What has been called “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” is really “The Parable of the Two Lost Sons.” Both sons of the father in this parable are lost. Both are alienated from their father. Both need to be reconciled. Both were only really interested in what they could get out of their father, instead of a relationship with their father. In this message we examine their alienation from their father, the effects of their alienation, and the remedy for their alienation.
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The Two Lost Sons
Luke 15:11-32
Everyone is born into this world in a lost and ruined state. As we learned last week, a lost person is not simply someone whom can’t be found. He is someone who is in an irrecoverable and unsalvageable condition. He has been ruined by sin. He can’t restore himself to a place of safety. He’s like that lost sheep who will never come home unless the shepherd gets up and goes after him and finds him and brings him home. He is like that lost coin that is never going to jump back into his owner’s pocket or purse, but must be put there.
However, there are two kinds of lost people. Jesus describes them in this last section in the parable of Luke 15. There is the younger brother kind of lostness, and there is the elder brother kind of lostness. The younger brother represents the tax collectors, harlots, thieves, and murderers, who were coming to Jesus. And rather than avoid them or send them away, Jesus was receiving them and eating with them. The younger brother represents the irreligious person. He represents the person who tries to get what he wants through an openly sinful, profligate and reckless lifestyle.
The elder brother represents the scribes and the Pharisees. Instead of coming to Jesus, they stood aloof from Him and grumbled when they saw Jesus receiving sinners. The elder brother represents the religious, moral person. This person is just as lost as the younger brother, but he seeks to get what he wants through doing what is right, rather than what is wrong.
As we come to the very end of this chapter, in verses 25-32, we are coming to the heart and soul of Jesus’ teaching. All along, this has been what Jesus was driving toward. This is the climax of the parable. The whole reason Jesus told this long parable, with three parts, was because the Pharisees were grumbling when Jesus received and ate with sinners. In this parable Jesus is pursuing them with His love. He is showing them that their righteousness and morality will damn them and keep them from the Father’s love and His great eternal feast in heaven.
My friend, everyone who is not a Christian, is a younger brother, or an elder brother. And even those of us who are Christians, sometimes look like younger brothers or elder brothers. The point of this parable is to show that God welcomes both younger and elder brothers back into His open arms! God loves both. God receives both. However, it is a whole lot harder and a whole lot rarer for elder brothers to repent and come to God, because they don’t see any need to do so. They are already so very righteous, that they don’t see any need to come back to God. Just as God rejoices when sinners repent, so Jesus is urging these scribes and Pharisees, these elder brothers, to have a change of mind, and begin rejoicing for them as well.
Now, this morning I want to compare and contrast these two lost sons. We are going to look at their alienation from their father, the consequences of their alienation from their father, and the remedy for their alienation from their father.
1. Their Alienation From Their Father
The Younger Brother
He wanted his Father’s stuff, not his father. Verse 12 says, “The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them.” Try to put yourself in first century Jewish culture. This was a very patriarchal religious culture, in which veneration for elders and especially parents was valued. Jesus’ audience would have gasped at the demand of this younger son for his share of the inheritance. An inheritance was never divided up until the father had died. For this son to ask for his inheritance while the father was still alive, was shocking. It was as if he were saying, “I want you dead. I really don’t care about you at all. What I want is what you’ve got.”
How did the father respond? We would expect him to drive his son out of the house with a physical beating, and tell him never to come back again. However, instead, he simply divided his wealth between them. Now, in a Jewish household, the oldest son received a double portion of whatever the rest of the children received. Since this father had two sons, the oldest received 2/3 of the Father’s estate, and the youngest received 1/3. Now, think of what that would have cost the father. In that day, a person’s land was bound up with his life. The original Greek word for wealth in verse 12 is “bios.” We get our word biology from that. It refers to life. The father divided his living (KJV) between them. This father would have had to sell off a great deal of his land holdings in order to grant his youngest son’s demand. People’s identities were tied up in their land. For this father to sell off his land was in a sense, to tear his life apart. It was to lose part of himself and a major share of his standing in the community. This father patiently endures a tremendous loss of honor as well as the pain of rejected love.
The Elder Brother
He Wanted his Father’s stuff, not his father. In this respect, he was exactly like his younger brother. He too, was not interested in a loving relationship with his father. Rather, he wanted what his father had. The only difference is in the way he went about trying to get control of his father’s stuff. Now, how do we know he wanted his father’s stuff, rather than his father? Verse 29 says, “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends.” Ah! Did you see it? This elder brother reveals his heart. What he really wants is a young goat so that he can celebrate with his friends. He doesn’t want a close and intimate relationship with his father. What he really wants is a good time with his friends. He wants the goat, not the father.
2. The Effects of their Alienation
The Younger Brother
The younger brother got exactly what he wanted. He got his share of the estate, and he got his freedom. He was no longer restrained into doing what his father wanted him to do. Now he could do exactly as he wanted. And that’s exactly what he did! He went on a journey into a far country, far from the watchful eyes of his father, and there he squandered all of his inheritance on reckless and loose living. For a while he had a ball with that money. He had instant friends who showed up whenever he was around. He had as much food and drink and dancing and fun as he wanted. So, younger brother, you got what you wanted? How’s that working for you?
The effects of his alienation of his father were devastating! He found himself in a far off land in the midst of a severe famine. He was penniless now, and had no food. The only thing he could do was hire himself out to work for someone else. Now, since he had traveled into a far country to a place where people are raising swine, my hunch is that the guy he’s working for is a Gentile! This Jew finds himself working for a Gentile, raising pigs. He wanted his freedom, and he finds himself enslaved. The word literally means “joined, or glued.” The younger brother, glued himself to this Gentile pig-farmer. Wanting freedom, he now finds himself in bondage. And what’s more, he is now in the lowest degraded position a Jewish man could find himself. Pigs were outlawed in Israel as a source of food, and this guy is feeding them! He wants to eat what they’re eating, but he can’t. He is famished. Penniless – Enslaved – Degraded – Famished. Those are the effects of his alienation from his father. This shows us just how devastating a course of sin will take us. You think I’m exaggerating? Just ask the guy on skid row. Ask the drunkard in the street. They would tell you, I haven’t told you the half of sin’s power to destroy!
The power of sin in a person’s life is kind of like the guy who gets his first credit card. He is ecstatic. Free money! He goes on an expensive vacation to Europe, and stays in the finest hotels, and eats at the most expensive restaurants. Everything’s great until the bill shows up in his mail one day. And then he’s got to pay the piper! Sin starts out being great fun. It ends up like the sting of a scorpion.
The Elder Brother
Here, we find a contrast in how each one’s alienation effected them. Let’s notice the case of the elder brother.
Anger. When the elder brother came toward the house he heard the music and dancing and so he asked one of the servants what was going on. When the servant told him that the younger brother had come home and his father was throwing a party, the elder brother became angry. Mark it down. Whenever you find someone who is angry at God because He has blessed someone who has not obeyed Him nearly as much as him, you have found an elder brother! Have you ever been angry with God because someone else was prospering, and being blessed? Maybe you have been stricken with a serious illness, and God heals this brand new convert who has just come off of a life of drugs. You’ve have served God faithfully for years, and he’s lived in sin his whole life. And that makes you mad. You feel it’s not fair. My friend, you are exhibiting the spirit of the elder brother. Watch out!
Resentment. Furthermore, verse 28 says “he was unwilling to go in.” Why would he be unwilling to go into the house? If I may be allowed to read between the lines, I believe it was because he was resentful toward his father and his brother. Here he had worked so hard for his father, and this no account brother had come home and gotten a party! There was no way he was going to go in there and celebrate! If you find yourself being resentful toward God or others when they are blessed, watch out! That is the spirit of the elder brother.
Disrespect. Verse 29 says, “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look!” The equivalent is “Look you!” Now, in a culture in which deference and respect to elders was all-important, this was outrageous! We need to be very careful if we are starting to feel angry and resentful toward God, because it can easily lead to irreverence and disrespect.
Blindness. This effect of his alienation comes out strongly in verse 29, “For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours.” For so many long and weary years I have been slaving for you! Who does he see his father to be? A master. A hard task-master! He said that he had never neglected one of his commands. Who does he see his father to be? A command-giver. A dictator. A commander! And he believed this in spite of the fact that his father was pleading with him, not commanding him (28). This elder brother saw his father as one requiring hard service and strict obedience to his commands. He didn’t see his father as loving; only as requiring exacting obedience. This elder brother was blind to his father’s heart! He didn’t even know his father. He had a twisted and distorted view of his father. My friends, that is what alienation to God will do to you. You will find yourself embracing a false view of God. You will see Him only as the servant in the parable of the talents who said, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed” (Mt.25:24). There are so many twisted and distorted views of God. It must grieve God’s heart that people have been blinded to His true character.
This elder brother was also blinded to his own sin. He said that he had never neglected a command of his father’s, but right then he was neglecting a command! True, the father did not issue his will in the form of a command, but this elder brother knew the father’s desire, and would not comply with it. He was blinded not only to the true heart of his father, but to the sinful condition of his own heart.
Contempt. Notice how the elder brother refers to his younger brother in verse 30, “but when this son of yours came.” He won’t even refer to him as his own brother. The father turns it around in verse 32 and says, “for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.” The father won’t let the elder brother off the hook. This is his brother. However, the elder brother views the younger brother with pure contempt. In verse 30 he says he “has devoured your wealth with prostitutes.” Now, there is no way he could know that. He is believing the worst of him. This elder brother is looking down his nose at his younger brother, and viewing him with utter disdain and contempt. He feels superior to him, and judges him as unworthy to ever be allowed back into the family. Furthermore, he feels his father is a fool to throw a party for him, and is unjust not to have done the same for him many times over. A proud, superior spirit is one of the attributes of an elder brother. If you feel superior to others, look down on them, and judge them, that’s a sign that you have imbibed the spirit of the elder brother.
Anger, resentment, disrespect, blindness, and contempt. These are the effects of the elder brother’s alienation from God. Truly, these are the effects of the scribes and Pharisees’ alienation from God!
3. The Remedy for Their Alienation
The Younger Brother
This young man was in a miserable and desperate situation, starving out in this far country, without a friend in the world, feeding pigs. What must he do? The simple answer is repent! That’s exactly what we see him doing in the story.
Repentance basically involves three things: a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of will. We see this younger brother do all three.
A Change of Mind. In verse 17 it says, “but when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!” What’s going on? He is having a change of mind! At first, this younger brother viewed the far country as life! This was freedom from all constraints! This was fun. This was pleasure. Now he’s changed his mind. This is not freedom, fun and pleasure. This is enslavement, suffering, and misery! He realizes that back home is where real life is. Back home is where joy and life and freedom exists. That’s where everybody’s got enough food. Notice also that he came to his senses. It was as if he was in a daze. He wakes up from a deep sleep. He was out of his right mind. He wasn’t thinking correctly. Sin has that effect on people. They are out of their right mind, and they don’t even know it. It’s not until they are converted that they realize that their thinking was all messed up.
A Change of Heart. Notice verses 18-19, “I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” Notice the spirit of this broken man. He has been humbled. He is broken. He is making a frank and honest confession of sin. He’s not making an excuses, or blaming others. He’s not saying, “Well, if my father hadn’t have given me all that money when he knew I wasn’t mature enough to handle it.” or “If I didn’t have to live in the shadow of my over-achieving brother, this would never have happened.” No, he took responsibility for his actions, and confessed his sin as sin. He’s a broken and contrite man. He won’t come home on the basis of merit. He knows he has sinned away any right to sonship. He says “I am not worthy!” He just asks if he can come home on the least status – the hired servant.
A Change of Will. Now, notice verse 20, “So he got up and came to his father.” He acted on his newfound perspective and attitude. He did something about it. A lot of people under great emotion say they will, but they never do. This man made a decision. No man is ever saved who doesn’t choose to follow Jesus. A decision is involved. Just as he made a decision to journey away from his father, so he had to make a decision to make a journey back home. Many people say that repentance is merely a change of mind. It is that, but it is more than that. It is a change of mind, heart, and will. If your repentance doesn’t end up with you making a decision to do something differently, there’s something lacking in your repentance. True repentance will issue in a change in your life.
Now, what was the result? He got a lavish welcome from his father far beyond what he ever dreamed!
His Father saw him. While he was a long way off. That tells us that his father was looking for him. His heart was broken, and could not be mended until his son came back home. Every day the father would look down that dirt road, hoping to see the familiar sight of his son trudging back home.
His Father Felt Compassion for him. Oh, we have been seeing this over and over. God pities the broken and contrite sinner. God feels something when He sees him in his misery. “As a father has compassion on his son, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear Him.”
His Father Ran to him. Don’t miss this seemly incidental detail. The fact is, that in that culture, middle-aged Jewish men, who were heads of households didn’t run. Boys might run. Young women might run. But distinguished, wealthy landowners didn’t run. But this father ran! Don’t you see, that Jesus is trying to help us see the heart of God? At the first flicker of movement toward God, He is running toward the sinner with arms open wide.
His Father Embraced him. The father fell on the neck of this young man, and hugged him and kissed him over and over.
His Father Gave Him the Tokens of Sonship. He was given the best robe, sandals, and a ring. All of these were tokens that the son was accepted back into the family fully as a son. The younger brother just wanted to be accepted as a servant. The father will hear none of it. He won’t even let him finish his little prepared speech. He cuts him off in the middle and says, “Nonsense!”
His Father Gave Him a Party! Now Jews in that culture ate meat sparingly. It was too expensive to eat every day, especially beef. This was reserved for special events, like the religious festivals of Israel. However, this was a special day in the eyes of the father. This was a time for celebrating and rejoicing. Do you see the theme of joy being weaved throughout this entire chapter? “Rejoice with Me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.” “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.” “They began to celebrate.” That is God’s heart toward lost younger brothers who come home, who repent.
The Elder Brother
The elder brother, no less than the younger brother, needs to repent as well.
A Change of Mind. The elder brother needs to change his mind in many different ways. He needs to acknowledge that he is no better than his younger brother. He needs to admit that he is alienated from his father. He needs to admit that he is proud, and condescending, and self-righteous. He needs to acknowledge that he is just as messed up and broken as his younger brother.
A Change of Heart. Not only does this elder brother need to change his mind, but he needs a change of heart. He needs to be broken over the fact that he wanted his father’s stuff, but not his father. He needs to be broken over his self-righteousness and pride. He needs to be broken over his anger and resentment at his younger brother. He needs a new heart that will love his father and his brother.
A Change of Will. In our story, what does the elder brother need to do? He needs to come back with his father into the house to celebrate the fact that his younger brother had come home! What did these scribes and Pharisees need to do? The very same. They needed a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of will. They needed to see their sin in its true light, and they needed to see God’s heart in its true light. They needed to start rejoicing and celebrating that sinners and tax collectors were coming home to God, instead of grumbling about it.
Conclusion
1) This Story Illustrates Conversion from Man’s Perspective. In the first two stories about the lost sheep and the lost coin, the total inability of the lost thing is emphasized. The sheep can’t find his way back to the fold on his own. The coin is never going to jump back into the pocket or the purse. Someone else must go to the sheep and the coin, find them, and bring them back to that place of safety and usefulness. However, the third story of the two lost sons seems different. In this story, it appears that the younger brother comes home simply because he made a decision. His free will made all the difference. He finally wised up, and made the right choice. So, is Jesus contradicting Himself here? No, the first two stories illustrate conversion from God’s perspective. They show a seeking Savior going, finding, and bringing the lost sinner back to the fold. In this story Jesus is illustrating conversion from man’s perspective. We don’t see God seeking anyone. All we see is someone repent, and turn back to God. However, even though we don’t see it happening, it is still happening! How do I know? Look at verse 24, “for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” Now, let me ask you, “who found him?” There was nobody in that story that went after the lost son, found him and brought him home. True, but the Spirit of God was doing that work, though imperceptible to human eyes. The Spirit so worked in this lost son that he “came to his senses.” He saw everything through new eyes. He realized that he had it far better back home with his father, than away out here in this far country. It was the Spirit that quickened him and brought him from death to life. It was the Spirit that found him and brought him home. The conversion of a sinner is always a work of sovereign grace. To God be the glory, great things He has done!
2) This Story reveals the evil of seeking our own profit, rather than God Himself. All of us are prone to this. Some of us pursue our own happiness through debauchery, and plunging into sin. We have gone the way of alcohol, drugs, and sex. Others of us have pursued our happiness through morality. We have thought that if we were just good, then we would have a blessed and happy life. But do you see the error in both approaches? Both approaches exclude God! Both approaches are self-seeking. Their only interest is in finding happiness for self, and in the process they block God out of their lives. I want to point you to a different path. The main passion of your life needs to be the pursuit of God, not self. However, a very interesting thing takes place when we change direction. When we stop pursuing our own happiness, and start pursuing God, we discover that we have found happiness! When the younger brother left the far country and pursued his father, what happened? Did his life become more miserable? No, he was welcomed as a long lost prince! If that elder brother had repented, and come into the house with his father to celebrate, would he have been miserable? No, he would have found his own joy and happiness as well. My friends, pursue God with a holy abandon, and you will find that you will experience a greater sense of inner satisfaction and well-being than you could ever have if you had given yourself over to a life of sin, or to a life of morality without God.
3) This Story reveals the error of seeking acceptance with God on the basis of merit. The elder brother felt he had a right to the father’s blessings. He had a right to a goat. He had a right to celebrate with his friends. After all, he had slaved for many long years for his father! He has gritted his teeth, he had paid his dues, he had done right, and now he’s got what’s coming to him. My friends, that kind of approach will never get you into God’s favor! The Pharisees completely misunderstood the purpose of the Law. They thought that the purpose of the Law was to show sinners that through obedience to it they could gain God’s favor. No, actually, the purpose of the Law was to show sinners they could never obey it, and drive them to Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Bible says that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom.10:4).
Let’s suppose that a man tells all the kids on his block that if they go home and do something good he will give them a ticket, and that those tickets will help them get into the circus that is coming next month. So, one little boy goes home and starts working like a dog to earn tickets. He does the dishes for his mom and takes out the trash, and helps with the laundry without being asked, and he starts amassing lots of tickets. However, he notices that the other kids aren’t working nearly as hard as him. Instead, they are just playing with the man’s son, riding bikes, and playing baseball. Now, the man didn’t tell the children how many tickets they needed to get in, so this little boy just keeps working like crazy. When the day of the circus comes, he’s got pockets full of tickets. If any of those children get in to the circus, it’s going to be him. When all of the children line up the man says, “All of you children who have made friends with my son can go in to the circus.” All of those kids went in to the circus, except the little boy who had worked so hard. He is fuming and fussing and angry as can be, so he takes all those tickets and throws them on the ground. But then he notices something written on the ticket, “Get to know my son – he’s the only way in.” Then he looks at all the rest of the tickets, and they all say the same thing. He had just never bothered to read the tickets. The tickets weren’t going to get him into the circus. They were just to point to the son, who was the real ticket who would get them into the circus. The law pointed to Jesus Christ. He is the ticket. The scribes and the Pharisees missed the whole intent of the Law. In their obsession with trying to keep the Law, they missed the Savior that the Law pointed to. Don’t make that mistake, my friends! Come to Jesus! Cling to Jesus! Pursue Jesus Christ with all your might!
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