The Other Brother
By Pastor Jeffrey Smith
In Luke 15, Jesus shared the story of a man with two sons, popularly known as the Prodigal Son. Most us of are familiar with the story of the rebellious younger son who wastes away his inheritance in wild living and returns home to his father. The younger brother repented for his actions, and the father happily restores him and throws a celebration in his honor. His lost son is now found.
Jesus turns his attention to the other brother in the story who also had heart issues of his own. News of the younger brother’s return spreads quickly throughout the household. A servant informs the older brother in hopes of a joyful response, but that was not the case. The older brother was enraged and refused to join in on the celebration. He isolated himself away from his family. The father then leaves the party to reach to out his oldest son. I am so glad God reaches out to us even when we are upset and stubborn.
Raw in emotion, the older son is brutally honest with 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 15:29-30
The older brother shows signs of entitlement as well as a sense of feeling morally superior to his brother. He wondered where is the honor for his faithfulness. His heart became distant from his father in that moment, and his righteousness blinded him from the significance of his brother’s return.
The father replied to his with love.
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:31
Jesus does not end this parable. We don’t know how the other brother responds, but we can take away some points from this story. Like the older brother, we may struggle when other people who have success after we’ve served God faithfully for years.
Another person’s favor or success does not take away from us. Our heavenly Father lavishes his love and grace on each of us. Also, we must repent for the ways we struggle with entitlement. Entitlement and offense create a wedge between our heart and God. I’m grateful for a Heavenly Father who understands our struggles and helps us grow through these vulnerable life moments.
