AUDIENCE: Publicans, sinners, and also the Pharisees,scribes (group of so-called righteous men)
SETTING: The Pharisees and Scribes were grumbling and complaining that Jesus was was eating with the tax collectors and sinners.
KJV LUKE 15 Jesus spoke this 1 of 3 parables to them.
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
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.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
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:
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.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
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.
At first glance of this story, one may believe that the condition of the younger brothers heart, is far worse than the elder brother. The glory however of Jesus's parables are that they seldom fall short of teaching more than a couple of lessons to us. Today, I would like to turn our focus to the mentality of the elder brother. Upon our first introduction, he is angry because his Father appears to be lavishing the best of the best that He has, all over the younger brother. How could He do this when the younger brother did such horrible things? Why is He celebrating this type of behavior? He continues in his anger further, justifying his position of worth by the acts of service he has performed and his supposed impeccable character at the commandment of his Father. Finally, he expresses that he is hurt because his Father has never given him any of these these things that the younger brother has just been blessed with, when he clearly deserved them more due to his service:
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment
We see here that the elder son was doing all the right things because his Father said to do them however it does not appear by his words, that any of it was done because he wanted to. It was more of an obligation that eventually led to his resentful feelings towards his Father and his brother and caused him to miss out on the celebration and pure joy of his brothers return.
The Father's response is something that we all need to grab a hold of:
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
In my opinion the younger brother was in a much better place than the older. He may have left but because of having the time away, he was then able to FULLY appreciate what he used to have with the Father. I feel as if it renewed him and allowed him to stay because he wanted to stay, not because he felt he had to. There was also nothing left for him to expect as he had already blown all of his inheritance. If you noticed, the entire time the younger son tried to plead his case for grace, the Father wanted nothing else but to love him and celebrate his return and gave him this grace freely.
The Father in the story is symbolic of God and how He feels about us. There is nothing that we can or cannot do to make Him love us, less or more. He is no respecter of persons and loves us all the same. It shows us that we have many things available to us as sons and daughters of the King and we need something sometimes to open our eyes to what we have.
Notice that the younger brother did not even have to ask for anything. All he had to do, was to remember where he came from and go back and take part in what was always his in His Fathers House.
If you want to know what you have available to you in the Father, you can find it all in His Word and in seeking time with Him to reveal it to you. All you have to do is believe and receive.
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