For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. (Luke 15:24-25)
Luke fifteen is “the lost and found” section of the Bible. Lost then found was a sheep, coin, and son. When the lost was found it brought great joy. The joy on earth reflected heavens joy when a lost sinner repents, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10)
The “lost and found” parables were mercifully spoken to rebellious Pharisees who criticized Christ for receiving sinners and eating with them (Luke 15:2). The Lord Jesus closed His “lost and found section” with a parable of warning to Pharisees about a rebellious older brother that remained lost.
In the “Parable of the Prodigal Son” a loving Father had two sons both loved and lost. The siblings were two lost sinners: the younger brother was a public sinner, and the older brother was a private (Pharisee) sinner. Both boys committed many of the same sins, but their sins were manifested in two different ways. Both resented the Father’s authority, neither loved the Father, and both were rebellious.
The younger brother was a public embarrassment and a disgrace. When the younger son asked the father for his inheritance, he was basically saying that he wished his father was dead. The heritage that he graciously received should have been propagated, perpetuated, and then handed down to his children who would do the same for their children, but instead the “prodigal,” (meaning “wasteful”) took his substance and wasted it on “riotous living.”
The young son was just like the publicans and sinners Jesus ate with. These rebellious sons and daughters of Abraham forsook the godly heritage that they had been given, and were wasting their lives on “riotous living,” but now many of these prodigals were “coming home” to Jesus.
The older brother was a respectable rebel. He was no “black sheep.” The older brother was a begrudging upholder of the rules of the house and a follower of societal norms. He dutifully kept the law. However, absent from his rule keeping was a loving relationship with his father. He was a Pharisee, a Christless Christian.
The Older Brothers Obedience
He obeyed out of fear. Much morality in society can be nothing more than cowardice. If you are too afraid to commit a crime it does not make you moral. It just means that you are a coward. A healthy fear of punishment, retribution, public humiliation, or prison time might save us from a lot of heart ache, but that does not mean we have a good relationship with the Father.
He obeyed for what he could get out of it: Society rewards those who color within the lines. You can get what you want out of the family farm if you work hard, follow the guidelines, and maintain good business practices. Even people who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ understand the laws of sowing and reaping. If you are honest people will do business with you. If you help your neighbors, they will help you back. If you are good to your spouse, you will be happier, “happy wife a happy life!”
The Bible says that the Pharisees loved to pray, fast, give, and go to the house of God (Matt. 6, Luke 18:10-13). Their motivation was material blessings and personal fame, but not for love of God.
The story is told of a farmer who loved his king and presented him with the biggest carrot from his garden. He said, “King, this is the biggest carrot I have or will ever produce, and I want to give it to the best King our country ever had or will ever have.” The king thanked the farmer and gave him another field. The farmer rejoiced on his way home told a horse farmer what had happened. Immediately the horse farmer grabbed his best horse and brought it before the king. The king took the steed and gave the man nothing. “The gardener was giving me a carrot, but you are giving yourself the horse.” (Taken from: “The Prodigal God” Tim Keller)
He obeyed to avoid the father. If you obey the rules and do not make waves you can avoid confrontations with the Father and also a relationship with him as well. The writer Flannery O’Conner put it this way, “The best way to avoid Jesus is avoid sin.” When Jesus ate with publicans and sinners, the Lord was having a homecoming feast. He was rejoicing that the “lost was found.” The self-righteous Pharisee, “older brothers” stood outside and condemned younger brothers. The Pharisees thought that they were “whole” but instead did not realize that they were empty and hollow without Christ. They were indeed spiritually sick but did not realize it.
But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:30-32)
He should have obeyed out of love:
The older brother like the Pharisees had all rules with no relationship.
“And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.” Luke 15:29-20
“All these years…” serving the father was a begrudging duty instead of a loving delight. We can picture it like this. A modern-day publican or sinner repents from their wicked life of sin and comes back home to the Lord. True believers rejoice and celebrate! “The prodigal has come home from the far country!” A Pharisee in the church says, “All these years I have had to serving the Lord around here and they have been out living it up where is my celebration?”
When we love the Lord we get to serve him we do not have to serve him. Serving is a delight and not a duty. Loving service to the heavenly Father is a million times better than serving the devil out in the far country. Serving the Lord is a reward in and of itself, it is the best thing in the world, because we get the Father and we also get the Farm.
And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (Luke 15:31-32)
“The Christian life is not a halfway house between the older brother and the younger brother it is being with the Father in His house serving Him in His fields.” – unknown