Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 18:25

"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." — Matthew 18:25 (ASV)

The debtor was penniless; he had nothing with which to pay. The creditor took possession of the man, and his lord commanded him to be sold. His wife, his children, and all that he had were also to be sold; but all these combined, when payment was to be made, came to nothing compared with the enormous debt.

The sale of the man and his family was according to the justice of that era and region. The generous lord described here did not hesitate to exact it, and the debtor himself raised no question about the righteousness of the proceeding.

Our Lord does not justify the act of the lord in the story. He simply uses the custom as a part of the scenery of His parable. We may be thankful that the spirit of Christianity has utterly abolished a law which made unoffending children suffer for their father’s default by the loss of their liberties.

The servant was in a sad plight indeed when nothing remained his own, and even his own person was sold away from him. He had nothing with which to pay, yet by royal order, payment was to be made. He was wretched indeed.