Meditations the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Sheweth the nature and use of Parables: The occasion of this following Parable: The different and further Import hereof, above that of the two former: And its division into three general Parts.
LUKE XV. 11, 12, 13. &c.
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 farr Country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living, &c.
THIS is one of the three remarkable Parables spoken by our blessed Saviour in this Chapter, the lost Sheep, the lost piece of Silver, and the lost Son, all three having one and the same Scope, viz. To shew the care of God in seeking lost Sinners, and the comfort he takes in finding them; or his great readiness to receive a returning Sinner.
Now the reason why Christ used Parables so much in his preaching, was in general, That the Scripture might be fulfilled: All these things spake Jesus unto the Multitude in Parables, and without a Parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in Parables, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world, Matth. 13.34, 35. And more particularly he did it in mercy to some; Psal. 78.2.Mark 4.33. And with many such Parables spake he the Word unto them, as they were able to hear it. And to others in Judgment; Luke 8.10. —but to others in Parables; that seeing, they might not see; and hearing, they might not understand. For Parables are sometimes called in Scripture Dark sayings; Psal. 78.2.I will incline mine ear to a Parable, I will open my dark saying upon the Harp, Psal. 49.4. So said the Disciples of them, John 16.29. Now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no Proverb, or Parable. A Parable is like a Candle in a dark Lanthorn, there is light within, but darkness without. Indeed Parables are the extracts and spirits of Wisdom, and have usually come from the mouths of Rulers, or other wise men: Solomon spake three thousand Parables, 1 Kings 4.32.or Proverbs. Nor is a Parable becoming the mouth of a Fool, Prov. 26.7.
Therefore the Hebrew Mashal, which signifieth to speak Parabolically, signifies also to bear Rule or Dominion: For Parables have influence upon all the Faculties of man, upon the Understanding, Joh. 3.12. They help the Memory, as a Thread keeps together loose Beads. They quicken the Affections: Where had this man this wisdom? Matth. 13.54.said they of Jesus, when he had spoken so many Parables: Luke 4.22.and they wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth. Yea, Parables have power on the Conscience; so had Nathan's on David's, 2 Sam. 12.
Yet I must commend this Rule to you in all Parables; you must not be over-curious to set in a frame, as it were, every thing or word in a Parable, lest you spoil the Analogy. For in Parables some Phrases are used for the decorum of them, as fitting Colours in a Mapp or Picture, that are not of the Essence of it, but for Ornament. And this we see in Christ's expounding of his own Parables; in doing which he gives only the scope and main drift of them: which, if well considered, might have saved the Schoolmen the labour of their vain Curiosities and Disputes about them. In a word, Parables are Similitudes fetched from Earthly things which are in common use, to help the Understanding in Spiriritual and Heavenly things. So to parabolize in the Hebrew and Greek, signifies to liken or compare.
Now for the occasion of this and the other two Parables in this Chapter, we have it in the begining of it; There drew near unto him all the Publicans and Scribes to hear him: And the Scribes and Pharisees murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, &c. Whereupon he spake this Parable to them, saying, What man of you having one 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, till he find it? and when he hath found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoycing. Here our Lord Jesus shews these men their Errour, in their repining at his conversing with those Heathen men, by shewing God's care and readiness for, and his delight in the conversion of lost sinners. And Christ enlarges himself on this Subject by three Parables. And why so many to the same purpose? Surely to convince the murmuring Scribes and Pharisees, and to encourage the poor Publicans and Sinners that were now in the way of Conversion.
Yet there is one thing of observation as to these three Parables, and that is the difference that seems to be in this last of the lost Son, and those of the lost Sheep and lost piece of Silver. The lost Sheep is sought for by the Shepheard, and the lost piece of Silver is sought by the Woman; but the lost Son seems to seek his Father: and so it may seem to shew, How a lost Sinner first seeketh God, and is first in motion to Conversion.
But no such matter, nor is it here meant. In the two first Parables the contrary is plain, That God is first in seeking lost Sinners: As in the Prophet, I am sought of them that asked not for me; Isa. 65.2.I am found of them that sought me not. The words sound somewhat harsh for want of the word [now], which must be understood, I am now found of them that sought me not—I am now sought of them that asked not for me. The Apostle quoting this place of the Prophet saith thus, Rom. 10.2.I was found of them that sought me not: I was made manifest to them that asked not after me. The expressions are like those in Isaiah, Isa. 65.24.Before they call, I will answer. Both hold out the preventive Mercy and Grace of God; he is first in the Call and Conversion of Sinners. The Jews were in their blood, when the Lord called them, Ezek. 16. and the Gentiles doting upon Idols. Jerusalem was a City sought out, Isa. 62.12. and Christ was the Seeker; Luke 19.10.The Son of man is come to seek, and to save that which was lost. Yea, God and Christ, Father and Son, seek and beseech the Sinner; As though God did beseech you by us, 2 Cor. 5.2.we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Where is that converted Sinner, that can or dare say, that he was before God in the work? Ezek. 16.6.When I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. As the Eye-lids in the Looking-glass move not, but as the Eyes that look into the Glass move: so is it in a Sinner's Conversion to God; God is the first mover and the first worker; the Sinner's Motion is but the reflection of Gods. Who did strike the first stroke in Paul's Conversion? Acts 9.He that struck him to the Earth, which was the Lord. John 11.Lizarus rose up, and came forth of the Grave, but it was at Christ's loud Call; that is, by his Power.
As therefore the two former Parables in their phrases shew, That God first seeks a lost Sinner; so this third, of the lost Son, imports, That a Sinner must seek God; he must seek, though he be not first in seeking: Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Isa. 55.6, 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord. There are some things for a man to do about his Conversion, but nothing in it; that is God's work.
Yet man hath ever made a great strife and controversie between his Will and God's. Note.This was the reason of the fall of man: and ever since there hath been overmuch ascribed to the power of man's Will; as though little of it were lost by the fall. This hath been the pride of some men in most Ages, supposing man's Will to have lost little of its strength; as Sampson thought, when he wakened after his Locks were cut off; Judges 16.I will go out as at other times before; not knowing that his strength was departed. But God hath still kept up Instruments, Aug.to lay down these Mole-hills; not wronging Nature, but righting Grace; and causing men to cry Grace, Grace, to a Sinners Conversion, as they did to the Head-stone of the Temple, Zach. 3.
Now of this Parable there are three parts; whereof, though the Similitude be of outward things, yet there is a Spiritual meaning, which we must search out: We must break the Bone for the Marrow therein contained; and the Marrow lies in these three things, or particulars, taught us in the three parts of the Parable.
We have a Description of the state of a lost Sinner, and what manner of man he is in his Natural Condition; In the younger Son's requiring his Portion of his Father, and going from his Father's House into a farr Country, and misspending it all there, and making any sorry shift rather than to return back to his Father's House, to the 17th verse.
We have the Return of a lost Sinner, and how he comes into the state of Grace, described in the Prodigal's coming to himself, and coming back, and humbling himself to his Father, to the 22th verse.
The willingness of God to receive returning Sinners, and the delight he takes in such, shewed in the Father's meeting his returning Son, and the joyful entertainment he gave him, from the 22th verse to the end of the Chapter.
So that the first of these three Persons is God the Father; he is intended: The other two are Sons of God; the one a humble repenting Publican, the other a proud murmuring Pharisee.
But how can these be called the Sons of God? Quest.
God hath not only Sons by Adoption in Christ Jesus, as all the Saints are; Answ. Gal. 3. Job 1.6.but he hath Sons by Creation; so Angels are the Sons of God: There was a day, when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And all men are the Sons of God: He breathed into man the breath of life, Gen. 2.7. Man's Spirit is immediately from God, and therefore he is called the Father of Spirits. Heb. 12.9. Luke 3. ult.And Adam is called the Son of God: which was the Son of Seth, which was the Son of Adam, which was the Son of God. And thus these Publicans and Sinners were the Sons of God.
And there are Sons of God by Profession; so were the Jews in opposition to the Gentiles: When Israel was a Child, then I loved him, and called my Son out of Egypt, Hos. 11.1. And thus the Scribes and Pharisees were the Sons of God.
It's true, there are divers Opinions of these two Sons, whom they should represent. Some make the Angels the elder Son, and Man the younger; but this cannot be: For the Angels murmur not at the tenderness of God to lost Man, as here the elder Son does, but rejoyce at it, verse 7, 10. of this Chapter, and 14th of the second.
Others think a Regenerate and Unregenerate man are here personated: But neither can this be; because Regenerate men do not grudge at God's receiving the greatest sinners into Grace and Favour, but are glad, Acts 11.23. There are other thoughts in the Case besides these.
But the most rational and most appearing Sense and Interpretation is, That by the elder Son is meant the Scribes and Pharisees, and by the younger the Publicans and Sinners; for to these, and of these Jesus was now speaking. And as the elder Son grumbled that his Father so entertained his Prodigal Brother, that had spent all upon Harlots, verse 30. so the Pharisees and Scribes murmured that Jesus received Sinners, and did eat with them, verse 2. And this sense is held out by Christ himself in another Parable of two Sons: Matth. 21.28, 31.Verily I say unto you (meaning the Priests) that the Publicans and the Harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you. Self-judging Sinners sooner get into a state of Grace than Self-justiciaries. Rom. 9.30, 31. & 10.3.The greatest Sinners sooner come unto Christ, than self-conceited Moralists; Self-righteousness keeps men off from Christ: Such men settle on their own bottoms.