And when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He seized him, was choking him, and said, “Pay me what you owe me.”
Although he had just been forgiven an enormous, almost limitless debt, as soon as the servant went out he met a fellow servant who owed him a comparatively small amount, a hundred denarii. He not only does not act with mercy, but does the opposite: with cruelty he seizes him and even resorts to physical violence, choking him and demanding full repayment. A hundred denarii was about several months’ wages, that is, a payable, realistic debt. This behavior shows that the first servant did not truly grasp the mercy he had received. Forgiveness had not deeply changed his heart. This exposes the danger of false, superficial repentance, when a person rejoices at receiving forgiveness but does not live in the light of that forgiveness and does not pass it on to others.