This is a chapter that needs no explanation; it carries its key within itself, and the experience of every child of God is the best exposition of it. The three parables recorded here set forth the work of saving grace in different aspects.
Luke 15:1-2. Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
The Pharisees and scribes formed the outside ring of Christ's hearers, but the inner circle consisted of the guilty, the heavy-laden, and the lowly. They pressed as near to Christ as they could, that they might catch his every word; and besides, there was an attractiveness about his manner that drew them towards him. His mercy attracted their misery. They wanted him, and he desired them; they were thus well met. There will be an inner circle tonight when the gospel is preached, and it will not consist of the self-righteous. They that are full will not press to the table on which the gospel feast is spread, the hungry will be found nearest to the heavenly provision.
Luke 15:3. And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
There are three parables here; but, inasmuch as it is called «this parable», it is really only one. It is a picture in three panels, representing the same scene from different points of view.
Luke 15:4. What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
It has a new importance in his eyes, for it is lost. Before, it was only one of a hundred in the fold; but now it is one distinct and separate from all the rest, and the shepherd's thought is fixed upon it.
Luke 15:5-6. And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
No doubt he was glad that the other sheep were not lost; but that joy was, for a while, quite eclipsed in the more striking and vivid joy over the one which had been lost.
Luke 15:7. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
If such there be,Вѕand there are many who think that they belong to this class,Вѕthey bring no joy to the great Shepherd; but you who have had to mourn over your lost estate set the bells of heaven ringing with a new melody when you are recovered by the great Redeemer. The first of these three parables may he said to represent salvation in reference to the work of the Son of God as the great Seeker and Saver of the souls of men. In the second, we have a representation of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church of God.
Luke 15:8. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
Her thoughts were all concerning that one lost piece. It had not more intrinsic value than the rest, but being lost it called off her attention from the other nine. She valued it, and for the hope of finding it she lighted a candle, swept the house, and sought diligently till she found it. This is a picture of the Holy Spirit's work in seeking for lost souls. They bear the King's impress, they are coins of the realm. This woman knew that the silver coin was not far away, so she swept the house, and sought diligently, using all her eyes, devoting all her time to this one object, quitting all other avocations until she found it.
Luke 15:9. And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
She might never have called them together to rejoice that she had ten pieces of silver, she might even have hidden them away; and the joy she had in them might have been only her own, a solitary joy; but now that one piece had been lost, and had been found again, she says, «Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.»
Luke 15:10. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Not joy among the angels, as some read it, though no doubt that is a truth; but «joy in the presence of the angels of God;» and what can that mean but that God himself rejoices, and rejoices so that angels perceive it; and no doubt they then join in the delight? But all this points out that it is the lost one that is the great object of consideration, that out of any congregation where the gospel is preached, it is the lost one who is the most important person in the whole place. In the next verses, we get the Father's part in the work of the recovery of the wanderer.
Luke 15:11-13. 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. His heart was far away when he asked his father to give him his portion; and now his body is far away as he goes into the outward wandering which follows after the inner wandering.
Luke 15:14. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land;
There generally does arise» a mighty famine» in such cases. Famines and other miseries are God's messengers, which he sends after his wandering children.
Luke 15:14. And he began to be in want.
This was a new sensation to him; he had never known it when he was at home. He did not know it in his first boisterous days away from his father's house, but now «he began to be in want.»
Luke 15:16. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Perhaps he did not want to employ him, but said that he would give him that occupation if he cared to accept it. It was small pay, very dishonouring work to a Jew, not fit employment for the son of a nobleman; yet «half a loaf is better than no bread,» so he took it, though even the half loaf must have been a very small one.
Luke 15:16. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Such a thing as generosity was not known in that country. His companions could share his riches when he was living riotously, but they will not share their riches now that he is in his poverty.
Luke 15:17. 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!
«My father's day-labourers have bread enough and to spare, yet I, his child, perish with hunger.»
Luke 15:18-19. 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 as one of thy hired servants.
You notice that this last part of the prayer he never did pray; for it was stopped by his father's love. There was a legalism about it naturally suggested by his own despair, but it was not such as his father would tolerate.
Luke 15:20-21. 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.
There comes an interruption there; the kiss upon his lips stops the rest of the prayer, which he had prepared, and now the father declares his will concerning the wanderer.
Luke 15:22-24. 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.
I have never read that they left off being merry, for the conversion of a soul is enough to make eternal joy in the hearts of the righteous.
Luke 15:26 ; Luke 15:26. 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.
This was a new thing, and apparently a thing that he did not care much about. How had it come to pass that there was such noise, such joy?
Luke 15:27-28. 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 treated him.
I hardly know which to admire most, the love of the father when he fell upon the neck of the prodigal, or the love of the father when he went out to talk with his elder son: «Therefore came his father out, and treated him.» Oh, our God is very good to us when we give way to naughty tempers! If we begin to think that we are very holy people, that we have been long the servants of God, and that there ought to he some little fuss made over us as well as over great sinners that come into the church, then our Father is very gentle, and he comes out and entreats us.
Luke 15:29. 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:
«I have had no banquets. I have kept at home, a patient worker, and have had no extraordinary joys.» I know some Christian workers who are very much in this condition. They keep on and on and on in holy service, and they do well; but they seldom have great entertainment's of high joy and unspeakable delight. It is their own fault, and it is a thousand pities that they do not have them, for they might have them if they would. There is a tendency to grow so absorbed in service, like Martha, that we are cumbered by it; and we do not have the joy of Mary in communion at the Master's feet. I am sure that this elder son was out of fellowship with his father, or else he would not have talked as he did. We are all apt to get into such a condition. See to it, ye who work for Jesus, that it is not so with you. Then the elder brother went on to say,Вѕ
Luke 15:30. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
I do not read that the prodigal had devoured his father's living with harlots; that is the elder brother's version of it. I dare say that it was true, but it is always a pity to give the roughest interpretation to things. He had spent his substance «in riotous living.» When we are cross, we generally use the ugliest words we can; we may think that we are speaking forcibly, but indeed we are speaking naughtily, and not as our Father would have us speak.
Luke 15:31. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
Oh, what a word was that! How it reminds Christians of their privileges, if they would but appropriate them! It is yours, beloved, to live always with your God, and to know that all that he has is yours. You ought to live in a perpetual festival; for you there should be one joyful Christmastide that lasts from the beginning of the year to the end of it: «Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.»
Luke 15:32. 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.
It was the fit thing, and the proper thing, and the right thing, that there should be extraordinary joy over a returning sinner. There ought to he, there must be, there shall be, special music and dancing over sinners saved by the grace of God. The Lord give us some such tonight, and make us glad over them! Amen.