AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT
MATTHEW 18:21-35
Does the Father really hand us over to tormentors
when we don’t forgive?
The message of Forgiving Forward is literally changing lives around the world. One of the reasons this message is so powerful is because of the clarity it gives to the consequences of unforgiveness. Central to this clarity is Matthew 18:21-35 where Jesus makes a most shocking statement in answering Peter’s question about how many times we should forgive. Jesus uses a parable, a natural story that teaches supernatural truth, to explain God’s view of forgiveness.
The story is summarized this way: A ruler came to collect debts from slaves who owed him money. The first owed 10,000 talents, the equivalent of 150,000 years of wages (roughly $7.5 billion in today’s economy), which the ruler promptly forgave. The forgiven slave responded by refusing to forgive a second slave who owed him one hundred days of wages ($16,000) by having him thrown in jail. The ruler then summoned the first slave, scolded him for not forgiving the second slave, and then handed him over to the torturers until he forgave the other slave.
Jesus then leaves the pretend story (a significant point) and returns to answering Peter’s question and says, My Heavenly Father will do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive our brother from your heart.
Most scholars agree on the basic telling of the narrative of Matthew 18:21-35. The interpretive challenge revolves around the relationship between verses 34 and 35. There are two basic questions an interpreter needs to resolve in these verses.
First, from the Biblical text itself:
Does the passage clearly teach that if a person chooses not to forgive someone, God will deliver that person to be tormented? This question focuses on the result of unforgiveness, i.e. is there a clear and defined discipline for the sin of unforgiveness?
Second, from the meaning of the Greek word translated
“torment” or “torturers”:
What does this word mean and does its definition and usage in other texts require or leave room for the interpretation that God delivers the unforgiving person to be tormented by demonic forces? This question focuses on the method of discipline the Father may or may not use.
As to the first question, the answer is absolutely and unequivocally yes. Here are a few of the main reasons this is true:
1. Jesus is answering the implied question, “Why should I forgive 70 times 7?” The answer is given at the end of the extended illustration—“If you don’t, the Father will discipline you severely and deliver you over to be tormented until you forgive.” (c.f. Matthew 18:34-35) That is Jesus’ direct answer to the question. While it may appear initially that to forgive that number of times would be impossible, when considering the consequence—considerable pain until I do forgive—it makes all the sense in the world to forgive 490 times! The options are to forgive or remain in a state of painful torment. To separate the interpretation of the last two
verses from the underlying purpose of the passage results in incorrect, or at least incomplete, exegesis and interpretation.
2. Does the passage specifically and undeniably state that the consequence of unforgiveness is that the Father will deliver the person to be tormented until he chooses to forgive? The passage does not leave room for any other interpretation. The logic and wording are clear, direct, and concise. Here’s the NASB, NKJV, and the NIV translations:
NASB
And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.
NKJV
And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.
NIV
In anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.
Each translation makes the connection inseparable:
NASB
And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers ...My heavenly Father will also do the same to you...
NKJV
master...delivered him to the torturers...so My heavenly Father also will do to you...
NIV
master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured...this is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you....
3. To interpret this direct one-to-one comparison (his master/your Father) and (handed him over...to be tortured/this is how my heavenly Father will treat you) any other way is to place one’s preconceived ideas above what Jesus reveals is the actual Biblical result of unforgiveness.
4. Commentaries that support this position include Expositor’s Bible Commentary, NIV The New American Commentary, MacArthur, Ironside.
The second question focuses on the method of discipline the Father may or may not use. Does this passage legitimately teach that the Heavenly Father turns unforgiving individuals over to the “torturers” to be tormented and are the torturers identified with demons? Based on a literal interpretive approach to this passage, it seems reasonable to conclude that the following is clear:
1. There’s little doubt that the Father turns over the unforgiving individual to be tortured. Not only is there strong textual evidence but also numerous commentators hold this view.
2. The torture or torment continues until the person forgives.
3. The result of being “turned over to the torturers” is that the person will experience torment. In other words, there’s no way to escape the torture when you have been delivered over to be tortured. The point of being turned over is to experience the torment—that’s the underlying motivation as to why we must forgive everyone at all times under every circumstance for every offense.
4. In the imagery of this parable, God the Father is the one who corresponds to the ruler. This is an important observation because the text demonstrates that God is the active participant “who delivers” to the torturers rather than the passive responder “who allows” the torment to take place. Too many people think that God “allows” this to happen when the text reveals the exact opposite—God doesn’t simply allow, but rather He acts to “hand him over” or “deliver him to” the torturers or jailers.
5. God the Father declares the person as guilty and directly sentences him by “turning the person over to be tormented.” NKJV: his master...delivered him to the torturers” and NIV: his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured. The purpose of “delivering” and “handing over” is for the sentence to be carried out. God does the “delivering,” but God does not engage in the “tormenting.” This is extremely important to note. God is not an abusive Father; He is a righteous judge. He is judging the sin of unforgiveness. Carson states, “Jesus sees no incongruity in the actions of a Heavenly Father who forgives so bountifully and punishes so ruthlessly, and neither should we.”
6. This leads to a very important observation: In this passage, the Father does not torture/torment the unforgiving person. There’s a very clear and critical separation. The ruler is not the jailor; the ruler is not the agent of the torture. Correspondingly, God does not directly punish the person for unforgiveness but sentences the person. The Father delivers the person to the “jailors” (NIV) or “torturers” (NASB, NKJV) for the purpose of the sentence being carried out.
7. Thayer describes “the jailer” as the person who had “the business of torture assigned to him. ”16 This passage, however, uses the plural. This means that those who are assigned the responsibility of torture are a group of individuals. If this were not true, then the passage would read that the Father would deliver to the torturer or jailor (singular). In this passage, there is one guilty person but more than one torturer. This indicates that there was a group of individuals at the time of Jesus who worked in the prisons for the purpose of tormenting those sentenced.
8. The jailers were not free to indiscriminately torture anyone they wanted to torture. They only had the authority to torment those handed over to them after being sentenced. If they tortured anyone who had not been handed over to them, they could be convicted and sentenced themselves. But if the judge “handed someone over to them,” they were immune from prosecution because they had the legal authority given them by the ruler to administer the discipline. The authority was not absolute, nor did it mean that the jailer “owned” the prisoner. It simply meant that the jailer had the authority to torment the unforgiving servant until the judge rescinded the order.
9. Since the method of the torture is not prescribed by the ruler, by implication, the jailors are then free to decide how to effectively carry out the torment based upon the situation but within the boundaries established by the ruler. When God “delivered” Job to Satan and his angels (even though Job was blameless), God clearly placed restrictions on how far they could go in afflicting Job. Based on Job and other Old Testament passages, it appears that the demonic host is free to exercise their “torture,” “judgment,” or “discipline” in any way that they so choose within God’s specific boundaries.
10. Judgment and discipline in the Bible are delivered through a variety of agents, including the government, parents, prophets, apostles, disciples, angels, demons, priests, nations, enemies, etc. In other words, God uses a whole range of “agents who deliver torment,” including demons, but is certainly not limited to demons.
11. The word basanistais (torturers) is used, in various forms, 18 times in the New Testament. Sixteen of the other seventeen usages are associated with either hell or demonic activity. The common uses of this word would seem to indicate that associating this passage with demonic activity is, at least, a distinct possibility, if not a probability.
It’s my theological perspective that the particular sin of unforgiveness is one of the most severely disciplined sins a believer can commit. This discipline is the consequence of the person continuing in the rebellious sin of unforgiveness. The sin of unforgiveness is the legal basis, in the spiritual dimension, for torment to commence and to continue. The Father’s sentence is only given because His forgiven child has committed the sin of unforgiveness. However, when the unforgiving one chooses to repent and forgive, the discipline ends and the Father tells the tormentors to cease.
People are always best served when we emphasize that what Christ did on the Cross is more important to God than what others do to us. God is gracious and loving, but He is also a righteous Judge who demands honor for Himself and for the work of His Son on the Cross. He is angered when the crowning achievement of His son is devalued by the ones He achieved it for.
To summarize: God expects forgiven people to forgive others, so much so that He connects His forgiveness to ours. God gives legal authority to demonic forces to torment us when we don’t forgive, and He rescinds that authority when we choose to forgive. The reason He disciplines unforgiveness this harshly is because the blood of Jesus covers all sin, including the ones committed against me.