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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
L U K E.
CHAP. XV.
Evil manners, we say, beget good laws; so, in this chapter, the
murmuring of the scribes and Pharisees at the grace of Christ, and the
favour he showed to publicans and sinners, gave occasion for a more
full discovery of that grace than perhaps otherwise we should have had
in these three parables which we have in this chapter, the scope of all
of which is the same, to show, not only what God had said and sworn in
the Old Testament, that he had no pleasure in the death and ruin of
sinners, but that he had great pleasure in their return and repentance,
and rejoices in the gracious entertainment he gives them thereupon.
Here is,
I. The offence which the Pharisees took at Christ for conversing with
heathen men and publicans, and preaching his gospel to them,
II. His justifying himself in it, by the design and proper tendency of
it, which with many had been the effect of it, and that was, the
bringing of them to repent and reform their lives, than which there
could not be a more pleasing and acceptable service done to God, which
he shows in the parables,
1. Of the lost sheep that was brought home with joy,
2. Of the lost silver that was found with joy,
3. Of the lost son that had been a prodigal, but returned to his
father’s house, and was received with great joy, though his elder
brother, like these scribes and Pharisees, was offended at it,
| The Lost Sheep and Piece of Silver. |
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1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to
hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man
receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
4 What man of you, having a 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?
5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.
6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends
and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have
found my sheep which was lost.
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.
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?
9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and
her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have
found the piece which I had lost.
10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of
the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Here is,
I. The diligent attendance of the publicans and sinners upon Christ’s
ministry. Great multitudes of Jews went with him
(ch. xiv. 25),
with such an assurance of admission into the kingdom of God that he
found it requisite to say that to them which would shake their vain
hopes. Here multitudes of publicans and sinners drew near
to him, with a humble modest fear of being rejected by him, and
to them he found it requisite to give encouragement, especially because
there were some haughty supercilious people that frowned upon them. The
publicans, who collected the tribute paid to the Romans,
were perhaps some of them bad men, but they were all
industriously put into an ill name, because of the prejudices of
the Jewish nation against their office. They are sometimes ranked with
harlots
here and elsewhere with sinners, such as were openly vicious,
that traded with harlots, known rakes. Some think that the
sinners here meant were heathen, and that Christ was now
on the other side Jordan, or in Galilee of the Gentiles. These
drew near, when perhaps the multitude of the Jews that had
followed him had (upon his discourse in the close of the foregoing
chapter) dropped off; thus afterwards the Gentiles took their
turn in hearing the apostles, when the Jews had rejected them. They
drew near to him, being afraid of drawing nearer than just to come
within hearing. They drew near to him, not, as some did, to
solicit for cures, but to hear his excellent doctrine. Note, in all our
approaches to Christ we must have this in our eye, to hear him;
to hear the instructions he gives us, and his answers to our
prayers.
II. The offence which the scribes and Pharisees took at
this. They murmured, and turned it to the reproach of our Lord
Jesus: This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them,
v. 2.
1. They were angry that publicans and heathens had the
means of grace allowed them, were called to repent, and encouraged to
hope for pardon upon repentance; for they looked upon their case as
desperate, and thought that none but Jews had the privilege of
repenting and being pardoned, though the prophets preached repentance
to the nations, and Daniel particularly to Nebuchadnezzar.
2. They thought it a disparagement to Christ, and inconsistent with the
dignity of his character, to make himself familiar with such sort of
people, to admit them into his company and to eat with
them. They could not, for shame, condemn him for preaching to
them, though that was the thing they were most enraged at; and
therefore they reproached him for eating with them, which was
more expressly contrary to the tradition of the elders. Censure will
fall, not only upon the most innocent and the most excellent
persons, but upon the most innocent and most excellent
actions, and we must not think it strange.
III. Christ’s justifying himself in it, by showing that the worse these
people were, to whom he preached, the more glory would redound to God,
and the more joy there would be in heaven, if by his preaching they
were brought to repentance. It would be a more pleasing sight in heaven
to see Gentiles brought to the worship of the true God than to see Jews
go on in it, and to see publicans and sinners live an orderly sort of
life than to see scribes and Pharisees go on in living
such a life. This he here illustrates by two parables, the explication
of both of which is the same.
1. The parable of the lost sheep. Something like it we had in
There it was designed to show the care God takes for the preservation
of saints, as a reason why we should not offend them; here it is
designed to show the pleasure God takes in the conversion of sinners,
as a reason why we should rejoice in it. We have here,
(1.) The case of a sinner that goes on in sinful ways. He is like a
lost sheep, a sheep gone astray; he is lost to
God, who has not the honour and service he should have from him;
lost to the flock, which has not communion with him; lost
to himself: he knows not where he is, wanders endlessly, is continually
exposed to the beasts of prey, subject to frights and terrors, from
under the shepherd’s care, and wanting the green pastures; and he
cannot of himself find the way back to the fold.
(2.) The care the God of heaven takes of poor wandering sinners. He
continues his care of the sheep that did not go astray; they are
safe in the wilderness. But there is a particular care to be
taken of this lost sheep; and though he has a hundred sheep, a
considerable flock, yet he will not lose that one, but he
goes after it, and shows abundance of care,
[1.] In finding it out. He follows it, enquiring after it, and
looking about for it, until he finds it. God follows
backsliding sinners with the calls of his word and the strivings of his
Spirit, until at length they are wrought upon to think of returning.
[2.] In bringing it home. Though he finds it weary, and
perhaps worried and worn away with its wanderings, and not able
to bear being driven home, yet he does not leave it to perish, and say,
It is not wroth carrying home; but lays it on his shoulders,
and, with a great deal of tenderness and labour, brings it to the fold.
This is very applicable to the great work of our redemption. Mankind
were gone astray,
The value of the whole race to God was not so much as that of one sheep
to him that had a hundred; what loss would it have been to God if they
had all been left to perish? There is a world of holy angels that are
as the ninety-nine sheep, a noble flock; yet God sends his Son to
seek and save that which was lost,
ch. xix. 10.
Christ is said to gather the lambs in his arms, and carry
them in his bosom, denoting his pity and tenderness towards poor
sinners; here he is said to bear them upon his shoulders,
denoting the power wherewith he supports and bears them up; those can
never perish whom he carries upon his shoulders.
(3.) The pleasure that God takes in repenting returning sinners. He
lays it on his shoulders rejoicing that he has not lost his
labour in seeking; and the joy is the greater because he began to be
out of hope of finding it; and he calls his friends and
neighbours, the shepherds that keep their flocks about him,
saying, Rejoice with me. Perhaps among the pastoral songs which
the shepherds used to sing there was one for such an occasion as this,
of which these words might be the burden, Rejoice with me, for I
have found my sheep which was lost; whereas they never sung,
Rejoice with me, for I have lost none. Observe, he calls it
his sheep, though a stray, a wandering sheep. He has a
right to it (all souls are mine), and he will claim his own, and
recover his right; therefore he looks after it himself: I have found
it; he did not send a servant, but his own Son, the great and good
Shepherd, who will find what he seeks, and will be found of those that
seek him not.
2. The parable of the lost piece of silver.
(1.) The loser is here supposed to be a woman, who will
more passionately grieve for her loss, and rejoice in finding what she
had lost, than perhaps a man would do, and therefore it the better
serves the purpose of the parable. She has ten pieces of silver,
and out of them loses only one. Let this keep up in us high thoughts of
the divine goodness, notwithstanding the sinfulness and misery of the
world of mankind, that there are nine to one, nay, in the foregoing
parable there are ninety-nine to one, of God’s creation, that retain
their integrity, in whom God is praised, and never was
dishonoured. O the numberless beings, for aught we know numberless
worlds of beings, that never were lost, nor stepped aside from the laws
and ends of their creation!
(2.) That which is lost is a piece of silver,
drachmen—the fourth part of a shekel. The soul is
silver, of intrinsic worth and value; not base metal, as iron or
lead, but silver, the mines of which are royal mines. The
Hebrew word for silver is taken from the desirableness of
it. It is silver coin, for so the drachma was; it is
stamped with God’s image and superscription, and therefore must
be rendered to him. Yet it is comparatively but of small value;
it was but seven pence half-penny; intimating that if sinful men be
left to perish God would be no loser. This silver was lost in the
dirt; a soul plunged in the world, and overwhelmed with the love of
it and care about it, is like a piece of money in the dirt; any one
would say, It is a thousand pities that it should lie there.
(3.) Here is a great deal of care and pains taken in quest of it. The
woman lights a candle, to look behind the door, under the table,
and in every corner of the house, sweeps the house, and seeks
diligently till she finds it. This represents the various means and
methods God makes use of to bring lost souls home to himself: he has
lighted the candle of the gospel, not to show himself the way to
us, but to show us the way to him, to discover us to ourselves; he has
swept the house by the convictions of the word; he seeks
diligently, his heart is upon it, to bring lost souls to himself.
(4.) Here is a great deal of joy for the finding of it: Rejoice with
me, for I have found the piece which I had lost,
v. 9.
Those that rejoice desire that others should rejoice with them; those
that are merry would have others merry with them. She was glad that she
had found the piece of money, though she should spend it in
entertaining those whom she called to make merry with her. The
pleasing surprise of finding it put her, for the present, into a kind
of transport, heureka, heureka—I have found, I have
found, is the language of joy.
3. The explication of these two parables is to the same purport
(v. 7, 10):
There is joy in heaven, joy in the presence of the angels of God,
over one sinner that repenteth, as those publicans and sinners did,
some of them at least (and, if but one of them did repent,
Christ would reckon it worth his while), more than over a great
number of just persons, who need no repentance. Observe,
(1.) The repentance and conversion of sinners on earth
are matter of joy and rejoicing in heaven. It is possible
that the greatest sinners may be brought to repentance. While there is
life there is hope, and the worst are not to be despaired of; and the
worst of sinners, if they repent and turn, shall find mercy. Yet this
is not all,
[1.] God will delight to show them mercy, will reckon their
conversion a return for all the expense he has been at upon them. There
is always joy in heaven. God rejoiceth in all his works,
but particularly in the works of his grace. He rejoiceth to do good to
penitent sinners, with his whole heart and his whole
soul. He rejoiceth not only in the conversion of churches and
nations, but even over one sinner that repenteth, though but
one.
[2.] The good angels will be glad that mercy is shown them, so far are
they from repining at it, though those of their nature that sinned be
left to perish, and no mercy shown to them; though those sinners that
repent, that are so mean, and have been so vile, are, upon their
repentance, to be taken into communion with them, and shortly to be
made like them, and equal to them. The conversion of sinners is the joy
of angels, and they gladly become ministering spirits to them for their
good, upon their conversion. The redemption of mankind was matter of
joy in the presence of the angels; for they sung, Glory to God in
the highest,
ch. ii. 14.
(2.) There is more joy over one sinner that repenteth, and
turneth to be religious from a course of life that had been notoriously
vile and vicious, than there is over ninety-nine just persons, who
need no repentance.
[1.] More joy for the redemption and salvation of fallen man than for
the preservation and confirmation of the angels that stand, and did
indeed need no repentance.
[2.] More joy for the conversion of the sinners of the Gentiles, and of
those publicans that now heard Christ preach, than for all the praises
and devotions, and all the God I thank thee, of the Pharisees,
and the other self-justifying Jews, who though that they needed no
repentance, and that therefore God should abundantly rejoice in
them, and make his boast of them, as those that were most his
honour; but Christ tells them that it was quite otherwise, that God
was more praised in, and pleased with, the penitent
broken heart of one of those despised, envied sinners, than all the
long prayers which the scribes and Pharisees made, who could not see
any thing amiss in themselves. Nay,
[3.] More joy for the conversion of one such great sinner, such a
Pharisee as Paul had been in his time, than for the regular conversion
of one that had always conducted himself decently and well, and
comparatively needs no repentance, needs not such a universal
change of the life as those great sinners need. Not but that it is best
not to go astray; but the grace of God, both in the power and the pity
of that grace, is more manifested in the reducing of great
sinners than in the conducting of those that never went astray.
And many times those that have been great sinners before their
conversion prove more eminently and zealously good after, of which Paul
is an instance, and therefore in him God was greatly glorified,
Gal. i. 24.
They to whom much is forgiven will love much. It is spoken after the
manner of men. We are moved with a more sensible joy for the recovery
of what we had lost than for the continuance of what we had always
enjoyed, for health out of sickness than for health
without sickness. It is as life from the dead. A
constant course of religion may in itself be more valuable, and yet a
sudden return from an evil course and way of sin may yield a more
surprising pleasure. Now if there is such joy in heaven, for the
conversion of sinners, then the Pharisees were very much strangers to a
heavenly spirit, who did all they could to hinder it and were grieved
at it, and who were exasperated at Christ when he was doing a piece of
work that was of all others most grateful to Heaven.
| The Prodigal Son. |
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11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 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.
13 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.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in
that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country;
and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that
the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
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!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one
of thy hired servants.
20 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.
21 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.
22 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:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us
eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost,
and is found. And they began to be merry.
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew
nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these
things meant.
27 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.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his
father out, and intreated him.
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:
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.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all
that I have is thine.
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.
We have here the parable of the prodigal son, the scope of which is the
same with those before, to show how pleasing to God the conversion of
sinners is, of great sinners, and how ready he is to receive and
entertain such, upon their repentance; but the circumstances of the
parable do much more largely and fully set forth the riches of gospel
grace than those did, and it has been, and will be while the world
stands, of unspeakable use to poor sinners, both to direct and to
encourage them in repenting and returning to God. Now,
I. The parable represents God as a common Father to all mankind,
to the whole family of Adam. We are all his offspring, have all
one Father, and one God created us,
Mal. ii. 10.
From him we had our being, in him we still have
it, and from him we receive our maintenance. He is our
Father, for he has the educating and portioning of
us, and will put us in his testament, or leave us out,
according as we are, or are not, dutiful children to him. Our Saviour
hereby intimates to those proud Pharisees that these publicans and
sinners, whom they thus despised, were their brethren, partakers of the
same nature, and therefore they ought to be glad of any kindness shown
them. God is the God, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles,
(Rom. iii. 29):
the same Lord over all, that is rich in mercy to all that call upon
him.
II. It represents the children of men as of different
characters, though all related to God as their common Father. He had
two sons, one of them a solid grave youth, reserved and
austere, sober himself, but not at all good-humoured to
those about him; such a one would adhere to his education, and not be
easily drawn from it; but the other volatile and
mercurial, and impatient of restraint, roving, and willing to
try his fortune, and, if he fall into ill hands, likely to be a rake,
notwithstanding his virtuous education. Now this latter represents the
publicans and sinners, whom Christ is endeavouring to bring to
repentance, and the Gentiles, to whom the apostles were to be sent
forth to preach repentance. The former represents the Jews in
general, and particularly the Pharisees, whom he was endeavouring to
reconcile to that grace of God which was offered to, and bestowed upon,
sinners.
The younger son is the prodigal, whose character and case are
here designed to represent that of a sinner, that of every one of us in
our natural state, but especially of some. Now we are to observe
concerning him,
1. His riot and ramble when he was a prodigal, and the
extravagances and miseries he fell into. We are told,
(1.) What his request to his father was
(v. 12):
He said to his father, proudly and pertly enough, “Father,
give me“–he might have put a little more in his mouth, and have
said, Pray give me, or, Sir, if you please, give me, but
he makes an imperious demand–“give me the portion of goods that
falleth to me; not so much as you think fit to allot to me,
but that which falls to me as my due.” Note, It is bad, and the
beginning of worse, when men look upon God’s gifts as debts. “Give
me the portion, all my child’s part, that falls to me;” not,
“Try me with a little, and see how I can manage that, and
accordingly trust me with more;” but, “Give it me all at present
in possession, and I will never expect any thing in reversion,
any thing hereafter.” Note, The great folly of sinners, and that
which ruins them, is being content to have their portion in
hand, now in this lifetime to receive their good things.
They look only at the things that are seen, that are temporal, and
covet only a present gratification, but have no care for a future
felicity, when that is spent and gone. And why did he desire to have
his portion in his own hands? Was it that he might apply himself to
business, and trade with it, and so make it more? No, he had no thought
of that. But,
[1.] He was weary of his father’s government, of the good
order and discipline of his father’s family, and was fond of liberty
falsely so called, but indeed the greatest slavery, for such a
liberty to sin is. See the folly of many young men, who are
religiously educated, but are impatient of the confinement of their
education, and never think themselves their own masters, their own men,
till they have broken all God’s bands in sunder, and cast away his
cords from them, and, instead of them, bound themselves with the cords
of their own lust. Here is the original of the apostasy of sinners from
God; they will not be tied up to the rules of God’s government;
they will themselves be as gods, knowing no other good and
evil than what themselves please.
[2.] He was willing to get from under his father’s eye, for that
was always a check upon him, and often gave a check to him. A shyness
of God, and a willingness to disbelieve his omniscience, are at the
bottom of the wickedness of the wicked.
[3.] He was distrustful of his father’s management. He would
have his portion of goods himself, for he thought that his
father would be laying up for hereafter for him, and, in order to that,
would limit him in his present expenses, and that he did not like.
[4.] He was proud of himself, and had a great conceit of his
own sufficiency. He thought that if he had but his portion in his
own hands he could manage it better than his father did, and make a
better figure with it. There are more young people ruined by
pride than by any one lust whatsoever. Our first parents ruined
themselves and all theirs by a foolish ambition to be
independent, and not to be beholden even to God himself; and
this is at the bottom of sinners’ persisting in their sin–they will be
for themselves.
(2.) How kind his father was to him: He divided unto them his
living. He computed what he had to dispose of between his sons, and
gave the younger son his share, and offered the elder his, which
ought to be a double portion; but, it should seem, he desired
his father to keep it in his own hands still, and we may see what he
got by it
(v. 31):
All that I have is thine. He got all by staying for something in
reserve. He gave the younger son what he asked, and the son had no
reason to complain that he did him any wrong in the dividend; he had as
much as he expected, and perhaps more.
[1.] Thus he might now see his father’s kindness, how willing he
was to please him and make him easy, and that he was not such an unkind
father as he was willing to represent him when he wanted an excuse to
be gone.
[2.] Thus he would in a little time be made to see his own
folly, and that he was not such a wise manager for himself as he
would be thought to be. Note, God is a kind Father to all his
children, and gives to them all life, and breath, and all
things, even to the evil and unthankful, dieilen autois ton
bion—He divided to them life. God’s giving us life is
putting us in a capacity to serve and glorify him.
(3.) How he managed himself when he had got his portion in his own
hands. He set himself to spend it as fast as he could, and, as
prodigals generally do, in a little time he made himself a beggar:
not many days after,
v. 13.
Note, if God leave us ever so little to ourselves, it will not be long
ere we depart from him. When the bridle of restraining grace is taken
off we are soon gone. That which the younger son determined was to
be gone presently, and, in order to that, he gathered all
together. Sinners, that go astray from God, venture their
all.
Now the condition of the prodigal in this ramble of his represents to
us a sinful state, that miserable state into which man is
fallen.
[1.] A sinful state is a state of departure and distance
from God. First, It is the sinfulness of sin that it is
an apostasy from God. He took his journey from his father’s
house. Sinners are fled from God; they go a whoring from him;
they revolt from their allegiance to him, as a servant that runs from
his service, or a wife that treacherously departs from her husband, and
they say unto God, Depart. They get as far off him as they can.
The world is the far country in which they take up their
residence, and are as at home; and in the service and enjoyment of it
they spend their all. Secondly. It is the misery of sinners that
they are afar off from God, from him who is the Fountain of all good,
and are going further and further from him. What is hell itself, but
being afar off from God?
[2.] A sinful state is a spending state: There he wasted his
substance with riotous living
(v. 13),
devoured it with harlots
(v. 30),
and in a little time he had spent all,
v. 14.
He bought fine clothes, spent a great deal in meat and drink, treated
high, associated with those that helped him to make an end of what he
had in a little time. As to this world, they that live riotously
waste what they have, and will have a great deal to answer for,
that they spend that upon their lusts which should be for the necessary
substance of themselves and their families. But this is to be applied
spiritually. Wilful sinners waste their patrimony; for they
misemploy their thoughts and all the powers of their souls, misspend
their time and all their opportunities, do not only bury, but embezzle,
the talents they are entrusted to trade with for their Master’s honour;
and the gifts of Providence, which were intended to enable them to
serve God and to do good with, are made the food and fuel of their
lusts. The soul that is made a drudge, either to the world or to the
flesh, wastes its substance, and lives riotously. One sinner
destroys much good,
Eccl. ix. 18.
The good he destroys is valuable, and it is none of his own; they are
his Lord’s goods that he wastes, which must be accounted
for.
[3.] A sinful state is a wanting state: When he had spent
all upon his harlots, they left him, to seek such another prey; and
there arose a mighty famine in that land, every thing was scarce
and dear, and he began to be in want,
v. 14.
Note, Wilful waste brings woeful want. Riotous living in time, perhaps
in a little time, brings men to a morsel of bread, especially
when bad times hasten on the consequences of bad
husbandry, which good husbandry would have provided for.
This represents the misery of sinners, who have thrown away
their own mercies, the favour of God, their interest in Christ,
the strivings of the Spirit, and admonitions of conscience; these they
gave away for the pleasure of sense, and the wealth of the
world, and then are ready to perish for want of them. Sinners want
necessaries for their souls; they have neither food nor raiment for
them, nor any provision for hereafter. A sinful state is like a land
where famine reigns, a mighty famine; for the heaven
is as brass (the dews of God’s favour and blessing are withheld,
and we must needs want good things if God deny them to us), and the
earth is as iron (the sinner’s heart, that should bring forth
good things, is dry and barren, and has no good in it). Sinners are
wretchedly and miserably poor, and, what aggravates it,
they brought themselves into that condition, and keep themselves in it
by refusing the supplies offered.
[4.] A sinful state is a vile servile state. When this young
man’s riot had brought him to want his want brought him to servitude.
He went, and joined himself to a citizen of that country,
v. 15.
The same wicked life that before was represented by riotous
living is here represented by servile living; for sinners
are perfect slaves. The devil is the citizen of that country;
for he is both in city and country. Sinners join themselves to
him, hire themselves into his service, to do his work, to be at
his beck, and to depend upon him for maintenance and a portion.
They that commit sin are the servants of sin,
John viii. 34.
How did this young gentleman debase and disparage himself, when he
hired himself into such a service and under such a master as this! He
sent him into the fields, not to feed sheep (there had been some
credit in that employment; Jacob, and Moses, and David, kept sheep),
but to feed swine. The business of the devil’s servants is to
make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, and
that is no better than feeding greedy, dirty, noisy swine; and how can
rational immortal souls more disgrace themselves?
[5.] A sinful state is a state of perpetual dissatisfaction.
When the prodigal began to be in want, he thought to help himself by
going to service; and he must be content with the provision
which not the house, but the field, afforded; but it is poor provision:
He would fain have filled his belly, satisfied his hunger, and
nourished his body, with the husks which the swine did eat,
Isa. lv. 2.
That which is the stumbling-block of their iniquity will never
satisfy their souls, nor fill their bowels,
Ezek. vii. 19.
Husks are food for swine, but not for men. The wealth of the world and
the entertainments of sense will serve for bodies; but what are these
to precious souls? They neither suit their nature, nor satisfy
their desires, nor supply their needs. He that takes up with them
feeds on wind
(Hos. xii. 1),
feeds on ashes,
Isa. xliv. 20.
[6.] A sinful state is a state which cannot expect relief from any
creature. This prodigal, when he could not earn his bread by
working, took to begging; but no man gave unto
him, because they knew he had brought all this misery upon himself,
and because he was rakish, and provoking to every body; such poor are
least pitied. This, in the application of the parable, intimates
that those who depart from God cannot be helped by any creature. In
vain do we cry to the world and the flesh (those gods which we have
served); they have that which will poison a soul, but have
nothing to give it which will feed and nourish it. If
thou refuse God’s help, whence shall any creature help thee?
[7.] A sinful state is a state of death: This my son was dead,
v. 24, 32.
A sinner is not only dead in law, as he is under a sentence of death,
but dead in state too, dead in trespasses and sins, destitute of
spiritual life; no union with Christ, no spiritual senses exercised, no
living to God, and therefore dead. The prodigal in the far
country was dead to his father and his family, cut off from
them, as a member from the body or a branch from the tree, and
therefore dead, and it is his own doing.
[8.] A sinful state is a lost state: This my son was lost–lost
to every thing that was good–lost to all virtue and honour–lost to his
father’s house; they had no joy of him. Souls that are separated from
God are lost souls; lost as a traveller that is out of
his way, and, if infinite mercy prevent not, will soon be lost as a
ship that is sunk at sea, lost irrecoverably.
[9.] A sinful state is a state of madness and frenzy.
This is intimated in that expression
(v. 17),
when he came to himself, which intimates that he had been
beside himself. Surely he was so when he left his father’s
house, and much more so when he joined himself to the citizen of that
country. Madness is said to be in the heart of sinners,
Satan has got possession of the soul; and how raging mad was he that
was possessed by Legion! Sinners, like those that are mad,
destroy themselves with foolish lusts, and yet at the same time
deceive themselves with foolish hopes; and they are, of all
diseased persons, most enemies to their own cure.
2. We have here his return from this ramble, his penitent
return to his father again. When he was brought to the last
extremity, then he bethought himself how much it was his interest to go
home. Note, We must not despair of the worst; for while there is life
there is hope. The grace of God can soften the hardest heart, and give
a happy turn to the strongest stream of corruption. Now observe
here,
(1.) What was the occasion of his return and repentance. It was
his affliction; when he was in want, then he came to
himself. Note, Afflictions, when they are sanctified by divine
grace, prove happy means of turning sinners from the error of their
ways. By them the ear is opened to discipline and the heart disposed to
receive instructions; and they are sensible proofs both of the vanity
of the world and of the mischievousness of sin. Apply it spiritually.
When we find the insufficiency of creatures to make us happy, and have
tried all other ways of relief for our poor souls in vain, then it is
time to think of returning to God. When we see what miserable
comforters, what physicians of no value, all but Christ are, for a soul
that groans under the guilt and power of sin, and no man gives unto
us what we need, then surely we shall apply ourselves to Jesus
Christ.
(2.) What was the preparative for it; it was
consideration. He said within himself, he reasoned with himself,
when he recovered his right mind, How many hired servants of my
father’s have bread enough! Note, Consideration is the first step
towards conversion,
He considers, and turns. To consider is to retire into
ourselves, to reflect upon ourselves, to compare one thing with
another, and determine accordingly. Now observe what it was that he
considered.
[1.] He considered how bad his condition was: I perish with
hunger. Not only, “I am hungry,” but, “I perish with
hunger, for I see not what way to expect relief.” Note, Sinners
will not come to the service of Christ till they are brought to see
themselves just ready to perish in the service of sin; and the
consideration of that should drive us to Christ. Master, save us, we
perish. And though we be thus driven to Christ he will not
therefore reject us, nor think himself dishonoured by our being forced
to him, but rather honoured by his being applied to in a desperate
case.
[2.] He considered how much better it might be made if he would but
return: How many hired servants of my father’s, the meanest in
his family, the very day-labourers, have bread enough, and to
spare, such a good house does he keep! Note, First, In our
Father’s house there is bread for all his family. This was
taught by the twelve loaves of showbread, that were constantly
upon the holy table in the sanctuary, a loaf for every tribe.
Secondly, There is enough and to spare, enough for
all, enough for each, enough to spare for such as will join themselves
to his domestics, enough and to spare for charity. Yet there
is room; there are crumbs that fall from his table, which
many would be glad of, and thankful for. Thirdly, Even the
hired servants in God’s family are well provided for; the
meanest that will but hire themselves into his family, to do his
work, and depend upon his rewards, shall be well provided for.
Fourthly, The consideration of this should encourage sinners,
that have gone astray from God, to think of returning to him. Thus the
adulteress reasons with herself, when she is disappointed in her new
lovers: I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it
better with me than now,
Hos. ii. 7.
(3.) What was the purpose of it. Since it is so, that his
condition is so bad, and may be bettered by returning to his father,
his consideration issues, at length, in this conclusion: I will
arise, and go to my father. Note, Good purposes are good things,
but still good performances are all in all.
[1.] He determined what to do: I will arise and go to my father.
He will not take any longer time to consider of it, but will
forthwith arise and go. Though he be in a far country, a
great way off from his father’s house, yet, far as it is, he will
return; every step of backsliding from God must be a step back again in
return to him. Though he be joined to a citizen of this country,
he makes no difficulty of breaking his bargain with him. We are not
debtors to the flesh; we are under no obligation at all to our
Egyptian task-masters to give them warning, but are at liberty to quit
the service when we will. Observe with what resolution he speaks: “I
will arise, and go to my father: I am resolved I will, whatever the
issue be, rather than stay here and starve.“
[2.] He determined what to say. True repentance is a rising, and
coming to God: Behold, we come unto thee. But what words
shall we take with us? He here considers what to say. Note, In all our
addresses to God, it is good to deliberate with ourselves beforehand
what we shall say, that we may order our cause before him, and
fill our mouth with arguments. We have liberty of speech,
and we ought to consider seriously with ourselves, how we may use that
liberty to the utmost, and yet not abuse it. Let us observe what he
purposed to say.
First, He would confess his fault and folly: I have
sinned. Note, Forasmuch as we have all sinned, it behoves us, and
well becomes us, to own that we have sinned. The confession of sin is
required and insisted upon, as a necessary condition of peace and
pardon. If we plead not guilty, we put ourselves upon a trial by
the covenant of innocency, which will certainly condemn us. If
guilty, with a contrite, penitent, and obedient heart, we refer
ourselves to the covenant of grace, which offers forgiveness to those
that confess their sins.
Secondly, He would aggravate it, and would be so far from
extenuating the matter that he would lay a load upon himself for
it: I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee. Let
those that are undutiful to their earthly parents think
of this; they sin against heaven, and before God. Offences
against them are offences against God. Let us all think of this, as
that which renders our sin exceedingly sinful, and should render
us exceedingly sorrowful for it.
1. Sin is committed in contempt of God’s authority over us: We have
sinned against Heaven. God is here called Heaven, to signify
how highly he is exalted above us, and the dominion he has over us, for
the Heavens do rule. The malignity of sin aims high; it is
against Heaven. The daring sinner is said to have set his
mouth against the heavens,
Ps. lxiii. 9.
Yet it is impotent malice, for we cannot hurt the heavens. Nay,
it is foolish malice; what is shot against the heavens will
return upon the head of him that shoots it,
Sin is an affront to the God of heaven, it is a forfeiture of
the glories and joys of heaven, and a contradiction to the designs of
the kingdom of heaven.
2. It is committed in contempt of God’s eye upon us: “I have sinned
against Heaven and yet before thee, and under thine eye,”
than which there could not be a greater affront put upon him.
Thirdly, He would judge and condemn himself for it, and
acknowledge himself to have forfeited all the privileges of the family:
I am no more worthy to be called thy son,
v. 19.
He does not deny the relation (for that was all he had to trust to),
but he owns that his father might justly deny the relation, and shut
his doors against him. He had, at his own demand, the portion of goods
that belonged to him, and had reason to expect no more. Note, It
becomes sinners to acknowledge themselves unworthy to receive any
favour from God, and to humble and abase themselves before him.
Fourthly, He would nevertheless sue for admission into the
family, though it were into the meanest post there: “Make me as one
of thy hired servants: that is good enough, and too good for me.”
Note, True penitents have a high value for God’s house, and the
privileges of it, and will be glad of any place, so they may but be in
it, though it be but as door-keepers,
Ps. lxxxiv. 10.
If it be imposed on him as a mortification to sit with the servants, he
will not only submit to it, but count it a preferment, in comparison
with his present state. Those that return to God, from whom they have
revolted, cannot but be desirous some way or other to be employed for
him, and put into a capacity of serving and honouring him: “Make me
as a hired servant, that I may show I love my father’s house as
much as ever I slighted it.”
Fifthly, In all this he would have an eye to his father as a
father: “I will arise, and go to my father, and will say unto him,
Father.” Note, Eyeing God as a Father, and our Father, will be of
great use in our repentance and return to him. It will make our sorrow
for sin genuine, our resolutions against it strong, and encourage us to
hope for pardon. God delights to be called Father both by
penitents and petitioners. Is not Ephraim a dear son?
(4.) What was the performance of this purpose: He arose, and came to
his father. His good resolve he put in execution without delay; he
struck while the iron was hot, and did not adjourn the thought to some
more convenient season. Note, It is our interest speedily to close with
our convictions. Have we said that we will arise and go? Let us
immediately arise and come. He did not come halfway, and then pretend
that he was tired and could get no further, but, weak and weary as he
was, he made a thorough business of it. If thou wilt return, O
Israel, return unto me, and do thy first works.
3. We have here his reception and entertainment with his father: He
came to his father; but was he welcome? Yes, heartily welcome. And,
by the way, it is an example to parents whose children have been
foolish and disobedient, if they repent, and submit themselves, not to
be harsh and severe with them, but to be governed in such a case by the
wisdom that is from above, which is gentle and easy to be
entreated; herein let them be followers of God, and merciful, as he
is. But it is chiefly designed to set forth the grace and mercy of God
to poor sinners that repent and return to him, and his readiness to
forgive them. Now here observe,
(1.) The great love and affection wherewith the father received the
son: When he was yet a great way off his father saw him,
v. 20.
He expressed his kindness before the son expressed his repentance; for
God prevents us with the blessings of his goodness. Even before we
call he answers; for he knows what is in our hearts. I said, I
will confess, and thou forgavest. How lively are the images
presented here!
[1.] Here were eyes of mercy, and those eyes quick-sighted:
When he was yet a great way off his father saw him, before any
other of the family were aware of him, as if from the top of some high
tower he had been looking that way which his son was gone, with such a
thought as this, “O that I could see yonder wretched son of mine coming
home!” This intimates God’s desire of the conversion of sinners, and
his readiness to meet them that are coming towards him. He looketh
on men, when they are gone astray from him, to see whether they
will return to him, and he is aware of the first inclination towards
him.
[2.] Here were bowels of mercy, and those bowels turning within
him, and yearning at the sight of his son: He had compassion.
Misery is the object of pity, even the misery of a sinner; though he
has brought it upon himself, yet God compassionates. His soul was
grieved for the misery of Israel,
Hos. xi. 8; Judg. x. 16.
[3.] Here were feet of mercy, and those feet quick-paced: He
ran. This denotes how swift God is to show mercy. The prodigal son
came slowly, under a burden of shame and fear; but the tender father
ran to meet him with his encouragements.
[4.] Here were arms of mercy, and those arms stretched out to
embrace him: He fell on his neck. Though guilty and deserving to
be beaten, though dirty and newly come from feeding swine, so that any
one who had not the strongest and tenderest compassions of a father
would have loathed to touch him, yet he thus takes him in his arms, and
lays him in his bosom. Thus dear are true penitents to God, thus
welcome to the Lord Jesus.
[5.] Here were lips of mercy, and those lips dropping as a
honey-comb: He kissed him. This kiss not only assured him
of his welcome, but sealed his pardon; his former follies
shall be all forgiven, and not mentioned against him, nor is one word
said by way of upbraiding. This was like David’s kissing Absalom,
And this intimates how ready, and free, and forward the Lord Jesus is
to receive and entertain poor returning repenting sinners, according to
his Father’s will.
(2.) The penitent submission which the poor prodigal made to his father
(v. 21):
He said unto him, Father, I have sinned. As it commends the good
father’s kindness that he showed it before the prodigal expressed his
repentance, so it commends the prodigal’s repentance that he expressed
it after his father had shown him so much kindness. When he had
received the kiss which sealed his pardon, yet he said, Father, I
have sinned. Note, Even those that have received the pardon of
their sins, and the comfortable sense of their pardon, must have in
their hearts a sincere contrition for it, and with their mouths must
make a penitent confession of it, even of those sins which they have
reason to hope are pardoned. David penned the
after Nathan had said, The Lord has taken away thy sin, thou shall
not die. Nay, the comfortable sense of the pardon of sin should
increase our sorrow for it; and that is ingenuous evangelical sorrow
which is increased by such a consideration. See
Thou shalt be ashamed and confounded, when I am pacified towards
thee. The more we see of God’s readiness to forgive us, the
more difficult it should be to us to forgive ourselves.
(3.) The splendid provision which this kind father made for the
returning prodigal. He was going on in his submission, but one word we
find in his purpose to say
(v. 19)
which we do not find that he did say
(v. 21),
and that was, Make me as one of thy hired servants. We cannot
think that he forgot it, much less that he changed his mind, and was
now either less desirous to be in the family or less willing to be a
hired servant there than when he made that purpose; but his father
interrupted him, prevented his saying it: “Hold, son, talk no more of
thy unworthiness, thou art heartily welcome, and, though not worthy
to be called a son, shalt be treated as a dear son, as a
pleasant child.” He who is thus entertained at first needs not
ask to be made as a hired servant. Thus when Ephraim bemoaned
himself God comforted him,
It is strange that here is not one word of rebuke: “Why did you not
stay with your harlots and your swine? You could never find the way
home till beaten hither with your own rod.” No, here is nothing like
this; which intimates that, when God forgives the sins of true
penitents, he forgets them, he remembers them no more, they shall
not be mentioned against them,
Ezek. xviii. 22.
But this is not all; here is rich and royal provision made for him,
according to his birth and quality, far beyond what he did or could
expect. He would have thought it sufficient, and been very thankful, if
his father had but taken notice of him, and bid him go to the kitchen,
and get his dinner with his servants; but God does for those who return
to their duty, and cast themselves upon his mercy, abundantly above
what they are able to ask or think. The prodigal came home between hope
and fear, fear of being rejected and hope of being received; but his
father was not only better to him than his fears, but better to him
than his hopes–not only received him, but received him with
respect.
[1.] He came home in rags, and his father not only
clothed him, but adorned him. He said to the
servants, who all attended their master, upon notice that his son
was come, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him. The
worst old clothes in the house might have served, and these had been
good enough for him; but the father calls not for a coat, but
for a robe, the garment of princes and great men, the best
robe—ten stolen ten proten. There is a double
emphasis: “that robe, that principal robe, you know which I
mean;” the first robe (so it may be read); the robe he wore
before he ran his ramble. When backsliders repent and do their first
works, they shall be received and dressed in their first
robes. “Bring hither that robe, and put it on him; he will be
ashamed to wear it, and think that it ill becomes him who comes home in
such a dirty pickle, but put it on him, and do not merely offer
it to him: and put a ring on his hand, a signet-ring, with the
arms of the family, in token of his being owned as a branch of the
family.” Rich people wore rings, and his father hereby signified that
though he had spent one portion, yet, upon his repentance, he intended
him another. He came home barefoot, his feet perhaps sore with travel,
and therefore, “Put shoes on his feet, to make him easy.” Thus
does the grace of God provide for true penitents. First, The
righteousness of Christ is the robe, that principal robe,
with which they are clothed; they put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
are clothed with that Sun. The robe of
righteousness is the garment of salvation,
Isa. lxi. 10.
A new nature is this best robe; true penitents are
clothed with this, being sanctified throughout. Secondly, The
earnest of the Spirit, by whom we are sealed to the day of
redemption, is the ring on the hand. After you believed you
were sealed. They that are sanctified are adorned and dignified,
are put in power, as Joseph was by Pharaoh’s giving him a ring: “Put
a ring on his hand, to be before him a constant memorial of his
father’s kindness, that he may never forget it.” Thirdly, The
preparation of the gospel of peace is as shoes for our
feet
(Eph. vi. 15),
so that, compared with this here, signifies (saith Grotius) that God,
when he receives true penitents into his favour, makes use of them for
the convincing and converting of others by their instructions, at least
by their examples. David, when pardoned, will teach transgressors God’s
ways, and Peter, when converted, will strengthen his brethren. Or it
intimates that they shall go on cheerfully, and with resolution, in the
way of religion, as a man does when he has shoes on his feet, above
what he does when he is barefoot.
[2.] He came home hungry, and his father not only fed
him, but feasted him
(v. 23):
“Bring hither the fatted calf, that has been stall-fed, and long
reserved for some special occasion, and kill it, that my son may
be satisfied with the best we have.” Cold meat might have served, or
the leavings of the last meal; but he shall have fresh meat and hot
meat, and the fatted calf can never be better bestowed. Note, There is
excellent food provided by our heavenly Father for all those that
arise and come to him. Christ himself is the Bread of
Life; his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed; in him
there is a feast for souls, a feast for fat things. It was a great
change with the prodigal, who just before would fain have filled his
belly with husks. How sweet will the supplies of the new covenant
be, and the relishes of its comforts, to those who have been
labouring in vain for satisfaction in the creature! Now he found
his own words made good, In my father’s house there is bread enough
and to spare.
(4.) The great joy and rejoicing occasioned by his return. The bringing
of the fatted calf was designed to be not only a feast for him,
but a festival for the family: “Let us all eat, and be
merry, for it is a good day; for this my son was dead, when
he was in his ramble, but his return is as life from the dead,
he is alive again; we thought that he was dead, having heard
nothing from him of a long time, but behold he lives; he was
lost, we gave him up for lost, we despaired of hearing of him, but
he is found.” Note,
[1.] The conversion of a soul from sin to God is the raising of that
soul from death to life, and the finding of that which seemed to be
lost: it is a great, and wonderful, and happy change. What was in
itself dead is made alive, what was lost to God
and his church is found, and what was unprofitable
Philem. 11.
It is such a change as that upon the face of the earth when the spring
returns.
[2.] The conversion of sinners is greatly pleasing to the God of
heaven, and all that belong to his family ought to rejoice in it; those
in heaven do, and those on earth should. Observe, It was
the father that began the joy, and set all the rest on
rejoicing. Therefore we should be glad of the repentance of
sinners, because it accomplishes God’s design; it is the bringing of
those to Christ whom the Father had given him, and in whom he will be
for ever glorified. We joy for your sakes before our God, with
an eye to him
and ye are our rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the Master of the family,
The family complied with the master: They began to be merry.
Note, God’s children and servants ought to be affected with things as
he is.
4. We have here the repining and envying of the elder brother,
which is described by way of reproof to the scribes and Pharisees, to
show them the folly and wickedness of their discontent at the
repentance and conversion of the publicans and sinners, and the favour
Christ showed them; and he represents it so as not to aggravate the
matter, but as allowing them still the privileges of elder brethren:
the Jews had those privileges (though the Gentiles were favoured), for
the preaching of the gospel must begin at Jerusalem. Christ, when he
reproved them for their faults, yet accosted them mildly, to smooth
them into a good temper towards the poor publicans. But by the elder
brother here we may understand those who are really good, and have
been so from their youth up, and never went astray into any vicious
course of living, who comparatively need no repentance; and to
such these words in the close, Son, thou art ever with me, are
applicable without any difficulty, but not to the scribes and
Pharisees. Now concerning the elder brother, observe,
(1.) How foolish and fretful he was upon occasion of his
brother’s reception, and how he was disgusted at it. It seems he was
abroad in the field, in the country, when his brother came, and
by the time he had returned home the mirth was begun; When he
drew nigh to the house he heard music and dancing, either while the
dinner was getting ready, or rather after they had eaten and were full,
He enquired what these things meant
(v. 26),
and was informed that his brother was come, and his father had made him
a feast for his welcome home, and great joy there was because he
had received him safe and sound,
v. 27.
It is but one word in the original, he had received him
hygiainonta—in health, well both in body and
mind. He received him not only well in body, but a penitent, returned
to his right mind, and well reconciled to his father’s house,
cured of his vices and his rakish disposition, else he had not been
received safe and sound. Now this offended him to the
highest degree: He was angry, and would not go in
(v. 28),
not only because he was resolved he would not himself join in the
mirth, but because he would show his displeasure at it, and would
intimate to his father that he should have kept out his younger
brother. This shows what is a common fault,
[1.] In men’s families. Those who have always been a comfort to their
parents think they should have the monopoly of their parents’ favours,
and are apt to be too sharp upon those who have transgressed,
and to grudge their parents’ kindness to them.
[2.] In God’s family. Those who are comparatively innocents
seldom know how to be compassionate towards those who are manifestly
penitents. The language of such we have here, in what the
elder brother said
(v. 29, 30),
and it is written for warning to those who by the grace of God are kept
from scandalous sin, and kept in the way of virtue and sobriety, that
they sin not after the similitude of this transgression. Let us observe
the particulars of it. First, He boasted of
himself and his own virtue and obedience. He had
not only not run from his father’s house, as his brother did, but had
made himself as a servant in it, and had long done so: Lo,
these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time
thy commandment. Note, It is too common for those that are better
than their neighbours to boast of it, yea, and to make their boast of
it before God himself, as if he were indebted to them for it. I am apt
to think that this elder brother said more than was true, when he
gloried that he had never transgressed his father’s commands,
for them I believe he would not have been so obstinate as now he was to
his father’s entreaties. However, we will admit it
comparatively; he had not been so disobedient as his brother had been.
O what need have good men to take heed of pride, a corruption that
arises out of the ashes of other corruptions! Those that have long
served God, and been kept from gross sins, have a great deal to be
humbly thankful for, but nothing proudly to boast of. Secondly,
He complained of his father, as if he had not been so kind as he
ought to have been to him, who had been so dutiful: Thou never
gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. He was
out of humour now, else he would not have made this complaint; for, no
questions, if he had asked such a thing at any time, he might have had
it at the first word; and we have reason to think that he did not
desire it, but the killing of the fatted calf put him upon
making this peevish reflection. When men are in a passion they
are apt to reflect in a way they would not if they were in their right
mind. He had been fed at his father’s table, and had many a time been
merry with him and the family; but his father had never given him so
much as a kid, which was but a small token of love compared with the
fatted calf. Note, Those that think highly of themselves
and their services are apt to think hardly of their master and
meanly of his favours. We ought to own ourselves utterly unworthy of
those mercies which God has thought fit to give us, much more of those
that he has not thought fit to give us, and therefore we must not
complain. He would have had a kid, to make merry with his
friends abroad, whereas the fatted calf he grudged so much
was given to his brother, not to make merry with his friends
abroad, but with the family at home: the mirth of God’s children
should be with their father and his family, in communion with God and
his saints, and not with any other friends. Thirdly, He was very
ill-humoured towards his younger brother, and harsh in what he
thought and said concerning him. Some good people are apt to be
overtaken in this fault, nay, and to indulge themselves too much in it,
to look with disdain upon those who have not preserved their reputation
so clean as they have done, and to be sour and morose towards them,
yea, though they have given very good evidence of their repentance and
reformation. This is not the Spirit of Christ, but of the Pharisees.
Let us observe the instances of it.
1. He would not go in, except his brother were turned
out; one house shall not hold him and his own brother, no, not his
father’s house. The language of this was that of the Pharisee
(Isa. lxv. 5):
Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than
thou; and
I am not as other men are, nor even as this publican. Note,
Though we are to shun the society of those sinners by whom we are in
danger of being infected, yet we must not be shy of the company of
penitent sinners, by whom we may get good. He saw that his father had
taken him in, and yet he would not go in to him. Note, We
think too well of ourselves, if we cannot find in our hearts to
receive those whom God hath received, and to admit those
into favour, and friendship, and fellowship with us, whom we have
reason to think God has a favour for, and who are taken into friendship
and fellowship with him.
2. He would not call him brother; but this thy son, which
sounds arrogantly, and not without reflection upon his father, as if
his indulgence had made him a prodigal: “He is thy son, thy
darling.” Note, Forgetting the relation we stand in to our brethren, as
brethren, and disowning that, are at the bottom of all our neglects of
our duty to them and our contradictions to that duty. Let us give our
relations, both in the flesh and in the Lord, the titles that belong to
them. Let the rich call the poor brethren, and let the innocents
call the penitents so.
3. He aggravated his brother’s faults, and made the worst of
them, endeavouring to incense his father against him: He is thy son,
who hath devoured thy living with harlots. It is true, he had spent
his own portion foolishly enough (whether upon harlots or no we
are not told before, perhaps that was only the language of the elder
brother’s jealousy and ill will), but that he had devoured all his
father’s living was false; the father had still a good estate. Now
this shows how apt we are, in censuring our brethren, to make the
worst of every thing, and to set it out in the blackest colours,
which is not doing as we would be done by, nor as our heavenly Father
does by us, who is not extreme to mark iniquities.
4. He grudged him the kindness that his father showed
him: Thou hast killed for him the fatted calf, as if he were such a
son as he should be. Note, It is a wrong thing to envy
penitents the grace of God, and to have our eye evil because he is
good. As we must not envy those that are the worst of sinners
the gifts of common providence (Let not thine heart envy
sinners), so we must not envy those that have been the worst
of sinners the gifts of covenant love upon their repentance; we must
not envy them their pardon, and peace, and comfort, no, nor any
extraordinary gift which God bestows upon them, which makes them
eminently acceptable or useful. Paul, before his conversion, had been
a prodigal, had devoured his heavenly Father’s living by
the havoc he made of the church; yet when after his
conversion he had greater measures of grace given him, and more honour
put upon him, than the other apostles, they who were the elder
brethren, who had been serving Christ when he was persecuting
him, and had not transgressed at any time his commandment, did not envy
him his visions and revelations, nor his more extensive usefulness, but
glorified God in him, which ought to be an example to us, as the
reverse of this elder brother.
(2.) Let us now see how favourable and friendly his
father was in his carriage towards him when he was thus sour and
ill-humoured. This is as surprising as the former. Methinks the mercy
and grace of our God in Christ shine almost as brightly in his tender
and gentle bearing with peevish saints, represented by the elder
brother here, as before in his reception of prodigal sinners upon their
repentance, represented by the younger brother. The disciples of Christ
themselves had many infirmities, and were men subject to like passions
as others, yet Christ bore with them, as a nurse with her children. See
[1.] When he would not come in, his father came out, and entreated
him, accosted him mildly, gave him good words, and desired him to
come in. He might justly have said, “If he will not come in, let him
stay out, shut the doors against him, and send him to seek a lodging
where he can find it. Is not the house my own? and may I not do what I
please in it? Is not the fatted calf my own? and may I not do what I
please with it?” No, as he to meet the younger son, so now he goes to
court the elder, did not send a servant out with a kind message to him,
but went himself. Now, First, This is designed to represent to
us the goodness of God; how strangely gentle and winning he has been
towards those that were strangely froward and provoking. He reasoned
with Cain: Why art thou wroth? He bore Israel’s manners in
the wilderness,
Acts xiii. 18.
How mildly did God reason with Elijah, when he was upon the fret
and especially with Jonah, whose case was very parallel with this here,
for he was there disquieted at the repentance of Nineveh, and the mercy
shown to it, as the elder brother here; and those questions, Dost
thou well to be angry? and, Should not I spare Nineveh? are
not unlike these expostulations of the father with the elder brother
here. Secondly, It is to teach all superiors to be mild and
gentle with their inferiors, even when they are in a fault and
passionately justify themselves in it, than which nothing can be more
provoking; and yet even in that case let fathers not provoke their
children to more wrath, and let masters forbear threatening,
and both show all meekness.
[2.] His father assured him that the kind entertainment he gave his
younger brother was neither any reflection upon him nor should be any
prejudice to him
(v. 31):
“Thou shalt fare never the worse for it, nor have ever the less for it.
Son, thou art ever with me; the reception of him is no rejection
of thee, nor what is laid out on him any sensible diminution of what I
design for thee; thou shalt still remain entitled to the pars
enitia (so our law calls it), the double portion (so the
Jewish law called it); thou shalt be hæres ex asse (so the
Roman law called it): all that I have is thine, by an
indefeasible title.” If he had not given him a kid to make merry
with his friends, he had allowed him to eat bread at his table
continually; and it is better to be happy with our Father in
heaven than merry with any friend we have in this world.
Note, First, It is the unspeakable happiness of all the children
of God, who keep close to their Father’s house, that they are, and
shall be, ever with him. They are so in this world by faith; they shall
be so in the other world by fruition; and all that he has is theirs;
for, if children, then heirs,
Rom. viii. 17.
Secondly, Therefore we ought not to envy others God’s grace to
them because we shall have never the less for their sharing in it. If
we be true believers, all that God is, all that he has, is ours;
and, if others come to be true believers, all that he is, and all that
he has, is theirs too, and yet we have not the less, as they that walk
in the light and warmth of the sun have all the benefit they can have
by it, and yet not the less for others having as much; for Christ in
his church is like what is said of the soul in the body: it is tota
in toto—the whole in the whole, and yet tota in qualibet
parte—the whole in each part.
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