“He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat, and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate.
“Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on. He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him. But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
“He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ ”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv21, 25 In true repentance there is a feeling of our…
In true repentance there is a feeling of our sins, joined with sorrow and shame, from whence springeth a confession, after which followeth forgiveness.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–32 20 And he arose, and came to his father.…
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.
Ver. 20. When he was yet a great way off] Tantum velis et Deus tibi praeoccurret, You may be so will and God will run to you, saith a Father. The prodigal was but conceiving a purpose to return, and God met him, Isa 65:24.
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And kissed him] One would have thought he should have kicked him, or have killed him rather, but God is Pater miserationum, father of mercy, he is all heart. The prodigal came, the father ran; God is slow to anger, swift to show mercy.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv21, 22, 25 Now the good thoughts and resolutions of the sinner…
Now the good thoughts and resolutions of the sinner ripen into action, and the first of it is an expression of his convictions and humiliation by a humble confession of his sins, with their aggravations, as committed against God, and that in the sight of God, and this God his Father, his unworthiness so much as of the name of a son to such a Father. The petitionary part of what he resolved upon, Luk 15:19, is not here again repeated, but to be understood. Men may by the common grace of God, denied to no man, have some good thoughts, but they die away, and come to no maturity, unless the Holy Spirit of God breathes upon them, and maintains and upholdeth them in the soul; but where the Lord designs a thorough change in a soul, the Spirit of the Lord comes, and convinceth the soul of sin and of righteousness: and where he doth so, the resolution ripens into action, and produces in the soul a true and hearty contrition, and confession of its sin, with humble petitions and a resignation of itself to the Lord’s will, and a casting of itself upon God’s free grace and mercy.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v25 By the murmuring of the elder son at the…
By the murmuring of the elder son at the prodigal’s returning to, and reception with, his father, some think the Jews in general are to be understood, whose peevishness to the Gentiles, and the repining at the offer of salvation made unto them by the gospel, is very evident from many places of scripture: others understand it of the scribes and Pharisees in particular, who presuming on their own righteousness, as if they had never transgressed God’s commandments at any time, murmured at our Saviour for conversing with sinners, though it were in order to the bringing of them to repentance; which instead of being frowardly discontented at, they ought to have rejoiced at.
Learn hence, there is such an envious spirit in men, yea, even in the best of men, as inclined them to repine at such dispensations of divine grace and favor, as others receive, and they want.
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Learn, 2. That to indulge such a spirit and temper in ourselves, argues great sin, and great folly: great sin in being dissatisfied with God’s dispensations, and affronting his wisdom and justice; and great folly, in making another’s good our grief; as if we had less, because another has more: The eldest son was angry, and would not go in: it follows, therefore came his father out and intreated him. This shows the meekness of God in dealing with us under, our frowardness; and the high satisfaction he takes in a sinner’s conversion and returning to his duty.
Lastly, this points out unto us our duty to imitate God, and be followers of him as dear children. Does he rejoice at a sinner’s return to this duty? So should we. It is the devil’s temper to regret and envy the good and happiness of others: he gnashes his teeth, when the prey he thought himself sure of, is snatched out of his jaws. But to God, and all his holy angels, nothing is so agreeable as their repentance and conversion of a sinner from the error of his ways, and the saving of a soul from death; this is looked upon as a resurrection from the dead, and a ground of the greatest joy and rejoicing: It was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.
Whence note, that regeneration is the term from which all true pleasure commences. We never live a merry day until we begin to live unto God; when the prodigal son returned to his father, then, and not until then, they began to be merry.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–32 And he arose,.... This shows that his resolution to…
And he arose,.... This shows that his resolution to arise was not of nature, but of grace, by its being put into execution; for it was made and executed, not in his own strength, but in another's. He did not confer with flesh and blood; nor listen to discouragements which might present; as the distance of the way, the danger in it, the cold reception, if not rejection, he might expect from his father: but he arose immediately; he arose and stood upon his feet, in obedience to the heavenly call, being assisted by divine grace; he arose, and quitted the far country, the citizen, swine, and husks, and denied both sinful and righteous self;
and came to his father; his own father; "the father of himself", as in the Greek text, who was so before he came to him; a sense of which he had, and was what encouraged him the rather to go to him: and this coming to him denotes a progression towards him; for as yet he was not come to him, but was at some distance, as the next clause expresses; and means not so much attendance on ordinances, as some inward secret desires after God:
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but when he was yet a great way off. This is not to be understood of his state of alienation from God, which is before signified by his being in a far country; but the distance he observed, as conscious of his vileness, and unworthiness; and the humility he expressed on a view of himself; and a sense he had of his need of divine grace: and which is grateful to God; he looks to such that are of an humble, and of a contrite spirit, and dwells among them, and gives more grace to them:
his father saw him; he saw him when in the far country, spending his substance with harlots, and in riotous living; he saw him when among the swine and husks; he saw him when he came to himself, and all the motions and determinations of his heart; he saw him in his progress towards him, and looked upon him with an eye of love, pity, and compassion, as it follows,
and had compassion: God is full of compassion, and pities him, as a father does his children; yea, as a woman's heart of compassion yearns after the son of her womb: he had compassion on him, and his heart of pity moved towards him, he being as one grieved in spirit for his sins, and wounded with a sense of them, and wanting a view of pardon, as starving and famishing, and as naked, and without clothing.
And ran; to him, which shows the quick notice God takes of the first motions of his own grace in the hearts of sensible sinners; the speedy relief he gives to distressed ones; and this points out his preventing grace and goodness.
And fell on his neck; expressive of the strength of his affection to him, Gen 45:14 and of his great condescension and grace to fall on that neck which had been like an iron sinew, so stiff and rebellious; though now, through divine grace, was made flexible and pliable, and subject to him, and willing to bear the yoke, and to do whatever he would have him; and this was grateful to his father:
and kissed him; as a token of love; and as owning the relation he stood in to him; as a sign of reconciliation and friendship; and was an admission of him to great nearness to his person; and an application and manifestation of great love indeed to him; and a strong incentive of love in the son to him again; see Jo1 4:19.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32 And he arose and came to his father -…
And he arose and came to his father - The moment he had resolved, he began to execute his resolution. While he was yet a great way off, his father saw him - Returning, starved, naked.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 Verse 20. And kissed him.] Or, kissed him again…
Verse 20. And kissed him.] Or, kissed him again and again; the proper import of καταεφιλησεν αυτον. The father thus showed his great tenderness towards him, and his great affection for him.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 24, 25, 29, 32 Luk 15:20. And he arose and came to his…
Luk 15:20. And he arose and came to his father — Having taken the resolution of returning to his father, he put it immediately in execution; setting out just as he was, barefooted, and all in rags, and being obliged, doubtless, to beg his way. But did his father receive him? Was he welcome? Yes, heartily welcome. And, by the way, we have here an example, instructing 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. The passage, however, 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. But when he was yet a great way off — Having only come within sight of home, and his nakedness, and the consciousness of his folly, probably, making him ashamed to proceed further, his father — Happening to be looking that way; saw him — Before any of the rest of his family were aware of the circumstance; and had compassion — Εσπλαγχνισθη, his bowels yearned, to observe the wretched condition he was in; and immediately, as if he had forgotten the dignity of his own character, and all the injuries he had received, he ran to his child, and fell on his neck and kissed him. The son advanced diffidently and slowly, under a burden of shame and fear; but the father ran to meet him with his encouragements. This shows our heavenly Father’s desire of the conversion of sinners, and his readiness to meet them that are coming toward him. His eyes are on those that go astray from him, he is continually looking to see whether they will return to him, and marks and cherishes the first inclinations which they manifest so to do.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31 He arose, and came - Was coming. But here…
He arose, and came - Was coming. But here is no indication of “haste.” He did not “run,” but came driven by his wants, and, as we may suppose, filled with shame, and even with some doubts whether his father would receive him.
A great way off - This is a beautiful description - the image of his father’s happening to see him clad in rags, poor, and emaciated, and yet he recognized “his son,” and all the feelings of a father prompted him to go and embrace him.
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Had compassion - Pitied him. Saw his condition - his poverty and his wretched appearance - and was moved with compassion and love.
And ran - This is opposed to the manner in which the son came. The beauty of the picture is greatly heightened by these circumstances. The son came slowly - the father “ran.” The love and joy of the old man were so great that he hastened to meet him and welcome him to his home.
Fell on his neck - Threw his arms around his neck and embraced him.
And kissed him - This was a sign at once of affection and reconciliation. This must at once have dissipated every doubt of the son about the willingness of his father to forgive and receive him. A kiss is a sign of affection, 1Sa 10:1; Gen 29:13. This is evidently designed to denote the “readiness of God” to pity and pardon returning sinners. In this verse of inimitable beauty is contained the point of the parable, which was uttered by the Saviour to vindicate “his own conduct” in receiving sinners kindly. Who could “blame” this father for thus receiving his repenting son? Not even a Pharisee could blame him; and our Saviour thus showed them, so that “they” could not resist it, that “God” received returning sinners, and that it was right for “him” also to receive them and treat them with attention.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv22, 24, 25, 29 The first; i.e. the best robe: by it, is…
The first; i.e. the best robe: by it, is meant the habit of grace. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32 a great way off--Oh yes, when but the face…
a great way off--Oh yes, when but the face is turned homeward, though as yet far, far away, our Father recognizes His own child in us, and bounds to meet us--not saying, Let him come to Me and sue for pardon first, but Himself taking the first step.
fell on his neck and kissed him--What! In all his filth? Yes. In all his rags? Yes. In all his haggard, shattered wretchedness? Yes. "Our Father who art in heaven," is this Thy portraiture? It is even so (Jer 31:20). And because it is so, I wonder not that such incomparable teaching hath made the world new.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31 20. He arose—What worth is a wish, or a…
20. He arose—What worth is a wish, or a purpose, without the volition and the act? He arose, for in this meditation he had been sitting, or even lying, on the ground; a picture of misery, an object of wrath, a despondent, shiftless son of despair.
He came—This is the approach of the son to God, even before his justification. It is right. As an approach it is acceptable to God, who has the feeling of mercy, and the purpose of pardon, in his heart; but that pardon has not yet reached the son, and is not yet consummated. Works conditional to justification, though they are performed by the man as unjustified and unregenerate, are conducive to salvation; are required and approved in their place by God; and do bring the sinner to that point at which he receives pardon and eternal life.
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A great way off—Before he has reached the threshold of the Church of God. The movements of the father’s love are here depicted with great life, in order that the Pharisees, who hear this, may feel how they were opposed to the heart of God when they murmured at Christ’s receiving publicans and sinners. Luk_15:1-2.
Saw him—Descried and knew; knew him, as with a father’s eye, before the servants had recognized him.
Had compassion—The infinite heart of God is moved by man’s sincere repentance. Hence let no fatalism say that our prayer affects us, but not God. God is a living God, and deals with us differently, according as we deal with him. Note, also, that this father had a father’s heart, even when the son was a swineherd. He would have embraced him ever, but that he had gone over to the embraces of the harlots. The atonement was not made to soften the heart of God: it was given by God’s tender heart to remove the difficulty which inflexible justice placed in his way; preventing the performance of the merciful desires of his divine heart. But note, finally, that the tenderness of the father’s heart would not have saved the son from the dying of famine, a miserable swineherd, if he had not said, “I will arise and go to my father,” and done what he said. For him otherwise God had nothing but abandonment; and famines to send after him.
Ran—The old father is young in heart and so in limb. He does, in his affection, entirely outstrip his son’s young limbs in their shame and tardiness.
Fell on his neck—In the oriental style. See Gen_35:14. The same urgent manner was customary among the Greeks in the times of Homer. It was a sign of reconciliation after enmity and offence.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 20. And he arose and came to his father]…
20. And he arose and came to his father] A mere flash of remorse is not enough; a journey must be taken: the back must be at once and finally turned on the far land; and all the shame of abandoned duties and forsaken friends be faced. “The course to the unific rectitude of a manly life” always appears to the sinner to be, and sometimes really is, “in the face of a scorching past and a dark future.”
But when he was yet a great way off] “Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Eph_2:13.
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had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck] On this full, frank, absolute forgiveness, see Psa_103:8-10; Psa_103:12. On the tender Fatherly love of God see Isa_49:15; Mat_7:11, &c.
and kissed him] Literally, “kissed him warmly or closely,” Gen_33:4.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 (20) When he was yet a great way off.—In…
(20) When he was yet a great way off.—In the story of the parable we must think of the wanderer as coming back weary, foot-sore, hungry, and in rags. In the interpretation, the state of the penitent is that of one who is poor in spirit, hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Mat_5:3; Mat_5:6), with knees that are feeble and hands that hang down (Heb_12:12), conscious of his nakedness and needing something else than the “filthy rags” of his own righteousness (Isa_64:6) to cover it. And he is yet “a great way off”—not as yet near the home of peace, the light of the Father’s countenance—but even there, there comes to him the joy of all joys, the love of the Father finds him, and he is conscious of the love. There is the contact of his soul with the Divine Presence which answers to the Father’s kiss.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 31 And he arose, and came to his father. And…
And he arose, and came to his father. And so he came safe home; sad, suffering, ragged, destitute, but still safe. But, in spite of this, the parable gives scant encouragement indeed to sin, poor hope indeed to wanderers from the right way, like the hero of our story; for we feel that, though he escaped, yet many were left behind in that sad country. We dimly see many other figures in the picture., The employer of the prodigal was a citizen, but only one of many citizens. The prodigal himself was a servant one, though, of a great crowd of others; and of all these unhappy dwellers in that land of sin, we only read of one coming out. Not an encouraging picture at best to any soul purposing deliberately to adventure into that country, with the idea of enjoying the pleasant licence of sin for a season and there coming home again. Such a home-coming is, of course, possible the beautiful story of Jesus tells us this; but, alas I how many stay behind! how few come out thence! 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. But although many who wander never escape from that sad country, it is not because they would be unwelcomed should they choose to return. The whole imagery of this part of the parable tells us how gladly the eternal Father welcomes the sorrowful penitent. The father does not wait for the poor wanderer, but, as though he had been watching for him, sights him afar off, and at once takes compassion, and even hastens to meet him, and all is forgiven.
Vers. 20-24. The welcome home.
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Having seen the younger son of this parable dissatisfied with his estate, having followed him into the far country of sin, having seen how there he frittered or flung everything away in his guilty folly and was reduced to utmost want and degradation, and having been with him in the hour of self-return and wise resolve, we now attend him on his way home to his father. We look at
I THE WISDOM OF IMMEDIATE ACTION. "He said, I will arise... and he arose. " "Most blessed said and done," as has been well remarked. What if he had lingered and given room for vain imaginations of things that would "turn up" on his behalf where he was, or for needless fears as to the reception he would have at home] How many more sons and daughters would there be now in the Father"s home if all who said, "I will arise," had at once arisen, without parleying, without giving space for temptation and change of mind! Let there be no interval between saying and doing; let the hour of resolution to return be the hour of returning.
II THE ABOUNDING GRACE OF HIS FATHER"S WELCOME.
1. He eagerly desired his son"s return; he was looking out for it; when he was yet a great way off he saw him, and recognized him in all his rags and in all his shame.
2. He went forth to meet him; did not let his dignity stand in the way of his giving his son the very earliest assurance of his welcome home; he "put himself out," he "ran" to receive him back.
3. He welcomed him with every possible demonstration of parental love. He tenderly embraced him; he had him at once divested of his livery of shame and clad with the garments of self-respect and even honour; he ordered festivities to celebrate his return. As if he would say, "Take from him every sign and token of misery and want; remove every badge of servitude and disgrace; clothe him with all honour; enrich him with all gifts; ring the bells; spread the table; wreathe the garlands; make every possible demonstration of joy; we will have music in our hall to utter the melody in our hearts," for this my son," etc." It all means one thing; every stroke in the picture is intended to bring out this most precious truth the warm and joyous welcome which every penitent spirit receives from the heavenly Father.
(1) We do not wonder at the misgivings of the guilty heart. It is natural enough that those who have long dwelt at a great distance from God should fear lest they should fail to find in God all the mercy and grace they need for full restoration.
(2) Therefore we bless God for the fulness of the promises made to us in his Word promises made by the lips of the psalmist, of the prophet, and of his Son our Saviour.
(3) And therefore we thankfully accept this picture of the prodigal"s return; for as we look at it and dwell upon it we gain a sense and a conviction, deeper than any verbal assurances can convey, of the readiness, the eagerness, the cordiality, the fulness, of the welcome with which the Father of our spirits takes back his erring but returning child. If any wandering one comes to us and says, "Will God receive me if I ask his mercy?" we reply, "Look at that picture, and decide; it is a picture drawn by the eternal Son to indicate what the eternal Father will do when any one of his sons comes back to him from the tar country of sin. Look there, and you will see that it is not enough to say, in reply to your question, "He will not refuse you;" that is immeasurably short of the truth. It is not enough to say, "He will forgive you;" that also is far short of the whole truth. That picture says, "O children of men, who are seeking a place in the heart and the home of the heavenly Father, know this, that your Father"s heart is yearning over you with a boundless and unquenchable affection, that he is far more anxious to enfold you in the arms of his mercy than you are to be thus embraced; he is not only willing, but waiting, ay, longing, to receive you to his side, to give you back all that you have lost, to reinstate you at once into his fatherly favour, to confer upon you all the dignity of sonship, to admit you to the full fellowship of his own family, to bestow upon you the pure and abiding joy of his own happy home. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv22, 24
Luke
THE PRODIGAL AND HIS FATHER
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GIFTS TO THE PRODIGAL
Luk 15:22 - Luk 15:23.
God’s giving always follows His forgiving. It is not so with us. We think ourselves very magnanimous when we pardon; and we seldom go on to lavish favours where we have overlooked faults. Perhaps it is right that men who have offended against men should earn restoration by acts, and should have to ride quarantine, as it were, for a time. But I question whether forgiveness is ever true which is not, like God’s, attended by large-hearted gifts. If pardon is only the non-infliction of penalty, then it is natural enough that it should be considered sufficient by itself, and that the evildoer should not be rewarded for having been bad. But if pardon is the outflow of the love of the offended to the offender, then it can scarcely be content with simply giving the debtor his discharge, and turning him into the world penniless.
However that may be with regard to men, God’s forgiveness is essentially the communication of God’s love to us sinners, as if we had never sinned at all. And, that being so, that love cannot stay its working until it has given all that it can bestow or we can receive. God does not do things by halves; and He always gives when He forgives.
Now that is the great truth of the last part of this immortal parable. And it is one of the points in which it differs from, and towers high above, the two preceding ones. The lost sheep was carried back to the pastures, turned loose there, needed no further special care, and began to nibble as if nothing had happened. The lost drachma was simply put back in the woman’s purse. But the lost son was pardoned, and, being pardoned, was capable of receiving, and received, greater gifts than he had before. These gifts are very remarkably detailed in the words of our text.
Now, of course, it is always risky to seek for a spiritual interpretation of every point in a parable, many of which points are mere drapery. But, on the other hand, we may very easily fall into the error of treating as insignificant details which really are meant to be full of instruction. And I cannot help thinking-although many would differ from me,-that this detailed enumeration of the gifts to the prodigal is meant to be translated into the terms of spiritual experience. So I desire to look at them as suggesting for us the gifts of God which accompany forgiveness. I take the catalogue as it stands-the Robe, the Ring, the Shoes, the Feast.
I. First, the Robe.
‘Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him.’ That was the command. This detail, of course, like all the others, refers back to, and casts light upon, the supposed condition of the spendthrift when he came back. There he stood, ragged, with the stain of travel and the stench of the pig-sty upon his garments, some of them, no doubt, remains of the tawdry finery that he had worn in the world; wine-spots, and stains, and filth of all sorts on the rags. The father says, ‘Take them all off him, and put the best robe upon him.’ What does that mean?
Well, we all know the very familiar metaphor by which qualities of mind, traits of character, and the like are described as being the dress of the spirit. We talk about being ‘arrayed in purity,’ ‘clad in zeal,’ ‘clothed with humility,’ ‘vested with power,’ and so on. If we turn to Scripture, we find running through it a whole series of instances of this metaphor, which guide us at once to its true meaning. Zechariah saw in vision the high priest standing at the heavenly tribunal, clad in filthy garments. A voice said, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him,’ and the interpretation is added: ‘Behold! I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment.’ You remember our Lord’s parable of the man with a wedding garment. You remember the Apostle Paul’s frequent use of the metaphor of ‘putting off the old man, putting on the new.’ You remember, finally, the visions of the last days, in which the Seer in Patmos saw the armies in heaven that followed their victorious Commander, ‘clothed in fine linen, white and pure, which is the righteousness of the saints.’ If we put all these together, surely I am not forcing a meaning on a non-significant detail, when I say that here we have shadowed for us the great thought, that the result of the divine forgiveness coming upon a man is that he is clothed with a character which fits him to sit down at his Father’s table. They tell us that forgiveness is impossible, because things done must have their consequences, and that character is the slow formation of actions, precipitated, as it were, from our deeds. That is all true. But it does not conflict with this other truth that there may and does come into men’s hearts, when they set their faith on Jesus Christ, a new power which transforms the nature and causes old things to pass away.
God’s forgiveness revolutionises a life. Similar effects follow even human pardons for small offences. Brute natures are held in by penalties, and to them pardon means impunity, and impunity means licence, and licence means lust. But wherever there is a heart with love to the offended in it, there is nothing that will so fill it with loathing of its past self as the assurance that the offended, though loved, One loves, and is not offended, and that free forgiveness has come. Whether is it the rod or the mother’s kiss that makes a child hate its sin most? And if we lift our thoughts to Him, and think how He, up there in the heavens,
‘Who mightest vengeance best have took,’
bends over us in frank, free forgiveness, then surely that, more than all punishments or threatenings or terrors, will cause us to turn away from our evil, and to loathe the sins which are thus forgiven. The prophet went very deep when he said, ‘Thou shalt be ashamed and confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thine iniquity, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord.’
But not only so, there is given along with forgiveness, and wrapped up in it, a new power, which makes all things new, and changes a man. It would be a poor Gospel for me to stand up and preach if I had only to proclaim to men the divine forgiveness; and if that only meant that hell’s door was barred and some outward heaven was flung open. But the true Gospel offers forgiveness as preliminary to the bestowal of the highest gifts of God. The pardoned man is stripped of his rags and clothed with a new nature which God Himself bestows.
That is what we all need. We have not all been in the pig-sty; we have not all fallen into gross sin. We have all turned our backs on our Father; we have all wanted to be independent; we have all preferred the far-off land to being near home. And, dear brethren, the character that you have made for yourselves clings to you like the poisoned Nessus’ shirt to Hercules. You cannot strip it off. You may get part of it away, but you cannot entirely cast it from your limbs, nor free yourselves from the entanglements of its tatters. Go to God, and He will smile away your sin, and His forgiving love will melt the stains and the evil, as the sun this morning drank up the mists; and they who come knowing themselves to be foul, and needing forgiveness, will surely receive from Him ‘the fine linen white and pure, the righteousness of saints.’
II. The Ring.
This prodigal lad only wanted to be placed in the position of a slave, but his father said, ‘Put a ring on his finger.’ The ring is an emblem of wealth, position, honour; that is one signification of this gift to the penitent. Still further, it is an ornament to the hand on which it glistens; that is another. It is a sign of delegated authority and of representative character; as when Joseph was exalted to be the second man in Egypt, and Pharaoh’s signet ring was plucked off and placed upon his finger. All these thoughts are, as it seems to me, clustered in, and fairly deducible from, this one detail.
Freedom, exaltation, dignity of position are expressed. And that opens up a thought which needs to be set forth with many reservations, and much guarding, but still is true-viz., that, by the mercy and miraculous loving-kindness and quickening power of God in the Gospel, it is possible that the lower a man falls the higher he may rise. I know, of course, that it is better to be innocent than to be cleansed. I know, and every man that looks into his own heart knows, that forgiven sins may leave scars; that the memory may be loaded with many a foul and many a painful remembrance; that the fetters may be stricken off the limbs, but the marks of them, and the way of walking that they compelled, may persist long after deliverance. But I know, too, that redeemed men are higher in final position than angels that never fell; and that, though it is too much to say that the greater the sinner the greater the saint, it still remains true that sin repented and forgiven may be, as it were, an elevation upon which a man may stand to reach higher than, apparently, he otherwise would in the divine life.
And so, though I do not say to any man, Make the experiment; for, indeed, the poorest of us has sins enough to get all the benefit out of repentance and forgiveness which is included in them, yet, if there is any man here-and I hope there is-saying to himself, ‘I have got too low down ever to master this, that, or the other evil; I have stained myself so foully that I cannot hope to have the black marks erased,’ I say to such; ‘Remember that the man who ended with a ring on his finger, honoured and dignified, was the man that had herded with pigs, and stank, and all but rotted, with his fleshly crimes.’ And so nobody need doubt but that for him, however low he has gone, and however far he has gone, there is restoration possible to a higher dignity than the pure spirits that never transgressed at any time God’s commandment will ever attain; for he who has within himself the experience of repentance, of pardon, and who has come into living contact with Jesus Christ as Redeemer, can teach angels how blessed it is to be a child of God.
Nor less distinctly are the other two things which I have referred to brought out in this metaphor. Not only is the ring the sign of dignity, but it is also the sign of delegated authority and representative character. God sets poor penitents to be His witnesses in His world, and to do His work here. And a ring is an ornament to the hand that wears it; which being translated is this: where God gives pardon, He gives a strange beauty of character, to which, if a man is true to himself, and to his Redeemer, he will assuredly attain. There should be no lives so lovely, none that flash with so many jewelled colours, as the lives of the men and women who have learned what it is to be miserable, what it is to repent, what it is to be forgiven. So, though our ‘hands have been full of blood,’ as the prophet says, though they have dabbled in all manner of pollution, though they have been the ready instruments of many evil things, we may all hope that, cleansed and whitened, even our hands will not want the lustre of that adornment which the loving father clasped upon the fingers of his penitent boy.
III. Further, ‘Shoes on his feet.’
No doubt he had come back barefooted and filthy and bleeding, and it was needful for the ‘keeping’ of the narrative that this detail should appear. But I think it is something more than drapery.
Does it not speak to us of equipment for the walk of life? God does prepare men for future service, and for every step that they have to take, by giving to them His forgiveness for all that is past. The sense of the divine pardon will in itself fit a man, as nothing else will, for running with patience the race that is set before him. God does communicate, along with His forgiveness, to every one who seeks it, actual power to ‘travel on life’s common way in cheerful godliness’; and his feet are ‘shod with the preparedness of the gospel of peace.’
Ah, brethren, life is a rough road for us all, and for those whose faces are set towards duty, and God, and self-denial, it is especially so, though there are many compensating circumstances. There are places where sharp flints stick up in the path and cut the feet. There are places where rocks jut out for us to stumble over. There are all the trials and sorrows that necessarily attend upon our daily lives, and which sometimes make us feel as if our path were across heated ploughshares, and every step was a separate agony. God will give us, if we go to Him for pardon, that which will defend us against the pains and the sorrows of life. The bare foot is cut by that which the shod foot tramples upon unconscious.
There are foul places on all our paths, over which, when we pass, if we have not something else than our own naked selves, we shall certainly contract defilement. God will give to the penitent man, if he will have it, that which will keep his feet from soil, even when they walk amidst filth. And if, at any time, notwithstanding the defence, some mud should stain the foot, and he that is washed needs again to wash his feet, the Master, with the towel and the basin, will not be far away.
There are enemies and dangers in life. A very important part of the equipment of the soldier in antiquity was the heavy boot, which enabled him to stand fast, and resist the rush of the enemy. God will give to the penitent man, if he will have it, that which will set his foot upon a rock, ‘and establish his goings,’ and which ‘will make him able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’
Brethren, defence, stability, shielding from pains, and protection against evil are all included in this great promise, which each of us may realise, if we will, for ourselves.
IV. Lastly, the Feast.
Now that comes into view in the parable, mainly as teaching us the great truth that Heaven keeps holiday, when some poor waif comes shrinking back to his Father. But I do not touch upon that truth now, though it is the main significance of this last part of the story.
The prodigal was half starving, and the fatted calf was killed ‘for him,’ as his ill-conditioned brother grumbled. Remember what it was that drove him back-not his heart, nor his conscience, but his stomach. He did not bethink himself to go back, because dormant filial affection woke up, or because a sense that he had been wrong stirred in him, but because he was hungry; and well he might be, when ‘the husks that the swine did eat’ were luxuries beyond his reach. Thank God for the teaching that even so low a motive as that is accepted by God; and that, if a man goes back, even for no better reason-as long as he does go back, he will be welcomed by the Father. This poor boy was quite content to sink his sonship for the sake of a loaf; and all that he wanted was to stay his hunger. So he had to learn that he could not get bread on the terms that he desired, and that what he wished most was not what he needed first. He had to be forgiven and bathed in the outflow of his father’s love before he could be fed. And, being thus received, he could not fail to be fed. So the message for us is, first, forgiveness, and then every hunger of the heart satisfied; all desires met; every needful nourishment communicated, and the true bread ours for ever, if we choose to eat. ‘The meek shall eat and be satisfied.’
I need not draw the picture-that picture of which there are many originals sitting in these pews before me-of the men that go for ever roaming with a hungry heart, through all the regions of life separate from God; and whether they seek their nourishment in the garbage of the sty, or whether fastidiously they look for it in the higher nutriment of mind and intellect and heart, still are condemned to be unfilled.
Brethren, ‘Why do you spend your money for that . . . which satisfies not?’ Here is the true way for all desires to be appeased. Go to God in Jesus Christ for forgiveness, and then everything that you need shall be yours. ‘I counsel thee to buy of Me . . . white raiment that thou mayest be clothed.’ ‘He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v21 sinned Sin.
sinned Sin.
(See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv20, 25 The return:
The return:
v. 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.
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v. 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.
v. 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;
v. 23. and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it; and let us eat and be merry;
v. 24. for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.
True repentance is not satisfied with resolutions, its sincerity must be proved by actions. The young man therefore carried out his intention without delay. As a proud and haughty, disobedient and unfilial youth he had left home; with a humble, broken, and contrite heart he crept back through the familiar scenes. But the merciful goodness and the cheerful forgiveness of his father was even greater than he had dared to expect after the treatment which the boy had accorded him. The love of a father is not so easily destroyed. Day after day he had been on the lookout for the son of his old age; never had he given up the hope of seeing him return some time. The father’s loving eye therefore was the first to espy the boy, although the half-starved, tattered tramp may have resembled only distantly the well-nourished young man that had so flippantly turned his back upon his home a short time ago. All this the father saw in a glance, but it did not fill him with repulsion, but only with the deepest sympathizing pity. To walk was too slow; he ran down to meet his boy, he fell on his neck, he kissed him most tenderly. Before the boy even opened his mouth, the father read in his eyes, in his entire appearance what motive had brought him back home. He indeed accepted the confession of sins which the boy made, but would hear nothing more. As the young man’s repentance and confession were unrestricted, so the father’s forgiveness was unconditional. The love of the father here pictured is but a weak type and picture of the love of God toward sinners, of His manner of dealing with repentant sinners. His eyes search for them; His Word pleads with them to return from the path of transgression; His heart overflows with commiserating sympathy at their blindness and foolishness, by which they cast themselves into misery, grief, and anguish. He is reconciled to all sinners through the death of Jesus Christ; in the Redeemer He has forgiven them all their trespasses. When He therefore sees the evidences of repentance, His heart goes out to them, and He showers upon them the fullness of His mercy, grace, and kindness. He gives’ them the assurance, confirmed with a solemn oath, that all their sins are forgiven, that their transgressions are cast into the depths of the sea. And His promises then give to the fainthearted, penitent sinner new trust and courage, by which the belief is engendered that he has again been accepted as a child of the heavenly Father.
The father, in the overwhelming joy of his heart, reinstates the son into all the rights of son-ship. To some servants that came hurrying up he gave the command to make haste that the wretched rags might be taken from his son and he be clothed in the dress becoming to his station, with a golden ring on his finger and with proper sandals on his feet. They should then take the calf which was being fattened for the slaughter and use its meat to prepare a great feast, since the entire household was to take part in the joy of this occasion. All the symbols of the filial state, all the honors due to the son of the house, should here be brought out. And the father hurriedly explains that this wanderer, if they had not known him before or had not recognized him in his rags, was his son. Dead indeed he had been, lost to all good, given to all evil; but now he had returned to real life, now he was in truth the son of the house, since he had found himself and stood in the relation of a true son to his father. And so the feast was made ready at once, and the celebration went ahead with great joy. Thus the lost children of God that return to Him with penitent hearts are not admitted to heaven in such a way as barely to enter. No, the forgiveness of God is complete. There is joy in heaven over every sinner that comes to repentance.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 22, 25, 28, 31 So the young son left and came toward his…
So the young son left and came toward his father
"So he left that country and started going back to his father." The word "so" marks an event that happened because of something else that happened first. In this case, the young man was in need and had decided to go home.
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While he was still far away
"While he was still far away from his home" or "While he was still far away from his father's house"
was moved with compassion
"had pity on him" or "loved him deeply from his heart"
embraced him and kissed him
The father did this to show his son that he loved him and was glad that the son was coming home. If people think that it is strange or wrong for a man to embrace or hug and kiss his son, you can substitute a way that men in your culture show affection to their sons. AT: "welcomed him affectionately"
sinned against heaven
Jewish people sometimes avoided saying the word "God" and used the word "heaven" instead. See how you translated this in Luke 15:18. AT: "I have sinned against God" (See: Metonymy)
I am no longer worthy to be called your son
This can be stated in active form. See how you translated a similar phrase in Luke 15:18. AT: "I am not worthy for you to call me your son" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
compassion
kiss
son
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 30, 31 15:20 his father saw him coming: His father was…
15:20 his father saw him coming: His father was apparently watching the road, longing for his son’s return. • he ran to his son: Running was considered undignified for the family patriarch, but the father was full of unbridled joy at his son’s return.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.