III.—THE CALF AS A FEAST. You remember the story of the Prodigal Son contained in the Gospel of Luke. In that pearl of parables we have the mention of the "_fatted calf_." This was considered a great delicacy among the Jews. Large numbers were carefully selected and fattened for the purpose. And this is what we are to understand by "calves of the stall." Even the witch of Endor had "a _fat_ calf" in her house, which she killed and dressed for King Saul (1 Sam. xxviii. 24). And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched "a calf _tender and good_," and prepared it for the three angels who had visited him in the plains of Mamre (Gen. xviii. 7). This was hospitality worthy of both kings and angels; and this is the kind of entertainment which is set before every returning prodigal. They feed on angels’ food. They eat of the finest of the wheat. They are brought into Christ’s banqueting house, and His banner over them is love. Did ever any one sin a more grievous sin than the prodigal? Was ever any one visited with a sadder and sorer punishment? Like the silly sheep, he had strayed away into the far-off country; and there, in that distant land, he found himself in penury and rags. He would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat. But the Shepherd found the sheep. The poor wanderer came to himself in that distant land, and found his way back again to his father’s house. And what was the result? His home-coming was celebrated by a feast. The father said unto the servant, "Bring hither the _fatted calf_ and kill it." "A day of _feasting_ I ordain, Let mirth and song abound, My son was dead, and lives again, Was lost, and now is found. Thus joy abounds in paradise, Among the hosts of heav’n, Soon as the sinner quits his sins, Repents and is forgiven." The sin, the sacrifice, the feast. The golden calf, the slain calf, the fatted calf. The first is ours, the second is Christ’s, and the third is designed for _both_. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup _with him_, and he _with Me_." Nay, Jesus Himself is both sacrifice and feast. He could turn to the Jews and say, "Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life." "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." We must repent of the sin, we must trust in the sacrifice, and we must feed upon the feast. Not till then shall we be fired with the hope and filled with the joy of the last of the prophets—"Unto you that fear My name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings: and ye shall go forth and _gambol_ as calves of the stall." *The Bat.* "In that day a man shall cast his idols to the moles and the bats."—Isa. ii. 20.