turn, the servant refuses to forgive the much smaller debt owed him by another and has that man thrown in prison. The king is furious and asks the servant why he did not show the same mercy he had been given. The king has the man jailed until he pays everything. Jesus says that God the Father will do the same to those who do not forgive their brothers.

Jesus uses two questions from the disciples to teach important lessons. The "greatest" in the kingdom is the one who humbles himself like a child. Temptation is unavoidable in earthly life, but it's worth going to extremes to avoid falling for it. Even so, those who fall should not be hated and despised. God the Father values them highly and wants none of them to perish. In fact, Jesus lays out a clear, careful process to confront sin in others before removing them from the community. Christ also replies to Peter's question about forgiveness with a parable. This story represents both God's amazing forgiveness, and the way we ought to respond as Christians.

Matthew 18 follows the action of the previous chapter with teaching from Jesus on several issues. These include humility, using the example of a child. Jesus also teaches about avoiding sin and offering forgiveness to others. Interestingly, the following chapter will also feature references to children and to wealth, as Christ continues to explain the will of God to His disciples.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.