Religious Rebel

The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is probably one of the most famous parables in the Bible.

Of all the parables that Jesus told, this story always comes to mind because of the redemptive power of God’s grace that is displayed through the father in this story.

While it is not wrong to focus on the younger brother’s wild and rebellious ways it is also important to examine the way the older brother handles his younger brothers return.

His lack of forgiveness towards his brother is an example of how we often misunderstand grace.

Certainly the younger brother was at fault by squandering his inheritance (see Luke 15:13) but the older brother was just as much at fault for his self righteousness towards his brother.

In Luke 15:29 the older brother states

‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

Interesting how the older brother views himself here.

He feels that his works has earned him a place above his younger brother.

But Ephesians 2:8-9 says

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

So, which brother is wrong in this story?

Spoiler alert. They both are!

Paul clearly warns us of following in the younger brother’s footsteps in Galatians 5:19-21:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But Paul also rebukes the older brother’s stance in 1 Corinthians 4:7:

What are you so puffed up about? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why act as though you are so great, and as though you have accomplished something on your own?

Believe it or not most believers can be put into two categories:

The rebellious stance of the younger brother or the religious stance of the older brother.

Rebellion is wrong because it is a rejection of holiness, but being religious is a rejection of relationship.

Neither stance fits into the commands Jesus defines as most important in Matthew 22:37-40:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”