Luke 15:31 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 15:31

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The father also has deep feelings for this elder son, even though he is behaving so callously, but what is he saying to the elder son? He is not saying, as some might suppose, that even though the elder son won't repent, and is out of sympathy with what the father has done to his brother, nevertheless he is still all right, and very much his father’s son, and everything that that the father has remains his. No, remember that they are outside the house, and the context is that the elder son will not enter in. He won't come in and the father has gone out to him to entreat him to come in, to enter into an experience of rejoicing, to celebrate the restoration to life of his younger brother. In saying these things, the father is pleading with the elder son to come in, and put away his hostility to his brother. He, as it were, indicates the door with one hand, and he beckons the elder son with the other, and it's in this context that he says if you'll come, then all that I have is yours. If you respond, then you will very much be my son, and everything that I have will be yours.

Application

It is as if God is saying to us, ‘You could be a true son, a true daughter. At the moment you are not. You know a great deal. You have heard a great deal perhaps. You understand a little bit about Calvary, about the need for conversion, about the way to repent. You have heard these things; you have a lot of privileges, but you're not a true son or a true daughter. Not yet, and you know it. God is ready to give us everything that he has, if only we will repent of our sin, if only we will rely entirely on the Saviour.

This whole message is about the great condescension and love of God. It doesn't matter how arrogant we are. It doesn't matter how awful we are, or how conceited we are, or how much we reject the message of salvation. God is still saying, ‘If you would only come in. Don't worry about what you've said; don't worry about the things your pride and how you have been so stubborn. If you will only come and repent and yield yourself, I will forgive you and wash away all your sin, and you can be completely my son and all that I have can be yours.

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Luke 15:31 Commentary and Bible Study