Was moved with compassion. — The teaching of the parable deals tenderly even with that impotent effort at justification. It touches the heart of the “lord of that servant,” and is met with more than it asked for — not with patience and long-suffering only, but with the pity that forgives freely. The sinner is absolved, and the vast debt which he could never pay is forgiven freely. So far as he believes his Lord’s assurance, he is now “justified by faith.”
Forgave him the debt. — The Greek noun in this case expresses a debt contracted through a loan, and in the interpretation of the parable suggests a thought like that in the parables of the Pounds, the Talents, and the Unjust Steward. What we call our own — life, with all its opportunities — is really lent to us, and God requires repayment with interest.