The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 58

Lord relRted in defence of his conduct are really but introductory to what has been with jusUce called "the pearl of parables," that of the prodigal son. To it we will now devote ourselves, under the title recently given to it e.s "From home, and back." It brings out in a most interesting way the attitude of God the Father towards lost souls. It is necessary before setting out, however, to notice that, according to the ancient Law, the division of the family inheritance we.s not conditioned by the pareat's death. If a eon insisted on hie share, the father publicly declared to his household his testa- mentary intentions, and the son entered at once into possession. 1 What our Lord's parable supposes, therefore, ie what constantly occurred. The father did not keep his testamentary intentions a secret to be revealed only at hie death, but got up and declared publicly how the inheritance wae to be allotted, and the impatient son entered at once into possession. Death, ae a matter of fact, does not enter into the case at all. There ie another preliminary point which we had better distinctly state, and that is that historically the younger son ie intended to cover the case of the" publicans and sinners" Jesus was receiving into the kingdom of God; while the elder son covers the case of the "Pharisees and scribes" who murmured at Christ's policy. 1f we keep this clearly in view, it will help us greatly in our interpretation. We shall take up the two sons in the order presented in the parable. I. THE PRODIGAL LEAVING HOME AND COMING BACK. (Vers.11-24.) Imagining he could not enjoy life with hie father and amid the restraints of home, he clamours for his share of the inheritance, turns it into money, and sets out. i,ve cannot do better than take up the stages in the history one by one, and interpret them as we proceed. We have, then: 1. The emigration. (Ver. 13.) Now, if this younger son rep,esents historically" the publicans and sinners," we must remember that they did not leave Palestine or even Jerusalem when separated from the Jewish Church. The emigration pictured in the parable was, therefore, not emigration to a locally distant land, but to a morally distant land; in other words, by the "far country" is not meant a foreign country, but the country of forgetfulness of God. The soul that lives at a. distance from God, that never considers that he is near, has by that forgetfulness of him emi- grated to the "fa.r country," and gone from home. In strict accordance with this principle of interpretation, the "substance" which was gathered and wasted in the far country was moral wealth, not monetary. As a matter of fact, the publicans, or tax-gatherers, were in many cases careful, money-gathering men, and not spendthrifts in the vulgar sense. What was squandered, therefore, in the far-off land of forgetful. ness of God was moral wealth, the wealth of the heart and mind. The waste was moral waste. And it is just here that we have to notice what may be called the defamation of the prodigal, in that painters and expositors have represented his "riotollil living" as including actually the deepest immorality. This was the line adopted, too, by the elder brother, who represented his brother as having devoured the father's living with harlots (ver. 30), although, as a matter of fact, he had no evidence of such "exces~ of riot" in the case at all. The most careful expositor of this parable has accordingly pointed out that the prodigal did not reach the sphere of sensuality until he envied the swine, and then only entered it by the mental act.• It is when we note how carefully our Lord constructed the parable, that we can see how the moral character of the pub- licans was appreciated in the picture, and they were not confounded with sinners o!'. the more sensual type. The far-off country, then, and the waste which took place there, represent the land of forgetfulness of God, and the waste of min<l and heart tbat a God-forgetting life is certain to experience. 2. The/amine. (Ver. 14.) This is the second stage. It represents the hunger of the heart and mind which comes over the soul that has forgotten God and to.ken to worldly courses. 'l'he famine is the utter vacancy of heart that settles down upon the moral emigrant. He begins to realize what he has lost by leaving God. 3. The effort after recfYIJery. (Vers. 16, 16.) The famished worldling betakes himself to work; becomes a swineherd-an unlawful occupation for a Jew-our Lord touching thus gently on the question of the farming of the taxes for Rome by the publicans; and finds that there is no real regeneration to be found in work. He, in his utter want of satisfaction, wishes he could satisfy his soul 1 Cf. Me.ine's • Ancient Law,' 4th edit., pp. 198-214. 1 • Le. Para.bole de l'Enfont Prodigue,' par D. Chantepio de la Se.ussaye, p. 46. 60 TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. [err. xvr, 1-31,