Son or Servant?
Meanwhile the older son…
This post is a continuation of the story discussed in my post Lost and found part 3 which is part of a Lost and Found mini-series (Lost and Found part 1, Part 2) For this post, I will assume you are familiar with the parable of the Prodigal Son or you read or listened to my post Lost and Found part 3. You can also read the whole story in Luke 15:11-32.
25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
- John 15:25-26 NKJV
The older son had been out in the field, probably working hard like a good son should, and he missed the news that his younger brother had returned home. Imagine with me what it might have been like to be the older brother in that setting. You come home at the end of the day (I don’t really know what time it was), you’re tired, your feet hurt, your back is sore, and you have callouses on your hands. You have been helping, directing, problem-solving, pulling, pushing, sweating, struggling, and doing your very best since early in the morning. Country life might look nice in pictures and romantic movies, but the reality is quite different. Country life is brutal.
As the older brother comes home he hears music and dancing. Suddenly he is confused, is there a celebration? Why are they celebrating? Who are they celebrating?
A servant explains to the older brother that the younger brother has returned safe and sound and the father has killed the fatted calf for the celebration. However, the good news and the sound of rejoicing do not bring joy to the heart of the older brother. He refuses to go in. The love, mercy, and grace extended to his previously rebellious younger brother bring no joy to the older brother, it has the opposite effect. The older brother takes the celebration of the return of his younger brother as a personal insult.
Because the older brother refused to share in the father’s concern for his lost brother he also fails to share in the father’s joy at the return of his wandering brother.
The father comes out
28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
- Luke 15:28 NKJV
The older brother is so upset he refuses to go in. The father, who earlier had run out and embraced his younger son who smelled of pigs and was dressed in rags, covered him with the best robe and placed a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet (immediately restoring his status as a son) and called for a celebration, now leaves the celebration to talk to the older brother.
The father does not have favorites. He loves his younger son, even though he had been so rebellious. He also loves his older son. So the father comes out to plead with his older son to join in the festivities. When the older son talks to the father we catch a glimpse of his heart.
The heart of the older son
29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
- Luke 15:29-30 NKJV
From the answer of the older son, we learn about his perspective, his worldview, and how he perceives reality. It is true that the older son has stayed home and remained obedient, but it was not out of love. From his answer, it seems that the main motivator for the older son remaining home was the hope for a special reward, or perhaps fear of punishment if he ever left. The older brother does not feel grateful for the life he has lived, rather he feels like he has been wronged by his father. The older son believes his father has not rewarded him properly for his obedience and hard work.
Notice how the older son uses language that distances himself from his younger brother. He speaks to his father about his brother as “this son of yours” who devoured your livelihood with harlots. The language used by the older son makes it seem as if his father has rewarded the younger son for being rebellious. “This son of yours wastes your livelihood with harlots and you kill the fatted calf for him?”
This is totally my interpretation, but it almost seems to me like the brother wishes he had been less obedient. After all, if we can just come home and be embraced as if nothing had ever happened what keeps us from leaving?
Is this not part of the cross of Christ becoming a stumbling block?
Many find it offensive that the worst sinner in the world can simply accept Jesus and be saved by grace through faith just like everyone else. A murderer can repent, accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive the same eternal life, the same heaven as the bravest and most dedicated missionaries and martyrs in history.
Does that offend you?
Does it bother you that the Bible does not describe heaven as having levels where better Christians have better houses, where people who sinned less have access to faster wifi or better view out of their windows? My understanding is that there is one heaven for everyone. Same eternal life for all who receive it.
Living an obedient life does not earn you longer eternity. You do not become more saved the more obedient you are. Salvation is not on a spectrum, it is binary. Either you are saved or you’re not. Either Jesus is Lord of all, or not at all.
Either you are a son or a daughter, or you are not.
There was no probation for the younger son. No penance. He did not have to first work and pay the father back for all he had squandered. The moment he came back, the father embraced him and restored him. The younger son was as much son as the older brother who had never left.
How do you feel about that? Does it seem fair?
It shouldn’t, because it is not fair.
But that’s part of the good news. If salvation was fair, you would not be saved either. It is so arrogant of us to think that we are more deserving of salvation than someone who sins differently than we do. We fall into this trap when we consider ourselves superior to others. When we think that our good works add to our salvation we are tempted to look down on those we deem inferior.
This reminds me of something that happened to Jesus.
36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
48 Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
- Luke 7:36-50 NKJV
The sinful woman received the same salvation that was available to the Pharisees. This was offensive to some, but in reality, unless the Pharisees recognized their need for salvation they were in greater danger of being lost than a sinful but repentant woman.
The father’s reply
31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”
- Luke 15:31-32 NKJV
You are always with me!
The older son did not realize the benefit of always being with the father. Maybe he thought that his younger brother had more fun wasting all his money following the desires of his heart. Because some people spend more money trying to appear happy or chasing happiness it does not mean they are happier. If you have a lot of money you are going to have different struggles. Sure, sometimes I wish I could experience some of those struggles, but it does not necessarily mean I would be happier. What I am trying to highlight is that the older son failed to realize the privilege he experienced being always with the father. The older son never had to wonder about his next meal, about protection, about being loved, about belonging, he always had a purpose and security, all the days of his life.
The younger son in the other hand had a lot of money, but there is a limit to what money can buy, and there is a limit to money. As the money of the younger son diminished, so did his friends. Soon he found out he was alone, hungry, cold, dirty, and miserable. Soon he realized it would be better to be a servant of his father than to be away from him.
The older brother never experience the misery the son experienced. The older brother never experienced the loneliness, the hunger, the fear, the shame, the doubt, the cold, that his younger brother experienced. The older brother had it good, but never realized it. The older brother could not see how his life of discipline and obedience had actually been a better life than that of his brother. The older brother did not know that wasting his livelihood with harlots was a negative experience and not a positive one.
Like the older brother, many followers of God are in danger of watching celebrities party themselves into an early grave and believe that is the good life.
There are some who seem to want to have the experience of the thief on the cross. To live a life of sin and accept Jesus and receive salvation at the very last moment before they die. What they fail to believe is that if the thief on the cross had met Jesus earlier he might have not been hanging on that cross. We have no idea how much regret the thief experienced to have only met Jesus just before he died.
It is so important to understand what the father is saying to his older son, that he was always with him. When we are children of God, we are always with Him. Life may look the same, except it is not. I get to wake up every day and pray and face my day in God’s strength, leaning on God’s wisdom, knowing that everything will work out in the end. I still face challenges, but I never face them alone.
As a child of God I can show up every day, regardless of what the odds are against me, and face the day, to face all of life’s challenges, one day at a time, trusting in God to show up and take care of whatever I can’t handle and to give me the ability to handle what I can. My life is made up of surrendering to God every day. That can be seen as a privilege or as a burden. How do you view your relationship with God?
Is it a privilege to surrender to Him trusting that He has your best interest at heart? Or is it a challenge because it means giving up your carefully crafted and often selfish plans?
All that I have is yours
The second part of the father’s answer is even more amazing. “all that I have is yours!” The older son was not living life as a son, but rather as a servant. The older son was working, hoping to earn at least a young goat (Luke 15:29) not realizing that all that his father had belonged to him. The older brother was a son but behaved as a servant, trying to earn what was already his. The older son could have been working out of a sense of joy and gratitude. The older son could have been working from a place of abundance, but instead, he lived from a place of scarcity.
The older son was concerned about how much the father was splurging on his younger brother as if it would somehow deprive him of what was his.
Do we become upset when God blesses someone we consider morally inferior because somehow we think their blessings rob us of blessings?
Let me share a secret with you GOD IS NOT RUNNING OUT OF POWER! God is not running low on love and mercy. His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23) His love is unfailing (Isaiah 54:10) His power is limitless (Job 42:1-2).
We should live and face each day from a place of generosity, kindness, forgiveness, and boldness as children of God understanding we have eternal life. Salvation is ours! Not because we worked for it, but because Jesus paid the price. Jesus did not die on the cross to help us be saved.
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
- Hebrews 7:25 NKJV
Stop behaving like a servant when you are a son and a daughter. The grace extended to others does not in any way take away from your salvation. Let your obedience come from a place of love, appreciation, and gratitude. From an understanding that all that the Father has is yours. You are not working for salvation, but rather from a place of assurance of your salvation. Do your good deeds, your acts of service, and let your obedience to God, come from a place of abundance, not scarcity.
The children of God should experience great joy to see a wayward son or daughter come back home. There should always be much rejoicing because there is plenty for everyone! Everyone is invited, though sadly not everyone is interested in living as a son or daughter of God.
How sad it is for someone who claims to be a child of God, to live like a hired servant. Failing to believe and accept the freely bestowed gift of God’s love and salvation. We should all work, but from love, and not expecting to earn a reward that is already ours.
By the elder son were represented the unrepenting Jews of Christ’s day, and also the Pharisees in every age, who look with contempt upon those whom they regard as publicans and sinners. Because they themselves have not gone to great excesses in vice, they are filled with self-righteousness. Christ met these cavilers on their own ground. Like the elder son in the parable, they had enjoyed special privileges from God. They claimed to be sons in God’s house, but they had the spirit of the hireling. They were working, not from love, but from hope of reward. In their eyes, God was an exacting taskmaster. They saw Christ inviting publicans and sinners to receive freely the gift of His grace—the gift which the rabbis hoped to secure only by toil and penance—and they were offended. The prodigal’s return, which filled the Father’s heart with joy, only stirred them to jealousy.
- Christ’s Object Lessons p. 209.
The older son has a spirit of self-righteousness. But self-righteousness not only leads us to misrepresent God, but also makes us coldhearted and critical toward those around us. The older son, in his selfishness and jealousy, stood ready to watch his younger brother, to criticize every action, and to accuse him of the smallest mistake. He was eager would detect every fault, and make the most of every wrong act. This was done in an effort to justify his own unforgiving spirit.
Many of us are in danger of behaving similarly. While someone is making their very first struggles against a flood of temptations, we stand by complaining and accusing. Though we may claim to be children of God, we can end up acting out the spirit of Satan. By our attitude toward those around us, we place ourselves where God cannot give us the light of His face. We fail to reflect His character to those who need it most.
When we see ourselves as sinners saved only by the love of our heavenly Father, we will have compassion for others who are suffering in sin. We will no longer meet sorrow and repentance with jealousy and condemnation. When the ice of selfishness is melted from our hearts, we will be in sympathy with God and will share His joy in the saving of the lost.
When we claim to be a child of God; it also means that it is our brother or sister that was lost, that was dead and is alive again, that was lost and is found. The person who gives their life to Jesus He is bound to us by the closest ties; for God recognizes them as a son and daughter. If we deny our relationship to the prodigal child, we reveal that we are only a hired servant and not a child in the family of God.
It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother
When you refuse to join in the greeting to the lost, the joy will go on, the restored one will have her place by the Father’s side and in the Father’s work. She that is forgiven much, the same loves much. But you will be in the darkness without because “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.“ 1 John 4:8.
