The Prodigal God (Week 3): The Two Lost Sons Part II

I. Luke 15: 25-28. When the elder brother hears from the servants that his younger brother has returned
and has been reinstated by his father, he is furious! Now it is his turn to disgrace his father.

He refuses to go in to what is perhaps the biggest feast and public event his father has ever put on. He
remains outside the door, publicly casting a vote of no-confidence in his fathers actions. This forces the
father to come out to speak to his older son, a demeaning thing to have to do when you are the lord of the
manor and host of the great feast. He begins to plead with his eldest son to come in, but he continues to
refuse.

II. Why is the older son so furious? Luke 15:29, 30.

He basically said, Youve never even given me a goat for a party, how dare you give him a calf? The
fattened calf is only a symbol, however, because what the father has done costs far more than the calf. By
bringing the younger son back into the family he has made him an heir again, with a claim to one-third of
their (now very diminished) family wealth. This is incomprehensible for the elder brother.

And so the elder brothers fury leads him to insult his father even further. He refuses to address him in the
elaborately respectful manner that inferiors owed superiors in that culture, particularly in public. He does
not say esteemed father but simply, Look! which is equivalent to Look, you! In a culture where respect
and deference to elders was vitally important, such behavior is outrageous.

III. How does the father respond to his older sons open rebellion? Luke 15: 31, 32.

A man of his time and place might have disowned his son on the spot. Instead he responds again with
amazing tenderness. My son, he begins, despite how youve insulted me publicly, I still want you in the
feast. I am not going to disown your brother, and I am not going to disown you, either. I want you to come
into the feast. The choice is yours. And the story ends.

There are so many questions left unanswered. Why does Jesus end the parable here? It is because the
real audience for this story is the Pharisees, the elder brothers. Jesus is pleading with his enemies to
respond to his message. What is that message? Well dive into that next week by looking into the main
points Jesus is seeking to drive home here. To give you a taste, Jesus is redefining everything we thought
we knew about connecting to God. He is redefining sin, what it means to be lost, and what it means to be
saved.

IV. Quote to wrestle with this upcoming week comes from Charles Spurgeon:

"It is not thy hold on Christ that saves thee; it is Christ. It is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee; it is Christ.
It is not even thy faith in Christ, though that be the instrument; it is Christ's blood and merit."