Matthew 18:34

State criminals, especially when condemned to it, are not only confined to a very mean and scanty allowance, but are frequently loaded with clogs or heavy yokes, so that they can neither lie nor sit at ease: and by frequent scourgings and sometimes rackings are brought to an untimely end.

And his Lord was wroth,.... Very angry, greatly incensed, and justly provoked at such inhuman treatment: and delivered him to the tormentors, or jail keepers.

So the disciples here did, when they asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? They suppose that all who have a place in that kingdom are great, for it is a kingdom of priests. Note, Those are truly great who are truly good; and they will appear so at last, when Christ shall own them as his, though ever so mean and poor in the world.

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.

In these verses the Lord Jesus deals with a deeply important subject, the forgiveness of injuries. We live in a wicked world, and it is vain to expect that we can escape ill-treatment, however carefully we may behave. To know how to conduct ourselves when we are ill-treated is of great moment to our souls. In the first place, the Lord Jesus lays it down as a general rule that we ought to forgive others to the uttermost. Peter put the question, “How oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Till seven times?”

And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors--more than jailers; denoting the severity of the treatment which he thought such a case demanded. till he should pay all that was due unto him.

In these verses the Lord Jesus deals with a deeply important subject, the forgiveness of injuries. We live in a wicked world, and it is vain to expect that we can escape ill-treatment, however carefully we may behave. To know how to conduct ourselves when we are ill-treated is of great moment to our souls. In the first place, the Lord Jesus lays it down as a general rule that we ought to forgive others to the uttermost. Peter put the question, “How oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Till seven times?” He received answer: “I say, not unto thee till seven times, but until seventy times seven.” The rule here laid down must of course be interpreted with sober-minded qualification. Our Lord does not mean that offenses against the law of the land and the good order of society are to be passed over in silence; he does not mean that we are to allow people to commit thefts and assaults with impunity. All that he means is that we are to study a general spirit of mercy and forgivingness towards our brethren. We are to bear much, and to put up with much, rather than quarrel; we are to overlook much, and submit to much, rather than have any strife; we are to lay aside everything like malice, strife, revenge and retaliation. Such feelings are only fit for heathens: they are utterly unworthy of a disciple of Christ. What a happy world it would be if this rule of our Lord’s was more known and better obeyed! How many of the miseries of mankind are occasioned by disputes, quarrels, lawsuits, and an obstinate tenacity about what men call “their rights”! How many of them might be altogether avoided if men were more willing to forgive, and more desirous for peace! Let us never forget that a fire cannot go on burning without fuel; just in the same way it takes two to make a quarrel. Let us each resolve, by God’s grace, that of these two we will never be one.

Delivered him to the tormentors - The word “tormentors” here probably means keepers of the prisons. Torments were inflicted on criminals, not on debtors. They were inflicted by stretching the limbs, or pinching the flesh, or putting out the eyes, or taking off the skin while alive, etc. It is not probable that anything of this kind is intended, but only that the servant was punished by imprisonment until the debt should be paid.