Two Brothers

Luke 15:11–32 (NLT) — 11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. 17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” ’ 20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ 22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ 28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ 31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’ ”

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There are two ways to live apart from Jesus, to openly deny Him or to live a life so "good" that you don't need Him.

This is a parable that Jesus told, right before this parable he tells two more...

Luke 15:4–7 (NLT) — 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

and...

Luke 15:8–10 (NLT) — 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

Jesus is showing that when a sinner repents, God responds with love and joy. But what about the Prodigal Son parable.....it's different but how?

The father in the Prodigal Son parable still responds with love and joy as God would, but there's a third character involved...the older brother.

Why is that important?

In this parable Jesus is showing us what it looks like to come to him. In order to come to Jesus, to be in relationship with Him, you first have to realize your need for Him, and you have to realize that you have nothing to offer Him...you are relying upon His mercy.

17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” 

Then the parable shows us how God responds...

 20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

God meets our cries for help with love and compassion. Notice that the father ran out to meet the son when he was a long way off.

Now keep in mind what the Father has been through, the son asked for his share of the inheritance....this is essentially saying, "I wish you were dead so I can have the money that's coming to me."

Also this was an agrarian society, in order to give the son his inheritance the father would have had to interrupt the regular farm life, try and sell his property and possessions potentially endangering the sustainability of the farm all to give a foolish, unappreciative boy his money.

This was not normal practice, this would have been an absurdly selfish request.

In spite of the wrongs that the son had committed against the father, the father is happy to see the son and runs out to him meeting him where he's at.

22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 

These are all signs of of sonship, distinguishing the son from the hired hands. The finest robe was a sign of position in the family. The ring was a sign of his restored family position and authority. The sandals were a sign that he was the son of the owner, not a hired hand. The fatted calf, Jews only ate red meat on special occasions, it was the most valuable meat. Also it's implied that the whole community would have been invited because of the amount of meat that's being prepared (fatted calf). This means that the father would have solved the problem of the sons acceptance back into the community with this feast.

But in all of this, how does the older brother react? When the young son asks for his inheritance..the older brother is silent. Is that normal? We would think of an older brother as knowing better and trying to talk sense into the younger brother...but we see in the parable that the older brother does not.

28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

The older brother is not happy that his younger brother has returned. Wouldn't we expect an older brother to take care of his younger brother? The older brother should have gone out searching for the younger brother and tried to reconcile the younger brother with the father. But we see that not only has the older brother not looked for his younger brother, he's angry when he comes back home!

There is no love in the older brother. The older brothers life is characterized by strict discipline, doing exactly (and seemingly only) what's expected of him. He didn't care when his brother left, he didn't try to talk him out of it or reason with him or hunt him down. He says, "this son of yours," this shows the extent of the anger and bitterness he feels towards his brother.

Also his reaction to his father's actions upon the younger brothers return shows a lack of communication with his father. It seems that they had never discussed what would happen if his brother was found, the older brother seems shocked at the fathers continued love for the younger brother. A simple conversation would have revealed this, but the older brother did not know this about his father showing that the relationship that the older brother has with the father is one of duty, not genuine relationship.

Why is it important that the third parable involves an additional character (the other parables were the lost sheep and the lost coin)? It shows that there are two types of responses to God.

There are those that reject God and want to be god of their own lives doing whatever they see as desirable. There's also a second category of people, these are people that have the appearance of a relationship with God, they have the appearance of righteousness, but inside there is no love and they do not know God.

The second approach is that of legalism, morality, earning God's favor by your own behavior.

Both of the brothers in this parable are distant from the father, but the younger repents and is given grace. The older brother has tried to be so good that he doesn't need grace, which is equally if not more rebellious than the younger brother was in the beginning.

Which brother are you more like?

While God is represented by the father in this story, the older brother certainly leaves us wanting and points forward to a greater older brother. In Jesus we have a better older brother, who not only lives a life that perfectly pleases the father but is in a perfect relationship with the father. An older brother who doesn't just let us leave the farm and waste our life but who travels great distances to chase after us and find us when we're eating with the pigs and bring us home.

Jesus came down from heaven where he lived in perfect harmony with the father, traveled a great distance by coming to our planet in the form of a baby. Jesus lived a life that we couldn't live, sinless, perfectly pleasing the Father, Jesus died on the cross causing himself to be separated from his Father so that we could gain a relationship with our true Father. He gave up his robe, ring, and sandal so that we could wear them. He left the heavenly feast so that we could partake in it.

We don't have the humility and boldness to return to the Father on our own like the younger brother nor do we have the ability to swallow pride to see that we can't earn the Father's affection like the older brother should have. It's only when we see what Jesus has already done for us are we able to humbly come before the Father. 

When you see that you are completely unworthy because of your sin, but you realize that you are accepted in the Father's sight because of what Jesus has done, only then will you have the humility and boldness to come before the Father. Without Jesus you may realize that you are a sinner, but you won't have the boldness to approach the Father or you may be bold but not realize the depth of your sin and need for mercy. Only in Jesus can you be both humble and bold before the Father.

Only in Jesus do we truly see how demanding the law is, it doesn't require just good behavior, it requires a love for the Father and a love for others that we can't fake. The older brother lacked love as we do when we try and earn our salvation, only in Jesus do we see perfect obedience and perfect love. Only when we see how high the standard is in Jesus can we come to grips with our inability to keep the law and our need for grace.

Only through faith in Jesus can we be reconciled to the Father.