Parable of the Prodigal Son (9)

“And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry.” With these words we can take a glance into the heart of this father. The father had love for his child who stood before him. He saw his child whom he had drawn out of darkness and brought all the way from that far country. After bestowing upon his son all the gifts which we find mentioned in the previous verse, the best robe, the ring, and the shoes, he now wanted his child to sit at his table, there to be fed, nourished, and strengthened.

We may also take a look for a moment into the heart of the prodigal son. What were his thoughts? They would be best expressed by the words, “We love Him because He first loved us.” Looking back, he saw that it was the love of the Father that brought him home. Oh, then a sinner cries out, “Lord, why is it that Thou dost look down upon such a one as I am? How is it that Thou hast passed by so many and hast blessed me with grace and mercy? Oh, for a little, small crumb, that I may be strengthened in that most holy faith.”

What breaks a heart and brings a sinner upon his knees? What makes a person a supplicant at the footstool of God? It is the love of God, the love which He has shed abroad in the heart. Let there be the greatest tribulations, the most fearful adversities, it will not break a man if God doesn’t come along with them. But let there be one drop of the love of God, and the sinner bows so deeply. He then wishes to come more and more into the dust before the Lord.

Do you know what the father saw in his prodigal son? He saw that he was hungering and thirsting. Oh, the prodigal son had come such a long way, through so many trials and difficulties, and he was hungering for something to eat. All those who have come to themselves, by the grace of God, and come back as a poor and lost sinner, know something of a hungering and a thirsting. Are you one of them? Before, in that far country, he was putting his hand in the swine trough to find something to eat, but now he was hungering for something else. He was hungering for something to eat from his father’s house. Then those hungering ones say, “Lord, give only one word and my soul shall be healed.”

“Bring hither the fatted calf.” The father called for the fatted calf which was ready in the barn. This was not just any calf, but the fatted calf. It was a calf that was protected and always ready, ready for the moment when the father would call for it, because there would be a time of feasting in the house. We see that the father wanted to put the best on the table. That is also true when the Lord’s Supper is administered. Then we see that the Father calls for His Son, Jesus Christ, Him who was slain for the sins of His people. He was slain for the sins of prodigal sons and daughters, for He took upon Himself the curse due unto them.

What is brought upon that table? Oh, that table is prepared, as we read in Isaiah 55:1, “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Here the Lord is saying, “No, you can’t buy anything at this table with your money and with your price. At this table it is all FREE.” This becomes a problem for us, because it is free. If we could buy it, bringing something of ourselves, then it would be easier to come to that table. But God doesn’t want it or need it. He is only satisfied in His only Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why He says, “Without money and without price.” That is why the Father wants to kill the fatted calf. He wants to prepare the table for those sons and daughters who have come all the way back home, for those who have come to know that Jesus Christ has opened a way for them.

I wonder what it was like for that son when he heard his father call to his servants to “bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry.” What was in his heart at this time? You know there were times as he was returning home that he thought about this. He knew that in the house of his father there was a fatted calf which was always there for a special, joyous occasion. I believe that on his way back home from the far country that he hardly dared to think of the fatted calf. He barely let his thoughts go so far, but, oh, what a wonder, he thought, if he may sit at the table in his father’s house and partake of that special fatted calf. The next moment he thought that it could never be. Looking at his filthy garments and the distance before him, he thought that it could never be. His thoughts were that his father would cast him away. But now he heard, “Bring hither the fatted calf.”

Do you know what was in his heart? I believe it was just as we read in the Song of Solomon, where it says, “He brought me into His banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.” He was not sitting at the table yet, but he heard his father speaking. Maybe there are times that you say, “It can never be for me. It can never be, because God never speaks to my soul. God never gives me one word. Every day is the same for me. There’s never an answer for me. It must mean that God has nothing for me.”

Let’s look at the Canaanitish woman. Her story may be like yours. It says in Scripture that He gave her not a word. Do you know what she did? She bowed deeper. And why? With one hand He was holding her back, and with the other hand He was drawing her forward. Why does He do that? It is that His Name might be glorified and the sinner abased.

“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” We see in Scripture that he was dead, and is alive. This child was not just sick. Today you hear so much of a people who are sick and who become better. But of this child, his father said, “He was dead.” When we look in Genesis 2:17, we find these words, “For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” We need more than to be helped along a little bit. We can’t embrace Him, or take hold of Him, because we are dead. What do we need more than anything else? We need to be made alive.

“For this my son was dead, and is alive again.” This child did not make himself alive, for he could never do that. This child was made alive by the Father. Are you alive? Can it be said of you, “This my son was dead, and is alive again”? How can you know if you’re alive? It is by that hunger and thirst for God, that hunger for God’s forgiveness. When the prodigal son was made alive, then he hungered for that father. When the Lord comes to convert His people, then we see the marks of a new life. The hungering and thirsting, the knowledge of sin and sorrow, and the desire to walk separate from the world become evident in the new life. They become a missing and a seeking people. They are drawn by the Father and invited by the Father. These marks speak of nothing else but the love of God and the love of Jesus. Outside of the love of God and Jesus there would be no hunger in the heart of man. Outside of the Lord there would be no “for this My son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”

— to be continued —

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