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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
“Meanwhile, the older
son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So
he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother
has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he
has him back safe and sound.’”
“The older brother
became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.”
“But he answered his
father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed
your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with
my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with
prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’”
Luke 15:25-30
This ends
today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The younger son had to
be in a state of disbelief.
He had wrongfully
requested half of his father’s inheritance before he was dead, went out and
squandered every bit of what he had been given, doing his own thing and living
wildly. He hit rock bottom when a sudden famine struck the country he had gone
and came to his senses after hiring himself out to a local citizen to feed the
pigs in the field, who ended up getting more to eat than their feeder.
You’ll recall the
younger son decided to return home to his father and ask for mercy, hoping at
best that his father would take him in and allow him to at least be a servant.
And so he set out to see his father who, instead of condemning and chastising
his son, had compassion on him. In Jesus’ parable, we saw where the father
wrapped his arms around his once lost son and embraced him lovingly before
commanding his servants to bring a robe and sandals and signet ring for the son
to wear in advance of a great feast to celebrate his homecoming.
It was a joyous time for
everyone, everyone that is except for the older brother of the returning son.
We see this clearly as we look at today’s scripture excerpt from our continuing
study of the Parable of the Prodigal Son:
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the
house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked
him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father
has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’”
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father
went out and pleaded with him.”
“But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving
for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young
goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has
squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened
calf for him!’” Luke 15:25-30
The older of the two
brothers was in disbelief.
While working in the
fields, his ears picked up on the din coming from near the house as music
played and people danced. Not knowing why the celebration was happening, the
older son called to one of the servants to inquire and was told:
“Your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.”
Now we don’t know how
long the brother was gone after he left home but we know it wasn’t just
overnight. There was no other indicator within this parable that a strained
relationship existed between the brothers but as we see, the older brother did
not appreciate the fact his younger sibling has taken off as he did. Perhaps
the older son ended up having to assume a heavier workload while his brother
was gone. We don’t know this but we do know one thing.
The older brother was
not happy. Not one bit.
In fact, the scriptures
tell us that refused to go in and join the party, a decision that sparked a
discussion with his father who came out and pleaded for his participation. The
older brother’s words reveal his state of mind and reason for displeasure:
“Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed
your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with
my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with
prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”
You could cut the
tension with a knife. Obviously, the older son had an axe to grind with his
father, the father he had worked so hard for. He felt he deserved more than his
younger sibling because in his eyes, he had done everything the right way while
his now-returned brother had not. And yet, the older brother had not been given
any recognition for his hard work, not even a young goat so he could celebrate
with his friends. It was something he felt was completely unfair.
But here’s the thing.
The older brother was
really no better than his younger sibling. He wasn’t.
You see, he was blind to
his sinfulness which now included jealousy, anger which border lined on hatred,
and covetousness. His very words reveal this. And while the younger brother had
come to his senses and returned to the father, repenting of his wrongs and
seeking his father’s mercy, the older son was doing his own thing when it came
to his attitude and behavior. He certainly wasn’t consulting God as to he
should handle his emotions.
And so while the young
son had been lost and then found, blind but now able to see, his older sibling
was now the one who was astray and erring, disrespecting his father by questioning
his decision to celebrate his brother’s return the way that he was. He had
allowed his heart to harden to the place where he could not rejoice in what had
happened, in how his brother had come to his senses and returned to confess and
receive the grace, forgiveness, and deliverance of the father.
I think in the final
translation, the oldest son was just like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and
teachers of the law in Jesus’ time. Jesus would do miraculous acts of healing,
removing long term afflictions or driving out demons that had terrorized their
victims but instead of rejoicing in the new found liberation of those healed,
the Jewish religious leaders chose to be critical. Their hearts were so
toughened by legalistic ways that they could not find themselves to grasp the
bigger picture of what was going on.
So what can we take away
from this teaching of Jesus?
Let us be careful to
never be like the older son, allowing our hearts to be so hardened that we are
blinded and unable to see and then rejoice in the redemption of others, no
matter how badly they may have sinned against us or others.
Tomorrow, we’ll conclude
this series with hearing the words of the father as he replies to his oldest son,
words that we will see contain the same level of compassion and mercy that were
extended to his younger brother.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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