A Visit with the Unforgiving Servant on the Rack. What did he Still Owe?

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We now continue with the story of the first servant—the one whose Lord forgave him an astronomically large debt, but who then wouldn’t forgive his fellow servant a debt of three months’ wages. While the two servants were the only parties to the debt, they were not the only parties to the first servant’s mistreatment of his fellow servant. Other servants were watching:

So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done.

Matthew 18:31 (WEB).

The imprisonment of the second servant grieved the master’s other servants, and they reported the situation. The lord was not pleased with what his servant had done:

Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’

Matthew 18:32-33 (WEB).

The lord calls the unforgiving servant “wicked”—literally, “evil” (ponurē)–because of his refusal to have “mercy,” after the lord had shown him mercy. He then asked the unforgiving servant the same question the Lord asks us when we refuse to forgive: “Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?”

But that wasn’t the end of the matter. The lord punished the servant’s lack of mercy:

His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors (basanistais) until he should pay all that was due to him.

Matthew 18:34 (WEB).

The usage of the Greek word here translated “tormentor” is explained by the online version of HELPS Word-studies on Biblehub.com as follows: “a guard in a prison ‘whose function was to torture prisoners as a phase of judicial examination – prison guard, torturer.’” The usage of the word is further explained: “The term ‘basanistés’ refers to one who inflicts pain or torment, often in a judicial or punitive context. In the New Testament, it is used metaphorically to describe spiritual or moral torment… “

So the lord turned the unforgiving servant over to literal torturers to be kept locked up AND in pain until he paid all that he owed his lord.

This verse is followed by the chilling warning:

So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.

Matthew 18:35 (WEB).

Once God has shown us his mercy by forgiving our state of rebellion against him and putting us into his service, he does not regard it with favor when we hold onto our claims against our fellow believers. When we judge our fellow believers for their offenses against us and in that way imprison them outside of the reach of our love, mercy and assistance, God hears their cries and the cries of other believers who see the injustice and feel their pain. The Father’s response to this is the same as that of the lord in the parable: he imprisons the unforgiving one and turns them over to the prison torturers. Their pain, their torment, may be physical, emotional, spiritual or moral pain, or a combination of these. But they will remain tormented until they pay all that is due.

But what was due? What exactly did the unforgiving servant owe his lord?

It wasn’t the original, astronomical debt which had already been forgiven:

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

Matthew 18:27 (WEB).

That debt was permanently gone and could not be reinstated.

No, the only thing the unforgiving servant could possibly have owed his lord was the duty to have mercy on his fellow servant, forgive his debt and release him from prison. This would have the effect of returning the second servant to useful service of his lord. In the parable, as in real life, both servants had the same Lord, who represents God. So this was a real duty to the lord of both servants, and created a debt when it wasn’t done.

And the lord turned the unforgiving servant over to the torturers until he performed this duty. He would be released only when he had done it.

He held the key to his own prison!

We will next visit the second servant—the one with the manageable debt to the other servant—in debtors’ prison.