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The Prodigal Son

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The Prodigal Son

14 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

In Luke 14 the Lord Jesus had just finished speaking about the cost of dis-cipleship. His last words in the chapter were: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” This is important to note, because the first word in chapter 15 is “then,” which indicates a connection with what has preceded. “Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” Note that the publicans and sinners came to hear, while the Pharisees and scribes murmured.

The events in verses 1 and 2 caused the Lord Jesus to speak the three parables recorded in Luke 15. The parables were spoken for a twofold purpose: as an admonishment to the Pharisees and scribes and to the comfort of poor, lost sinners. The essence of the three parables is the same.

It is the third parable, the parable of the prodigal son, to which we would like to draw your attention. It begins, “A certain man had two sons.” This certain man represents God the Father. In the Bible God the Father is seldom spoken of as a man. He is a Spirit and cannot be represented as man. He never took upon Himself the form of a man as Christ did. Nevertheless in another place He is spoken of as the Husbandman, condescending to the mind of man who was created in the image of God.

Who are the two sons? Who was He speaking to in this parable? The Pharisees and scribes, and publicans and sinners. The older son represented the Pharisees and scribes; the younger son represented the publicans and sinners. We see more examples of this in the Word of God, for example, Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Ishmael and Isaac. This clearly shows the sovereignty of God in election, since by nature there is no difference in man. They are all Adam’s children and therefore are in a state of spiritual death and worthy to be condemned before God on account of sin and guilt.

The younger son was not satisfied with his present state; everything he had need of was provided him in his father’s house; he lacked nothing while in the very presence of his father. This is a picture of our first state in Paradise where we had lack of nothing, were without sin, in perfect harmony with creation, and completely happy and joyful in our communion with God. One would say: “Why did we ever give this up?” By the instigation and temptation of Satan we wanted to be as God. Banishment and loss of communion and favor of God were the result Without God in the world, dead in sins and in trespasses — that is our sad condition and we know it not.

Now do we yet wonder why the younger son asked his father for his portion of the goods? It is a clear fruit of the fall. Not only this, but his father’s house became too restrictive for him. He took his journey into a far country. This is man by nature, ever departing from God further and further, so we can live ourselves out to our heart’s content, wasting our substance with riotous living.

What a great blessing, what a wonder when there comes a time in our life that we have spent all and begin to be in want! Even though this is of the Lord, does this bring us to the Lord? No, man will try to work it out for himself. He thinks that if he has time he will pay all. He has no eye as yet for the greatness of his debt and the fountain of pollution. This becomes clear in verse 15, “And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country…” He stayed in that country. This can happen in the life of God’s people when they are first brought under convictions — that they join with those who are legalistic. But what happens? The Word of God tells us, “… and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.” That citizen did not point the convicted sinner to where forgiveness and life may be found, and where reconciliation and restoration with the Father were to be found; that is, he did not point out a crucified Christ, but sent him to work in the field of Moses.

Furthermore, “And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.” The prodigal was brought so low that he would fain, which means gladly, have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat. The swine, the worldling, can find his life in the empty things of the world, for these are the husks. They are but the empty shells and those who feed only on these must erelong perish miserably. The husks are not only found in the world; also in religion, the Pharisee finds his life in the outward wrapping of the law. Oh, how sad is our condition by nature! Our greatest misery is that we do not know our misery. Again, it is true that we are dead in sins and in trespasses.

“And no man gave unto him.” While in that far country no man was willing or able to help the prodigal. They had no insight into his condition. There is no place in the world for the spiritually poor. But now the time has come for the Lord to work in the heart of the prodigal. We read: “And when he came to himself….” When this is read superficially it could be interpreted as if the prodigal made up his own mind, that he was sick of his present life and wanted to go back to his father’s house where the hired servants of his father had bread enough and to spare while he was perishing from hunger. Far from it — the text says, “And when he came to himself….” It was in Paradise, in the state of innocency that man was himself, in perfect communion with God. After the fall, man was not himself anymore; he became an enemy of God and his neighbor. He was in bondage to sin and Satan. Therefore, a wonder, a miracle from heaven must take place in the life of man, shall he be himself again. This miracle has taken place in the heart of the prodigal, the fruit of it is seen in verse 18, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.”

Here we may see that a quickened soul begins to seek and inquire after God, the God whom he left and lost and whom by nature he does not seek after. It is the quickening act of the Holy Spirit that quickens a dead sinner. What is the fruit? “I will arise and go to my father.” Go to my father? Does he have a right to call him “my father?” Yes, the father remained his father, but he had lost the right to be called a son, as we will see shortly. The Lord, in His sovereign grace, had granted him the Spirit of grace to say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.” This is no spiritual high-mindedness, but a humble confession of sin. It is a true mark of spiritual life if we may humbly confess our sins before Him whom we have sinned against.

The Spirit grants this special grace in the life of God’s people irrespective of sensible justification. The Lord grants His graces in the heart of His people where a true need exists, and is worked by the Lord Himself through His Holy Spirit. Every time, room must again be made in the heart of a sinner for the grace of the Lord. The Lord never wastes His grace. We may believe that the Lord had worked in the heart of the prodigal son a special need for the Spirit. He was so humbled by this special goodness of the Lord granted unto him that he said, “And am no more worthy to be called thy son …”

Here again we see how the new life reveals itself. The prodigal son confesses his unworthiness to be called a son. He has lost all his rights. He is led back to Paradise; he experiences the cause of the separation between himself and the Father. This is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the people of God. In the beginning it may be this or that sin that they are convicted of, but eventually the Holy Spirit leads them to the origin of sin. They must become acquainted with that first Adam before room can be made for the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“And he arose, and came to his father.” We observe that true faith is active. That is why James says: “Show me thy faith by thy works.” Work is a mark of a living soul. This is exemplified in the life of Ruth. Very often the work of God becomes mixed with the work of man, but when the Spirit begins to thresh, only the work of the Lord will endure; all that is of man will be cast out as the household goods of Tobiah.

Let us also pay attention to the second clause, “and came to his father.” He did not arise and just go any place, but he came to his father. When the eyes of the people of God are opened and they begin to know and experience that they are without God in the world, they begin to seek and to cry after that God they have lost. For some it may be a long way, for some a short way, for some a more difficult way than another, but one thing they all have in common: They must find God and be reconciled with Him. As it is said that no two snowflakes are alike, so it is with the way the Lord deals with His people, and it is the same Spirit who worketh all in all.

Also in verse 20 we may see that the eye of the Lord is on His people in a special way. Here we do not mean the general omnipresence of the Lord, but the special fatherly care for His people — those He has chosen in Christ from eternity and comes to draw in time, as we see in the life of the prodigal son. The Father saw him when he was yet a great way off, thus, before the prodigal was able to see Him. When his father saw him, he “had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” Is that what the prodigal son expected? In the heart of the prodigal son it was the same as with every convicted sinner — the heart (soul) is tossed between fear and hope. Why the fear? A breach exists between the father and the son on account of sin, and the knowledge of this can cause many fears. The more a sinner learns of the holiness, righteousness, and majesty of God, the more he fears. There is fear also on account of his own unbelieving and deceitful heart, and on account of the onslaughts of Satan. But there is also hope. David, in Psalm 119, speaks about the Word of God which has caused him to hope; thus, not our fears, tears, or prayers, but the Word of God in the heart of a sinner gives him hope. To the degree a sinner may see of the mercy, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness of God, he has a hope. The sinner knows there is a debt to be paid. He also learns that he is so poor that he cannot pay one farthing. Yes, he daily increases his debt, and yet he has no eye for that One who has paid all, the Lord Jesus Christ. Is it any wonder there is fear and hope?

In verse 21 we read the son’s confession which is different from his confession in verse 19. What is the difference? In verse 21 he does not say, “Make me as one of thy hired servants.” Why? The eternal faithfulness of the Father comes to the foreground here; herein He reveals that He remains the Father. Here the son confesses that he has lost the right to be called a son on account of sin, but before the son could say, “Make me as one of thy hired servants,” the Father said, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him …” Now we see that only the Father speaks, we hear nothing from the prodigal son anymore. When the judge is ready to pronounce the verdict, the accused is silent; he is guilty, he is ready to receive and accept his condemnation, but instead: “Bring forth the best robe …” No words can be found to express what it is to expect death and to receive life; that must be experienced. We may see that all things are worked out for the sinner. As far as what is done for him, he is totally outside of it; it is all done for him. It is all merited by Christ, but the sinner must become a subject of it. It is all worked out for him, but also in him, and that is the experience of the people of God.

Let us follow the parable: The father told His servants to bring the best robe and put it on his son. The son had lost all his rights in his father’s house; he had wasted his goods with riotous living. Any robe would not do, it had to be the best one. Which is the best? The robe of Christ’s righteousness. The sinner needs to be clothed with that robe shall he be able to stand before God who is righteous. Was it enough to bring the robe and hand it to the son? No, he felt unworthy and condemned in himself and did not dare believe that that robe could be for him. The servants put it on him. So it is with a sinner, convicted and condemned in himself. He has no right to Christ, dare not take Him, but Christ gives Himself to the sinner, not a moment too early nor a moment too late.

A ring is put on the hand of the prodigal son as a token of the love and faithfulness of the Father. It is the seal of the Spirit on the work of God in a sinner’s life. He may look at it at any time and be reminded of the love of the Father. He was given shoes on his feet. He was also given sanctification to lead a holy life of thanksgiving for what the Lord had merited for him.

From the foregoing we may learn that a sinner can be reconciled with the Father only upon the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Verse 23 teaches that very thing, “And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry.” Here the crucified Christ is set forth, which is well-pleasing to the Father, and to the enjoyment of His people.

When the Lord Jesus spoke to the multitudes about His mediatorial work, it aroused their enmity and they left Him. How is it with us? Are we yet enemies of free grace? Do we still live as we are born? Oh, that we may come to ourselves as the prodigal son! Then the Lord will also say of us: “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”

Dr. L Willekes serves as elder in the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Sioux Center, Iowa.

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van vrijdag 1 september 1989

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's

The Prodigal Son

Bekijk de hele uitgave van vrijdag 1 september 1989

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's