One of Jesus’ best known and most loved parables He told is often referred to as “The Prodigal Son” found in Luke 15. The story of the younger of two brothers who demanded his inheritance from his father early and went off into a far country to waste it all (vv. 11-13). Then, after being brought to his lowest where even what the pigs were eating looked appetizing to him, he “came to his senses” and goes home back to his father where he is welcomed enthusiastically by him (vv. 14-21). A celebration is had as the lost boy has returned (vv. 22-24). This actually is the third of three scenes in the parable, each dealing with something that is lost, found, and results in rejoicing. A picture of the rejoicing in heaven every time a sinner repents and is saved (vv. 7, 10). In the first scene, it is one lost sheep (vv. 3-7). A lost coin in the second one (vv. 8-10). And here a lost son in this third and final one (vv. 11-32).
Now, normally, when someone teaches or preaches on this parable, the focus is on the prodigal who ran away or the father and his extravagant love to readily receive him back. But really neither one of them is the point. The one Jesus draws our attention to is the one He ends with. The angry grumbling older brother who refuses to celebrate the lost son’s return (vv. 25-32). We must remember that these three pictures were given in response to the Pharisees grumbling over the fact that Jesus welcomed and ate with sinners which was taking place just before He teaches this (vv. 1-2). He clearly wants the Pharisees to see themselves in this older brother. They are doing the same thing as him. When they should be celebrating the prodigal tax collectors and other sinners coming home, they are complaining. Thinking they deserve Jesus to eat with them instead because of how righteous and faithful they had been. How much they have “slaved” Him and never neglected any of His commands (v. 29).
What is often missed in this story is that there are actually two lost sons in it. One who was lost in a far country and the other who was lost at home. And the most dangerous is to be lost at home because you don’t realize you are lost and need to be found. This older brother thought himself to be okay, not recognizing the alienation or separation brought about by his pride and self-righteousness. He is the moral rule keeper just as lost as the wayward brother. It is evident the younger brother is lost due to his lifestyle. The upright and outwardly obedient lifestyle of the older one masks his lostness but cannot take it away. Not to be crude, it is just like putting lipstick on a pig. Or lipstick on a sinner in this case. The ground is always level at the cross as Jesus died for both younger brothers who show their sin through immoral living and older brothers who wrongly attempt to earn God’s favor through their righteous living. Both are just as in need of God’s grace and Jesus’ righteousness. But only the younger brother comes to see such. The older brother remains lost.
There are a number of older brothers out there today. They go to church every Sunday and do everything they are supposed to do. Who live an exemplary moral life but are spiritually lost because they think that will earn them favor with God. In essence, they are saying to God, “I have been serving You for so many years and never neglected a command of Yours. What are You going to do for Me?”
We like to identify ourselves with the prodigal in this story, but even as believers, we can still resemble the older brother at times. We do so whenever we begin to look at ourselves and our obedience to be justified before God instead of Jesus and His righteousness. Or when something bad happens to us and we want to say to God, “Why would You bring this upon me when I have been so faithful to You? I don’t deserve this. But I can think of someone who does that isn’t experiencing it.” Is that not the attitude of the older brother? What if a known prostitute or promiscuous woman or a homosexual would walk in the building on a Sunday morning? Would you celebrate that they are in a place where they can hear the gospel and get saved or shoo them away, saying that they don’t belong here because they are not like us? That’s kind of like what the older brother was saying in refusing to join the party for his brother’s return. “He doesn’t belong here anymore. We shouldn’t be celebrating him because of what he has done regardless of God’s grace shown to him and the repentance demonstrated by him.” Like so many of Jesus’ parables, this hits all of us somehow. The Spirit can use it to reveal the little older brother in each of our hearts.
We actually are left with a cliffhanger at the end of the parable. In the last two verses, the father points out to this older son how he was always with the father and everything the father has is already his. The reason to celebrate and rejoice over the brother is because he was in a sense dead but now alive and lost but now found. That’s it! There is nothing more said. We do not know if the brother decides to remain outside continuing to grumble or whether he will see his father’s perspective and join the celebration. The reason for the open-endedness is because it all depends on what the Pharisees who are listening will do. The real older brother in this story. It depends on what we will do with it. Will we welcome and rejoice over the repentant prodigals like ourselves who come to Jesus as our Father does? Or stay outside grumbling over the amazing extravagant grace God continues to show to other sinners? Let’s pray that God would give us more of the heart of the father in the parable rather than that of the older brother which we probably already too much reflect at times.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Lee
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