Monday, February 21

Luke 15:11-32

“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

“Not long after that the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that county, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

“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!”

“ ‘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.’”

I am an older brother. I grew up in a home with two younger brothers; one just less than three years my junior – and a little brother who was born when I was almost 12. As an older brother, when I read this story, I tend to focus my attention on the sins of the rebellious younger brother! After all, it is the younger brother who demands his share of the inheritance early – thus effectively treating his father as though he were dead. It is the younger brother who then throws his money – and life – away on wild and scandalous living. It is the younger brother who winds up fighting with pigs over the husks in the feeding trough – and deservedly so! After all, isn’t that why this story is traditionally referred to as “The parable of the prodigal son”? The “prodigal” is obviously the younger brother – who wastes his life and resources on “prodigious” sin! Or is it?

Let’s go back and read the first line of Jesus’ timeless story again.

“There was a man who had two sons.”

“Two sons.” That’s how Jesus begins. And he begins that way because there are actually two prodigal sons in the story – as well as a prodigal father! In fact, I think if Jesus had a name for this story, he would probably have called it, “The parable of the father and his two lost sons.” As we learned last week, the word “prodigal” carries the meaning of “lavish, or extravagant, or even wastefully extravagant.” And as we dig into what Jesus is teaching us, we come to see that all three characters in the story are “wastefully extravagant” in their own way. The younger son is extravagant in his rebelliousness. The father is extravagant in his love for both of his sons. And what about the older brother? How is he “prodigal”?

The older brother is also prodigal because he is extravagant in his pride and self-righteousness. He is what Mark Twain once called “a good man in the worst sense of the word.” And there’s a good chance that if you read “10 Minutes With God” every week; and if you worship in a church most every weekend – that you have more in common with the older brother than you do with the younger brother – just like me! If you do have a little “older brother” in you – you tend to “keep score” – that is you tend to compare yourself with others and you secretly hope God is noticing how well you are “performing” for him! And, in the end, you trust that being “good” will pay off in the end.

Jesus tells this story because he wants both younger brothers and older brothers to know that he loves them – and that both of them need his grace and forgiveness in equal measure!

Ask God to help you hear what Jesus has to say to you through this story this week.

Brian Coffey