LUKE 15:11-3211And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 25Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him. 29And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (Luke 15:11‑32).
Verses 11-24. “And He said: A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father: ` Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.' And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself he said: ` How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son, make me one of thy hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.' But the father said to his servants: Bring forth the best robe and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to be merry.”
IF any proof were required that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" I believe this chapter affords abundant evidence. It stands unique, towering in magnificence and beauty, pre-eminent above all human composition, ancient or modern. We have in these parables Divine grace in trinity of action and fullness of joy—a threefold provision for sinner, backslider, and child of God.
In the opening parable the grace of the Son of God, the Good Shepherd seeking the lost sheep, appears. In the next the grace of the Divine, Eternal Spirit, in and through the Church, is shown in recovering the lost, and the joy of that recovery. In the third the grace of the Eternal Father is seen in a picture drawn with a master-hand, as He alone could who was the well-beloved Son, and painted by the Eternal Spirit, who searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God.
We may look at this parable from a threefold point of view.
1st. As it would appear to an EVANGELIST, who is sent out "into all the world" to preach the Gospel "to every creature." Here the universal Fatherhood of God, as Creator, is recognized, for He is the Father of spirits, and "we are His offspring" (Acts 17:2828For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts 17:28)). Dispensationally, the elder son is the Jew, or he may be looked at as the type of the moral and religious man, the one who kept the clean side of the broad road—the Pharisee. The younger son may be regarded as the Gentile, or the sinner gone, more or less, into deeper degradation, and to remoter lengths of sin and profanity, at length come to himself, awakening to a sense of his position. This is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing him to see his real condition in the sight of God, convicting of sin, righteousness, and of a judgment to come. Now the remembrance of what he had lost, and his ruin, is pressed home to his heart; he had been like Jonah-down, down; but he takes the first upward step, he takes with him words, and the Spirit teaches him to pray: "I have sinned," but I will call him" Father." There are many ways on the downward road that leadeth to destruction—many by-paths—but there is only one way back to God, to be entered by" the wicket gate. "Jesus has said:" I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”
HOW WAS HE RECEIVED?
The woman in the second parable puts the recovered piece of silver, some would tell us, among the coins as a diadem of grace around her BROW. The shepherd puts the lost sheep, when found, upon his SHOULDERS—the place of power. But the father folds him to his BOSOM—the climax of grace, the climax of love.
In this picture the canvas glows with warmest tints; the Spirit lays them on lavishly. There are the robe, the ring, and the shoes on the feet; the fatted calf, the feast, and the beginning of joy—which joy rises higher and higher till it reaches the throne of God, continuing throughout eternity.
2nd. The PASTOR'S view. Here the prodigal is looked at as one in the family, but wandering from the father's house—the backslider, the one who has tasted that the Lord is gracious, but gone after the husks; left the father's house and family, the society of saints, to dabble in the world's dirty waters, to better himself in the far-off land, to try what the citizen of that country can do for him. But the gentle, dove-like Spirit whispers: "What doest thou here, Elijah?" You, a child of God, how cattiest thou here? Oh, the deep conviction; the penitential tears that flow! He sighs:
"What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still;
But they have left an aching void
Not all the world can fill.
“Return, O holy Dove! return,
Sweet Messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn,
And drove Thee from my breast.”
To such the language of Scripture is especially encouraging: "Take with you words and turn to Jehovah; say unto Him: Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously.'" To which the Father replies: "I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely" (Hosea 14:2, 42Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. (Hosea 14:2)
4I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. (Hosea 14:4)). There is a warm welcome from the family awaiting the return of such, and a deeper realization than ever before of the privileges, comforts, and joys of home, 3rd. The aspect in which the TEACHER may regard this parable. To him the prodigal son may be considered as one who, though instructed in the way of truth, and whose outward character and conduct is irreproachable, has never learned, by experience, under Divine teaching the hidden evils of his heart, and the tendency of his nature to go astray from God. He needs, it may be, some painful experience, some protracted trial, some walking in darkness without any light, in order to bring him to a due sense of what he really is in the sight of God. It is Job's experience over again. As in the case of Job, Satan may be challenged: "Hast thou considered my servant Job?" He himself may be unconscious of iniquity, but the Spirit of God comes and does a deeper work, reminding us of John Newton's hymn:
“I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and hope, and every grace,”
expecting to be led on in peace;
“Instead of this He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart,”
But, brought like Job at length to the dust, he no longer holds fast to his integrity. The Holy Spirit turns the concave mirror of the sacred Word in full light on his soul, and that God who shines out of darkness sends a ray of light into it. What does he discover? Oh, the hardness of heart! The revelation of the Spirit showing the matchless Son of God, convinces him how far he has fallen short of conformity to Him. He now says: "I have heard of Thee with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Though I might have been kept from outward transgression, I am nothing but sin in myself; this will of mine is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be.
When the Eternal Spirit is thus dealing with the soul, showing him his sins in the light of the Divine countenance, he will not say with the elder son: "I have been perfect all these years;" but rather he will say: "Father, I have sinned. Oh, reveal Thy Son in me, and by Thy Spirit's mighty power, on the ruins of self, establish Thy kingdom of joy and love Divine." To him the Lord Jesus will not only be the way back to the Father from the far-off land, or the door into the sheep fold, but the way into the sanctuary, where, in the light of the lampstand, he may feed on the showbread and worship at the golden altar. But more, He will be to him the new and living way into the holiest of all, where, under the shadow of the Almighty and in the secret place of the Most High, he may feed on the hidden manna and drink at the fountain-head of the river of His pleasures—a foretaste of everlasting joy.
In verses 22, 23 we have a word to the SERVANTS. "The father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry.' '' There are servants in the household still who need to hear the word from the Master of the household and Father of the family, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him." Show the believer his privileges as child of God and heir of eternal glory. "Put it on him." He may not have faith to appropriate these blessings unto himself. Make him know clearly and distinctly they belong to him, and that he is at full liberty to take home to his heart all the consolation and the joy. Put on his finger the signet-ring, and see to it that his feet are shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace to spread the glad tidings far and wide. "Bring hither the fatted calf"—into the presence of the Father, and into the midst of His family, as the sacrifices under the law were brought before Jehovah, and to the door of the tent of the congregation, where the people were assembled. Present Jesus to the eye as the fatted calf in all His life-long service, and in all His suitability for sacrifice. "Kill it." Present Him in His sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary. "Let us eat and be merry." Marvelous words! At the Passover the father of the family sat at the table, and partook of the feast with them. In the peace-offering God the Father had His portion; the fat of the inwards was the food of the offering made by fire unto Jehovah—the sweet savor or savor of rest unto God. Aaron and the priestly family had their portion—the heave shoulder and wave breast—while the offerer who presented it fed upon the rest, thus setting forth fellowship together in joy and peace on the ground of the atonement and reconciliation. The Father invites His family to have fellowship with Himself in the joy of grace, and in the foretaste of eternal joys to come.
Verses 25-32. "Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him: ' Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hath received him safe and sound.' And he was angry and would not go in, therefore came his father out and entreated him. And he answering, said to his father: Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment, and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends; but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.' And he said unto him Son [child], thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine; it was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.'”
In like manner this portion of the parable may be regarded in three aspects. First, That of the EVANGELIST, who would naturally speak of the elder son as an unconverted man, or a self-righteous, religious Pharisee, occupied, it may be, with externals, but having little fellowship with what is going on within the household.
In the second place the PASTOR might regard the elder son as a consistent professor of religion; irreproachable in walk and conversation, active and diligent in outward services, and though undoubtedly a child of God, yet lacking in sympathy with earnest efforts for the conversion of sinners, and the reclaiming of the wanderers.
In the third place, to the TEACHER there is something inexpressibly tender in the earnest entreaties of the Father who has gone out to bring His child into closer communion with Himself and into fuller fellowship with His gracious and loving heart. The Father acknowledges his relationship as His Son or child, and also the closeness of His walk with God, "Child, thou art ever with me." Also the riches of his inheritance, "And all that I have is thine,”
It is true that the Father gives no encouragement for party and sectarian enjoyment out of the presence of God, and apart from the whole household of faith. For those that would thus make merry with their own friends not even is a kid provided. But where, under the leading of the Spirit of God, there is a desire "to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of love Divine, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge," for such the feast of love Divine is provided, that, filled with all the fullness of God, there might be a commencement in time of the realization of those eternal joys which are at God's right hand for evermore. If so, we may add to this last portion of the parable the words, "And they began to be merry.”