Luke 15:11 ¶ 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 musick 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.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and
when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 29:3 ¶ Whoso
loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots
spendeth his substance.
The assurance in the
verse in Proverbs is that children will often stray from the lessons and habits
they learned in their childhood but will return to what they remember as being
a stable and comforting part of their early life when live has dealt them the
hand they so richly deserved for their apostasy. Many young adults who have
strayed, when they have their own children, want a little of what they were
given spiritually that they walked away from for their own. It is tragic when
that does not happen because a parent was hateful, implacable, or just plain
mean-spirited in the way they lived in front of their child. Sometimes there is
no going back because if the person who abused them emotionally or otherwise is
in heaven they certainly don’t want to be there. What they don’t understand is
the choice they are making if they are not saved is a terrible one and if they
would just put aside the sorrowful memory of the idiot parent or parents they
would understand something God has recorded for us.
Psalm 27:10 When my father
and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
Here, in this parable,
one way of viewing it is with the father as a type of Christ as God, the elder
son is like Israel, and the younger son who went away is like the bulk of
mankind who left the first worship of the Creator and wallowed in idolatry and
self-worship for four-thousand years. God rejoices that they have chosen to
cease swimming in filth and have returned to Him in repentance and humility but
Israel resented the father’s embrace of the wayward, the so-called prodigal
son.
It can also be viewed
with the father as a type of God the Father embracing the repentant Jew who
returns to the fold, even with those who stayed true to the Law given to Moses
angry at His reception of them. There are several other ways to view it I’ve read
with the far country being pagan
religion and the swine being false
teachers and prophets as in 2Peter 2:22. Read the entire chapter.
2Peter 2:22 But it is
happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and
the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Remember how Jesus
warned against casting your pearls, new converts, before swine, false preachers
and teachers who would corrupt them?
Matthew 7:6 Give not that
which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and
turn again and rend you.
The point is, though,
no matter how you color it to make your point in preaching or teaching, is that
this parable underscores what was said just before it, that there is great
rejoicing over one returning to the faith. It can be used to be about new
converts but it is most literally applicable for the backsliding Jew who has
wondered away from the flock and how God and His angels rejoiced when that one
returned. You apply it to our own dispensation of Christianity but be careful
with the limitations of that application.
Simply put, God is ecstatic when a believer stops wallowing in the muck
and the mire and realizes His need for God’s truth and mercy. No matter how far
a Christian strays he or she is never not God’s own child and God will never
reject them.
Hebrews 13:5b … for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
I would say one more
thing about this parable and applying it to our modern times. When you have a
child who persists in a sin that you know will wreck their lives it is not good
to go to war with them. Even if you have to not be a part of their lives for a
time, always leave the door unlocked, give them a way to return, and embrace
them when they do. “You are no longer my child,” is not a Christian sentiment
and woe be it to us if our Lord felt that way with our apostasy.
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