Let me pray now for the reading and preaching of God's Word.
Heavenly Father, in our own flesh, we cannot grasp your amazing love for us.
Heavenly Father, we need you by the power of your Spirit today to open our blind eyes, to dig open our ears, so that we might hear and believe.
Lord, I cannot, I am incapable of conveying the depth of your love for your people.
Amen.
So won't you do what only you can do in the reading and preaching of your Word, so your Word might pierce the hearts of every single man and woman and child here.
Speak to us.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
If you are able, please stand and join me as I read Luke 15, 11-32.
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 he had and took a journey into a far country.
And there he squandered his property in recklessly.
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 fields to feed pigs.
And he was longing to be fed with the pigs.
And no one gave him any.
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 brood, 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 dance.
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 a 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 a 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 your brother was dead,
and is alive.
He was lost, and is found.
Scott's holy and authoritative word may be seated.
Every culture and every society and religion
has a system of morality that tells us
what is right and what is wrong.
But all the moral systems of this world
can only produce two kinds of people.
The first kind that they produce are the law keepers.
They are those who keep the law
better than some others, relatively speaking,
and they keep the laws in order to get what they want.
They look good on the outside,
but their self-perceived observance of the law
spawns an arrogant, corrosive pride
that makes them self-righteous
and judgmental and patronizing.
They look down on other people
who are not as good or wealthy or successful.
The moral systems of our world
also produce a second kind of people.
And these second kind of people
are the law breakers.
People who break the law
to get what they want.
But their lawlessness
spawns deep guilt
and shame
that plague and haunt them
and eat them up from the inside.
And the point I want to prove to you this morning
is that the gospel
or the good news of Jesus Christ
produces a third kind of people.
People whose pride has been blown up
because they recognize that they are worse sinners
and worse failures
than they have ever imagined.
But simultaneously,
a people whose guilt and shame
have been defused
and defanged
by the unchanging love of God
who sent his only son,
Jesus Christ,
to die for our sins on the cross
and then rise again
from the dead
to save all those
who put their trust in Christ alone.
Do Christians still struggle with pride
and guilt and shame sometimes?
Of course.
But that's to the extent
that we are not living in light
of the good news of Jesus Christ.
And yet,
every day,
every year,
we are
being transformed
from one degree of glory to another
as we behold
the light of the gospel
of the glory of Christ.
Why?
Because there is a fundamental
pride-crushing
and shame-vaporizing
power in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And I want to prove that to you
this morning
through this famous parable
in Luke 15,
11-32.
The parable is popularly known
as the parable
of the prodigal son.
Prodigal meaning
wastefully extravagant son.
But the parable
is really about two sons.
The law-breaking one,
the younger one,
and then the law-keeping one,
the older one.
And it's really
even more than the two sons.
It's about the father's love
and his response
to both of them.
So we're going to first look
at the law-breaking son
and then we'll look
at the loving father
and then thirdly,
the law-keeping son.
The parable begins
in verse 11.
There was a man
who had two sons,
ordinary enough.
And it takes a sharp turn
in verse 12.
And the younger of them
said to his father,
Father,
give me the share of property
that is coming to me.
The man had two sons
and the Jewish law
at the time stipulated
that the first son
received a double portion
of the second son
in terms of the inheritance,
which meant that
in this case,
the younger son
was entitled
to receive one-third
of the inheritance
of the father's property.
And this younger son
is now asking his father
for his share
of the inheritance.
And a son asking
his father for money
is obviously not
an uncommon event,
but there's something
deeply evil
and selfish
about what he's doing here.
Because the way
inheritance is worked
back then
is similar
to how life insurance
works in our present context.
A father names
his two sons
as the beneficiaries
of his inheritance
or his life insurance,
so to speak.
And all of it
belonged to them
legally
at some point
in time.
But that property
does not become
available
and disposable
to the sons
until the father died.
And that was the case
also with his inheritance.
But the son is saying,
give me now
the share
of the property
that is coming to me.
I know it's coming to me,
but I want it now.
He's essentially
telling the father,
I wish you were dead already.
You're taking
a little too long.
I don't want you.
I want what's yours.
The presumption
of the request
is seen
in the father's response
in verse 12.
It said that he divided
his property
between them.
That word property
translated more literally
is life.
He divided his life
between them.
He gave his livelihood,
his very life,
all that he had
son of her,
all that he had
between his two sons.
And then the true intent
of the son
is seen clearly
in verse 13.
He doesn't even wait long.
There's no pretense here.
Not many days later,
the younger son
gathered all he had
and took the journey
into far country
and there he squandered
his property
and records.
He's not trying
to receive
his inheritance early
so he could
stay as a loyal son
by his father's side
and then honor him
and provide for him,
take care of him
in old age.
No, he gathers
all he had,
meaning he has
commercial overtones
of basically
selling everything
and turning
and converting
everything he has
into cash.
And then with that
wad of cash,
he goes to a far country.
He is sick of home,
sick of running
the family business,
sick of living
on a family farm,
sick of his father,
sick of his brother.
He's out of that.
Not a neighboring town,
a far country,
away from the
watchful,
concerned gave
his father.
And he said
that he squandered
his property
in reckless living.
The word squander
is to literally
scatter, right?
And in reckless living
is referring
to luxurious living.
This guy is
throwing money
into the wind,
throwing all caution
and cost aside,
running up
his credit cards.
And later in
verse 30,
the older son
says that his
younger brother
devoured the property
with prostitutes,
which tells us
about some
of the sordid ways
in which this
younger son
spent his father's
heart on life.
This is a selfish
lawbreaker.
This desire to get
away from the
father is at the
heart of every
sin, even the
seemingly more
benign sins that
we commit in our
own life.
If you are not
a Christian,
you're here this
morning, then you
are living your
life without
reference to God.
Even if you live
a relatively moral
life, and I'll get
to that when we
talk about the
older son, you
are still living
in prideful
unbelief, which
is at the root
of all sin.
You're living as
if God didn't
exist.
And in doing so,
you are doing
exactly what this
younger son sets
out to do, to
live without his
father.
In crude terms,
your life is an
expression of this
younger son's
unspoken wish.
I wish you were
dead so I could
have what is yours.
God is from God.
You are enjoying
the good gifts of
God in this world.
Every good thing
in this world is
from God who is
good, who alone
is good.
Love, family,
delightful food and
drink, pleasing
sounds, music, a
stable job, your
intellect, health,
beauty in art and
nature, all of these
are from God.
They all belong to
him, and yet you are
enjoying those gifts
without acknowledging
the one who gave
him.
That is the ugly
reality behind all
unbelief.
Even for the
Christian, the
desire to get away
from the Father to
do what we want is
at the heart of
everything.
When we indulge
our sinful desire,
when we do what
we should not do,
when we say what
we should not say,
when we don't do
what we should do,
when we don't say
what we should say,
we don't do what
to varying degrees,
we are all saying
to God, living
under your
authority in your
household is a
little too
restrictive.
I want to have
my own way.
I want to get
away from it.
Sex outside of
marriage is forbidden.
Marriage is only
between one man
and one woman.
I should give my
hard-earned money
to the ministry of
the church and
service to the
poor.
I shouldn't get
drunk on alcohol.
I should submit
to the governing
authority.
I should consider
others more
significant than
myself and look
out for their
interests and not
just my own.
I should forgive
that person that
has wronged me
again and again.
Okay, stop
right now.
That's a little
too far.
I've had enough
of your authority.
I've had enough
of you.
every act of sin
from the least
to the greatest
is a vote of
no confidence
against God.
God, I don't
think you're as
good as you say
you are.
I don't think
you're as generous
as you say you
are.
I don't think
you're as gracious
as you say you
are.
And so you
know what?
I'm going to
find my own
way.
I'm going to
make my own
life.
I think I can
do a little
better for myself
than what you
have for me.
Every act of
sin is an act
of rebellion
against God
and that's why
it's so damaging
to your
relationship with
God.
If you think
that you can
create a better
life for yourself
apart from God's
revealed will
for us in
scripture,
then this
story of the
younger son
is a stern
warning to you.
And like all
sinners, the
younger son soon
realizes how
miserable life
apart from the
father really
is.
He says in
verse 14,
when he had
spent everything,
a severe famine
arose in that
country and he
began to be in
need.
He has left
the safety net
of his family,
his community,
he has spent
all of his
money and now
this young man
begins to taste
the bitter end
of his sweet
indulgence.
poverty forces
him to seek
employment.
It says in
verse 15,
so he went
out and hired
himself out to
one of the
citizens of
that country
who sent him
into the
fields to
feed pigs.
pigs.
That's as
on dignifying
as that
sounds.
He used to
be an esteemed
son of a
wealthy,
respected
landlord.
Now he's a
hireling of
one of the
citizens of
the far
country.
He's been
hired, as
the context
implies, by
a Gentile, a
non-Jewish
master, which
we can tell by
the fact that
he's sent
into the
field to
feed pigs.
Not only do
pigs physically
bathe in mud,
which is why we
associate them
with filth,
but they were
considered
ritually unclean,
ceremonially unclean
by Jews,
unfit for
consumption by
God's people
because of
Leviticus 11
verse 7.
For this
reason, Jewish
people never
grew pigs.
So whenever
in the Bible
you see
pigs, they're
always in the
Gentile region,
and this is no
exception.
The younger
son has taken
on what is
possibly the
most humiliating
job that a
Jew can take.
but he
sinks still
lower.
He says in
verse 16 that
he was longing
to be fed
with the
pods that
the pigs
ate, and
no one gave
him anything.
Not only was
he humiliated
by the
work, he
still went
hungry despite
his work.
The pigs are
treated and
fed better
than he is.
We don't
know exactly
what those
pods were that
the pigs
were eating,
but I
think we
can safely
assume that
it wasn't
fine dying.
The younger
son is so
hungry that
pig slop
looks appetizing
to him.
he is
He is
the sad
condition and
the ultimate
fate of all
who are alienated
from the
heavenly father's
love.
In our
father's house,
we are
cared for.
We are
loved.
We have to
enjoy the
richest affairs.
We're treated
as sons,
but when we
leave our
father's house
and we deliver
ourselves to the
strangers out in
the far country,
we're reduced to
servitude by a
cruel master
named Satan.
Sin is
always a
bait and
switch.
The enticing
pleasures of
sin leave us
less and less
pleased and
satisfied and
more and more
enslaved.
So we long to
be fed with the
pods that
came.
Then in
verse 17,
the focus of the
narrative begins to
shift from the
law-breaking son to
the loving father.
He says,
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.
The hired
servants,
it's a reference
to the lowest
rung, the
lowest class of
common laborers.
And yet,
when they are
hired for the
day, they eat
bread aplenty at
his father's
house.
The son is
finally remembering
the generosity of
the father.
Why am I
slaving away
here for a
strange master
in a far
country when
they don't
even feed me?
My father is a
better master,
and if I'm going
to be a
hired servant
anyway, I
might as well
be my father's
hired servant.
Then at least
I won't go
hungry.
So he resolves
to return home
in verse 18
and 19.
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.
He admits that he
has forfeited all
worthiness.
He does not
deserve to be
received back
into the
family.
Normally, a
son who has
so dishonored
his father
should bring
lavish gifts
in return to
his father's
house in
hope of
reconciliation
and forgiveness.
But this
son has nothing
to bring.
He comes
empty-handed.
And that's
the case
for all
sinners.
We must
first get
to the end
of the
road of
self
before we
can return
to God.
Have you
been, have
you gotten
to that place
of despairing,
despairing of
your own
righteousness,
despairing of
your own
worthiness
before God?
Only then,
only when you
have reached
that point
of deep
despair,
can you
start to
rise from
the dead
and live
and receive
eternal life.
Put all
your hope
in the
lavish love
of the
father.
It says
in verse
20,
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.
The word
long,
a long
way off
is the
same word
that was
translated
as far
in verse
13.
The repetition
reveals the
father's heart.
The younger
son took a
journey into
the far
country
because he
didn't want
anything to
do with
his father.
Disgracing
his father.
And yet,
his father
has not
disowned
him.
He has
not given
up on
him.
It seems
that the
father still
spends much
of his
days scanning
the horizon
in the
far country
to see
if he
could just
see his
son,
perhaps
finding his
way back.
And one
day when
the son
comes into
view,
still far
away from
him,
he spots
him and
the father's
heart wells
up with
compassion and
then he runs
to embrace
him and to
kiss him.
And in
doing so,
this loving
father breaks
all ancient
Near Eastern
norms.
Elderly
Jewish men,
well,
elderly men
in general
don't rhyme
very much,
but elderly
Jewish men
never run.
Not in
this culture.
Think about
it, right?
He's not
wearing athletic
shorts and
do balances.
He's got
these open
toed sandals.
Have you ever
tried running
with flip-flops?
There was my
shoe.
Can I go get
that?
Come back
up.
And on
top of that,
he's wearing
these long
robes.
If you
tried running
with the
dress,
you haven't
had pure
men,
you don't
know,
but you
gotta roll
it up,
grab it,
and then
you're running.
Like,
just imagine
how undignified
that looks.
That's
embarrassing.
And in
honor,
shame
culture,
you just
don't
do that.
But the
father is
overflowing
with
compassion.
And it
overrides,
his compassion
overrides all
cultural norms.
And so he
runs,
however clumsily,
through the
dusty roads of
the ancient
Near East.
And imagine
that sight from
the perspective
name of
the sun.
Who is
that man
running,
heating up
guys?
Must be
an emergency.
Wait a minute.
That's an elderly
man.
He should be
a little more
careful.
Wait,
I think
he's running
toward me.
Wait,
he looks
familiar.
Is that
my father?
Is he running
toward you?
Why?
And when
the father
arrives,
he embraces
him and
kisses him.
The word
embrace is
not this
polite hug.
It means
literally to
fall upon
someone's
neck.
It's a
bear hug
that
takes the
breath from
your chest.
Embrace.
Chest to chest,
cheek to
cheek,
tears streaming
down their
faces.
And the
father kisses
his son
affectionately.
The younger
son must
have been
filthy,
a penniless
servant that
had been
working with
the pigs.
And it
doesn't stop
the father.
Before the
son is able
to say a
word,
the father
is already
welcoming him.
loving him.
And then
in verse
21,
the son
begins the
I'm sorry
speech that
he's been
rehearsing
his whole
journey to
the father.
Father,
I've sinned
against heaven
and before
you.
I'm no
longer worthy
to be called
your son.
But before
the son
could even
finish his
rehearsed lines
about take
me on as
one of your
hired servants,
the father
is already
motioning to
his servants
in verses
22 and 23,
bring quickly
the best
robe,
put it on
him,
put a ring
on his
hand,
shoes on
his feet,
and bring
the fattened
calf and
chill it,
and let us
eat and
celebrate.
Taking his
son back as
a hireling
doesn't even
occur to the
father.
He doesn't
berate him
about his
wastefulness
and foolishness.
He doesn't
consign him to
slavery for
the rest of
his life
until he
can't pay
back that
money.
He doesn't
nag him.
All that
preoccupies the
father in that
moment is the
joy of having
his son back.
And he
reinstates the
younger son
with all of
his privileges
of sonship,
putting on his
best robe,
a symbol of
status,
the ring on
his finger,
which probably
has the
signet,
the seal of
the family,
a sign of
membership,
the shoes on
his feet to
cover his
blistered,
dusty feet.
The younger
son understands
at that point
finally that his
father will
take him back,
but not as a
servant,
only as his
son.
And if that
went enough,
the father throws
a party to
celebrate the
return of his
son.
They slaughtered
the fattened
calf,
the fattened
calf.
Meat was a
rare treat in
the first
century Israel,
not like our
day.
The fattened
calf was eaten
only on the
very special
occasions,
like major
holiday.
The meat of
a young calf
is more tender
than the meat
of an adult
cow.
And the fattened
calf is one
that has been
specifically
pampered and
fattened for
just a special
occasion.
would have
been enough
to feed the
whole village.
This is one
of the most
compelling
pictures of
our heavenly
father's love
in the
Bible.
When you
feel like you
haven't been a
good kid,
when you feel
burdened with
guilt, do you
feel like you
cannot approach
God?
do you
think that you
need to cry a
certain amount
of tears and
feel this
certain level
of remorse
and regret
that you have
to spend a
certain number
of hours and
days in
self-imposed
exile from
God in the
doghouse before
you can come
back to God?
Do you think
that you need
to pay God
back for
everything with
all these
good works
that you can
do before
you can be
received and
welcomed into
his family?
Before you can
really be loved
by him?
Some of you
have already
learned this
love of God
and the
grace of God,
but you're
living in
with yesterday's
mercy,
when his
mercies are
new every
morning.
Do you
think that
God sees
you and looks
you up and
down with
disdain?
with this
pleasure?
When God
the Father
loves you,
runs after
you,
welcomes
you,
why do you
see God as
a heart of
him?
God is
gracious and
merciful and
forgiving and
loving God.
No matter how
far you're
straight from
him, the
moment you
confess your
sins and
turn toward
him, he's
right there
seeing you far
off already
well in
upper
compassion.
he's running
to embrace,
to kiss,
to welcome
and rejoice
over you.
Why?
Because you
are his
son.
Because you
are his
daughter.
That's the
heart of the
loving Father.
And then we
see the third
portrait of the
law-keeping son
in verse 25.
It says,
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.
Unlike the
younger son,
who left
his father's
house, this
older son is
still dutifully
working at
the house,
working in
the field.
But as he
approaches the
house, he
hears music
and dancing,
and he
wonders what
this surprise
party is all
about.
if he's
like me,
he's probably
thinking to
himself,
well, I
don't see
anybody else
that this
party would
be worth
throwing for.
It's got to
be for me.
Maybe that's
what he
thinks.
He gets
his hopes up
and then he
grabs one of
the servants,
hey, what's
going on here?
And the
servant tells
them, some
rude awakening,
verse 27,
your brother
has come,
and your
father has
killed the
fattened
calf, because
he has
received him
back safe
and sound.
And the
older son is
not happy.
It says in
verse 28, he
was angry and
refused to
go in.
Look at the
dynamic shift.
the younger
son was
formerly
outside the
house, but
now he
has been
welcomed in.
The older
son, who's
always been
at the
house, now
finds himself
on the
outside of
the house
looking.
The
positions are
reversed.
And the
father comes
out to
entreat him.
And the
older son
airs all his
grievances in
verse 29 and
30.
Look!
Many years,
these many
years I've
served you,
and I
never
disobeyed
your command,
yet you
never gave
me a
young goat,
yet 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.
Can you
relate to
his complaint?
While this
son of yours
was scattering
all your wealth
with prostitutes,
I was
working hard
building your
assets.
While he
blatantly
besmirched our
family name,
I was here
serving you
under your
name.
And yet,
you have never
even grilled
hot dogs for
me.
And you're
going to serve
this guy
prime
wagyu
beef.
That's my
fattened
calf.
He's already
squandered all
his inheritance.
This is all
mine.
The relational
strain is
obvious in the
way he addresses
his father.
He doesn't say
that he should
have respectfully
father or
sir.
even.
He simply
says,
look.
And then,
he's referring
to his younger
brother.
He says,
not my
brother,
but this
son of
yours.
He's
distancing
himself from
his father
and from
his brother.
This reaction
of the older
son reveals
that he was
just as
lost as
the younger
son.
The younger
son says,
I'm no longer
worthy to be
called your
son.
Treat me as
one of your
hired servants.
Right?
Because he
doesn't deserve
to be called
a son,
he thinks his
father might
hire him as
a servant
instead.
And look at
what the older
son says.
Look,
these many
years I have
served you.
And I never
disobeyed
your command.
He thinks
he deserves
to be called
the son,
but only
because he
was slaving
away for
him all
these years.
Neither
of them
understand the
nature of
sonship.
Neither of
them understands
the love and
the grace of
the father.
They both
relate to
God as
servants.
God.
I can only
find acceptance
as a servant
if I serve
him,
if I do
what he
wants me
to do.
But the
father loves
them,
not because
they have
served him,
not because
of their
utility,
but because
they are
his son.
And this
is what the
older son
failed to
grasp.
If he
understood
that all
that the
father gives
is a gift,
that his
inheritance
is a gift,
not a wage
for him to
earn,
not a salary,
a gift,
then he
would have
understood
the father's
love.
Then he
would have
not been
so begrudging
about his
brother's
return.
If you
are like
this older
son,
and you
think that
you're going
to find
your standing,
gain your
standing with
God,
your acceptance
with God,
by observing
these commands,
by serving
him and
slaving away
this life,
then you
will,
in the end,
find yourself
on the
outside of
the house
of him.
Because only
those who
know the
father and
know his
love and
relate to
him as a
beloved son
and a
beloved
child will
endure.
The law
breaking
younger son
represents
the tax
collectors
and sinners
who are
flocking
to Jesus,
repenting
of their
sin and
finding
acceptance
in him.
The law
keeping
older son
represents
the Pharisees
and the
scribes
who were
begrudging
Jesus'
forgiveness
of such
people.
The
younger son
left his
home because
he imagined
that his
father is
stingy and
strict.
He thought
that his
father was
needlessly
depriving of
the pleasures
of life.
The older
son stayed
at home
and worked
hard because
he too
imagined that
his father
is stingy
and strict.
He believed
that the
only way to
pry those
blessings out
of his
tight grip
is by
obeying him
always and
doing what
he commanded.
At the
heart of
both licentious
lawbreakers
and legalistic
lawkeepers
is a
distorted
view of
God the
Father.
That's why
in his
book The
Whole
Christ,
theologian
Sinclair
Ferguson writes
that legalism
and licentiousness
are in fact
non-identical
twins that
emerge from
the same
womb.
Licentiousness
says God
doesn't want
to give me
what is good
so I'm
going to
take things
into my
own hands
and run
after those
things apart
from God.
Legalism
says God
doesn't want
to give me
what is good
so I must
take things
into my own
hands and
earn those
good things
and force
it out of
his hands.
Some of us
tend to be
more like
this older
son.
if you
tend to
begrudge
the
generosity
and graciousness
and
mercifulness
of God
if you
tend to
be self-righteous
to see
other people's
sins
with
acute
clarity
but you're
oblivious to
your own
and you
tend to
be.
And you
need to
hear this
tender words
from the
father
verse 31
and 32
son
you are
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 older
son refused
to call
him
father
but the
father still
addresses
him as
son.
The older
son referred
to the
younger
son as
this son
of yours
but now
the father
reminds him
that this
is after
of your
brother.
The older
son accused
the father
of never
giving him
even a
young goat
but the
father
reminds him
a young
goat
this whole
thing is
yours.
The father
entreats
him and
through this
parable
God is
entreating
even the
legalistic
law keepers
among us
even the
proud and
self-righteous
people among
us.
Don't be
grudged that
the sinners
are coming
to me and
being saved.
Rejoice with
me.
Join me in
my mission
to go and
seek and
save the
lost.
Your
inheritance
is not
something you
have earned.
It's a
gift that I
freely bestow
on you
because I
am your
loving
father.
This
parable ends
on a
cliffhanger
with the
father's
entreating.
We don't
see what the
Pharisees and
the scribes
do or
how the
older brother
responds.
Rather,
it ends
with this
invitation.
But this
lavish love
of the
father comes
at great
cost.
Because the
father must
bear the
shame and
the loss
that the
younger son
incurred.
the older
son, too,
must bear
the shame
and the
loss that
his younger
brother has
brought upon
him.
After all,
all that is
left of the
father's
inheritance is
entirely
his.
Remember,
he took the
one-third and
left.
The two-thirds
is the older
son.
the only
way that the
younger son
gets any
inheritance is
if the
older son
decides to
share his.
There's a
heavy cost
that comes
with the
father's
forgiveness.
And that's
the cost we
see God the
father bear on
the cross of
Jesus Christ.
The father
gives up his
most treasured,
his only
son, his
beloved son,
Jesus Christ.
The heaviest
loss that the
father could
have incurred.
He gives
his son that
he might save
us from our
sin and death.
And Jesus,
he is the
true elder
brother that
the Pharisees
and the
scribes should
have been.
And Jesus,
instead of
saying,
well, they've
squandered
their property,
all that is
left is
mine.
Instead,
Jesus gives
up his
throne in
heaven,
comes down
to earth,
takes on
human flesh.
Even though
he lives a
life of
perfect obedience,
he died the
death of a
sinner and
a slave on
the cross.
He pays
the penalty
that we
deserve.
He pays
the debt
that we
incurred in
squandering our
property with
prostitutes.
All kinds
of sort of
sin.
need.
That's why
it says in
Romans 8,
29,
Jesus is
the first
born among
many brothers.
It's through
Jesus that
God the
Father intends
to save
us and
join us to
his family.
That's why
he's called
that first
born among
many brothers.
That's why
in Colossians
118,
it says that
Jesus is
the first
born from
the dead
because it's
Jesus,
because Jesus
is the only
divine son of
God,
fully God
and fully
man,
and yet
he died
the death
that he
did not
deserve.
It's through
his death
and resurrection
that we
who are
dead in
our trespasses
and sin
are made
alive together
in Jesus
Christ.
Alive by
the spirit
of the power
of the Holy
Spirit.
For the
son was
dead and
is alive
again.
He was
lost
and is
found.
I know
many of you
know exactly
what that's
like.
I was
lost
and now
I'm
found.
I was
dead
but now
I'm
alive.
And that
is worth
celebrating
in our
church.
And that
Thank you.