If people are familiar with any parable of Jesus, it would most likely be the prodigal son. A great illustration of God’s loving heart for His wayward children, it’s actually the last parable in a series of three that Jesus told. Reviewing the whole collection will help us understand the point He was making with this well-known story.
The Lord told these three because the Jewish leaders weren’t happy about the way He was interacting with the undesirable elements of society.
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2The Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” – Luke 15:1-2
Those clamoring around the Lord were outcasts. No decent person would have anything to do with them. The fact that Jesus wasn’t running away from these people was a strike against Him.
But the Lord didn’t seem bothered, and the religious leaders noticed.
He heard their complaint, and he didn’t let it slide. Jesus responded with three parables to explain what He was doing and why He was doing it.
The first two parables are arranged in a similar, succinct format. Somebody loses something and looks for it. A shepherd scouts the fields searching for a missing sheep. A woman sweeps her house seeking a misplaced coin.
When they find what they were looking for, they have similar reactions.
“And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’” – Luke 15:5-6
“And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’” – Luke 15:9
When what’s lost gets found, the festivities begin! And the party’s public, not private! Neither the shepherd nor the woman kept their joy to themselves. They wanted to share it with others.
Celebration is social, but it’s more than that. It’s also spiritual. Twice Jesus informs the religious leaders that God and His angels care about the salvation of the lost.
“I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” – Luke 15:7
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” – Luke 15:10
Christ’s point is that these miffed religious leaders ought to join the party. Instead of criticizing Him, they should rejoice over what He’s doing. When Jesus saves a sinner, everyone should be happy.
- The lost – definitely!
- The rescuer – certainly!
- The neighbors – them, too!
- The Pharisees and teachers–whoops, we have a problem here!
But Jesus isn’t finished.
To reinforce His point, Christ tells a third parable, this one about a son who dishonors his father by demanding his inheritance, getting it, and then wasting it on non-stop parties and decadence.
He loses everything, so he has to find any kind of work to avoid starving. This foolish young man ends up feeding pigs–not a job any faithful Jew would consider, so this tells you where his heart was at!
The job is barely keeping the prodigal alive. After a while, it dawns on him that he’d be better off going home. He didn’t think his father would take him back, but “Dad might hire me as a servant. I have to try, because I’m dying out here!”
What this rebel couldn’t have expected was his father’s welcome. He didn’t put his son on the payroll; rather, he threw him a party.
But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate. 25Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27“Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.” 28The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. – Luke 15:22-28
The father, like the shepherd and the woman, is so happy he can’t keep it to himself. He wants everyone to join in!
Now this parable differs from the first two because it adds another character.
The older brother.
And this person was most displeased by the scene.
Why?
Because in the mind of the responsible son, his younger brother didn’t deserve a feast. He was disloyal, he disgraced his father, and he wasted a good chunk of the family estate.
Not like the older brother!
But the father won’t quit. He explains why celebrating is necessary. And for emphasis, he repeats himself in the final verse of the chapter:
“But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” – Luke 15:32
Who is the prodigal son? He represents the “tax collectors and sinners” who dropped what they were doing to listen to Jesus.
Who is the older brother? “The Pharisees and the teachers of the law!” And since they’re educated, they knew Jesus was talking about them. They made the connection.
But why wouldn’t they celebrate the salvation of sinners? What kept them from praising God for the hearts of sinful people turning to Him?
These “older brothers” had the spiritual well-being of the nation in their hands. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law gave people the Word of God and told them how to please the Lord. We assume they would be joyful for those who repented of their sins and returned to God.
But they weren’t. Because in their minds, the unrighteous souls crowding around Jesus weren’t repenting. Rather than following the Law of Moses, they were following Jesus. Who does He think He is?
He acts like the shepherd, aiming to recover a lost lamb. He behaves like the woman ransacking the house to find a hidden coin.
And He sees Himself as the older brother to the wayward. But unlike the character in the parable, this Older Brother retrieves the errant sibling.
The parable reveals the heart of God toward the lost. And the One telling the parable reveals His heart as One who identifies with us and seeks us out, even when we don’t deserve it.
No one deserves Christ’s grace; that’s why we call it grace! But He offers it with His presence and His Word. And when we listen to Him, we find the gospel changes who we are. It delivers us from evil, it saves us from the problems we got ourselves into, and it brings us into the festive home of the Father.
In a sense, we’re all older brothers. We have a choice. We can play the part as the one in the parable did. Or we can walk in the love of Jesus and dare to go after those who’ve messed up their lives. Only God can save them; we know that. We have the message of hope. It’s ours to share with the hurting.
And to celebrate when they receive it!
The older brother isn’t in the image at the top of this blog post. He wasn’t there when the prodigal returned; he missed the tears of his brother and the relieved joy of his father.
It’s too bad he missed the reunion.
But we don’t have to.
May we imitate Jesus our Older Brother (see Romans 8:29) and please our Father by bringing the prodigals home!
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