In chapter 15 of the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells three parables to the people: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. These three stories have very similar themes: something is lost, and a loving symbol of God (shepherd, the woman with her coins and the father) finds the sheep, coin, and son. However, they all have different endings, and let’s be honest, one of them does not end happily.
While I do love the beautiful redemption story of the young son returning home, and the Father running to him, the actual ending of the story is very sad. Why is it so different from the other two parables?
In the story of the woman and her coins, she finds her lost coin and invites her entire neighborhood to celebrate. In the prodigal son story, the father “finds” his lost young son and invites everyone to celebrate, including the older son. All of the woman’s friends celebrated with her even though the coin wasn’t theirs; it was her loved coin. Still, they were happy she found what was hers. With the prodigal son story, we see the older son refusing to partake in the party because he thought the younger son wasn’t worthy of it.
25 “Now, the older son was out working in the field when his brother returned, and as he approached the house, he heard the music of celebration and dancing. 26 So he called over one of the servants and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ 27“The servant replied, ‘It’s your younger brother. He’s returned home, and your father is throwing a party to celebrate his homecoming.’ 28 “The older son became angry and refused to go in and celebrate. So his father came out and pleaded with him, ‘Come and enjoy the feast with us!’ 29 “The son said, ‘Father, listen! How many years have I been working like a slave for you, performing every duty you’ve asked as a faithful son? And I’ve never once disobeyed you. But you’ve never thrown a party for me because of my faithfulness. Never once have you even given me a goat that I could feast on and celebrate with my friends like he’s doing now. 30 But look at this son of yours! He comes back after wasting your wealth on prostitutes and reckless living, and here you are throwing a great feast to celebrate—for him!’” Luke 15:25-30 TPT
How many times have we walked close to God, done everything right according to the Word, and served the Lord? We’ve put in our time, sometimes even money, to bless His kingdom. Then we start looking at that one brother/sister in Christ that you know did not pray as hard as you did, maybe are not as loyal with their tithings like you may be, they miss church all the time, and yet they get a big blessing from God.
And you see yourself watching God throw a massive feast to the “inferior", undeserving Christian from afar. I quickly become just like the older brother, screaming to God - “this is not fair, I’ve done everything right, this person did everything wrong, why him, why her, why not me?”
But look at what the son is complaining about: “But you’ve never thrown a party for me because of my faithfulness. Never once have you even given me a goat that I could feast on and celebrate with my friends like he’s doing now.” v.29b.The older son wanted the glory for his faithfulness, he wanted a celebration, recognition of worth.
Let me be honest here: God doesn’t work on throwing parties for how faithful you are. You don’t get a bonus check at the end of the year for reading the entire Bible. We should be grateful that He is not a God that only celebrates us when we do everything right. Honestly, if God threw parties for being "perfect", I don’t know about you...but I would’ve had 0 parties thrown for me.
Who are we to demand God to be fair? If we want him to be fair, he would destroy the Earth again and throw us all in hell. We can’t forget that’s what we deserved. Paul says in Romans, “for we all sinned, we all fall short of the Glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
It's so hypocritical of me to always want God's embrace and blessings, yet all I do is get offended and refuse to celebrate other people's victories. How can I sit here and pray for God to celebrate ME, when I can't even celebrate someone else, when they need it most. For what? Solely because I think I deserve it more? Because the other person isn't worthy enough?
The story ends right there, the older son never enters the Father’s house. Jesus meant for the older son to symbolize the Pharisees that were judging him for eating and drinking with sinners, and I have to be honest - I’ve acted like the older son so many times in my life. Have you?
The honest story of the prodigal son is that the father lost two sons in the beginning, one came back and was found. While the older, was so close to the father’s house but yet thought he was too good to be found.
Have you been complaining about God “preferring” someone else over you? Then let me tell you what the loving Father answered to his son: “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” Luke 15:31
Song Recommendation: Undo - Rush by the Fools
