I remember many moons ago, a couple of friends and I went snow skiing at Sugar Mountain in North Carolina. The day after we arrived, we lounged around during the morning, so it was well into the afternoon before we got moving and headed for the slopes. We were driving along for what seemed like forever, looking for the turn to Sugar Mountain. This was a long time before GPS and Waze. We went on and on and on. Finally, we realized what the problem was. We had missed our turn quite a way back. We were now about an hour into Tennessee. We were lost and did not even realize it. In spiritual matters, it is the same problem. The lost do not know they are lost. Thankfully, Jesus, the Son of Man, came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Luke 15 contains three parables Jesus tells in response to the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes. “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). The third of these parables is perhaps Jesus’ best-known parable: the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The problem is that most people do not understand the main point of the parable. The parable is not principally about the prodigal son, who squandered all he had on reckless living. It is about the older brother. It is a parable about two lost sons. Jesus isn’t simply addressing rebellious sinners; He’s also addressing religious ones as well. Commentator Ralph Davis wrote, “Some sinners smell like the hog pen, but some smell like the church pew.” A very quick overview of the younger son is needed to grasp the teaching regarding the older son. The younger son desired to be free of the restraints of his home. He wanted to be free of his father. He wanted to do it his way. He wanted to be king of his own little kingdom. He wanted unfettered autonomy. So, he goes to his father and makes a demand. “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me” (15:12). He takes his money, and he hits the road. He doesn’t just move out and go to the other side of town. He goes off into a “far country” (15:13). He goes where no one knows him. Where he could go and live with no restraints. It doesn’t take long for the younger son to squander away all he has on “reckless living” (15:13). It’s been said a fool and his money are soon parted, and because of his foolishness, he goes from the penthouse to the outhouse in short order. He’s so desperate, he takes a job feeding pigs, something no Jew would dream of doing since pigs were unclean animals according to the law (Leviticus 11:7). Then he has his wake-up call. Life in a far country isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. He realizes he has sinned. And he knows that he has not only sinned against his father, he has ultimately sinned against God. “I have sinned against heaven” (15:18). The younger son humbles himself and resolves to go back to his father. He believes he is no longer worthy to called a son. He is simply hoping to be treated like one of his father’s servants. It is obvious that the father never lost his love for his rebellious son. When he saw his son approaching home, he felt compassion. He even ran to meet him. This was very undignified in ancient times for an older man to run. His actions indicate complete forgiveness and restoration of the relationship. The younger son is given a robe and a ring and shoes. This indicates he has not lost his place in the family. The father’s actions are a picture of God’s compassion. He always welcomes a repentant sinner back. This is a picture of the Gospel. But not everyone is happy at the return of the prodigal son. The older son was out working in the fields, as he did every day. He is returning home and hears the joyous sounds of a celebration. He inquires of one of the servants what is going on, and when he hears his younger brother has returned and been accepted back by his father, he is not at all overjoyed. He refuses to partake in the celebration, even when his father entreats him. There are a few things to notice in the older brother’s reaction. First, the older son could not comprehend the father’s grace. How could the father receive the younger son back after what he had done? To him, grace is a foreign word that is not found in his dictionary. But can’t we be just like that? Cannot we, who are undeserving recipients of God’s grace, want to see grace withheld from others? We can have the exact same attitude as Jonah. Jonah refused to go preach the message of repentance to the evil people of Nineveh because he didn’t think they were worthy of God’s grace and mercy. All the while forgetting that neither was he. There is nothing in us that makes us “more worthy” of God’s grace than anyone else, because we are not worthy. No one is worthy. Grace, by definition, is unmerited. Yet, Jesus’ blood purifies any sinner who comes to him in faith and repentance. Secondly, the older brother could not perceive his own need. He tells his father, “… these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command…” (15:29). It is not likely we would hear him say what the younger brother said: “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” The older son is self-righteous. He views his relationship with his father more as a master-servant relationship than he does a father-son one. He certainly doesn’t understand that outward obedience is not enough. Sadly, his self-assessment is way off the mark. Yes, the younger son was a fool, and his actions were ungrateful and foolish. But who was the older son to be casting stones? Jesus said in Luke 6:41-42,“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” We have a tendency to judge others while, at the same time, minimizing our own flaws and faults. We can judge others without being objective and impartial with ourselves. We can have quite a rosy view of ourselves, and a tarnished view of others. Remember, Jesus is telling these parables in response to his critics: the Pharisees and the scribes. They were the epitome of religious piety, yet it was largely outward conformity. The older brother is a mirror of their own hearts. Sadly, he can also be a mirror of our hearts at times. We can easily become like the Sunday School teacher who, after teaching the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, said to her class, “Children, let’s bow our heads and thank God we are not like the Pharisee!” But sometimes we are. Sometimes, we can be the older brother. The older brother seems to think he is more righteous than his younger brother, but in reality, he’s just more self-righteous. There are many who display the outward signs of conformity, but they do have any real intimacy with God. As Jesus said of the Pharisees, he can say of many in the church. “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt 15:8). Some sinners smell like the hog pen, and some smell like the church pew. Jesus will receive both if they call on him in faith. If you read the parable, you will notice that Jesus ends the parable without a resolution. Jesus doesn’t tell us how the older son responded to the father’s appeal. The whole thing is left unresolved. Jesus leaves us hanging, but he doesn’t leave us hanging because he forgot to finish the story. He ends the parable this way deliberately. He did so to cause us to examine ourselves. How would we respond? Which son are we? In 15:2, the Pharisees and scribes complained, “This man receives sinners…” But isn’t that the greatest news of all? Jesus will receive the vilest offender who repents and believes. He will receive a prodigal who repents and believes, and he will receive a Pharisee who repents and believes. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. It doesn’t matter if we smell like the hog pen, or if we smell like the church pew.
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A New Day Dawning