“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!’” Luke 15:28-30
The older
brother in the Prodigal son story represented the Pharisees who Jesus addressed
with this story. The younger brother
squandered and wasted his life while the older brother served diligently, doing
his job. He had no compassion for
sinners. The Pharisees didn’t care about
prostitutes, tax collectors and all people who ran from God. They only cared about their standing and the
rewards they deserved. But God’s heart
differs. He cares deeply about sinners
who repent and return home to God.
“‘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.’” Luke 15:31-32