“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ 3 Then Jesus told them this parable…” -Luke 15:1-3 (NIV)
One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Exodus 34:6-7, where God describes himself as compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness. All throughout the Bible we see those character traits on display as God patiently loves and guides his people, despite how frequently they falter in their faith.
In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells a parable that depicts God as a Father of two sons who both rebel against him, each in their own way. Although this parable is typically called The Parable of the Prodigal Son (singular), both of the brothers end up alienated from their father and in need of his reconciling grace. What I love about this parable is the way it exemplifies the character traits God mentions in Exodus by showing a father’s love and care for two sons who sin against him in vastly different ways.
Grace for the Younger Son
You’re probably familiar with the details of the story. A man’s youngest son comes to him and demands his portion of the inheritance early — before his father has actually died. The implied message behind this request is “I wish you were dead—so just give me my stuff already!”
In an honor-shame culture like first-century Israel, that kind of request would have been unthinkable. Most people hearing Jesus’ story would have expected the father to come down hard on his son in order to restore his own honor. After all, if you are a father, letting your son disrespect you like that would cause irreparable harm to your reputation in the community.
So Jesus’ audience must have been shocked to find out that the father granted his son’s unbelievably offensive request. The father would have begun liquidating his assets (farmland, flocks, etc.) so he could give his younger son his portion of the estate.
After that, the son takes the money and runs — literally. He squanders all of his father’s wealth in a faraway land and eventually ends up destitute, alone, and afraid. He knows that he is barreling toward an early death, and his only hope of being saved is returning home to his father’s house. Not as a son, he knows, but as a servant.
So he picks up and begins the long journey home.
On the day of his arrival, his father spots him while he is still a considerable distance away from home. Jesus tells us that the father’s heart is filled with compassion—the first thing God says about himself in Exodus 34:6. Evidently the father has been waiting for his return—hoping to one day see his son again. The younger son begins his prepared speech about not longer being worthy to be called a son, but he’s quickly interrupted by the father.
Bring my robe and put it on him!
Bring the family ring and place it on his finger!
Get my son some proper sandals!
And invite the entire village over for a celebration feast!
The younger son was days away from death due to the consequences of his own sinful choices, but he came home and found grace in his father’s house. Jesus’ point is clear: no matter what you’ve done, you can always come home to the father, because God really is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness.
Grace for the Older Brother
But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus began this parable by telling us that a man had two sons. The older one didn’t rebel against his father, didn’t demand an early inheritance, and didn’t undermine his honor or authority within the community. On the surface, the older brother did everything right.
And yet he too was alienated from his father, just for a different reason.
The older brother refused to go inside and join the celebration over his younger brother’s return. He thought it was wrong—immoral even—to celebrate someone so rebellious and irresponsible. Perhaps he felt that his younger brother needed tough love and firm discipline, not a public celebration.
As a self-professed rule-follower, part of me agrees with the older brother!
Whatever his reasons, the older son refused to go inside. Ironically, the older brother is now dishonoring his father in the eyes of the community by openly rebelling against him, just like his younger brother had done. He is bitter than his rebellious brother is being rewarded with this celebration when he has never been rewarded for his lifetime of obedience.
And that reveals a rather unsettling truth: The older son didn’t seem to obey his father out of genuine love, but because he expected his obedience would be rewarded with honor and wealth.
So the father came to the older son and pleaded with him to change his mind. The father wants both of his sons to be reconciled to him (and reconciled to each other). He wants his whole family united under the same roof again, gathered around the same table, and enjoying the love and favor of their father. He’s willing to go and plead with his rebellious older son in order to bring the whole family together again.
So what did the older brother decide to do next?
Jesus doesn’t actually tell us. He leaves us with a cliffhanger, and we’ll never actually know how the story ends. But that’s by design. There’s actually a really good reason why Jesus left the story unfinished: He was going to let his audience determine how the story ends by what they decided to do next in real life.
At this point, the parable ceased being a hypothetical story about a father and two sons, and it crossed over into the realm of real-life. The people Jesus was talking to that day were going to determine how the real story of God the Father and his two sons ends.
A Parable for Everyone
Jesus was preaching to two different groups of people that day (see Luke 15:1-3 at the top of this post). On the one hand, groups of sinners and tax collectors were regularly gathering around Jesus to hear him speak. On the other hand, the religious leaders like the Pharisees and teachers of the Law liked to listen to Jesus so they could pick apart his teaching and find a reason to condemn him.
The younger son in the parable represents the “obvious sinners” who were coming to Jesus, leaving their life of sin, and finding grace in the father’s house.
The older brother represents those religious leaders who were indignant that Jesus was willing to spend time with people who had such immoral, sinful pasts.
Jesus told them this parable to illustrate how everyone can come home and find grace in the father’s house. When sinners come home to find grace in the father’s house, people who stayed by the father’s side can choose to share in his joy at the return of the lost son, or they can stand outside the house and end up alienated from their father.
Basically Jesus was warning these religious leaders that you can be close to the father’s house without being close to the father’s heart.
So Jesus was going to let these Pharisees live out the ending of the parable. Would they join with Jesus in seeking and saving the lost? Or would they stand outside the father’s house in indignation at the fact that sinners were finding salvation through the ministry of Jesus?
Ultimately, both the younger and the older brothers were became separated from their father. They both needed his grace. And there’s room for both of them in the father’s house, around the father’s table.
And now we get to live out the ending to the parable.
Will we join with Jesus in welcoming sinners and seeking the lost?
Or will we sit in silent indignation at the thought of God giving his grace to people we’ve condemned?
Listen to the Sermon
This post is based on the sermon I preached at Southwest Church of Christ. If you’d like to watch the service from that day, you can use this link below: