FROM THE TWO verses that open this chapter, it would seem that these words about grace and discipleship drew the publicans and sinners toward Him, while repelling the Pharisees and scribes. He did indeed receive sinners and eat with them: such action is according to the very nature of grace. The Pharisees flung out the remark as a taunt. The Lord accepted it as a compliment, and proceeded by parables to show that He not only received sinners but positively sought them, and also to demonstrate what kind of reception sinners get when they are received.
First the parable of the lost sheep. Here we see in the shepherd a picture of the Lord Himself. The ninety and nine, who represent the Pharisee and scribe class, were left not in the fold but in the wilderness—a place of barrenness and death. The one sheep that was lost represents the publican and sinner class; those who are lost, and know it—the “sinner that repenteth” (ch. 15:7). The Shepherd finds the sheep; the labor and toil is His. Having found it, He secures it and brings it home. His shoulders become its security. He brings it home, and then His joy begins. Never does He have to say, “Sorrow with Me, for I have lost My sheep which was found.”
It is impossible to find on earth the “ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance,” (ch. 15:7) though sadly easy to find ninety and nine who imagine themselves to be such. Yet if they could be found there is more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than there could be over them. All the myriads of holy angels in heaven have never caused such joy as one repentant sinner. What astounding grace this is!
The parable of the lost piece of silver pursues the same general theme, but with a few special details. The woman with her operations in the house represents the subjective work of the Spirit in the souls of men, rather than the objective work of Christ. The Spirit lights a candle within the dark heart and creates the disturbance which ends in the finding of the silver. The joy is here said to be in the presence of the angels; that is, it is not the joy of the angels but of the Godhead, before whom they stand. .
Then follows the parable of the “prodigal son.” The opening words are very significant. The Lord had been saying, “What man of you... doth not... go after?” (ch. 15:4). “What woman... doth not... seek diligently?” (ch. 15:8). He could not now say, “What man of you,” (ch. 15:4) if he have a prodigal son and he returns, will not “run and fall on his neck and kiss him”? We doubt if any man would go to the lengths of the father of this parable: the great majority of men certainly would not. This parable sets forth the grace of God the Father. Once more it is a picture of the sinner who repents, and we are now permitted to see in parabolic form the depths from which the sinner is raised, and the heights to which he is lifted according to the Father’s heart, by the Gospel.
In the best robe we see the symbol of our acceptance in the Beloved: in the ring the symbol of an eternal relationship established: in the shoes the sign of sonship, for servants entered the houses of their masters with bare feet. The fatted calf and the merriment set forth the gladness of heaven and the Father’s joy in particular. The son had been dead morally and spiritually but now he was as one risen into a new life.
If the younger son pictures the repentant sinner, the elder son accurately represents the spirit of the Pharisee. The one was hungry and went in: the other was angry and stayed out. The arrival of grace always divides men into these two classes—those who know they are worthy of nothing, and those who imagine themselves to be worthy of more than they have got. Said the elder son, “Thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends” (ch. 15:29). So he too found his society and pleasure in a circle of friends outside his father’s circle. The only difference was in the character of the friends—the younger son’s were disreputable, while his presumably, were respectable. The self-righteous religionist is no more in real communion with the heart of the Father than is the prodigal; and he ends up null outside while the prodigal is brought within.
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