Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 15:25
Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
25. Now his elder son was in the field ] Many have felt a wish that the parable had ended with the moving and exquisite scene called up by the last words; or have regarded the remaining verses as practically a separate parable. Such a judgment not to speak of its presumption shews a narrow spirit. We must not forget that the Jews, however guilty, were God’s children no less than the Gentiles, and Pharisees no less than publicans from the moment that Pharisees had learnt that they too had need of repentance. The elder son is still a son, nor are his faults intrinsically more heinous, though more perilous because more likely to lead to self-deception than those of the younger. Self-righteousness is sin as well as unrighteousness, and may be even a worse sin, Mat 21:31-32; but God has provided for both sins a full Sacrifice and a free forgiveness.
musick and dancing ] Literally, “ a symphony and chorus.”
In the field – At work. This eldest son is designed to represent the Pharisees who had found fault with the Saviour. Their conduct is likened to that of this envious and unnatural brother. Music and dancing – Dancing was not uncommon among the Hebrews, and was used on various occasions. Thus Miriam celebrated the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt in dances as well as songs, Exo 15:20. David danced before the ark, 2Sa 6:14. It was common at Jewish feasts Jdg 21:19-21 and in public triumphs Jdg 11:34, and at all seasons of mirth and rejoicings, Psa 30:11; Jer 31:4, Jer 31:13. It was also used in religious services by the idolaters Exo 32:19, and also by the Jews, at times, in their religious services, Psa 149:3; Psa 150:4. In this case it was an expression of rejoicing. Our Lord expresses no opinion about its propriety. He simply states the fact, nor was there occasion for comment on it. His mentioning it cannot be pleaded for its lawfulness or propriety, any more than his mentioning the vice of the younger son, or the wickedness of the Pharisees, can be pleaded to justify their conduct. It is an expressive image, used in accordance with the known customs of the country, to express joy. It is farther to be remarked, that if the example of persons in Scripture be pleaded for dancing, it can be only for just such dances as they practiced – for sacred or triumphal occasions. Verse 25. His elder son] Meaning probably persons of a regular moral life, who needed no repentance in comparison of the prodigal already described. In the field] Attending the concerns of the farm. He heard music] , a number of sounds mingled together, as in a concert. Dancing.] . But Le Clerc denies that the word means dancing at all, as it properly means a choir of singers. The symphony mentioned before may mean the musical instruments which accompanied. the choirs of singers. This last part of the parable is not so exactly applicable to that which it is brought to represent as the former parts are, but it serveth excellently to show us that envy which is found in our hearts by nature to the spiritual good and advantage of others. Two things are observable in it: 1. Mans peevishness and envy. 2. Gods meekness towards us under our frowardness. By the elder son some think the Jews are represented, whose peevishness to the Gentiles, and the offer of the grace of the gospel to them, is made appear to us from many places of holy writ. Others think that by the elder son are represented hypocrites, who swelling in all opinion of themselves, and their own righteousness, have no patience to hear that any others should be preferred in the favour of God before them. Why may we not say that all are understood by it, even the best of Gods people, who, if they narrowly search their own hearts, will find something of pride and envy remaining in the best of them? And as the former prompts them to judge themselves as much deserving the favour of God, even in special particular dispensations, as any others; so the latter inclineth them to repine at such dispensations of Divine grace as others receive, and they want: two corruptions which we are as much concerned to keep watch upon, or against, as any other; speaking both a peevishness to the honour and glory of God, a dissatisfaction in his dispensations, and an offer at the control of his wisdom and justice, and also a great degree of uncharitableness, our eye being evil because the Lord is good. Besides that it seemeth to put in a claim of merit; and the soul that indulges itself in such thoughts seems to say that it hath deserved more than it doth receive; for without such a supposition, it is the most unreasonable thing imaginable, that any person should be displeased that another should have a greater share in the favour of God than he, while he himself receives more than he can lay a claim unto, and God may do with his own what he pleaseth. The meekness of God in dealing with us under our frowardness is as much remarkable. Son, ( saith this father in the parable), thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; was lost, and is found. This must be understood of God as spoken after the manner of men, who show greater passions upon the receiving of a good that is new to them, and possibly surprising, than they ordinarily show upon the view of a good of which they have had longer fruition; so it confirms what was before said in Luk 15:7,10. We must take heed of thinking that any thing can make a change or alteration in God, but must look upon it only as an expression of Gods high satisfaction and well pleasedness in a sinners conversion, and turning unto him; so as if it were possible any good should more than other affect the Divine Being, it would be this. So as this whole parable is of excellent use, not only to instruct sinners in their miserable state, till they be reconciled to God, but to deliver them from all temptations to fear that, heartily returning, they shall not be accepted. 25. in the fieldengaged inhis father’s business: compare Lu15:29, “These many years do I serve thee.” Now his elder son was in the field,…. By “the elder son” is meant, not angels, as has been observed on Lu 15:11 nor truly converted persons, of some standing in the church; for though these may be said to be elder than young converts, and are more solid and settled, yet they are not ignorant of spiritual mirth; nor of the Gospel sound; nor are they angry at the conversion of sinners; nor will they ever speak in such commendation of themselves; or say that they never had a kid, much less a fatted calf, as this elder brother does: nor the Jews in general, in distinction from the Gentiles, as has been remarked in the above place: the Scribes and Pharisees in particular are meant, in opposition to the publicans and sinners: now these are said to be “in the field”; in the world, which is comparable to an uncultivated field; being overrun with the briers and thorns of sin, and sinful men; where beasts of prey inhabit, and who are fitly signified by lions, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword; and out of which the garden of the church is taken and separated, and fenced by distinguishing grace: now this elder brother, the Scribe and Pharisee, notwithstanding all his sobriety and morality, was in a state of nature and unregeneracy, in the same condition he came into the world; and was under the influence of the god of the world; and was taken up with the things of the world, the honours, riches, and profits of it; and though he was in the Jewish church state, yet was in the field of the world; the ceremonies of that state, were the rudiments of the world; and the sanctuary in it, was a worldly sanctuary; and the chief men in it, were the princes of the world: and this elder son was in the field at work, working for life: to work is right, when men work from a principle of grace, in the name, faith, and strength of Christ, to the glory of God and religion, and their own and others good; and ascribe all they do to the grace of God, and acknowledge their own unworthiness; but to work, in order to obtain righteousness, life, and salvation, proceeds from wretched ignorance, and is an instance of the pride and vanity of human nature; and is not only a vain and fruitless attempt, but a piece of wickedness, it being a denial of Christ, as God’s salvation: now while the younger son, the publicans and sinners, were received and entertained in the house and kingdom of God their Father, the elder son, the Scribe and Pharisee, were without in the field, labouring to obtain life by doing;
and as he came and drew nigh to the house. The Ethiopic version reads, “to the border of the city”: he “came” out of the field, the world; not that he was come out from the world, and had left the company of the men of it, or parted with the sins and lusts of it; but he came from his labour, having done his day’s work, and the task of duty he had set himself; and was now going for his hire, for what he imagined he had merited: and
drew nigh to the house; for he did not go in, Lu 15:28 he only made some advances to it, and took some steps towards entrance into it; namely, into a visible church; he came to hear the word, as the Scribes and Pharisees did; and to attend on ordinances, particularly at the administration of the ordinance of baptism, and seemed desirous of submitting to it in John’s time; but never came to Christ in a spiritual way; nor entered into the kingdom of heaven, the Gospel dispensation; and did all that could be, to hinder others, especially publicans and sinners;
he heard music and dancing. The Syriac; Persic, and Ethiopic versions, leave out “dancing”: the former only reads, “the voice of the singing of many”, and the next, “the voice of singing”; and the last, “pipes and songs”; by “music” is meant not the instrumental music used in the Old Testament church; nor vocal singing in the new; but the preaching of the Gospel by the ministers of it, the servants, in Lu 15:22 setting forth the love of God, the righteousness of Christ, peace, pardon, and salvation by him; in which, as in music, there is a distinction of sounds, the voice of Christ in the Gospel, and the several doctrines of it, are distinctly pronounced, discerned, and understood: and there is also, as in music, an harmony and agreement; the Gospel does not give an uncertain sound, nor contradict itself; it is not yea and nay: and, like music, it is delightful and charming; it is a sound of love in all the three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit; of free grace, and rich mercy; of liberty, reconciliation, forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life: and as music, has a powerful and attractive virtue in it; so the Gospel is mighty and efficacious in the hand of the Spirit of God to quicken even dead sinners, to draw them to Christ, to allure, charm, and comfort them: “dancing” may design those expressions of joy, which are delivered by young converts at hearing the Gospel, as by the three thousand, in Ac 2:41 by the inhabitants of Samaria, Ac 8:6 and by the jailor and his household, Ac 16:34 and by many others: now all this the elder brother, the Scribes and Pharisees, “heard”; not so as to know the true meaning of it, as appears from the following verse; nor as to approve of it; or so as to feel the power, and enjoy the sweetness of it; nor as to practise what was heard; only externally hearing, they heard, but understood not, their eyes were blinded, and their hearts were hardened.
As he came and drew nigh ( ). More exactly, “As, coming, he drew nigh,” for is present middle participle and is aorist active indicative. Music (). Our word “symphony.” An old Greek word from (, together, and , voice or sound), harmony, concord , by a band of musicians. Here alone in the N.T. And dancing ( ). An old word again, but here alone in the N.T. Origin uncertain, possibly from by metathesis (, to dance). A circular dance on the green. Music [] . A symphony : concerted music.
THE PHARISEE-LIKE SON V. 25-32
1) “Now his older son was in the field:” (en de ho huios autou ho presbuteros en agro) “Then his older heir-son was in the field,” engaged in his father’s business, Luk 15:29. The elder son represents the jealous, proud, arrogant Pharisees and Jews, the very ones to whom the three parables were spoken, Luk 15:13.
2) “And as he came and drew nigh to the house,” (kai hos erchomenos engisen te oikia) “And as he was coming he came near to the house,” where feast preparations were under way. The elder son, though a son, also needed repentance, pardon and forgiveness, as surely as the younger, Luk 15:21; Luk 13:3; Luk 13:5. He came from the fields he had chosen to till, Luk 15:29.
3) “He heard musick and dancing.” (ekousen sumponias kai choron) “And he heard symphonic music and dancing,” which shocked an heart out of tune, Pro 25:20; Dan 6:18, indicating merriment expressed in rhythmic musical form and antiphonal marching, called dancing, not necessarily sinful or unbecoming for a child of God, in special times of thanksgiving, and gratitude to God for sins forgiven.
This latter portion of the parable charges those persons with cruelty, who would wickedly choose to set limits to the grace of God, as if they envied the salvation of wretched sinners. For we know that this is pointed at the haughtiness of the scribes, (543) who did not think that they received the reward due to their merits, if Christ admitted publicans and the common people to the hope of the eternal inheritance. The substance of it therefore is, that, if we are desirous to be reckoned the children of God, we must forgive in a brotherly manner the faults of brethren, which He forgives with fatherly kindness.
25. And his elder son was in the field. Those who think that, under the figure of the first-born son, the Jewish nation is described, have indeed some argument on their side; but I do not think that they attend sufficiently to the whole of the passage. For the discourse was occasioned by the murmuring of the scribes, who took offense at the kindness of Christ towards wretched persons who had led a wicked life. He therefore compares the scribes, who were swelled with presumption, to good and modest men, who had always lived with decency and sobriety, and had honorably supported their family; nay, even to obedient children, who throughout their whole life had patiently submitted to their father’s control. And though they were utterly unworthy of this commendation, yet Christ, speaking according to their belief, attributes to them, by way of concession, their pretended holiness, as if it had been virtue; as if he had said, Though I were to grant to you what you falsely boast of, that you have always been obedient children to God, still you ought not so haughtily and cruelly to reject your brethren, when they repent of their wicked life.
(543) “ L’orgueil et la presomption des Scribes;” — “the pride and presumption of the Scribes.”
Butlers Comments
SECTION 4
The Lost Pharisaical Son (Luk. 15:25-32)
25 Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. 27And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound. 28But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29but he answered his father, Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf! 31And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.
Luk. 15:25-30 Resentment: The primary thrust of this parable is to illustrate in a real-life situation the attitude of the Pharisees toward publicans and sinners. All that has gone before in the prodigals story illustrates how publicans and sinners repent and how mercifully God receives them. But the prodigals story is primarily background for the story of the elder brother which now follows. This story will cast the attitude of the Pharisees in black contrast to that of Jesus (and Gods).
Enter the villainthe elder brother. Outwardly this elder brother had presented the picture of correct conduct. He was industrious (out working in the field), respectable (he had never caroused like the prodigal), outwardly respectful to his father but his heart was that of a resentful, petulant hireling. He was only working in anticipation of getting more than his prodigal brother. One day he was out working in the field and upon returning to the house he heard music and dancing as he drew near. He called one of the hired servants and asked what the meaning of the rejoicing was. The servant told him Your brother has come . . . Note, your brotherbut the elder brother later calls him, This son of yours . . . to his father. He will not acknowledge the prodigal as his brother. How like the Phariseesboth ancient and modern! The servant told the elder brother that his father had killed the one calf they had been fattening and was using it to celebrate the return of that boy who had long ago left the household and squandered his inheritance in profligacy. The elder son had probably been anticipating the day when that fatted calf would be used to celebrate his taking over the fathers estate. The prodigal had not only come back (which the elder son resented), but the father received him as a son again!
Upon hearing this the elder son flew into a rage (Gr. orgisthe, from which we get the English words, orgasm, orgy, etc.). He was invited to enter the house and join the celebration, but he expressed that he had no desire to enter into the celebration. So the father came out of the house and begged (Gr. parekalei, literally, call upon call; call after call) him to come in.
Now the elder sons true feeling toward the father manifests itself. He had stayed home and behavedbut for the wrong reason. The elder son was respectable, but only on the surface. Beneath the veneer of propriety is the self-righteous, jealous, hateful heart. His mask of hypocrisy has slipped off and he is exposed for what he really is. He is an ingrate. He should have been thankful his brother was home safeeven if only for his fathers sake! He should have been grateful that a celebration was being made and have enjoyed himself participating. He should have been thankful that he was going to get any inheritance at all. After all, it was all to be inheritedit was not his, or his brothers, but given to both.
All this petulant, pouting, pretender can do is verbally attack his own father because his father was forgiving and gracious to the prodigal. The elder son rebukes his father, saying, Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. He rebukes his father for not being aware of his obedient service; he rebukes his father for never rewarding him; he rebukes his father as being wrong for receiving the prodigal who had devoured his inheritance on harlots. He even rebukes his father for thinking he should accept the prodigal as his brotherhe will not recognize the prodigal as brother, only as the fathers son.
One very perceptive writer asks, Who is the prodigal after all? One came backbut one got lost at home. He locked himself out of the banquetthe key he lost was love. Luk. 15:31-32 Rebuke: There is pathos in the fathers Son, . . . The father was made happy when the prodigal returned. Now he is saddened at the elder sons loveless resentment. God wants to save Pharisees as well as publicans. So, firmly but gently the father rebukes the petulant son, reminding him, . . . you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. The elder son could always have what the father wanted to give him if only he was of the right spirit to receive it as a gift. So long as he remained self-righteous and hateful and uncooperative, he could never have it. What the father has to give, he gives to his family. It was fitting to receive back the lad who came in humble penitence, wishing now to be an obedient son and sharing brother. It is also fitting that the elder brother join in the reception and sharingif not, he can no longer claim family status. Yes, our salvation depends as much on brotherhood as it does sonship (cf. 1Jn. 3:14-18; 1Jn. 3:23; 1Jn. 4:7-12; 1Jn. 4:20-21; 1Jn. 5:1-2, etc.). If the father forgives a prodigal son, brethren must also forgive or they lose their own sonship.
The story ends here with no indication whether the elder brother changed his mind or not. The Pharisees kept on despising publicans and sinners. God, in His Son, kept on receiving them and saving those who repented. This, perhaps the greatest of all the parables, stands as a judgment on the Pharisaical self-righteousness which will not forgive a prodigal brother even when the Father has forgiven him. It also stands as a beacon of hope to those thousands of prodigals who have squandered their Fathers inheritance in riotous living but come to themselves and want to be received back home.
STUDY STIMULATORS:
1.
When you eat with publicans and sinners do you ever mention the will of God for their lives as Jesus did?
2.
Have you ever been lost? Do you think all men not in covenant relationship with Christ today are lost?
3.
Why are men like sheep in getting lost?
4.
Do you think the church is as intense in finding the lost as the woman was in finding her lost coin?
5.
How does your church react to baptismal services? Ho-hum or Hallelujah!
6.
Did you find, while you were a prodigal, that you were starving?
7.
How would you tell another prodigal to come to himself . . .?
8.
Do you recognize in the elder brother any of yourself?
9.
Are you willing, and have you, forgiven every person God has forgiven? Who are those whom God has forgiven?
10.
Is brotherhood with the forgiven as necessary to salvation as sonship?
LOVE IS A MANY SLENDORED THING
(Text: Heb. Luk. 12:5-11)
By Paul T. ButlerOBC Chapel, Spring 1973 I.
NOW THE WORLD HAS A SONG BY THAT TITLE
A.
But the popular song of a few years ago by that title failed utterly and miserably to really plumb the depths of loves splendor.
B.
Splendor means glory-sublimity-brilliance.
C.
Love is the most glorious, sublime capability any person has.
D.
Love is the most precious, the rarest jewel of all virtues.
II.
BUT WHAT IS LOVE
A.
How many sermons I have heard over the years exhorting, What we need is simply to love one another, or chastising, If we dont get some love around here were no better than the heathen.
B.
But how few sermons I have heard explaining what love is or how we are to love.
C.
Love is not self-defining. This is the supreme fallacy of situation ethics which says do the most loving thing in every situation.
D.
No man has enough wisdom or experience to be guided only by his own instincts to do the most loving thing in every situation.
E.
We must go to the Word of God for precept and example.
F.
And 1Co. 13:1-13 is not the only definition of love in the Bible.
III.
SOME WILL INVARIABLY SAY, LOVE IS:
A.
Concern
But how do you explain the many people who were hungry Jesus did not feed; the many lame He did not heal; the Greeks who came seeking him and He did not talk with; Herod who questioned Him about His teaching, to whom Jesus would not speak but called fox, MUST A CONCERNED LOVE ALWAYS BE MANIFESTED THE WAY WE THINK?
B.
Giving
But how do you explain Jesus rebuke of Judas and the disciples when they suggested that the precious ointment Mary had poured upon Jesus could have been sold and given to the poor. MUST A GIVING LOVE ALWAYS BE MANIFESTED IN THE WAY THE WORLD THINKS?
C.
Speaking Pleasantly
But how do you explain the words Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and sometimes to His disciples which were harsh, demanding and rebuking. How do you explain Pauls letters to the Corinthians; how do you explain Peters words to Simon concerning being in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity. MUST LOVE ALWAYS BE COMMUNICATED TO PLEASE THE HEARER?
IV.
LOVE IS MANY FACETED
A.
There is more to love than often meets the spiritual eye.
B.
I hope to present you three oft unseen facets of the brilliance of God-like love, agape love, this morning.
C.
LOVE IS: DISCERNING. . . . . DEMANDING. . . . DELIBERATE
D.
Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent (Rev. 3:19).
DISCUSSION
I.
LOVE IS DISCERNING (discriminating; critical; judgmental; penetrating). All of those are words of love if the motives are right.
A.
In Reality
1.
Love is truth-oriented; truth-focused; truth-centered. Love is something done but always in a TRUTH frame-of-reference. Agape love makes every attempt to see things, issues, and persons as they are in reality for a purposea good purpose.
2.
Agape love could never reject truth in favor of falsehoodit could never be satisfied with only half-truth about issues or persons.
3.
Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth (1Jn. 3:18).
4.
The Christian loves truth (Eph. 4:15; 2Th. 2:10), but he never cruelly or unsympathetically uses the truth in order to hurt. . . . The Christian is never false to the truth, but he always remembers that love and truth must go hand in hand Wm. Barclay, More New Testament Words, pg. 22, Harper & Row (article on Agape).
5.
Christian love does not shut its eyes to the faults of others. Love is not blind. It will use rebuke and discipline when these are needed. The love which shuts its eyes to all faults, and which evades the unpleasantness of all discipline, is not real love at all, for in the end it does nothing but harm to the loved one. ibid.
6.
. . . love . . . does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the truth . . . (1Co. 13:6).
7.
Would Jesus have loved Judas if He had concealed from Judas the truth about himself? Would God have loved the Hebrew people if He had concealed from them the truth about themselves in the days of the prophets? Would Paul have loved the churches and people he wrote the epistles to had he concealed from them the truth about themselves?
8.
In that penetrating, piercing confrontation between Jesus and the Jews in Joh. 8:1-59, Jesus seemed almost astounded that they would seek to kill Him because He told them the truth about themselves (Joh. 8:39-47). He did it because He loved them.
9.
Paul wrote the Christians in Galatia, Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth (Gal. 4:16)?
10.
All through the Old Testament there is example after example of Gods dealing with men trying to get them to see themselves as they really are; with men dealing with other men in the same way (God? David; Nathan & David; David & Saul; Moses and Miriam; Jethro & Moses, etc.).
11.
Now when Gods Word pierces our facade of sham and discerns us as we are and deals with us realisticallyIT IS GODS LOVE.
12.
When men or women, older and wiser, more experienced and learned than we, discern us and judge us according to truth, LET US EXPECT IT TO BE SOMETHING DONE IN LOVE!
B.
In Relationships
1.
Love is person-oriented; it deals with persons discerning, judging estimating what they ought to be and can be with the help of God and Christian brethren.
2.
A person who, by experience and wisdom knows something that would benefit me, and keeps it from me, does not love me.
3.
If I tell my children the truth about themselves but do not share with them some truth that will help them I do not love them.
4.
Jesus dealing with the Syrophenician woman would have been considered harsh, even cruel, by some (Mar. 7:25-30) but He dealt with her on the basis of what she could become.
5.
Jesus dealing with Peter when He said, Get thee behind me, Satan, was discerning love in order to bring Peter to what he could be.
6.
THERE ARE SOME OF YOU HERE THIS MORNING LIVING IN THE JOY OF BEING BETTER THAN YOU WERE BECAUSE ONE OF YOUR TEACHERS OR A GROUP OF TEACHERS HAVE DEALT WITH YOU ON THE BASIS OF THEIR JUDGMENT OF WHAT YOU COULD BECOME!
It seemed distasteful to you at firstyou disliked us and accused us of putting you down at firstbut now you know we judged that you could be better than you were and we insisted on it.
7.
Love demands that those who have the advantage of experience and leadership relate to others on the basis of building upNOT LEAVING OTHERS TO GO BACKWARD . . . OR EVEN TO REMAIN WHERE THEY ARE!
C.
In Remedies
1.
Love is always seeking that which is practicalhelpful.
2.
That which is the most helpful in a situation, may not always be the most glorious or win the most applause. It may not even be the most soothing.
3.
But love is interested only in that which is helpful.
4.
Love seeks the long-range remedy. Love is never satisfied with superficialities or stop-gap measures.
5.
Now obviously no chastening seems pleasant at the time: it is in fact most unpleasant. Yet when it is all over we can see that it has quietly produced the fruit of real goodness in the characters of those who have accepted it in the right spirit (Heb. 12:11-12) J. B. Phillips, The New Testament In Modern English.
6.
NOW THERE MAY BE SOME OF YOU WHO HAVE HAD REMEDIES PRESCRIBED TO YOU THAT MAY HAVE SEEMED LIKE BITTER MEDICINE. SO FAR AS I AM ABLE TO JUDGE THE MOTIVES OF THOSE DIRECTING THIS COLLEGE, I BELIEVE THEIR REMEDIAL PRESCRIPTIONS WERE MADE IN GOD-LIKE LOVE.
7.
In their years of experience and saturating their mind with the mind of Christ as revealed in His Word, they have always sought the long-term, helpful, strengthening remedy.
8.
Their motives are, as far as I am able to judge, pure and loving. The wisdom of their decisions, I think, will be proved over the long-haul.
9.
I have more than 100 letters from former students proving that hind-sight is usually more perceptive than fore-sight.
In an old book given to me by Bro. Wilson, I found some ageless principles stated as well as I have ever seen them stated. One of those principles is: . . . if the moral powers (of man) are not employed on right objects and directed to a right end, there is not only perversion but deterioration. The more active they are the more they deteriorate. If, therefore, we would do the highest good to men we must seek, not only to perfect their powers, but to perfect the moral powers by directing them rightly. Our object must be to produce a change not merely in the condition, but in the state of men; and not merely in their intellectual state involving acquisitions and capacity, but in their moral state which involves, or rather which is, character. The Law of Love and Love as a Law, by Mark Hopkins, 1881, pg. 199.
LOVING, DOING THE HIGHEST GOOD TO MEN, MEANS DISCERNMENT!
II.
LOVE IS DEMANDING
A.
It Restrains
1.
Our love to God is shown in the keeping of His commandments (Exo. 20:6; 1Jn. 5:3; 2Jn. 1:6). Love is more than a mere affection or sentiment; it is something that manifests itself, not only in obedience to known divine commands, but also in a protecting and defence of them, and a seeking to know more and more of the will of God in order to express love for God in further obedience (cf. Deu. 10:12). Those who love God will hate evil and all forms of worldliness, as expressed in the avoidance of the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (Psa. 97:10; 1Jn. 2:15-17). Whatever there may be in his surroundings that would draw the soul away from God and righteousness, that the child of God will avoid. I.S.B.E. Vol. 3, pg. 1933, art. Love.
2.
Love does not indulge. Dr. James Dobson, in his book, Dare To Discipline, says, Perhaps the most common parental error during the past twenty-five years has been related to the widespread belief that love is enough in raising children . . . the greatest social disaster of this century is the belief that abundant love makes discipline unnecessary.
3.
A New York psychologist, Peter Blos, is quoted in Time, Nov. 29, 1971; . . . parents should set limits, affirm their personal values, deny the clamor for grown-up status, and refuse to be intimidated by charges of authoritarianism.
4.
In Readers Digest (Feb. 1973), an article entitled Why Some Women Respond Sexually and Others Dont, Seymour Fisher, a clinical psychologist, researching this over many years, states: Highly responsive women tended to recall their fathers as having a definite set of values, being demanding and holding high expectations for them. . . . conversely, most low-responsive women remembered their fathers as being casual, overly permissive and short on definite values. . . . A demanding father, gives his daughter the feeling that he is concerned enough about her to devote time and energy to trying to guide hereven if she resents this discipline . . . this relationship, speculates Fisher, could even be the prime determinant of female sexual potential.
5.
Permissiveness, or indulgence, is no sign of love! Permissiveness can be the most unloving thing one person ever does to another!
6.
CAN YOU PICTURE JESUS INDULGING PEOPLE? He would not indulge Peter and the other disciples even in some actions that appeared correct (e.g. when they would forbid Him from going to Jerusalem and be killed, etc.). He would not indulge the rich young ruler to keep the riches which Were strangling his loyalties. He would not indulge His own mother in her motherly pride (at Cana marriage feast).
7.
THOSE OF US WHO WATCH IN BEHALF OF YOUR SOULS ARE DETERMINED NOT TO INDULGE YOU BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU! WE ARE DETERMINED TO DEMAND OF YOU PERHAPS WHAT NO ONE EVER DEMANDED OF US, BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU!
8.
If we should indulge you to your harm, we would never be able to forgive ourselves; your parents and your churches would never forgive us; and God might not ever forgive usif our indulgence were born of deliberate cowardliness.
9.
With as much love, we believe, as Paul the apostle manifested toward Timothy and Titus, his student-preachers, we want to demand of you as much as he did of them (read the letters he wrote to them).
B.
It Refuses
1.
It sometimes has to say No!
2.
Wm. Barclay, op. cit., pg. 16: When we understand what agape means, it amply meets the objection that a society based on this love would be a paradise for criminals, and that it means simply letting the evil-doer have his own way. If we seek nothing but a mans highest good, we may well have to resist a man; we may well have to punish him; we may well have to do the hardest things to himfor the good of his immortal soul. . . . In other words, agape means treating men as God treats themand that does not mean allowing them unchecked to do as they like.
3.
Curtis Dickinson, in Christian Standard, Jan. 25, 1958, art. Loves Constraining Power, wrote, It is easy to camouflage weakness and conformity under the guise of love. . . . It is just because God loves you that He cannot overlook you. . . . It is precisely because we love our children that we cannot let them escape punishment. How ridiculous, if we said of a child, I love her so much that no matter what she does I will consider it all right.
4.
God said No to the perfect man in Eden. BECAUSE HE LOVED ADAM!
5.
God said No to perhaps the greatest saint of all, Paul, three times God said No to him. BECAUSE GOD LOVED PAUL.
6.
For a good mental and moral exercise why dont you personally run through in your mind all the great men of the Old Testament to whom God said No!
7.
Now list mentally all the churches and people to whom the apostles wrote letters stating many emphatic Nos! ADD THEM ALL TOGETHER!
8.
THOSE WHOM THE HOLY SPIRIT HATH MADE OVERSEERS OF THIS ARM OF THE LORDS CHURCH ARE BOUND BY THEIR LOVE FOR THE LORD, FOR HIS CHURCH, AND FOR YOU, TO SAY NO! WHEN IT BECOMES THE LOVING THING TO DO!
9.
It is not something they take selfish, sadistic, prideful pleasure init is something for which they feel an obligation, and consider a privilege, because it gives them an opportunity to love for real.
10.
The selfish thing to do would be to give everyone free reign to do as they please, go play golf, and when the situation became unbearable leave it to self-destruction and blame everyone else.
11.
God said No to Moses (not enter promised land); God said No to Jonah; God said No to David (cannot build my temple). These listened. God said No to Saul; God said No to Baalam. These did not listen.
12.
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU RESPOND TO GODS NOI IN HIS WORD . . . AND HOW YOU RESPOND TO THE NO! OF THE SHEPHERDS OF GODS FLOCK!
C.
It Reiterates; Reinforces
1.
Love does not give up with the first discernment or demand.
2.
Love repeats and repeats and repeats (read The Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson). Love hounds, stalks, trails.
3.
The immature tend to classify discerning, demanding love as nagging or harping, nor nit-picking.
4.
Does the discerning, demanding love of God give us cause to accuse Him of nagging or harping?
5.
Were the Old Testament prophets nit-picking when they repeated and repeated and repeated Gods message?
6.
CONTINUED REMINDERS TO KEEP YOUR DORM ROOM CLEAN AND ORDERLY, CONTINUED REMINDERS TO PAY YOUR ACCOUNTS, CONTINUED REMINDERS TO DRESS MODESTLY, CONTINUED REMINDERS TO DRIVE LIKE A CHRISTIAN, CONTINUED REMINDERS TO CONDUCT YOUR MAN-WOMAN RELATIONSHIP WITH DECORUM. . . . THESE ARE NOT NAGGING, NIT-PICKING. . . . THESE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES OF LIFE AND CHRISTIAN WITNESS . . . AND THE REMINDERS ARE REITERATIONS OF LOVE!
7.
It never ceases to amaze me that athletes, choir members, Impact members or others can so graciously and willingly condescend to take all the repetition of practices, take all the demand that they dress alike . . . and then get all upset and accuse others of the college, who love them equally as much, of nagging and nit-picking when they reiterate and reinforce moral and spiritual values.
III.
LOVE IS DELIBERATE
A.
It is Real
1.
Agape love is sincere, genuine. J. B. Phillips translates Rom. 12:9 : Let us have no imitation Christian love. Let us have a genuine break with evil and a real devotion to good.
2.
Agape love will not stand for sham, superficiality, or unstable emotionalism (note: I said emotionalism. Love is part emotion but not all emotion.).
3.
Agape love is not the silly, selfish sentimentalism so often portrayed by the world.
4.
Wm. Barclay, op. cit., This agape, this Christian love, is not merely an emotional experience which comes to us unbidden and unsought; it is a deliberate principle of the mind, and a deliberate conquest and achievement of the will. It is in fact the power to love the unlovable, to love people whom we do not like.
It is important to understand. . . . Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which sweeps over us at intervals when we are in the right mood. It is a principle by which we deliberately live, every day, no matter what mood were in or how we feel. It is a conquest, a victory, an achievement. No one ever naturally loved his enemies.
5.
Agape love demands the whole man; mind, will and heart.
6.
There may be some of you students I know more intimately than others. This often is due to circumstances outside ourselves. BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT MY AGAPE LOVE FOR ANY OF YOU IS ANY MORE OR LESS THAN THE OTHER. THAT IS WHY AGAPE LOVE IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF LOVE . . . IT DOES NOT DEPEND UPON CIRCUMSTANCES! IT IS A REAL LOVE!
7.
Many is the time we have been tempted to love some of you only according to how we feel, on emotions alone, BUT THAT IS NOT REAL LOVE!
B.
It is Reliable
1.
Decisive, dependable, firm, stable, consistent
2.
Dennis Vath wrote it Christian Standard, Nov. 5, 1966: Jesus loved consistently. True agape love is consistent. It does not always compliment. It is not always manifested in a pat on the back, for this is not always in our best interests. Agape love does not always agree. Scripture tells us that the one God loves is the one He chastens. Agape on the human level does not allow itself to be dominated or abused, because it is not in a persons best interests to allow him to take advantage of one.
3.
One mark of love often overlooked is that characteristic of being able to make a decision, a consistent decision, a stabilizing decision and stand firm in that decision.
4.
COULD YOU HONESTLY SAY YOU BELIEVED THE LEADERSHIP OF THIS COLLEGE LOVED YOU IF IT COULD NOT MAKE A DECISION, CONSISTENTLY, AND STAND FIRM!?
5.
A LEADERSHIP WHICH IS UNABLE TO MAKE A DECISION, CANNOT MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY, AND IS UNSTABLE, IMPRESSES ME AS A SELF-SEEKING LEADERSHIP!
C.
It is Risky
1.
Agape love will never let a man be selfishly-safe.
2.
Agape love insists upon self-sacrifice.
3.
Eugene Nida writes in Gods Word in Mans Language: The Conob Indians of northern Guatemala . . . describe love as my soul dies. A man who loves God according to the Conob idiom would say, My soul dies for God. This not only describes the powerful emotion felt by the one who loves, but it should imply a related truthnamely, that in true love there is no room for self. . . . True love is of all emotions the most unselfish, for it does not look out for self but for others. False love seeks to possess; true love seeks to be possessed. False love leads to cancerous jealousy; true love leads to a life-giving ministry.
4.
The person who will not risk being hurt or thought badly ofthe person who is afraid to do what is best for another because he is afraid of that persons displeasure with himthat person does not know how to love!
5.
BELOVED, IT MAY SEEM TO YOU THAT WE DELIBERATELY SET OUT AT TIMES TO COURT YOUR DISPLEASURE WITH US! WE DO! BECAUSE WE WANT TO LOVE YOU WITH A REAL LOVE, WE ARE NOT PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH WHAT YOU FEEL TOWARD US AT FIRST BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT ALMOST ALWAYS YOU WILL SOMEDAY UNDERSTAND THE LOVE BEHIND OUR COUNSEL AND LOVE US IN RETURN!
6.
Any parent who is afraid to risk his childs temporary displeasure rather than enforce some genuine loving restraint, is not worthy to be a parent. AND THIS APPLIES IN THE FAMILY OF GOD!
CONCLUSION
I.
LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING
A.
Splendor means: glorious, sublime, superb, brilliance.
B.
Love is like a many-faceted jewel; there are many sides to it and they all reflect the glory of God.
C.
I hope I have caught your spiritual eye with three of the more dazzling facets of love this morning.
II.
OUR LOVE FOR YOU IS AN ATTEMPT TO REPRODUCE IN YOU THIS SPLENDORED THING
A.
We are going to love you discerningly, demandingly, deliberately.
B.
We are going to love you with our mind and our will as well as our emotions.
C.
You may not be pleased with us always, but we are not going to let our love be directed by that.
C. S. Lewis writes in The Four Loves: To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one. . . . Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket of your selfishness. But in that casketsafe, dark, motionless, airlessit will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.
III.
TO YOU, MY BELOVED BROTHER OR SISTER, I AM VULNERABLE
A.
I cannot lock myself up . . . break my heart if you will, I will still love you discerningly, demandingly, deliberately.
B.
To appropriate a phrase from Isaiah, Behold, I have graven you on palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
(25) He heard musick and dancing.This brings in a new feature. The father, like the chief actors in the other parables, had called together his friends and neighbours, and they were rejoicing after the manner of the East. There was musick, literally, a symphony, or concert, implying voices as well as instruments. The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, but it is found in the LXX. version of Dan. 3:5; Dan. 3:10, Where indeed the Hebrew, or rather the Aramaic, word is but the Greek transliterated. The word for dancing, also, is found here only in the New Testament, and is the same as that used, in classical Greek, for the chorus of the Greek drama, and from which we get our English choir. It probably implied, i.e., song as well as dancing. Spiritually, these outward signs of gladness answer to the overflowing demonstrative joy which thrills through the hearts of those whose sympathies with Gods work in the souls of men are keen and strong, and to which those who live only in the colder religionism of outward service are so insensible that they cannot understand it. They ask now, as the elder son asked, as the Pharisees were in their hearts asking, what it means? Why this departure from the even tenor of mens wonted life?
25. Was in the field Rather , at labour; but he strangely does not appear; or, at any rate, no one seems to have thought it necessary to notify him of the common joy.
Music and dancing According to the custom of the ancients, this may be supposed to be a hired concert of musicians and dancers.
“Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.”
But then a new figure comes into the picture. It is the elder brother. He had been at work, ‘in the field’. He was the quiet hard worker, the faithful son, who had worked hard all these years and had enjoyed few luxuries. And as he approached his home from his day of honest toil he was astonished to hear the sound of music and dancing. The fact that he had not already been immediately informed of the situation may well have been simply because no one knew precisely where he was. Or it may simply be because it is a necessity for the story. The music and the dancing would puzzle him. He would be able to think of no reason for it.
The older son:
v. 25. Now his elder son was in the field; and as lie came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
v. 26. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
v. 27. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf because he hath received him safe and sound.
v. 28. And he was angry, and would not go in; therefore came his father out and intreated him.
v. 29. And he, answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends;
v. 30. but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath, devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
v. 31. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
v. 32. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead and is alive again; and was lost and is found.
A picture of the prim and proper, sanctimonious and self-righteous person. The older son, whom no temptation had apparently ever assailed, was busy in the field during all this time, and may not have returned till toward evening. But when he did return, the unusual bustle and commotion on the place, which had recently been as quiet as a cemetery, caused him to wonder. The sound of the musical instruments which accompanied the choirs of singers could be heard for some distance. He was filled with astonishment and displeasure that a festival should have been arranged without his knowledge, and, calling one of the servants to him, he inquired what all that meant. The servant answered, as well as he could, probably according to the part that he had been obliged to take in the feast. The fatted calf had been slaughtered because the brother was home again and well. This news filled the older brother, not only with disgust, but with anger. A sense of wrong and general unfair treatment took hold upon him. So far as he was concerned, he had washed his hands of the good-for-nothing youngster; and the latter might have been lost and could have perished for all he cared. While the father, against whom the sin had been committed, was full of joy over the repentant son, the older son, in his peevish mood, does not even want to be seen in the company of the wastrel. Thereupon the father went out to him and pleaded with him, thus showing as much love and patience with this boy as with the other. The anger and the entire behavior of the older son was altogether unreasonable. It was spiteful talk to accuse his father of never having given him so much as a kid to provide a feast for himself and his friends. And his self-praise of his willing service and of his keeping the commands of the father was a veiled attack on his brother. The gentle rebuke of the father was very properly administered. What the father had acquired since the division of the goods was his to dispose of as he pleased. But he had been generous to the older boy beyond his duty, for lie had shared all with him, had given him the full and unrestricted use of his property. Therefore he admonishes him finally to be joyful with the rest, since the dead one had returned to life, since the lost one had been found. The older son is a type of the self-righteous Pharisees of all times, that are always boasting of their good works and merits and begrudge the poor sinners the unmerited grace of God. That they themselves and all that they can perform owe this to the goodness of God, that fact seems never to strike their minds. That the fact of their never having been tempted to such an extent as many a fallen person is in itself an unmerited grace, that has never occurred to them. But God is merciful above all comprehension of man. According to His gracious will, He wants all men to be saved. He is not only happy over the repentance of publicans and sinners, but He tries to soften the hearts of proud Pharisees as well.
The entire parable has reference to the lost and prodigal sons and daughters of all times, showing to all sinners the way of redemption. But also the believers, the true children of God, that are enjoying the fullness of God’s grace, should learn the lesson of this parable, to understand ever more fully what sin and grace includes. The ‘entire life of every Christian is a continual repentance. True Christians, by daily contrition and repentance, turn away from the world and its allurements, turn to God the Father, pray daily in true faith for forgiveness of all trespasses, and are glad of the experience of God’s love toward sinners. Such Christians will rejoice from their hearts whenever a prodigal son or daughter returns and asks for admission; they will give them a reception which is in accordance with the merciful will of God, never forgetting that every one that is saved receives this mercy in the same way as the thief on the cross, by grace alone.
Summary. Jesus teaches the Pharisees the meaning of God’s love for the lost by telling the parables of the lost sheep, the lost piece of silver, and the prodigal son.
Luk 15:25-32 . The legally righteous one . Instead of sharing the divine joy over the converted sinner, he is envious, regards himself in respect of his legality, according to which he has been on his guard against momentary transgression as neglected, and judges unlovingly about his brother, and discontentedly about God. A striking commentary on Luk 15:7 ; and how fitted to put to the blush the murmuring Pharisees and scribes, Luk 15:2 !
. . ] not: the singing and the dancing (Luther), but, without the article: concert and choral dance , , . Music and dancing (commonly given by hired people) belonged to the entertainments of solemn festivals. See Mat 14:6 ; Rosenmller, Morgenl. in loc.; Wetstein.
Luk 15:26 . ] what this would be likely to signify. Comp. Act 10:17 . See Matthiae, 488. 7; Krger, ad Xen. Anab. i. 10. 14.
Luk 15:27 . The slave mentions only the fatted calf, because this happened to be most closely associated with the festival of music and dancing.
] not: morally safe and sound ( , Euthymius Zigabenus, Kypke, Kuinoel, and many more), but, as is only fitting in the mouth of the slave (comp. on Luk 15:24 ), bodily safe and sound.
Luk 15:28 . ] in consequence of this refusal of the son. Yet, as with Lachmann and Tischendorf, the more strongly attested is to be read.
] he exhorted him to come in, he spoke him fair; see on 1Co 4:13 .
Luk 15:29 . ] The placed first has the emphasis of wounded selfish feeling. Contrast Luk 15:30 .
] a young kid, of far less value than the fatted calf! Still more significant is the reading in B, Sahid. (a young kidling), which Ewald approves, and the delicacy of which the transcribers might easily have passed over. Comp. Mat 25:33 ; Tob 2:11 .
Luk 15:30 . ] this son of thine, in the highest degree contemptuous. He was not going to call him his brother. On the other hand, the father, Luk 15:32 : . How bitter, moreover, is: “who has devoured for thee thy living,” and , as contrasted with !
Luk 15:31 . ] full of love.
. . .] represents to the heart of the jealous brother the two great prerogatives that he had above his brother (hence the emphatic ). Thy constant association with me (while, on the other hand, thy brother was separated far and long from me), and the circumstance that my whole possessions belong to thee (as to the future heir of all, Luk 15:12 ), ought to raise thee far above such envious dispositions and judgments!
Luk 15:32 . ] stands first with the emphasis of contrast, in opposition to such ill-humour.
] not to be supplemented by , but generally it was fitting or necessary, a justification of the prearranged joy of the house, which, under the circumstances, was a moral necessity.
] (see the critical remarks) was dead, and has become alive, Mat 9:18 ; Joh 5:25 ; Rom 14:9 .
REMARK. (1) The exclusive title to the , which, according to Luk 15:31 , is adjudged to those who are legally upright, has its justification in principle ; , Rom 2:13 . (2) For the adoption of sinners into this prerogative, which belongs in principle to the legally righteous, the parable indicates the method of self-knowledge, of repentance, and of confidence in the grace of God (faith). But the interposition of this grace through the death of reconciliation, and consequently the more specific definition of that confidence, Jesus leaves unnoticed, leaving these particulars to the further development of faith and doctrine after the atoning death had taken place ; just as, moreover, He in general, according to the synoptic Gospels, limits Himself only to single hints of the doctrine of reconciliation as seed-corn for the future (Mat 20:28 ; Mat 26:28 ; otherwise in John). (3) As the reality does not correspond to the idea of legal righteousness, He points to the example of the son who has continued in outward conformity to the law, but therewith is proud of his virtue, unbrotherly and unfilial, and consequently holds up to the Pharisees a mirror for self-contemplation, the picture in which must tell them how very much they also needed repentance (in order to see the title in principle to legal righteousness realized in themselves), instead of censuring the fellowship of Jesus with publicans and sinners (Luk 15:7 ; Luk 15:1-2 ).
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
Ver. 25. His elder son ] The self-justiciary, that is good in his own eyes, and needs no repentance.
25 28. ] As far as regards the penitent , the parable is finished: but those who murmured at his reception, who were the proud and faultless elder son, always in the house and serving, but not, as will appear, either over-affectionate or over-respectful, they too must act their part, in order to complete the instruction. As regards the penitent, this part of the parable sets forth the reception he meets with from his fellow-men , in contrast to that from his father: see Mat 18:27 ; Mat 18:30 .
25. ] probably working , in the course of his , as he expresses it, Luk 15:29 .
., at meal-time.
. . . ] This is one of those by-glances into the lesser occupations and recreations of human life, by which the Lord so often stamps his tacit approval on the joys and unbendings of men. Would these festal employments have been here mentioned by Him on so solemn and blessed an occasion, if they really were among those works of the devil which He came into the world to destroy?
Luk 15:25-32 . The elder son , who plays the ignoble part of wet blanket on this glad day, and represents the Pharisees in their chilling attitude towards the mission in behalf of the publicans and sinners.
Luk 15:25 . , on the farm; of course there every day, doing his duty, a most correct, exemplary man, only in his wisdom and virtue so cold and merciless towards men of another sort. Being at his work he is ignorant of what has happened: the arrival and what followed. , coming home after the day’s work is over, when the merriment is in full swing, with song and dance filling the air.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 15:25-32
25″Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began imploring him. 29But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32’But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'”
Luk 15:25 “older son” If the prodigal represents lost and fallen humanity, then the older son represents the self-righteous attitude of religious leaders.
This parable has two main truths:
1. God’s joy over one who repents
2. God’s pain when part of His spiritual family will not forgive and accept other parts of the sinful family
In many ways nothing has changed. Sin and unforgiveness still live in the church building! There are two types of estrangement:
1. open rebellion
2. hidden superiority and jealousy
Each of these sons, for opposite reasons, was out of fellowship with the father.
Luk 15:28 God loves Pharisees also!
Luk 15:29 “I have been serving you” This shows the son’s pent-up anger and resentment, possibly even jealousy and envy. The older son feels he deserves the father’s love because of his obedience and continuance (i.e., self-righteous legalism, cf. parable at Mat 20:1-16).
“never given me a young goat” This was a less expensive animal than the fattened calf. He feels neglected.
Luk 15:30 “this son of yours” This phrase shows the depth of the older sons anger and continued rejection of his brother.
“with prostitutes” This was only speculation on the elder son’s part.
Luk 15:31 “all that is mine is yours” The remaining inheritance belonged completely to this son. The life and livelihood of the younger son was, in reality, in the hands of the older brother. The younger son was completely at the older brother’s mercy once the father died.
his elder son. This is the point of the parable (Compare Luk 15:2). It was addressed “unto them” specially (v 3), as the correction of their murmuring.
musick and dancing. Greek. symphonies and chorus, i.e. a “choral dance”. Both words Occurs only here.
25-28.] As far as regards the penitent, the parable is finished:-but those who murmured at his reception, who were the proud and faultless elder son,-always in the house and serving, but not, as will appear, either over-affectionate or over-respectful,-they too must act their part, in order to complete the instruction. As regards the penitent, this part of the parable sets forth the reception he meets with from his fellow-men, in contrast to that from his father: see Mat 18:27; Mat 18:30.
Most of us recognize the beauty of this parable as it concerns the prodigal, and his boundless forgiveness by the father, but few of us probably have seen how the elder brother has his portrait painted also by our Lord, and how he sets forth the self-righteous professor who hates to have prodigals made much of.
Luk 15:25. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
This was the better one of the two. I have heard him often greatly blamed, and so he deserves to be; but, for all that, he was a true son. He was not at home. He was out at work. There are some Christians that are all for work, and never seem to have any fellowship and communion. They are always active, but they are not always contemplative. He was in the field.
Luk 15:26. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
He was a gloomy spirit, good, solid, regular, constant, but not very joyful. He took things rather severely, so he did not understand what this amusement could mean. Some of the Salvation Army got in here, he said, some of those boisterous Methodist people got her, and I do not like it. I am more regular than that. I do not like these rows and uproars. He asked of the servant what these things meant.
Luk 15:27-28. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come: and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound, And he was angry, and would not go in:
No, I dare say he was glad his brother was back, but he did not like such a fuss made over him, glad to see a wandering one restored, but why, why, why should there be all this extravagance of joy concerning this wandering young fellow, who had been no better than he should be? Why all this delight? And there are some kinds of Christians who always feel that when there is a sinner introduced into the church, Well, I hope that it will turn out a genuine case, and always that is the first thought. They are afraid that it cannot be. They have never sinned in that way, They have been kept, by the grace of God, from outward transgression, and they are half afraid to hear of these outrageous sinners being brought in, and so much joy made over them. He was angry, and would not go in.
Luk 15:28. Therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
He was worth fetching in. There was a good deal of solid worth in his character, and his father kindly came to ask him to come in and share the joy.
Luk 15:29. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee
You may read it slave for thee.
Luk 15:29. neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
Here have I been constant in the house of prayer, regular at my Sunday School class, and yet I get little or no joy of it. I go on just in the regular path of duty but I have no music and dancing. I have a great many doubts and fears, very little exhilaration, very little delight.
Luk 15:30. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
He has been a great sinner, and he is newly converted, and he has got all the joy. He has been running anyhow, and yet he is full of assurance full of delight, full of confidence. How can this be? I am a staid Christian having but slight joy, and he is but newly converted, and confident and full of delight. Thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. Even one of the little kid goats thou hast not give me. Thou has given him the fatted calf.
Luk 15:31. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
Why did not this son wake up to his privileges? Instead of not having a kid, he might have had whatever he liked. All that I have is thine. He had been put into such a position as that, instead of being badly treated, as he, perhaps, would half accuse his father of treating him. Son, thou art ever with me; thou livest at my table. My house is thy house. I love thee and delight in thee. All that I have is thine.
Luk 15:32. It was meet
It was right, it was proper, it Was fitting
Luk 15:32. That we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother.
You call him my son, but he is your brother, and I remind you of it this thy brother.
Luk 15:32. Was dead, and is alive again: and was lost, and is found.
So if there be any here that do not take the joy which they ought in the conversion of great sinners, let them hear the gentle persuasive voice of God. You, as believers, have everything. Christ is yours. Heaven is yours. You are always with God, and all that he has belongs to you. But it is proper and fit that, when a sinner returns from the error of his ways, they should ring the bells of heaven and make a fuss over him, for he was dead and is alive again. I hope that you and I will never catch the spirit of the elder brother. Yet I remember that Krummacher says that he found that same spirit in himself sometimes. There was a man in the village where Krummacher lived, who was a great drunkard and everything that was bad; and on a sudden he came into a very large sum of money and became a wealthy man. Krummacher felt, Well, this hardly looks like the right thing so many good, honest, hard-working people in the parish still remaining poor, and this worthless man has suddenly become wealthy and well-to-do. It seemed a strange way in the order of providence. Oh! we ought to rejoice and be glad when another person prospers, and wish that his prosperity may be blessed to him. I remember a minister years ago, when first Mr. Moody came, saying that he did not believe that Mr. Moody was sent of God because, said he, I find that many of the people who are converted under him never went to a place of worship before. It is only the riff-raff that are brought in. There is a nasty elder brother spirit. The riff-raff were just the people that we wanted to bring in, and if they had never been to a place of worship before, it was time that they should go. It was a mercy that they were brought in. Oh! instead of ever sniffing at sinners as if we were better than they, let us welcome them with all our heart and praise the heavenly Father that he so lovingly takes them in.
Luk 15:25. , in the field) as one serving [in the slave-like spirit] his Father: see Luk 15:29.-, bands [of dancers]) joyously dancing [or exulting].
the Son Who Never Came to His Father
Luk 15:25-32
Notice the difference between the Fathers care for his elder son and the sons own estimate of his position, and you will see how easily you may miss the holy possibilities of your own life, if you allow yourself to be blinded by jealousy!
Ever with me; life was meant to be irradiated and blessed by the constant sense of Gods nearness. We were meant to live in God and God in us. All that I have is thine; such is our wealthy condition, in the purpose of God, that all His divine resources, stored in Jesus, await the appropriation of our faith.
But if we fail to recognize our brother in the penitent thy son; if we shut ourselves out of the joy, because of some fancied slight, or of pharisaic pride, we miss our own truest blessedness. But God entreats us to come into it.
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments.
his: Luk 15:11, Luk 15:12
he: Luk 7:32, Exo 15:20, 2Sa 6:14, Psa 30:11, Psa 126:1, Psa 149:3, Psa 150:4, Ecc 3:4, Jer 31:4
Reciprocal: Gen 34:5 – now his Mat 11:17 – piped Act 13:45 – they
5
The elder son represents the Pharisees and scribes in verse 2, and their envious attitude toward the younger son who represents the publicans and sinners of the same verse. As the elder son was coming in from his work he heard the music and dancing. Some have tried to see a significance in the mention of dancing. It has no moral application in the least since that is not the subject of the parable. It is put into the story only because it indicates the condition of joy being felt in the household.
THESE verses form the conclusion of the parable of the prodigal son. They are far less well known than the verses which go before them. But they were spoken by the same lips which described the younger son’s return to his father’s house. Like everything which those lips spoke, they will be found deeply profitable.
We are taught, firstly, in this passage, how unkind and ill-natured are the feelings of self-righteous men towards sinners.
This is a lesson which our Lord conveys to us by describing the conduct of the “elder brother” of the prodigal son. He shows him to us “angry” and finding fault because of the rejoicings over his brother’s return. He shows him complaining that his father treated the returning prodigal too well, and that he himself had not been treated as well as his merits deserved. He shows him utterly unable to share in the joy which prevailed when his younger brother came home, and giving away to ill-natured and envious thoughts. It is a painful picture, but a very instructive one.
For one thing, this elder brother is an exact picture of the Jews of our Lord’s times. They could not bear the idea of their Gentile younger brother being made partaker of their privileges. They would fain have excluded him from God’s favor. They steadily refused to see that the Gentiles were to be fellow-heirs and partakers of Christ with themselves. In all this they were precisely acting the part of the “elder brother.”
For another thing, the elder brother is an exact type of the Scribes and Pharisees of our Lord’s times. They objected that our Lord received sinners and ate with them. They murmured because He opened the door of salvation to publicans and harlots. They would have been better pleased if our Lord had confined His ministry to them and their party, and had left the ignorant and sinful entirely alone. Our Lord saw this state of things clearly; and never did He paint it with such graphic power as in the picture of the “elder brother.”
Last, but not least, the elder brother is an exact type of a large class in the Church of Christ in the present day. There are thousands on every side who dislike a free, full, unfettered Gospel to be preached. They are always complaining that ministers throw the door too wide open, and that the doctrine of grace tends to promote licentiousness. Whenever we come across such persons, let us remember the passage we are now considering. Their voice is the voice of the “elder brother.”
Let us beware of this spirit infecting our own hearts. It arises partly from ignorance. Men begin by not seeing their own sinfulness and unworthiness, and then they fancy that they are much better than others, and that nobody is worthy to be put by their side.-It arises partly from want of charity. Men are wanting in kind feeling towards others, and then they are unable to take pleasure when others are saved.-Above all, it arises from a thorough misunderstanding of the true nature of gospel forgiveness. The man who really feels that we all stand by grace and are all debtors, and that the best of us has nothing to boast of, and has nothing which he has not received,-such a man will not be found talking like the “elder brother.”
We are taught, secondly, in this passage, that the conversion of any soul ought to be an occasion of joy to all who see it. Our Lord shows us this by putting the following words into the mouth of the prodigal’s father:-“It was meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
The lesson of these words was primarily meant for the Scribes and Pharisees. If their hearts had been in a right state, they would never have murmured at our Lord for receiving sinners. They would have remembered that the worst of publicans and sinners were their own brethren, and that if they themselves were different, it was grace alone that had made the difference. They would have been glad to see such helpless wanderers returning to the fold. They would have been thankful to see them plucked as brands from the burning, and not cast away forever. Of all these feelings, unhappily, they knew nothing. Wrapped in their own self-righteousness they murmured and found fault, when in reality they ought to have thanked God and rejoiced.
The lesson is one which we shall all do well to lay to heart. Nothing ought to give us such true pleasure as the conversion of souls. It makes angels rejoice in heaven. It ought to make Christians rejoice on earth. What if those who are converted were lately the vilest of the vile? What if they have served sin and Satan for many long years, and wasted their substance in riotous living? It matters nothing.-“Has grace come into their hearts? Are they truly penitent? Have they come back to their father’s house? Are they new creatures in Christ Jesus? Are the dead made alive and the lost found?”-These are the only questions we have any right to ask. If they can be answered satisfactorily we ought to rejoice and be glad. Let the worldly, if they please, mock and sneer at such conversions. Let the self-righteous, if they will, murmur and find fault, and deny the reality of all great and sudden changes. But let the Christian who reads the words of Christ in this chapter, remember them and act upon them. Let him thank God and be merry. Let him praise God that one more soul is saved. Let him say, “this my brother was dead and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
What are our own feelings on the subject? This after all is the question that concerns us most. The man who can take deep interest in politics, or field-sports, or money-making, or farming, but none in the conversion of souls, is no true Christian. He is himself “dead” and must be made “alive again.” He is himself “lost” and must be “found.”
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Notes-
v25.-[His elder son.] The part of the parable which begins here was evidently intended to apply to the Scribes and Pharisees who “murmured” at our Lord because He “received sinners.” The unkindness, moroseness, and self-sufficiency of the elder son, are an exact type of the spirit manifested by those who found fault with our Lord for showing kindness to publicans and sinners.
It is important to keep this point clearly in view. It furnishes a clue to a right understanding of the whole passage. The elder son represents the Pharisee.
[Music and dancing.] Some commentators have carefully dwelt on this expression, and have hinted, not obscurely, that it sanctions recreations and amusements from which many Christians think it better to abstain. Stier exclaims, “A Note for the Pietists!” Alford says more gravely, “Would these festal employments have been mentioned by our Lord on so solemn and blessed an occasion, if they really come among those works of the devil which He came into the world to destroy?”
I can see no force in arguments of this kind. There is not the slightest proof that the dancing referred to in this place was at all like the dancing of modern times. There is no proof that it was at night, or that it was a dance of men and women mingled together. Until these things can be proved, such comments on the verse before us are much to be regretted. I am not aware of any Christian objecting to music. Dancing, as it is conducted in modern times, many excellent Christians object to, and, I frankly say, I think with good reason.
v28.-[He was angry.] Let those who think the elder son Was a good man notice this expression, as well as those in the following verse. It is just the counterpart of the “murmuring” of the Scribes and Pharisees at the beginning of the chapter.
[Entreated.] The kindness of the father’s character appears once more in this expression. He might have rebuked his ill-natured son. He only entreats him.
v29.-[Neither transgressed…at any time.] Let this expression be carefully noted. It is precisely the spirit of the Pharisee, “I am not as other men,-or even as this publican.” It shows clearly that the elder son cannot fairly be regarded as a weak believer. He is a type of the self-righteous, ignorant moralist, who cannot bear the doctrine of salvation by grace, or endure the idea of great sinners being completely pardoned and put on a level with himself.
[Thou never gavest me a kid, &c.] The spirit of this expression should be noted. It is the thanklessness of a proud, conceited person, who thinks that nothing is too good for him, and that he is never treated so well as he really deserves.
v30.-[This thy son.] Mark the ill-natured tone of these words. He is speaking of his own brother. He calls him “this thy son.” It is an expression of scorn and contempt, like “this publican” in Luk 18:11.
[With harlots.] Let this expression be noted. The fact asserted is an addition to the younger son’s unhappy profligacy, which we hear of for the first time. It may possibly have been true, but it is evidently brought forward here with an uncharitable intention, and in a contemptuous manner.
[Thou hast killed the fatted calf.] This expression should be compared with the beginning of the chapter. The Pharisee said, “This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.” The elder son’s words here are an exact counterpart to this charge. “Thou hast not only received thy sinful son, but hast even made a feast for him, and eaten with him.”
v31.-[Son, thou art ever with me, and all…thine.] These words have made some persons suppose that the elder son is the type of an erring believer, who is stumbled by seeing great sinners pardoned, but who has never departed from grace himself. This idea is untenable. We are not reading a conversation between a child of God and his heavenly Father. We are simply reading an incident in a story which is intended to show Christ’s love towards sinners, and the ignorance of those who are stumbled by it. The words show us no doubt that the elder son had always lived a steady life compared to his brother’s, and that his father had never denied him anything. But they entirely fail to show that he was humble, charitable, or acquainted with his own heart, notwithstanding all the privileges he enjoyed. The words in short show that the elder son had no right to complain of his father, but they do not show that the father had no right to complain of him.
v32.-[It was meet, &c.] This verse concludes the argument of the other chapter, and sums up the case between our Lord and His self-righteous enemies, the Scribes and Pharisees. Whatever the elder son might say, he could not deny these two great facts. His brother, who a short time ago had been as one dead, was alive again. He was lost: he was now found. Before these facts all envious and murmuring feelings ought to go down. It was meet to make merry and be glad.
The application of the words to the case of our Lord’s hearers is clear and plain. However much the Pharisees might murmur at Him for receiving sinners, they must confess it was better for sinners to be saved than lost. If publicans and sinners were made alive unto God through His ministry, the Pharisees, if they had had a right spirit, would have been glad. Instead of finding fault they would have been thankful. Instead of murmuring they would have rejoiced.
Let us observe the difference between the way in which the elder brother and the father speak of the prodigal son. The elder brother says, “this thy son,” as if he was not his own brother. The father says, “this thy brother,” to remind him of his relationship.
If we take the secondary, or national view, of the parable, the application of it is not difficult. It rebukes the Jews for their unwillingness to see the Gentiles brought into the Church of Christ, and made partakers of the Gospel. The elder brother is a picture of the Jews of Paul’s time, disliking the conversion of the Gentiles, and “forbidding him to speak to them.” (1Th 2:16.) In this point of view, unhappily, the parable is again a prophecy. Our Jewish elder brother still stands without and refuses to come in.
Luk 15:25. Now his elder son was in the field. The elder son at the return of the younger brother is not in the house, but has spent the day in hard, self-chosen, slavish service, and now first returns home at evening, when the feast was already in progress (Van Oosterzee).
Music and dancing. Usual at feasts in the East. Dancing in the East was usually performed by those hired for the purpose.
By the murmuring of the elder son at the prodigal’s returning to, and reception with, his father, some think the Jews in general are to be understood, whose peevishness to the Gentiles, and the repining at the offer of salvation made unto them by the gospel, is very evident from many places of scripture: others understand it of the scribes and Pharisees in particular, who presuming on their own righteousness, as if they had never transgressed God’s commandments at any time, murmured at our Saviour for conversing with sinners, though it were in order to the bringing of them to repentance; which instead of being frowardly discontented at, they ought to have rejoiced at.
Learn hence, there is such an envious spirit in men, yea, even in the best of men, as inclined them to repine at such dispensations of divine grace and favor, as others receive, and they want.
Learn, 2. That to indulge such a spirit and temper in ourselves, argues great sin, and great folly: great sin in being dissatisfied with God’s dispensations, and affronting his wisdom and justice; and great folly, in making another’s good our grief; as if we had less, because another has more: The eldest son was angry, and would not go in: it follows, therefore came his father out and intreated him. This shows the meekness of God in dealing with us under, our frowardness; and the high satisfaction he takes in a sinner’s conversion and returning to his duty.
Lastly, this points out unto us our duty to imitate God, and be followers of him as dear children. Does he rejoice at a sinner’s return to this duty? So should we. It is the devil’s temper to regret and envy the good and happiness of others: he gnashes his teeth, when the prey he thought himself sure of, is snatched out of his jaws. But to God, and all his holy angels, nothing is so agreeable as their repentance and conversion of a sinner from the error of his ways, and the saving of a soul from death; this is looked upon as a resurrection from the dead, and a ground of the greatest joy and rejoicing: It was meet that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.
Whence note, that regeneration is the term from which all true pleasure commences. We never live a merry day until we begin to live unto God; when the prodigal son returned to his father, then, and not until then, they began to be merry.
Luk 15:25-28. Now his older son was in the field The older son seems to represent the Pharisees and scribes mentioned Luk 15:2. And now while every one in the family heartily joined in expressing their joy on account of the safe return of the second son, the older brother, happening to come from the field, heard the noise of singing and dancing within; wherefore, calling out one of the servants, he asked what these things meant. The servant replied, that his brother was unexpectedly come, and that his father, being very glad to see him, had killed the fatted calf, and was making a feast, because he had received him safe and sound. The servant probably mentions the killing of the fatted calf rather than the robe or ring, as having a nearer connection with the music and dancing. When the older brother heard this, he fell into a violent passion, and would not go in; the servant therefore came and told his father of it. The father rising up, went out and with incomparable goodness, entreated his son to come and partake in the general joy in the family on account of his brothers return. This act of condescension gives a great heightening to the character of the father, and adds an inexpressible beauty and elegance to the parable; and when we consider it as referring to the love and condescension of our Almighty Father, it must certainly be very consolatory to our souls.
Vers. 25-32. The elder Son.
This part embraces: 1 st. The interview of the elder son with the servant (Luk 15:25-28 a); 2 d. His interview with his father (Luk 15:28 b-32). Jesus here shows the Pharisees their murmurings put in action, and constrains them to feel their gravity.
Verse 25
The elder son seems to be introduced not to represent any particular persons, but only as an incident naturally connected with the narrative, and furnishing an occasion, by the conversation which ensued, to exhibit more vividly still the feelings of the father.
15:25 {5} Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
(5) Those who truly fear God desire to have all men join them in fearing him.
The older brother 15:25-32
Jesus pictured the older brother, symbolic of the Pharisees and scribes, as working hard for the father. The Jews as well as the Jewish religious leaders likewise enjoyed the privileged status of an older brother in the human family because God had chosen them for special blessing (Exo 19:5-6). The older brother was outside the banquet having missed it apparently because of his preoccupation with work and his distant relationship with his father. For him, and for the Pharisees, all was based on merit and reward. He viewed himself more as the father’s servant than as his son.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
The elder son: (a) wanted to be a son, but not a brother; (b) did not share his fathers concern for the lost brother; (c) was envious of his brother and suspicious of his father; (d) was unable to enjoy what the father gave him because of his envy of the prodigal; (e) boasted of an obedience which he really did not have and revealed it by his attitude. The elder son was a classic Phariseeunmerciful toward the prodigal whose sins were those of the flesh, but he refused to admit the sins of pride, jealousy, hypocrisy and self-righteousness were worse sins. Jesus was hardest on hypocrisy. Doing the right thing for the wrong reason was not Jesus idea of goodness (cf. the Sermon on the Mount). Pride, not prodigality, is the chief sin!
INTRODUCTION
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)