The Parable of the Elder Brother – March 21, 2021
Isaiah 43:1-7, Luke 15:1-2, 11-32
March 21, 2021
Today we pick up the Gospel story in Luke chapter 15. And if you remember, Luke 14 is where Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the Pharisees. There, at that Pharisee gathering, he told them the story we have come to know as “The Parable of the Wedding Banquet.” That was the story of the man who held the banquet and all his guests made excuses. Then he sent his servants out to the lanes of the city to bring in the poor and the maimed and the blind and the lame.
As I said then, that story appealed to the poor and the maimed and the blind and the lame – who were listening that day. And they started to follow Jesus. And I’m sure it was not lost on the Pharisees that he was telling that story about them. They were the invited guests who made excuses not to attend the banquet.
Then last week, we looked at the last part of that chapter, which, in my Bible was called, “The Cost of Discipleship.” If you remember, Jesus used some exaggeration – some “hyperbole” – to tell those people the seriousness of what following him meant. “If anyone who comes to me and does not hate his family, whoever does not bear his own cross, cannot be my disciple.” And he ended up with this line. “Whoever of you does not renounce all that he has, cannot be my disciple.”
That brings us to Luke 15. And Luke begins by saying that, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’”
That’s how this starts. And then what follows is Jesus’ response to that “murmuring.” As I read this today, for the sake of time, I skipped ahead to the big parable in this section. But what I didn’t read were two other parables. They were “The Parable of the Lost Sheep,” and “The Parable of the Lost Coin.”
So with those two, and the one we read today, there were three parables right in a row – perhaps four. The reason I say that is that, contained in this third parable about “the lost son,” or “The Prodigal Son,” as we have come to know this, there was another parable. It was “The Parable of the Elder Brother.”
I was glad when I read this in Bible Gateway this week. Bible Gateway is my on-line Bible website that I use. And you can use it, too! Just go to (you guessed it!) “Biblegateway.com!” You can read and search just about every bible version that’s out there. And as I read this in my beloved “Revised Standard Version,” I saw that the title of this famous parable was written this way. “The Parable of the Prodigal and his Brother.”
That made me feel good, because the more I’ve read this story over the years, the more I am aware that there really are two stories here. And the more I dig into this, the more I am convinced that it is the story of the Elder brother that is the real focus of this parable! That’s why I have entitled my sermon today, “The Parable of the Elder Brother.”
Think about it. In answering the murmuring of the Pharisees, Jesus has already told two stories of “lost things.” And they are not isolated parables. I believe that is an intentional build up, on Jesus’ part, to this story of a lost person – and his brother! This was all his answer to the Pharisees. He took time to deal with them on this, because this was a very important part of his ministry!
Look at what happens in this story? The younger brother goes off on a life of depravity. He spends his inheritance on “riotous living.” That’s still a cliché in our world, isn’t it? You give someone a little extra money for some reason, and you say, “Don’t spend it all on riotous living!” Did you ever year that?
Well, after it all goes away, the younger brother comes to his senses, and realizes he has to go home. And he knows he can’t live as a son any more. He’s already ruined that part of his life. He’s already spent all the family fortune that would come to him. So he plans on asking just to be hired on as a servant. At least he’ll get three meals a day and a place to sleep!
But the father sees him coming from a distance, and he runs to meet him – which is a very undignified and demeaning thing for him to do in that culture, considering what this son has done! But in his great joy the father disregarded all that and ran and embraced his son. And we love this story! Don’t we? No wonder it has been the focus of this for many people over the years!
But the story doesn’t end there! Jesus goes on with what I think is the real focus of the story. He tells us how the elder brother is indignant about the father embracing the prodigal! Nobody got indignant over the lost coin or lost sheep being found. But now it’s a person. And of course, the coin didn’t jump out of the woman’s purse or off of her headdress, which some scholars have said. And the sheep didn’t know any better wandering off and getting lost. But this younger son willingly and arrogantly left and chose to be lost!
As I’ve said before, there’s a difference in our thoughts between someone who suffers because they are innocent victims, and someone who has brought their suffering on themselves, because of bad choices. To use the title of the popular book, we don’t have a problem with bad things happening to those who have done things to deserve bad things. We have a problem with “Why Bad Things Happen to Good People.”
Well, the return of the prodigal and the acceptance of the father, has caused this great indignance in the elder brother. And I want you to notice, not just that he is the focus of this story, but also who is the audience for this parable?! Who is this parable directed to? And this is why I’m convinced that this story is really about this elder brother!
Remember, this chapter starts with the tax collectors and sinners drawing near to Jesus, and the Pharisees murmuring about it! And then Luke says, “And so he told them this parable. “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, would not look for the lost?” And then the second parable right after that. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one…” And then, at the beginning of this, he says, “And then he said (again, to them!) ‘There was a man who had two sons.’”
These parables were told to the Pharisees! It was not told to the “lost people,” those who were the subject of their indignance and who were probably still listening. They knew where they fit in. This was told to the Pharisees, and we have to know that it was the Pharisees who were being cast in the role of the indignant elder brother. Because they certainly knew that! There’s no doubt in my mind that he was the focus of this story! Because the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost brother were all part of Jesus’ answer to the indignance of Pharisees that “he receives sinners (and tax collectors!) and dines with them!”
As I said, it’s no wonder that this story of the prodigal has inspired and moved us and other believers, for thousands of years now. And that is wonderful! And I’m sure it spoke well to the hearts of the “sinners and tax collectors” who heard it that day the first time. As I said, the lost being found, the redemption of sinners, the amazing love of God – all of that has been a central theme in Christianity then and ever since. And I don’t want that to get lost here. But this is even more a story about the reaction of those of whom the father said, “You are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” And that’s the part of the story – and part of our faith – that we can easily forget!
In the end, I don’t know if this story moved the Pharisees! Maybe it did! Maybe some of them. We’ll never know. But they stand as an example to us, don’t they? Of course, they do in many ways. But this one here is so important! When we see the Elder Brother’s reaction to this prodigal, we see his indignance as something to be avoided. And I would caution us that such indignance is a natural reaction! It’s something we need to choose not to have! And that’s enough to think about right there.
But even more, what I really don’t want us to miss, are perhaps the greatest words Jesus ever said to the Pharisees – because I truly believe he loved them, too. To the Elder Brother, and to them – and I think to us – the father says, “You are always with me, and all that I have is yours.”
Even in the busyness of the work of the Church, even in the middle of all we do for God’s kingdom, it’s easy to forget that abiding presence and amazing love of God. Jesus reminds us of that so powerfully, in this, one of the most amazing stories ever told, this beautiful Parable of the Elder Brother.
Prayer
Eternal God, our Heavenly Father, we your children sometimes do forget your love for us. We do get lost in our own concerns and our own understanding of things. And it’s too easy to miss seeing the point of view of someone else. Help us to know indeed that we are always with you, and you with us. And help us to