place, — Luke xix. 7. It means literallj " murmured greatly/' or " were constantly murmuring" throughout the journey.
[This man receiveth sinners.] — These words should he carefully noted. They are the key note to the whole chapter. A constant recollection of them throws light on the interpretation of all the three parahles which follow. The Pharisees found fault with our Lord for " inviting sinners." Our Lord replies, in effect, that the thing which they found fault with was the very thing He came on earth to do, and a thing of which He was not ashamed. He came to do for sinners what the shepherd did for his lost sheep, the woman did for her lost money, and the father did for the prodigal son. As for His murmuring enemies, they were like the elder brother of the prodigal son.
I am persuaded that remembrance of this expression is of great importance in the chapter, and that many strange expla- nations of things in the chapter have been given by commenta- tors, for want oi observing the expression. — The great object of all the three parables is one and the same. They all three exhibit the love and mercy of Christ towards sinners, but under three different aspects. I hold with Bengel, that the lost sheep represents the stupid, foolish sinner, — the lost piece of money the sinner altogether ignorant of himself, — and the younger son the daring and wilful sinner. But I also hold that the love which goes after the sheep, seeks the money, and runs to meet the prodigal, is all through intended to represent the love of Christ. — I cannot assent to the view that the three parables were meant to point to the work of the Three Persons of the Trinity. I cannot hold the view of Bengel, Alford, and Stier, that '' the woman*' represents the Holy Ghost, — and the view of Ambrose and Wordsworth, that she represents the Church. All these ideas I believe to be foreign to our Lord's intention when He spoke the three parables. I consider that the right way to view the three parables before us is to suppose that our Lord's meaning was as follows : — " You blame me for receiving sinners. I am not ashamed of it. I do receive them. I came on earth for that very purpose. K you would know my feeling towards sinners, mark the conduct of a shepherd seeking a lost sheep, a woman seeking a lost piece of money, and a kind father receiving a prodigal son. In the love exhibited in each of these three cases you have an emblem of my love to sinners."
4. — [What man of you, rfc] Both in this and the two following verses, I must decline assigning the allegorical meanings to every part of the parable, which many commentators have discovered. The two numbers, hundred, and ninety-nine, — the wilderness, — the shepherd's laying the lost sheep on his shoulders, — the home, — Ae friends and neighbours, — all appear to me to be subordinate circumstances of the parable, which