The Two Lost Sons (The Prodigal Son)

It’s no secret that C.S. Lewis is my favorite author of all time. My oldest son is named after him. And C.S. Lewis wrote a wide range of books. His most popular ones are The Chronicles of Narnia.

But one of his less famous books is called The Great Divorce. And it’s not about divorce. It’s about heaven and hell. And it’s a total fantasy. And if you don’t take it that way, you’re going to conclude Lewis is just a raging heretic thinking that he’s offering a second chance after death to go to heaven. Well, he’s not. Lewis said this wasn’t his guess about what happens in the afterlife. And he was just writing a fictional story to try to get at some deeper truths.

In the story, what happens is a busload of dead people, of ghosts, they take a bus out of a gray, dreary town right up to the edges of heaven. And when they get there, what happens is these bright, solid, shining people, they come out to meet them.

And one of these ghosts, he is a big man. And the person who comes to meet him is a man named Len. So you’ve got big man ghost, not from heaven, Len from heaven. And here’s the thing: Len used to work for him. And in fact, during Len’s life, he murdered a man. And yet here he is in heaven. And the big ghost, he can’t believe it at all. What is he doing here? I’ve gone straight all my life, he says. I’ve done my best my whole life. And yeah, he admits he wasn’t a religious man, but he was a decent man.

And then Len, the man from heaven, he asks the ghost, the big man, who he used to hate, he asks him to forgive him. And he even offers to stay with him and to serve him as long as he needs. But catch this: the big ghost won’t hear it. He won’t have it. Not at all. I only want my rights, he says. I don’t want any charity. I’m a decent man, and if I had my rights, I had been here, I’d be here all along. And you can tell them I said so.

Did you catch that? First off, the pride, but secondly, a murderer standing in the light of heaven, well, a decent man is standing outside of it. And he’s standing outside of it, demanding what he’s earned. Well, that’s the trillion-dollar question our text answers for us this morning: Who belongs in heaven? Who belongs at God’s great banquet table? The man with the good record or the man with the bad record?

To enter the Father’s feast, we must do three things: we must repent of our rebellion, receive the Father’s welcome, and respond to the Father’s plea.

For the past four weeks, we’ve been looking and examining what it actually means to come to the Lord’s table. Yes, it’s something we do in remembrance, of course, but it’s not just a memorial service. It is communion with God and communion with one another. In 1 Corinthians 10, we saw how there are two tables that lie before us. We’ve got the table of the Lord, and the other option, and the only other option, is a table of demons. That’s what Paul tells us.

Then in 1 Corinthians 11, we saw how the way that we treat our brothers and sisters in Christ, ultimately, that’s how we treat Christ himself. It goes hand in hand. The horizontal affects the vertical, and the vertical affects the horizontal. And so Paul’s point was that when we come to the table, we need to examine ourselves. We need to come corrected, but not condemned. There’s a big difference between the two. And if we don’t, what’s the result? That’s why many of you are sick, weak, and some have even died. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul actually gives us that example of Israel whose bodies lie dead across the wilderness.

Well, then last week we looked at Revelation 19 and we looked at where this table is headed. And where it’s headed is a glorious, joyful wedding feast with Christ, who is our groom. In that passage, we read about the invitation that has gone out to this great feast.

Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:9

So here’s the question: To whom has this invitation gone out? Well, Jesus answers that question this morning. And he answers it in the way he often enjoyed doing, which was through a parable.

What’s a parable? It’s a short story. And the one we’re looking at this morning is one that we often call the prodigal son.

In Luke 15, Jesus’ invitation to God’s banquet table was not appreciated by everyone. It was causing some people to grumble and complain. Well, who was grumbling and why were they grumbling? Well, look at verse 2.

And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Luke 15:2

Luke tells us the two groups of people Jesus had welcomed into his fellowship, that he had welcomed to his table, who were they? Tax collectors and sinners. Sinners includes prostitutes and other people living in open sin.

But out of these two groups, it was the tax collectors who were despised the most because they were seen as traitors. Not only were they seen as thieves, but as traitors because Rome, who actually the Jewish people lived under, because Rome was the government that ran everything, they hired these Jewish men to collect these taxes and they got rich doing it often by collecting more than they should have. So they were deeply hated. Deeply hated.

But then here comes Jesus, and yeah, he preached at them. He did. He called them to repentance for their sins. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he ate with them. And that upset a lot of people.

According to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, this was just not something a good teacher of the law did. I mean, do you want to end up getting contaminated by their sin? That was the thinking. In that world, sharing your table meant sharing your life. That has implications for communion, doesn’t it? That’s how they viewed it. You ate with your people. And Jesus had the audacity to bring in these tax collectors and vile sinners and share a table with them. He was treating them like they were his people.

That’s the complaint in Luke 15. And Jesus answers it how he so often did through story.

First, Jesus tells them about a shepherd with 100 sheep who loses one. And he doesn’t say, ah, well, you know, that’s 99%. We’re good. No, he leaves the 99 to go after the one, finds the one, picks it up, brings it home, and rejoices. And Jesus tells us what that means. Verse 7.

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:7

There’s some irony in that, isn’t there? Did you catch that phrase, though? Joy in heaven, which is actually quite interesting considering we just looked at Revelation 19 last week and we saw the great Hallels, the hallelujahs, the numerous ones in there where God’s people, where heaven is shouting, hallelujah, why? Not over the salvation of a sinner comes home, but over the judgment of sinners. And the question we saw last week was whether we rejoice in God’s perfect justice. Well, today, the question’s a little different. The question is: Do we rejoice in God’s mercy and grace? Because the two go hand in hand. And that’s because our God is both merciful and he’s just.

Jesus then, after he gives that parable, he gives another quick one. He tells about a woman who loses one of her 10 silver coins. She lights a lamp. She sweeps her whole house. She searches diligently until she finds it. And what does she do when she finds the lost coin? She rejoices. And what’s Jesus’ point? Same point as the last parable. Verse 10.

Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Luke 15:10

Are you picking up on the pattern here? Lost, found, celebrate. That’s the pattern Jesus is laying out.

Well, Jesus gives one more story, just in case anyone there was like me in class and didn’t pick it up right away, right? He gives one more. And in verse 11, he tells us about a man who has two sons. And you’ve probably heard this parable called the parable of the prodigal son, which is unfortunate because there’s two sons. And sadly, that second son is often greatly overlooked. But as Keller points out, that son is just as important as the first. In fact, as I said in our opening, I think he’s probably more important for most of us here in this room.

After introducing us to this nice Jewish family in verse 12, Jesus then introduces us to a scandal. Look at verse 12.

And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’

Luke 15:12

And he, the father, divided his property between them.

Do you get what’s happening here and why this is a scandal? The son comes to his father and he says, Hey, Dad, that money of yours that I get when you die, you’re not dying quick enough. Can I have it now? Give it. It’s every bit as bad as it sounds. He’s saying, I don’t want to wait for the funeral. Give me my inheritance today. And yet, to the shock and surprise of everyone listening, this father doesn’t wrap him upside the head and kick him out of the house. No, he divides his property between them.

Okay, who’s the them? The father and the son? No. It’s between the sons, the older and the younger. So after he divides his share, the son packs up all his things, and what does he do? A few days later, he leaves for a far country.

And there, in that far country, he squanders his wealth in what Jesus calls reckless living. And I’m sure that was fun for a while, but then the party ends. And it does, because a famine hits the land. He runs out of his money. A famine hits the land. And this young man literally goes from riches to rags.

And so what he does then, he hires himself out to a man to feed the pigs for him. And right there, you would probably hear as Jesus told this story, like imagine you’re there 2,000 years ago, and Jesus hits that point in the story. What does everyone in that crowd do? They gasp. He’s hired himself out to feed pigs?

Well, why is that such a shock? Well, it’s because in God’s law, pigs were unclean. Do you see what’s happening here in this story? In the man’s riches, he went and lived an unclean lifestyle, very much so. And now, in his poverty, he’s living an unclean life amongst the unclean pigs. A lot of metaphor in there, isn’t there?

Sometimes we hear this young man, maybe you’ve heard this before, they say, oh, he was eating the pig food. No, he wasn’t. It says he wanted to eat the pig food, but he didn’t even have that. He was starving. And so, after realizing that pigs even have masters who care and feed for them, he gets a brilliant idea. He says, You know what? I’ll go home. Look at verse 17.

But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’

Luke 15:17–19

My, my, my. There is so much here in this parable. Think about this. What do we have? We have a young man, he chased the world with all of its sinful pleasures, and he ends up starving. Is that not a picture of what sin does to us? It absolutely is. It leaves us perishing with a hunger that can’t be satisfied. Sure, that might take years. But make no mistake, the famine is coming.

Luke says he came to himself. What does that mean? Well, that’s basically saying he woke up. He finally woke up and came to his senses. He wakes up to the fact that even his father’s hired servants have more than enough bread. They’re not going hungry. He wakes up to the fact that he has sinned not only against his father, which he did, but he’s sinned against heaven. He knows there’s no one to blame other than himself. He can’t point fingers.

There’s a word for this in the Bible. The word is called repentance. And repentance is a word that gets a bad rap in our culture, but it shouldn’t. Repentance leads us from a famine to a feast. It’s not the other way around.

What is repentance? Repentance is simply a change of the mind that results in a change of direction. You got to have both. You got to change your thinking enough to the point where it changes your direction. That’s what repentance is. And that’s exactly what this young man does. He doesn’t expect his father to take him back as a son, but as a servant. And that’s because he knows, now that his mind is changed, that he’s lost all right to be called a son. And so the best he’s hoping for is being a servant. The best he’s hoping for is to go back and get a job.

All right, so where does this leave us? Most of us have not packed up and left yet. But some of us have taken a room or two of our life to the far country. That relationship you know is wrong. That habit that is sinful, that you are feeding. That love of money that says, I am in charge of every cent in my checking account. Or how about this? That grudge that you will not let go. What I’m talking about is whatever part of your life that you’ve marked off limits to God and you said, no, God, this part’s mine. Whatever that is, that’s your far country. Just like the prodigal.

Now, maybe you’re here and you haven’t quite left yet, but maybe you’re like that son who took a few days to gather all of his things before setting out to the far country. You’re not there yet, but you’re about to head that direction. You’re packing up. Maybe you’re younger, kids, and you just don’t like your parents’ rules. You’re sick of them. And you’re counting the days until you can leave your parents’ house and you’re thinking, give me what’s mine. Let me live how I want today. What is that? It’s rebellion. It’s prodigal. It’s a prodigal heart. That’s what it is. Yeah, you can do that, but look at the text and know the famine is coming. So listen to your godly parents. Avoid the famine.

Or maybe you’re here today and you’re feeling the famine already. You’ve been in the far country, but you’re feeling the famine. The sin that gave you pleasure is no longer doing so. And so you’re hungry. You’ve seen that it costs more than it promised. And you’re wondering, you’re like, can I go home? Can I actually even go back to my father? Yes. Yes, you can. But here’s the thing: it requires one thing, and there’s no way around it. It requires repentance. It does. Repentance means waking up from your sinful stupor. It means you stop making excuses and blaming everyone else. It means you call your sin what it is in the same way David does in Psalm 51. What is it? Against you and you alone, Lord, have I sinned? That’s the mentality. It’s, yes, I’ve sinned against you, but you know what? Even worse, I’ve sinned against God. I’ve sinned against heaven. And then it means getting up and taking the first step, which is probably the hardest, heading back in the direction towards home.

Because look here, you can be as miserable as it gets. You can feel sorrow over your sin and the consequences of it, but you know what? You can do that while staying in the pig pen. That’s not biblical repentance. Feeling sorrow over your circumstances is not the same thing as true repentance. Why is that? Well, how did we define repentance a minute ago? I’ll remind you again: repentance isn’t just changing your mind. What else is it changing? Your direction. Your direction. And that’s what the prodigal son does as he heads home, hoping just for a job.

To enter the Father’s feast, we must first repent of our rebellion.

2. Receive the Father’s Welcome

Secondly, receive the Father’s welcome.

As the son is walking home, all right, so put on your imagination caps and just picture this. You can almost hear him rehearsing his response under his breath the whole way back. He’s walking, like, imagine this, right? He’s walking, Father, I have sinned. Father, I have sinned. You know, like he’s preparing this thing. Now, if you’re one of those Pharisees listening to Jesus, you know exactly how this conversation between the father and the son should go.

Like, you know. There’s no question about it because you know the law. You know what the law says about a stubborn and rebellious son who won’t listen, a glutton and a drunkard. What do you do with them? You bring them before the elders at the gate and you stone them. That’s it. It’s done. That son doesn’t deserve a welcome. He deserves a stoning at the gate.

But that’s not what happens here, is it? Look at verse 20.

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Luke 15:20

And before the son arrives at the house or even gets a single word out of his mouth for his apology, look at the text and how the father responds to him. He sees him. He feels compassion for him. And then he gets up and he runs to him. That’s not something a dignified Jewish father typically would do. Running was for children. But this father doesn’t care. He hoists up the loins. He heads out there and he sprints out after his son. He throws his arms around him. He doesn’t care what his son looks like or smells like. You ever see somebody come back from a farm? Not a good sight. Right? He doesn’t care. He hugs him and he kisses him. He embraces him with compassion.

As Keller points out, that word compassion, it’s a word the gospels often use for Jesus. What is compassion? Compassion is to be moved from the very depths of your being in love towards someone, which is not only how this boy’s father felt, it’s how God feels towards his children. That’s why Jesus uses that word. He felt compassion.

I’m sure this probably threw the son off completely. He was probably expecting at minimum a good scolding. But in verse 21, after being most likely knocked off his feet in shock and awe by how the father responds, the son finally, oh, yeah, yeah, father, I have sinned. He gets to it. Look at verse 21.

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

Luke 15:21

And notice where the son is when he finally gives this speech. Where is he? He’s wrapped in the father’s arms. He’s confessing his sin to a father who has already embraced him. He’s already hugged him. He’s already kissed him. And in response to this, look at the father’s response in verse 22.

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.’

Luke 15:22–23

Why? Verse 24.

‘For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:24

The father won’t hear any of it. Hurry, bring the best robe, put it on my boy. He clothes him, he puts his ring on his hand, shoes on his feet, and he calls for the fatted calf to be killed and cooked so they can throw a party, so they can celebrate. And why? Because what was lost has been found. That’s the third time Jesus has made that point in this chapter. The son who was dead is now alive. He was lost, but he’s now found. And because he’s found, the joy in heaven has come into this man’s home. The son came home ready to be a hired servant. And the father pronounces him as a dearly beloved son.

Church, that’s the kind of heavenly father we have. Our God is not sitting there with his arms crossed after we’ve sinned, after we’ve wandered, saying, This had better be good, tapping his foot. That’s not what he does. He runs to us, he clothes us in his righteousness. He slays the fatted calf and he celebrates. That’s why heaven rejoices when one sinner is found. And that is precisely why Jesus was not afraid to eat with sinners.

So if you’re here this morning and you’ve run from him, repent. Change your mind and then change your direction. Leave the pig pen and run to your father’s arms. You do not have to clean yourself up first. You don’t have to come with perfection, but with that direction. You just have to repent. Don’t believe the lie. Don’t believe it. Don’t believe the lie that he’ll reject you when you come. He won’t. He won’t make you a servant even. He’ll make you a son.

Well, the prodigal son has come home, but Jesus’ story isn’t finished yet because there’s one more son who never left home.

3. Respond to the Father’s Plea

To enter the Father’s feast, we must third respond to our father’s plea.

As the party gets going, the older son is out in the field. Of course he is, right? This is the older son, Mr. Reliable, right? Some of you had that sibling. I wasn’t him. But then he hears of the party. What does he do? He doesn’t get excited. He gets ticked off. He’s upset. Look at verse 25.

Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him.

Luke 15:25–28

After hearing about his prodigal brother, who has returned home, the older son is angry about how the father is treating him. And he’s so angry, he says, I’m not going to your stupid party. Not doing it. Are you seeing yet why Jesus told this story? Remember verse 2. What is Jesus doing? He’s eating. He’s dining with sinners.

Well, the religious leaders, they’re out there grumbling about it. They’re refusing to go into the party. This was Jesus’ absolutely brilliant way of forcing the religious leaders to look right in the mirror.

And so in verse 28, the father finds out his son won’t come home. He goes out to entreat him or to try to get him to come into the celebration. And first off, this father had run down the road for his son, but what does he do? Now he walks out of his own party to get his other son to come in.

But listen to the son’s response, verse 29.

But he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

Luke 15:29–30

What’s going on here? The older son is immediately building his case. Look, he says, these many years I’ve served you. Did you catch that? I. Look what I’ve done. The younger son came home to be a servant, but he was made a son. And the older brother, he never left, but he still sees himself as a servant. He’s keeping score: the years of service, the years of obedience, and what he never got.

Remember the big ghost? What did he say? I just want my rights. That’s the older brother. He doesn’t want the father’s grace. He wants his wages. And who does he want to celebrate it with? The father? No. His friends. That’s because he’s using his father as a means to an end.

But look at how blind he is. Look at how unawake this older brother is. He says, I have never disobeyed you. Yeah, sure. Okay. And yet, ironically, right now, you’re disobeying your father and humiliating him by refusing to go into the party. Hey, where’s your son? Ah, he’s out in the field. Why isn’t he in here? Yeah, about that. He’s humiliating his father. Are you hearing the words, the pride drip off this son’s words? Look what he says. This son of yours, he won’t even call his brother what he truly is, which is his brother.

Notice the description of the prodigal son’s sins. What did Jesus call it? Reckless living. What does the older son call it? Prostitutes. Now, maybe that’s true, but look at the narrative and how the older brother is framing it. He’s not framing his younger brother in the best possible light. He’s framing him in the worst possible light. Why is he doing that? It’s because that’s what an unforgiving heart looks like. Because an unforgiving heart does not understand grace.

Sadly, we’re not often very much different, are we? We’re not. Think about it. If somebody lies to you, what are they to you now? A liar. Oh, yeah, let me tell you about so-and-so. They’re a liar. That’s their name. That’s their scarlet letter. That’s what we do.

But what about yourself when you lie? Right? Anybody in this room not told a lie? You just lied if you said you’ve never lied. Okay? We’ve all lied. And yet, how do we frame ourselves when we lie? Oh, well, yeah, I shouldn’t have done that, but you’ve got to understand. See, here’s the thing: qualifiers, explanations. Or we’ll say, yeah, I did lie, but you know what? I’m reformed now. I’ve changed. I’m a truth teller now. Do you see the problem here?

I love how Keller describes this. He says, You treat yourself as a three-dimensional character while treating others as a two-dimensional character. That’s good.

But that’s the same error the Pharisees fell into. They thought they were righteous, obedient servants of God. After all, look at them. They never left home. They never went to the far country like the younger son and lived it up chasing the desires of the flesh and the world. But like the older son, the religious leaders’ hearts were far from the Father.

Church, do not underestimate how dangerous that same thing is for us today. So dangerous. I mean, look around this room. You’re all here, right? You’re at church on a Sunday morning. You’re not at home sleeping or watching the ballgame, all right? But at the same time, don’t you see the danger? You can never miss a Sunday. You can serve faithfully. You can sit in the same seat and sing songs and even take notes every single Sunday, but look at the older son and what it teaches us. That means you can do all those things while still standing outside of the Father’s house, refusing to come in. And what’s the proof of that? Your attitude towards your brothers and sisters, this son of yours. Let me tell you about them. They’re a liar.

How does this start in our hearts? It starts doing good things, serving faithfully, but then slowly beginning to think: you know what? I deserve this. God, you actually, you kind of owe me here. Look, these many years I’ve served you, God, and you know what? Now that I think about it, what do I have to show for it? You’ve never even given me a young goat to celebrate with my friends. That’s older brother syndrome.

Are you starting to see how this fits so well with communion? Think about this. Remember what we saw from 1 Corinthians 11. We saw from that text how your vertical relationship with God, your heavenly Father, is seen how through your horizontal relationships with one another. Communion is not just your solo, special me and God time. It’s not. We do this together as the body of Christ. You can’t have a feast by yourself, can you? It’s not a feast. Okay? A feast requires family, it requires people. And if you’re constantly looking down on your younger brothers with an attitude of contempt, with an attitude of judgmental superiority, Jesus’ point and Paul’s point, the point is very simple. The Bible’s point is you don’t get it. You still don’t get the Father’s heart. You’re just an older brother. The brother served his father. Why? For his father’s things, not for his father’s heart. That’s not what he desired. He wanted his things.

In verse 31, look at how the father responds.

And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.’

Luke 15:31

And then look what he says about the reason why he responded like he did to the prodigal. Verse 32.

‘It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’

Luke 15:32

The father once again responds with compassion, calling the older son his son. He says, Everything I have is yours. The father says it was fitting to celebrate. In other words, this was the just thing to do. This was the right thing to do. The father isn’t asking this older brother just to work up a feeling. He’s telling him, hey, you know what? I don’t care what you feel. This is true. This is right. This is good. This is beautiful. This is just.

And then he corrects him. Look at it. He doesn’t say, yes, this son of mine. No, that’s how the older brother described the younger brother. He describes him how as your brother. He’s your brother. He was dead and is now alive. He was lost but is found.

And then Jesus stops talking right there. We never find out what the older son does, if he comes back into the party or not. The music’s still playing. The father’s outside. The door is still open. And the reason Jesus stops the story there is because now it turns at you and it says, What are you going to do? He personalizes it. Are you going to come in or are you going to stay out? And Jesus is waiting for your response.

You can’t call God your father while refusing to call his forgiven children your brothers. So here’s the thing: if as I’m working through this text here with us this morning and you got a name coming to mind, what do you do? Matthew 5. Leave your gift at your altar. If your brother has an offense against you, leave your gift at the altar. Go and be reconciled and then come give your gift. God doesn’t want your gift, right? If you’re living in contempt and hatred towards another brother and sister. So if that name’s coming to your mind, don’t make excuses. Forgive them. Seek reconciliation. Why? Ephesians 4:32.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

That’s the reason.

Church, this is why forgiveness is not optional for a Christian. Look at the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us our trespasses. And if we don’t, guess what? Our Father won’t forgive ours. Not because we lose our salvation, but because we never had it. Because we don’t understand the Father’s heart. The older brother wouldn’t forgive his brother for one reason. The older brother didn’t think he needed much forgiveness himself.

But here’s the thing: when you truly come to understand—hear this, please—that the only difference between you and a prodigal is circumstances and grace completely changes your perspective. Completely changes it. It changes how you view them, and it changes how you view yourself. You don’t get to boast. Only Christ Jesus gets to boast. We are trophies of his grace.

And when you understand this, you no longer sit there with your arms crossed. You no longer lay there at night running the tapes over and over, turning that person into a two-dimensional character. Ah, they’re just a liar. There’s a thief. There’s a gossip. You don’t do that. Instead, you begin to see them as you see yourself, as a three-dimensional character, as a recipient of grace, grace, marvelous grace. And then you pray for them. Maybe it’s hard at first, but guess what? It gets easier. It does. You begin, you change your mind, and then you change your direction.

Doesn’t mean you hit perfection, right? You change your direction. You begin asking God, Lord, soften my heart towards this person, right? You don’t sit there and when you find out bad news, like something bad has happened to them, and say, all right, about time they got what’s coming to them. You pray, Lord, use this in their life to bring them to repentance and soften my heart.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending it never happened. The younger son didn’t get his inheritance back. It was gone. And broken trust does take time to rebuild. But it does mean you stop holding the debt over their head and you go seeking restoration, hoping that they will respond in repentance so you can slay the fatted calf and celebrate.

All throughout this chapter with Jesus’ parables, something is lost, someone seeks it, and someone celebrates when it’s found, except for here. Did you catch that? Every single parable, something or someone is lost, someone goes after it, and then they celebrate what is found, except for here. Why is that? Why is that?

In Jewish culture, we see this from Deuteronomy 21. It tells us how the older brother received two-thirds of the inheritance. Well, while the younger brother only got a third. Well, that’s just how they did it. But with that two-thirds inheritance, it was expected that the older son would take care of the father’s estate, that he would take a special responsibility to look after things.

And so, when Jesus gives us parable after parable of someone going after what is lost, and then he gets to his last one, and then nobody goes after what is lost, that’s an intentional omission. That’s not a, oops, I forgot this part. No, that’s on purpose. It’s to make a point.

See, it would have been whose responsibility to go after the younger brother? Not the father’s. It would have been the responsibility of the older brother. And who does the older brother represent here in Jesus’ parable? The religious leaders. It was their responsibility to chase after prodigals. And yet they didn’t because they did not believe that their God was a God of grace. They thought they were better than the lost. And so they refused to go after them and they refused to feast with them when they came home.

So many times, this story is basically turned into a moral on having a good attitude about forgiveness. Okay? Well, yeah, you need to do that, but we don’t just need a better attitude. That’s not the solution. What do we actually need? We need a better older brother.

Go back to verse 2. This man receives sinners and eats with them. The older son wouldn’t eat with his brother. The religious leaders wouldn’t eat with theirs either. And yet, who does? Jesus does. Jesus does. Jesus isn’t ashamed to call us brothers. And Jesus is the only good older brother who actually came after us when we wandered.

Hebrews 2:11. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. Unlike the older brother, Jesus came and sought us. That’s why Luke writes just a few chapters later, for the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.

This is why Keller calls Jesus our true elder brother. I love that. Jesus is the true elder brother. For Jesus is the older brother who left his father’s house in abundance and wealth to come and find us. And look at what it costs him. The older brother complained about having a small calf. Well, the older brother, the true older brother, Christ, gave his body and his blood so that we could have communion with him, so that we could feast with God and celebrate with him as heaven celebrates.

Remember Len, the big ghost? I haven’t got my rights. I should not be here. You will not get yours either. You’ll get something far better, he says. Church, that’s what Len told the big ghost. I haven’t got my rights and I should not be here, and you will not get yours either. You’ll get something far better. Do you see the gospel in that? We don’t want what we have coming. If we all got our rights, we’d be in hell. We get something far better if we come. Nobody comes to this table because they earned their rights. No. We come simply because Jesus, by the grace of God, through faith in his death and resurrection, gives us something far, far better.

Every time we gather at the table, it is a small picture of that future, far greater feast. On the night when he was betrayed, Jesus sat at that table. He took the bread and he said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. This is my cup. And he said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this in remembrance of me.

So when we come to the table, we come as younger brothers and sisters, not as hired servants. And even if we come in repentance after wandering off into the far country, we come knowing that our Father runs to us, ready to shower us with his love. And if we come as an older brother, we’re still invited in. Either way, we are invited into the wonderful feast through Jesus Christ. When our brothers and sisters come home, we offer forgiveness. We join them in celebration. Why? Because what was lost was now found. I was lost, but now found. You were lost, but now found. That’s what we celebrate at the table.

Father, we thank you for this time. We can look at your word. Lord, I just pray that through the foolishness of preaching today that your saints might have been built up, that sinners would respond to the gospel call if they haven’t, that they would look and live, and that we would all enter into your great feast through the cross, which is the only way in. Bless us now. We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen.

If you haven’t come home yet, this bread and cup, they can’t bring you home. They cannot save you at all. But the Son who paid for us can. So come to him first.