Revulsion After Excess
James Hamilton, D. D. Luke 15:11-32 And he said, A certain man had two sons:… Where there is any nobleness in the nature, it occasionally happens, that the very excess of riot leads to a revulsion. "I was converted by six weeks' debauchery," says a somewhat paradoxical character in fiction; and when the good minister remonstrates against his speaking thus lightly of the Divine operations, he replies, "I am not speaking lightly. If I had not seen that I was making a hog of myself very fast, and that pig-wash, even if I could get plenty of it, was a poor sort of thing, I should never have looked life fairly in the face to see what was to be done with it." And when the Spirit of God enkindles or keeps smouldering on tram better days any of the finer feelings, in the very sight of the swine-trough there is enough to sober and startle. Greek writers tell of a creature which combined every element of hideousness, and was capable of much mischief as well; but if by any chance it got a glimpse of itself, the face in the mirror was fatal — the sight of the monster slew the miscreant. The perfection of ugliness is evil, and if, like the basilisk, the sinner could only view his own deformity, it is a sight which self-complacency could never survive. (James Hamilton, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said, A certain man had two sons: WEB: He said, "A certain man had two sons.