This morning's text is Luke chapter 15, verses 11 through 32.
So please join us there as we turn our attention to the study of God's word, Luke chapter 15.
Now this is most likely a familiar text to you.
If you've been following along with our church's Bible reading plan, it was part of Tuesday's reading.
I hope this morning you'll be enriched by a further study of it.
Now there is a lot to be said about these verses.
I have more notes than usual, so I'm going to move pretty quickly this morning,
and I'll structure our study around the three characters.
So we'll first look at the younger son, then at the father, and finally at the older son.
I'm going to present a number of points for each of these characters,
and we'll do my best to do so in a way that you can keep up with.
But if you do have a pen in your hand and are trying to take notes,
I just want to go ahead and prep you.
Stretch your fingers a little bit.
Get ready to move fast.
So let's read our text, but for a bit of context,
I want to begin the reading at the beginning of chapter 15.
So this is Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse 1.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him,
and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying,
This man receives sinners and eats with them.
So he told them this parable.
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them,
does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
But when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them,
Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.
Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin,
does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.
Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
And he said,
There was a man who had two sons.
And the younger of them said to his father,
Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.
And he divided his property between them.
Not many days later, the younger son gathered all that he had and took a journey into a far country.
And there he squandered his property in reckless living.
And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country.
And he began to be in need.
So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country,
who sent him into his field to feed pigs.
And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate.
And no one gave him anything.
But when he came to himself, he said,
How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger.
I will arise and go to my father.
And I will say to him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Treat me as one of your hired servants.
And he arose and came to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
And the son said to him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
But the father said to his servants,
Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate.
For this my son was dead and is alive again.
He was lost and is found.
And they began to celebrate.
Now his older son was in the field.
And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
And he said to him,
Your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.
But he was angry and refused to go in.
His father came out and entreated him.
But he answered his father,
Look, these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command.
Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.
But when this son of yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.
And he said to him,
Son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours.
It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this brother was dead and is alive.
He was lost and is found.
The contemporary pastor and commentator John MacArthur has called the story of the prodigal son,
the greatest short story ever told.
This story has been often cited and exists in the collective conscience of our culture,
but is most often misunderstood.
I pray this morning we will arrive at a clearer understanding of its meaning.
The story is primarily told by Jesus in order to address the attitudes of the religious elite,
who Luke tells us about at the beginning of chapter 15, verse 2,
and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying,
This man receives sinners and eats with them.
So as Jesus is being compassionate for those who would come to him in repentance,
they're upset about it.
So in response, Luke tells us Jesus, verse 3, told them this parable.
And then Luke records the parable of the lost sheep.
And then verse 8, or what woman?
And then tells the parable of the lost coin.
And then, without skipping a beat, verse 11,
There's always a great temptation to allegorize Jesus' parables,
to make everything in the text take on some complex symbolic meaning.
People do this all the time.
But we must be really careful to see here that Jesus is driving a solitary point.
He is juxtaposing the attitudes of the Pharisees and the scribes
with the rejoicing of heaven over lost souls being found.
We need to keep this in mind as we consider the story of the prodigal son.
It sits within a chapter of parables with an even larger cultural reality.
And we need to do some faithful work to understand its meaning and bearing on us today.
I want to pose the question at the outset,
In what ways are we like the older son?
Once we identify any way that we are like the older son,
we have been given reason.
For repentance.
And I pray that we'll do so this morning.
But first, let's look at the character of the younger son.
So first, the younger son.
The younger son is the prodigal himself.
All of us, in some measure, find ourselves in him.
The word prodigal means licentious or lavish,
or as the ESV says in the text in verse 13, reckless.
The prodigal son is prodigal in his sin, in his rebellion against his father.
Now, there are various stages in the history of a sinner.
This is true of the prodigal and are worth noting for our benefit.
This is especially important for you this morning if you have not believed in Jesus Christ.
But if you have believed, do not think that a careful consideration of who you once were is a fruitless effort.
This could be of great benefit to us.
It's always good to remember the grace of God to us in Jesus Christ.
To be reminded of what we were saved from makes us revel,
and I think it should make us revel afresh each time,
in who we have been saved to.
So, some sub points for you for the son.
Number one, independence from God.
Number two, indulgence of self.
Number three, insanity of soul.
And for those of us who are in Christ, right,
this journey ends, number four, with repentance and faith.
So, first, let's look at the younger son's independence from God,
this history of sin, right?
Verse 12 says,
The younger said to his father,
Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.
And the father divides the property among them.
We first learn of a man with two sons.
Inheritance in Jesus' day was governed by the law of primogenitor.
I think I'm pronouncing that correctly.
Finally, the eldest son, under this law, received a double portion of the inheritance,
which means, in the case of two sons,
that the older son would receive two-thirds of the inheritance,
and the younger, one-third.
Upon the request of his inheritance,
the father not only grants the younger brother what he asked for,
but also the older.
Notice at the end of verse 12,
And he divided his property between them.
This fact bears a great deal of significance later on.
This morning, what we need to understand about the prodigal's request
is that it was absolutely audacious.
To ask this of a father was a huge ask.
Under the law of primogenitor,
inheritance was only granted upon the death of the father.
So the younger son, in requesting his inheritance,
was wishing his father dead.
This is the nature of sin.
This is the way that sin expresses, right?
A rejection of God's good, loving rule.
We are saying to God,
We wish you were dead.
Pastor John Piper wants to find sin like this.
You may have heard this before.
It's greater when he says it,
but he defined it this way.
The glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverence.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought.
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The promises of God not believed.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The person of God not loved.
We can observe the prodigal's expression of sin
in the very first sin found in Genesis chapter 3
and in every sin ever since.
Sin expresses a desire for God to be dead.
We once sought independence from God
just as the prodigal son desired independence
from his father.
And this should be an absolute shock to us.
The fact that this son would ask that his father be dead
that he would get his inheritance should shock us.
In a culture where honor was massively important
and the fifth commandment, honor your father and mother
was not only part of the moral law
but also the judicial,
this request was more than just a little scandalous
for Jesus' hearers.
Let me read to you quickly from Deuteronomy chapter 21.
This is the judicial part of the fifth commandment.
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son
who will not obey the voice of his father
or the voice of his mother
and though they discipline him,
will not listen to them,
then his father and his mother shall take hold of him
and bring him out to the elders of his city
at the gate of the place where he lives.
And they shall say to the elders of this city,
this our son is stubborn and rebellious.
He will not obey our voice.
He is a glutton and a drunkard.
Then all the men of the city
shall stone him to death with stones.
So you shall purge the evil from your midst
and all Israel shall hear and fear.
So they took this kind of rejection of fatherly care
very seriously.
Insolence was a serious infraction.
And while the instruction of Deuteronomy chapter 21
was very rarely followed,
a son like the prodigal
would be publicly shamed and disowned.
The father may not have gone so far
as to stone his son,
but he would have publicly shamed him
and disowned him.
Here, however, the father divides his property
between his sons.
Now we've done this very thing
in our willful rebellion against God's good instruction,
whether found in the pages of scripture
or in the law written on our hearts,
we have all rebelled against God
and wished him dead.
We have all sought independence
from our good father.
We have all wanted ourselves
to be gods
and we all deserve to be shamed.
Secondly, for the son,
the younger son,
indulgence of self.
So verse 13 says,
not many days later,
the younger son gathered all he had
and took a journey into a far country
and there he squandered his property
in reckless living.
And so the son leaves,
which appears to have been his plan,
as Jesus states,
not many days later.
The son would have liquidated his inheritance
into transportable cash.
So he sold off land.
He sold off livestock.
Recall that Jesus is speaking
to a Jewish audience.
So the statement that the son took a journey
into a far country
would have been understood
to be a journey to Gentile lands.
To Jesus' listeners,
there's a compounding audacity of the son
going to live among unclean people
to carry out unclean motives.
In their minds,
this son is not a forgivable son.
He is doing something above and beyond
offensive to his father.
He takes the inheritance
that the father granted him
and he spends it on himself.
He spends it on his desires.
He does not seek to do good,
but rather indulges his every whim.
He spends it in reckless living.
The sinner indulges in self.
The sinner seeks their own pleasure,
not the glory of God
or the good of their fellow man.
And beloved,
we have all been selfish in this way.
Paul writes to Titus
in Titus chapter three and verse three,
for we ourselves were once foolish,
disobedient,
led astray,
slaves to various passions and pleasures,
passing our days in malice and envy,
hated by others
and hating one another.
The next stage in this history of sin
in the younger son's life
is number three,
insanity of soul.
We see beginning in verse 14
and down through 16
that after he'd spent everything,
spent all of his inheritance,
a famine arose
and he's in need.
So he hires himself out
to be a keeper of pigs
and he has nothing to eat.
He longs to eat the food
that the pigs are eating.
Jesus next tells his hearers
that the young man spent
all of his inheritance
and found himself
in a desperate spot
as the land entered
into a famine, right?
The pleasures of sin are real,
but they are temporal
and they are fleeting.
The prodigal experienced
the temporal pleasure of sin
in a very stark way.
He ventures rapidly
from reckless living
to abject poverty.
His sin placed him
in a dreadful spot.
If you have not believed in Christ,
I pray that you would repent
and believe
before you find yourself
in such a place.
The prodigal becomes
a keeper of pigs,
which would have been
additionally shocking
to Jesus' Jewish hearers
as the pig was an unclean animal.
The prodigal is further
forsaking his father
and his nationality
and he has become
so desperately hungry
that he desires
to eat something
that can never satisfy.
Jesus said he was longing
to be fed with the pods
that the pigs ate.
These pods would have been
carob pods,
which was a hardy plant
that produced tough,
leathery pod shells
with hard beads.
They're barely digestible
for pigs
and they're not digestible
for humans,
although I've been informed
that they can be ground
into something
that kind of replaces
cocoa powder,
so sort of,
but I don't think
he had a food processor
on hand with him.
This is the way of sin.
Seeking to be satisfied
with that
which will never satisfy.
This is insanity
of the soul
and this is people
before they're regenerate,
before they find
their joy and satisfaction.
In Christ,
seeking satisfaction
with things
that will never satisfy.
We are offered
abundant satisfaction
in relationship
with God,
but we turned
to worthless things.
Jeremiah chapter 2,
verse 12 and 13,
Be appalled,
O heavens,
at this.
Be shocked,
be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord.
For my people
have committed
two evils.
They have forsaken me,
the fountain
of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns
for themselves,
broken cisterns
that can hold
no water.
Paul expresses the same
in Romans chapter 1,
verse 21 and 22.
For although they knew God,
they did not honor him
as God or give thanks
to him,
but they became futile
in their thinking
and their foolish hearts
were darkened.
Claiming to be wise,
they became fools.
Christian,
you have been delivered
from such utility
by the grace of God.
Rejoice in him
and remember
you have been delivered
and spared from.
If you have not placed
believing faith
in Jesus Christ
this morning,
take a moment
to consider the prodigal
and his desperate state.
He surely would have died
had he stayed
in that state.
Jesus concludes
this portion of the text
with a statement
and no one gave him anything.
He had left the goodness
of his father's house
to find himself
desperately lost
in a foreign land.
If you were not
in Christ this morning,
whether you recognize it
or not,
you find yourself
in the very same state.
Charles Spurgeon
once said,
if you must play the fool,
take some lighter things
to trifle with
than your souls
and your eternal destinies.
Shut yourselves up
alone for a while.
Go through the matter
steadily.
Lay it out in order.
Make a plan of it.
See where you are going.
Think over the way
of salvation,
the story of the cross,
the love of God,
the readiness,
of Christ to save.
So fourthly,
for the younger son,
we see repentance
and faith.
Verse 17
and following,
but when he came
to himself,
he said,
how many of my father's
hired servants
have more than enough bread,
but I perish here
with hunger.
I will arise
and go to my father
and I will say to him,
father,
I have sinned against heaven
and before you.
I am no longer worthy
to be called your son.
Treat me as one
of your hired servants.
Praise God
that the prodigal
of Jesus' story
does not stay
in this desperate state,
but Jesus says
he came to himself,
that he returned
to his right mind.
He recognized
the goodness
of his father.
He remembered
that even his father's
hired servants
had more than enough bread
and that he was
being foolish
to stay where he was
and perish
with hunger.
So he makes a plan.
He decides to go back
to his father,
humbly admitting
the error of his way,
saying,
I have sinned
against heaven
and before you
and being willing
to live once again
under his father
good instruction,
not as a son
this time,
but as a servant.
The prodigal
turns from his wickedness,
the foolish error
of his way.
This is called
repentance
and he turns
to his father,
believing that his father
will be good to him.
This is the prodigal's
faith.
We will see next
the loving kindness
of the father
toward the son
as he repents
and believes.
We will see that
as the son returns
in repentance and faith,
the father becomes
humble himself
in order to love his son
and to spare him
from his deserved punishment.
The father takes
on the son's shame
to restore him
to sonship
and there is
much rejoicing.
Dear listener,
if you have not
humbled yourself
before God,
recognize that you
have sought
independence from him,
that you have lived
in a state
of indulgence
of self,
that if you are
not already there,
you are at risk
of an insanity
of your soul.
My plea to you
this morning is
flee to Christ.
Let this day
be a day
of repentance
and faith,
that there will be
a great rejoicing
in heaven
over the salvation
of your soul.
So let's look now
at the father.
The sub points
for the father
are as follows.
First,
the compassion
of the father.
Second,
the son interrupted
and restored.
You could say
the interruption
of the father.
And third,
the celebration
of the father
and his servants.
So first,
the compassion
of the father.
The beginning
of verse 20 says,
and he arose,
the younger son,
arose and came
to his father.
But while he was
still a long way off,
his father saw him
and felt compassion
and ran
and embraced
and kissed him.
A father
with this kind
of wealth
would have had
both a home
in the country
and a home
in town.
Right?
Most likely,
the home in the country
would have been
the larger home
and the place
where they stayed
more often,
but would have
come into town
to deal with
matters of business
or attend a celebration
or would have
had a home there
also to stay in.
But here we find
the father
in the townhome.
He is expectant
and he is watching.
He is eagerly awaiting
the return of his son.
And when he sees him
from a long way off,
Jesus tells us
that he felt
compassion for him.
Customarily,
a son such as this
would have returned
and been forced
to sit outside
of the gate
to his father's house
and endure
the ridicule
of the town.
But Jesus says
that the father
felt compassion.
The Greek word
used in the original text
is stronger
than just a momentary
feeling of affection,
but speaks
of a deep love,
a visceral,
a guttural love.
This is a father
who would have done
anything
for this son.
Psalm 103,
verse 13
speaks of our
heavenly father
as a father
shows compassion
to his children.
So the Lord
chose compassion
to those
who fear him.
And this father
in the parable
upon seeing him
and feeling compassion
runs to him.
Men of wealth
in this day
did not run.
Boys ran
to play.
Servants ran
because they were
told to.
Men of wealth
had people
who ran
for them.
In order for the father
to run,
he would have
had to
pull his robe
up to his knees,
gird up his loins
is a phrase
you may have
heard before.
And this was not
a dignified thing
for the father
to do.
So just imagine,
right,
again,
a parable,
but in this setting,
this wealthy man
in his town home
and the city
is seeing
what's going on,
right?
They're seeing
the son
coming from
a long way off.
They're anticipating
that this father
is going to shame
this son,
right,
who rejected him
as the father.
And what they see
instead,
right,
is a man
who shames himself,
right,
picks up his robe
to race
outside of the town
and to meet
the son.
Like the father
of Jesus' parable,
God humbled himself,
became a man,
and suffered
and died
in our stead.
Hebrews 12,
2 states
that Jesus
endured the cross,
despising
the shame.
In Philippians 2,
verse 6
and following,
says Jesus,
who though he was
in the form of God,
did not count
equality with God
a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself
by taking the form
of a servant,
being born in the likeness
of men
and being found
in human form,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient
to the point of death,
even death
on a cross.
And so,
I do believe
that we are meant
to see
the kindness
of the father
in the person
and work
of Jesus Christ.
So,
the parable,
certainly the father
could be considered
God the father,
but how did he accomplish
his humility?
Well,
through Jesus.
So,
I think Jesus
is the father
in the text,
showing this love
and compassion
for a wayward son.
So,
he runs to him
and then he embraces him
and he kisses him.
He fell on his neck
and kissed him
repeatedly.
John MacArthur
says of this
phrase,
the prodigal
came home
prepared to kiss
his father's feet.
Instead,
the father
was kissing
the prodigal's
pig-stinking head.
What a picture
of compassion,
loving kindness
towards this son.
But the father's
compassion
did not stop there.
We see,
secondly,
the son
interrupted
and restored.
And the son
said to him,
Father,
I have sinned
against heaven
and before you.
I am no longer
worthy to be called
your son.
And that's where
his speech stops.
And this is a variance
on his planned speech.
If you look at the
end of verse 18,
he says,
Father,
I have sinned
against heaven
and before you.
I am no longer
worthy to be called
your son.
And then he says,
treat me as one
of your hired servants.
So,
he's interrupted,
right?
He has rehearsed
this speech.
He has likely
said this over
and over
in his head
as he has
journeyed home.
And he doesn't
get the last
sentence out
because the father
interrupts him
and says to his
servants,
bring quickly
the best robe
and put it on him
and put a ring
on his hand
and shoes
on his feet.
Now,
the best robe
was an extremely
significant article
of clothing.
Every wealthy man
would own
an ornate robe
made of the
finest fabric
that were reserved
for the most
special of events.
This was a robe
that the owner
wouldn't wear
to another child's
wedding.
So,
it wasn't even,
the other child's
wedding wasn't
worthy of it,
but only to the
weddings of their
own children.
It was reserved
for very,
very special
instances.
Giving him
this robe
granted him
more honor
than was ever
normally bestowed
upon a son.
The son didn't
get to wear
the robe,
it was the
father's
to wear
and only
in very
special
circumstances.
So,
this was a
massive way
for this
father to
say,
this is
my son,
to bring him
back into
town,
right,
under
everybody's
watch and
saying,
I'm taking
my very
best robe
and I'm
giving it
to him.
2 Corinthians
chapter 5
verse 21,
Paul writes,
for our sake
he made him
to be sin
who knew
no sin
so that
in him
we might
become
the
righteousness
of God.
Way more
honor
than we
deserve.
And he
gives a
ring to him
and this
ring would
have been
a
senient
ring
which had
been
carried
by the
family
crest
or seal
so that
it could
be pressed
into wax
on formal
letters
or documents
as verification
of legal
authority.
So in
placing a
ring on
the finger
of a son,
the father
is not
only showing
the son
has restored
honor,
but also
restored
authority.
2 Corinthians
chapter 5
verse 20
the first
path.
Therefore
we are
ambassadors
for Christ
God making
his appeal
through us.
Restored
honor,
restored
authority.
And he
puts shoes
on his
feet.
Hired
servants
and household
slaves
customarily
went
barefoot.
Masters
and their
sons
wore shoes.
So to
have shoes
placed on
the son's
feet was
yet
another
gesture
of
restoration
towards
this
son.
1 John
chapter 3
beginning
of
verse 1
see what
kind of
love the
father has
given to
or lavished
on us
that we
should be
called
children
of God
and so
we are.
Jesus
tells us
even more
about the
father's
compassion.
Third
point,
the celebration
of the
father and
his servants.
He asked
the servants
to bring
the fattened
calf and
kill it.
This is
verse 23.
And let
us eat
and celebrate
for this
my son
was dead
and is
alive again.
He was
lost and
is found
and they
began
to celebrate.
To slaughter
the fattened
calf was
a big
deal.
It is
likely a
calf such
as this
one that
would have
been set
aside in
preparation
for the
wedding feast
of the
eldest son
reserved for
a special
occasion.
For this
my son
was dead
and is
alive again.
he was
lost and
is found.
There's
the special
occasion.
There's
the wonderful
reason for
rejoicing.
The son
was dead
and now
is alive.
He was
lost and
now is
found.
And if
you think
back into
chapter 15,
the beginning
of it,
what man of
you having
a hundred
sheep,
if he has
lost one
of them,
does not
leave the
ninety-nine
in the
open country
and go
after the
one that
is lost
until he
finds it?
Or what
woman having
ten silver
coins,
if she loses
one coin,
does not
light a
lamp and
sweep the
house and
seek diligently
until she
finds it?
And then
there's this
rejoicing,
right?
Verse five,
when he has
found it,
he lays it
on his
shoulders,
rejoicing.
When he
comes home,
he calls
together his
friends and
his neighbors,
saying to
them,
rejoice with
me,
for I have
found my
sheep that
was lost.
Just so I
tell you,
there will be
more joy in
heaven over
one sinner
who repents
than over
ninety-nine
righteous
persons who
need no
repentance.
And verse
nine,
when she
found it,
she calls
together her
friends and
neighbors,
saying,
rejoice with
me,
for I
found the
coin that
I had
lost.
Just so I
tell you,
there's joy
before the
angels of
God over
one sinner
who repents.
The rejoicing
in heaven is
and will be
great over
the salvation
of souls,
because it
displays the
goodness of
God the
Father.
It is this
goodness that
Jesus speaks
of as he
tells his
parables,
that his
hearers would
see the
compassion of
the Father,
the Son
interrupted and
restored in
the celebration
of the Father
and his
servants,
and be given
much reason to
join in the
rejoicing of
heaven.
Now, as Jesus
is about to
drive home the
point, the
whole point of
this parable,
recall that for
us this story is
so endearing,
right?
Up to this point,
we love to
consider a
wayward son
returning home
and being
embraced by
his Father,
but the
Pharisees and
the scribes
would have been
astonished that
the Father would
have treated
such a
disrespectful son
in this manner,
right?
They are still
angry at the
son, right?
We're so glad
for the
restoration and
the celebration.
They're indignant
at this point.
The younger son
in asking for his
inheritance was
wishing the
father dead,
and the Pharisees
and the scribes
could not fathom a
father that would
love his son in
this way, right?
At this point,
they would have
been furious,
right?
The scribes and
the Pharisees are
represented by the
older brother in
the story,
right?
They are having
the emotions,
as Jesus tells
us to his
original hearers,
that the brother
is about to
express in the
story.
They see Jesus
with tax collectors
and sinners
drawing near to
him, and they
as self-righteous
religious elites
want to preserve
their status as
such.
They would never
want the reputations
of those drawing
near to Jesus to
solely their
reputations, and
they, as we will
see, want nothing
to do with a
God that would
love the younger
brothers of the
world.
May we not be
those people.
So let's look at
the older son.
Sub points for the
older son.
I know this is a
lot.
I hope it will
serve you.
The failing love
of the eldest son
for his father,
the failing love
of the oldest son
for his younger
brother, and the
unfailing love of
the father for his
oldest son.
verse 28.
He was angry and
refused to go in.
His father came
out and entreated
with him, but he
answered his father,
look, these many
years I have served
you, and I never
disobeyed your
command, yet you
never gave me a
young goat that I
might celebrate with
my friends.
The oldest son is
furious, and he is
furious with the
father.
He stands outside
fuming.
Why?
Because his
perceived rights
have been trampled
upon.
Because he didn't
run about seeking
his pleasure like his
younger brother, but
stayed and shouldered
more than his fair
share of the work on
his father's estate.
He wants justice, not
mercy.
He wants his younger
brother to get what is
coming to him.
He wants him punished,
not celebrated.
And so he begins to
grumble.
Right?
Look, these many years
I have served.
I have never
disobeyed your
command.
Is it true that the
oldest son was never
disobedient?
Of course not.
No one is ever
perfectly obedient, but
his perception is that
he has been perfectly
obedient.
He is self-righteous.
He believes that he
has been perfectly
good, or at least
good enough to earn
his father's favor.
This was the state of
the Pharisees and the
scribes.
Luke chapter 5,
verse 30 through 32.
And the Pharisees and
their scribes grumbled
at his disciples,
saying,
Why do you eat and
drink with tax
collectors and sinners?
And Jesus answered
them,
Those who are well
have no need of a
physician, but those
who are sick.
I have not come to
call the righteous,
but sinners,
to repentance.
Is Jesus suggesting
that the Pharisees and
the scribes are well?
Absolutely not.
He is addressing their
perception of
themselves.
He is saying,
You do not see that
you are sick, so
therefore you do not
see your need of a
physician.
In Matthew chapter 23,
verse 27 and
following, Jesus says,
Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you
are like whitewashed
tombs, which outwardly
appear beautiful, but
within are full of dead
people's bones and all
uncleanliness.
So you also outwardly
appear righteous to
others, but within are
full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness.
righteousness.
The Pharisees and the
scribes should have
seen themselves in the
older brother and been
broken by their self-righteous
indignation toward the
younger sons who were
gathering around Jesus.
They should have humbled
themselves and turned to
the one who is telling
them this very story.
They should have done so in
the spirit of Matthew 5,
3.
Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
Mankind's issue before God
has never been one of
outward activity, but
rather one of inward
affection.
God wants our affections to
be set on him, which
yields obedience, but that
obedience is ultimately for
God.
It is aimed at him to
please him and glorify him.
The older son is not
obedient in order to
please his father, but to
get what he can from him.
Look what he goes on to
say.
I have been so perfectly
obedient, yet you have
never given me a young
goat that I might celebrate
with my friends.
He is angry at the father's
celebration over the return
of his younger brother, not
because he has not been
celebrated, but because he
has not been given something
material so that he might
celebrate with his friends.
He wants nothing to do with
the father, just like the
younger son wanted nothing
to do with his father.
They both want, in the case
of the younger brother, wanted
him dead, right?
The oldest brother failed to
love the father.
Remember verse 11 and 12.
And he said, there was a
man who had two sons, and
the younger of them said to
his father, Father, give me
the share of property that is
coming to me.
And he, the father, divided
his property between them, the
sons.
Note verse 31.
And the father said to him,
Son, you are always with me,
and all that is mine is yours.
He already had everything.
What the father wanted was his
affection, but he did not want
the father.
So this morning, you may have
never placed believing faith in
Jesus Christ.
You look really good on the
outside, but your obedience, your
imperfect obedience, I must add,
is not aimed at the pleasure and
glory of God, but at yourself.
You think that if you live just
so, you will earn God's favor, and
this is a damning thought.
Do not be like the older brother.
Turn to God in Christ.
Recognize that no amount of your
working will ever earn you a
place in his kingdom.
But the offer of the gospel is
that by faith in the perfect life,
the perfect death, and the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, you
can have your record of guilt
expunged, and you can have the
righteousness of Jesus.
You can be saved from God's wrath,
by God's mercy, to God's presence.
What a glorious truth.
Now, some of you have placed
believing faith in Christ, but we
are so quick to forget the great
love of the Father for us, and so
quick to either presume upon his
grace with licentious living, or
believe we can earn his grace with
legalism.
Beloved, you are saved by grace
alone, through faith alone.
Your faith will produce obedience
in you, but let it be from a
grateful heart that loves to
please and glorify God the
Father.
Secondly, let's look at the failing
love of the oldest son for his
younger brother.
He says, but when this son of
yours came, who has devoured your
property with prostitutes, you
killed the fattened calf for him.
Notice that he does not say, when
my younger brother came.
He says, when this son of yours
came, he disowns his brother.
But this had happened long before
in Jesus' story.
The oldest brother made no
attempt to reason with his
younger brother.
He did not try to stop him from
sinning against the Father so
egregiously, and he did not seek
his return and restoration.
It appears that the oldest brother
knew where his younger brother was
and what he was up to, but he did
not go to him.
He says, he has devoured your
property with prostitutes.
How would he know such a thing?
The oldest brother failed to love
the younger brother.
At this point, if you were in
Christ, I want you to long for the
younger brother to have a better
oldest brother.
A brother that would humble
himself by going on a long
journey for his younger brother's
return and restoration.
A brother who would gladly share his
inheritance with his younger
brother.
A brother who leads his younger
brother in a grateful obedience.
A brother who would rejoice to see
his father rejoice in the return
of his son.
Praise God that we have a perfect
older brother in Jesus Christ.
But that is not this brother.
That is not this brother.
He says, you killed the fattened calf
for him.
Do you hear the Pharisees and scribes
in the older brother's accusation?
He is saying, you have received a
sinner and are eating with him.
This is the very accusation they
were making at the beginning of Luke
chapter 15.
If the oldest brother loved the
father, he would have also loved what
the father loves.
You may find yourself this morning in
Christ, but loving what the world
loves.
What does the father love?
The father loves the restoration of his
sons.
The parable of the lost sheep and the
parable of the lost coined are about
the rejoicing in heaven over sinners
who repent.
Jesus says in Luke 19 10, for the son
of man came to seek and to save the
lost.
Lastly, let's look at the unfailing love
of the father for his oldest son.
Verse 31.
And he said to him, son, you were always
with me and all that is mine is yours.
It was fitting to celebrate and be glad
for this your brother was dead and is
alive.
He was lost and is found.
The father extends the same love he has
for the younger brother to the oldest
brother.
The father's love is unfailing.
When he was angry and refused to go in,
the father came out and entreated him.
Right?
The host of the party left the party to
go out to the older son.
Right?
And he entreated him, which means he urged
or implored or encouraged him to come in
and to join the celebration.
The father could have justly been angry
with the oldest son for fuming outside.
He could have sent a message to him
via a servant, but he comes to him
personally and he entreats him.
Don't be this way.
You are my son.
Love what I love.
Love what I love because I love you.
And I hope to help you see the
connection, right?
He entreats him, join in the rejoicing
of heaven for it was fitting to celebrate
and be glad.
So you see God's sons love what he loves
and he loves to see sinners come to
repentance.
He loves to restore those who are poor in
spirit to love those who return to him
in humility.
The Pharisees and the scribes were showing
themselves to not be God's sons as they
grumbled saying, this man received
sinners and eats with them.
Jesus tells them three parables
as a mercy to them.
This is Jesus going out to them,
outside of the celebration,
and urging them to come in
and be part of the celebration.
Did they heed the warning?
They certainly did not heed his warning.
There's a real life epilogue to this
parable.
It's not an epilogue that Jesus
mentions.
It's an epilogue that Jesus lives.
And it would have been told something
like this.
You could insert this final sentence.
The oldest son, in his rage against the
father, beat him, spit on him, mocked him,
and crucified him.
This is the end of this story.
And we do not want to be counted amongst
the oldest brothers in the way we respond
to the loving kindness of God towards
sinners.
Praise be to God that he purposed that
Jesus should die, that by the hands of
wicked men our Savior was murdered,
but that three days later he declared victory
over sin and death when he was raised
from the dead, and that now we by faith
may have life in him.
What they meant for evil, God meant for good.
This morning, let us rejoice in the unfailing
love of the Father, and let that be a love that
turns us in compassion, the compassion of the
Father towards others.
We ought never be, as redeemed people,
ever be people who seek our own status,
want to fight for our rights.
We ought to be going out in love and compassion
for the younger brothers of the world.
I do pray that that will be true of us.
Let us pray that we need someikkers.