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Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-32
We have seen that in answering the self-righteous Pharisees and scribes, who condemned the Savior for eating with sinners (Luke 15:1-2), the Lord spoke three parables unveiling how the Divine Trinity works to bring sinners back, through the Son by the Spirit to the Father. In Luke 15:4-7 the Son as the Shepherd goes into the wilderness to seek the lost sheep. In Luke 15:8-10 we have the Spirit as the woman lighting a lamp, sweeping the house, and seeking carefully for a lost silver coin. The “house” in verse 8 refers to our being. The Spirit comes into us as the house to enlighten us. Finally, in Luke 15:11-32, the Father receives the returned prodigal son.
In the parable of the loving father, the father must have been outside the door of his dwelling when he saw his son approaching (v. 20). The father saw his son even while “he was still a long way off.” This would not have been possible if the father had been in the house. Therefore, the father must have been outside the door looking for the son. Eventually, the father with the son came back into the father’s dwelling.
Luke 15:25 refers to the father’s house. What is signified by the father’s house here? Christians may interpret the father’s house as signifying a heavenly mansion. According to this interpretation, when a sinner repents and comes back to God, one day God will receive him into a heavenly mansion. This understanding of the father’s house is not logical. It is not logical to say that we have come back to the Father and He has received us and yet we are still not in His house. Where, then, are we? Luke indicates in this parable that the prodigal son was received into the house immediately after he returned, and in the house there was a place to prepare food and a place to dine.
To be sure, the father’s house in the parable does not refer to heaven. If this house signifies heaven, then where are we who have been saved and who have been received by the Father, since we are not yet in heaven? Actually, the father’s house here should signify the church. In chapter ten the church is signified by the inn. Now in chapter fifteen the church is the father’s house. This understanding is logical and scriptural.
In the parable of the loving father there is no time gap between the coming back of the prodigal son and the father’s receiving him into his house. The son’s coming back is continued immediately by the father’s receiving him into the house. Therefore, in these three parables the Son came into the wilderness, the Spirit came into our being, and the Father receives us into His house.
What is the wilderness into which the Son as the Shepherd came seeking the lost sheep? The wilderness signifies the world. In the sight of God the world is a wilderness, a wild, desolate place where it is easy to get lost. The Son came in the wilderness to seek us, the lost sheep.
Now we need to ask in what way the Son as the Shepherd came to seek us. In contrast to the Spirit signified by the woman with the lamp, the Son does not seek us by enlightening us. His way to seek us out is to die for us. In John 10:11 the Lord Jesus says that He is the good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” The work of the Shepherd is to die for us. If He did not die for us, He would not have a way to seek us out. His way of seeking us is to die for us.
As indicated by the parable of the seeking woman, the Spirit’s work is to enlighten us inwardly. As this seeking woman, the Spirit enlightens our inner being little by little in a fine careful way. The Spirit enlightens our mind, then our emotion and will, and then our conscience and our entire heart. It is in this way that the Spirit “finds” us.
As the result of the Spirit’s finding us through enlightening us, we wake up and come to ourselves and realize how foolish it is to stay where we are. We do not wake ourselves up; on the contrary, we are awakened by the enlightening of the seeking Spirit. This seeking, enlightening, and finding of the Spirit takes place neither in the wilderness nor on the cross; it happens in our heart. This results in repentance, which is a change in our mind that produces a change in the direction of our life.
The fact that the Spirit’s finding us takes place within the “house” of our being reveals that we were lost in ourselves. We were lost in our mind, will, and emotion. We were not merely lost in the wilderness — we were lost in ourselves. Christ died on the cross to bring us back from the wilderness of the world, yet we remain lost in ourselves. Therefore, the Spirit finds us in ourselves. We can testify of this from our experience. When the Spirit enlightened our mind, emotion, will, conscience, and heart, then we began to repent.
This repentance resulting from the enlightening of the Spirit is altogether an inward matter. No human being and no angel is able to do such a subjective work in us. This can be done only by the penetrating Spirit, for the Spirit is able to penetrate the depths of our being to enlighten us and expose us. Then we realize how foolish we are, we repent, and we decide to come back to the Father. As we have pointed out, the Father was waiting for us outside the house. In order to meet the Father, it was necessary for us to come to His house.
If we read carefully the parable of the loving father, we shall see that while the prodigal son was still squandering the father’s riches, the father was waiting for him to come back. When the son came to himself and decided to go to his father, he prepared what he would say to him: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants” (15:18-19). What would you have said to the father if you had been the prodigal son in this parable? Perhaps you would have said to yourself, “I am going back to my father’s house. But what shall I say, and what shall I do when I get there? Should I knock on the door? Should I call out, ‘Father, I’m home’? I feel ashamed and foolish for squandering everything my father gave me. I cannot bear to recall the way I have been living. I know for sure that my father will not be outside waiting for me. Probably he will be in the house relaxing and enjoying life. Everything is fine with him, but not with me. Oh, what shall I do when I get home?”
To the prodigal son’s great surprise, “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion; and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him affectionately” (v. 20). Perhaps the prodigal said to himself, “This is like a dream! I didn’t call out or knock on the door, but my father comes running to me. Now he is embracing me and kissing me!”
Immediately the returned prodigal son said to his father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (v. 21). However, while he was still speaking, the father interrupted him and said to his slaves, “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry; because this son of mine was dead and lives again, was lost and was found!” (vv. 22-24).
The father told the slaves to quickly bring out the best robe and put it on his son. They were to do this “quickly” to match the father’s running to receive his son. The definite article “the” indicates that before the son returned the father had prepared a particular robe for him, and the servants knew that this robe was the best robe. Therefore, the father told the slaves to take the best robe and put it on his son.
When the son returned home, he was a poor beggar dressed in rags. But after the best robe was put on him, he was covered with a splendid garment prepared especially for him. With this robe on, he was qualified to match his father.
The best robe put on the son is a full type of Christ as our righteousness in whom we are justified before God. Hence, putting the best robe on the returned prodigal signifies justification in Christ. As those who have Christ as the best robe, we are justified by God.
The father also told the slaves to put a ring on his son’s hand. I believe this was a gold ring. This ring signifies the sealing Spirit given to a returned sinner (Eph. 1:13). This ring is a sign that a repentant sinner receives something divine, the very Spirit of God Himself. The ring signifying the sealing Spirit indicates that the returned prodigal belongs to the Father. It also indicates that whatever the Father has as an inheritance belongs to the returned son.
In 15:22 we see that sandals were also put on the feet of the returned son. Sandals separate one’s feet from the dirt of the earth and strengthen him for walking. The sandals put on the son’s feet signify that God’s salvation separates us from the world and unto Him so that we may then take His way.
With the robe, the ring, and the sandals the returned one was fully clothed and adorned. This means that he was fully justified and qualified and could be accepted into the father’s house. Then the father told the slaves to bring the fattened calf and slaughter it for their enjoyment. Thus far, we see Christ as righteousness to justify a repentant sinner outwardly, the Spirit as the seal, and the power of God’s salvation separating a repentant sinner from the world. Now we see that Christ is also the fattened calf to fill us with the divine life for our enjoyment. The father, the returned son, and all the others could enjoy feasting on this fattened calf. So “they began to be merry.”
In this parable we see that God’s salvation is of two aspects, the outward aspect and the inward aspect. The outward aspect is Christ as our righteousness to justify us, and the inward aspect is Christ as our life and life supply to satisfy us. After coming back to his father, the prodigal son enjoyed all the riches of God’s provision in His salvation. He enjoyed Christ as his outward righteousness, he enjoyed the Spirit as the seal indicating that he belongs to the Father and that the Father and all His wealth belongs to him, he enjoyed the power of God’s salvation separating him from the world, and he also enjoyed the inner Christ, the Christ who is his life and life supply. Therefore, he could become a very happy person. With his father he could eat and be merry. What a pleasant picture this is!
In 15:25-32 we have a sad picture, a picture of those in religion. The elder son in this parable portrays the Pharisees and scribes. In 15:3 we see that the Lord spoke these parables to the Pharisees and scribes in the presence of the tax collectors and sinners. The religious ones must have been unhappy, but the tax collectors and typical sinners must have been filled with rejoicing. They may have said, “Praise the Lord that now I am happy! Outwardly I am justified, and inwardly I am satisfied.” The Pharisees and scribes, however, complained that the situation portrayed in these parables was not fair. We thank the Lord that, in His mercy, we are not Pharisees. We are repentant sinners who have learned how to be happy and merry in the Lord through God’s rich salvation.
In the four gospels only in chapter fifteen of Luke do we have the picture concerning God’s salvation worked out by the Divine Trinity. According to this picture, first, the Son came to accomplish redemption on the cross; second, the Spirit enters into us to enlighten us and find us; and eventually the Father waits for us, ready to receive us, justify us, seal us, empower us, and satisfy us to make us those who happily enjoy Him in Christ through the Spirit. This is a picture of full salvation.
While the Lord Jesus was on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, He had a suitable environment and an excellent opportunity to present a picture of God’s salvation so that repentant sinners may know how blessed they are and that the religious ones may see how foolish they are. In Luke 15 we see that the sinners are blessed, whereas the dissenting religious ones remain in their foolishness.
Praise the Lord that we have received Christ as our righteousness, the Spirit as the seal, salvation as the separating and strengthening power, and Christ as our inner life and life supply! Now we are no longer in the wilderness and no longer in the “house” of the self — now we are in the Father’s house, the church.
The word “church” is not mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. But in at least two parables there are hints pointing to the church. In the parable of the good Samaritan recorded in chapter ten, the “inn” signifies the church. In the parable of the loving father recorded in chapter fifteen, the father’s house signifies the church. While we are on our journey, the church is an inn where we may stay temporarily. But in another sense the church is not an inn; the church is a house, both our house and the house of our Father.
The parable of the loving father indicates that sinners should not be saved far away from the church. Those who are saved apart from the church and remain outside the church may not be remaining fruits. But those who are saved in the church and stay in the church are remaining fruit.
Sometimes the parable of the father and the returned prodigal is presented in such a way that the son is portrayed as kneeling before the father. This is not accurate. There is no indication in this chapter that the son ever knelt before the father. Instead, Luke presents the father embracing the son and kissing him affectionately.
The parable of the loving father is exceedingly rich. Have you ever realized that the church is included in this parable? Here we see the church as the Father’s house to which we may come and in which we may stay.
In these messages we have emphasized the fact that everything in the Gospel of Luke from chapter four onward is related to the jubilee either directly or indirectly. This is true of the parables in chapter fifteen. The enjoyment experienced by the returned prodigal son was actually the enjoyment of the jubilee. The ring on his hand signifying the sealing Spirit points to the recovery of the birthright, the recovery of the right to enjoy the Triune God. Both the ring and the sandals are signs of a free man. A free man is one released from bondage, released from slavery and captivity. On the negative side, the prodigal is released from bondage; on the positive side, he begins to enjoy the riches of the Father’s inheritance. When we put these matters together, we have a picture of the real jubilee.
