The prodigal son's brother
Everyone knows the story of the prodigal son. It's one of the best and oft-quoted passages from the Bible (Luke 15). I know. I get it. I am the prodigal son. I left God and returned to His loving arms. But, what I want to talk about is the prodigal son's brother. You see, I am him too.
What theologians will tell you is the two sons are indicative of the Gentiles (the prodigal son) and the Jews (the eldest son). The prodigal son screwed up, repented, and came home to his father (Heavenly Father). The eldest son did what he was told but was full of sin on the inside. He was obedient on the outside, but his heart never changed. He has a legalistic and petty response to seeing his father embrace his repentant brother.
The picture of the eldest son tells me something about myself. At certain points in my life I did everything I was told to do and lived an upright life. But, I was secretly sinful because my heart was hard. I wondered why others got to do things I couldn't and I couldn't move forward in life. Why couldn't I have what I wanted? I couldn't have the blessings I saw the prodigal son receive. I did everything right! He seemed so undeserving, running off into the world and returning as if nothing happened, gathering up blessings everywhere he went. The eldest son's sin was hardness of heart, which is a door opener to a lot of other sins. Yet he appeared upright. He is the Jews. He was also me, even recently. God dealt with me about my sin.
Those who walk with God must love God. If you love God, you'll do His commandments. If you're walking with God for His blessings, it won't work out for you. Do it because you love Him, just as the prodigal son did. But, notice this. The eldest son expected his father's blessings. He didn't realize all he had to do was ask and he would have them. That's huge and no one ever talks about that. He could have had those blessings the whole time. But he was toiling and working in the field. He was hard at work. All work and no play. So, we also see the difference between a works religion and grace-based. The elder son was also fixated on his brother's sins, not realizing his own were keeping from him his father's blessings.
What else do we see here? Something you never see in this culture. This is a patriarchal culture where the father is, obviously, at the top. The father never goes out to entreat an angry son. NEVER. This simply does not happen. The son goes to the father with concerns; not the other way around. But, with our Heavenly Father, you see he went and spoke to the son, entreating him twice. He did not go once, talk, and leave. He stayed and they had a conversation. The father tried twice to reason with the son. That's unheard of. That's God trying to gather up his other errant child and bring him into the fold again so he can bless him, too. The Bible calls out hardness of heart throughout. It is an incredibly dangerous sin. We see in the Word where pharaoh and King Sihon both had their hearts hardened by God, Who then destroyed them. It seems to be the last step before destruction. But it got me thinking. If God can harden a heart, He can surely soften a heart, as well. The disciples were stiffly rebuked for having hard hearts. It can happen to anyone, and toward one thing or many. We are to be on guard and guard our hearts.
This is a wonderful story on so many levels. We've picked it apart on the prodigal son side, but I thought it was interesting what happened to his brother, too. And then we are left hanging because we don't know what the eldest son did. What was his response? The story doesn't end. It's more like a question mark, as in, what will you do, eldest son? As for me, God dealt with my hard heart recently, and I broke. This story had a lot to do with that.
Maybe you see someone in your life who is living an upright life and desiring God's blessings but is unable to receive them. Something is blocking it. Try this. It won’t hurt to try. Break the curse of the prodigal son's brother over their life. Pray God would entreat them and deal with their hard heart. It could be your prayers change their life forever and allow them to access a world of blessings. Amen.
Thank you for reading. And God bless.
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