Articles
The Rebuke and Restoration of the 'Righteous' Luke 15:25-32
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 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.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 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. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 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 15:25-32)
Long was the journey which led the younger son into immoral behavior of every sort and deep was the chasm of sorrow into which he fell when his inheritance so quickly ran out. The father's mercy and joy reached from on high and spanned that deep recess to where his son was and then lifted him up to the place of the father's joy apart from conditions of worthiness or payment for restitution for things which were squandered. The return and recovery of his son were all that mattered to the loving father.
Such mercy and grace are too wonderful. Such mercy and grace are unbelievable. Such mercy and grace were too much for the 'righteous' son to contemplate or accept.
No doubt in his mind he had thought of how his younger brother had hated their father and wounded him when he asked for his inheritance. He had not stolen it, for it was his to do with as he pleased, but in leaving so quickly and cutting himself off from their family, he had grieved their father, and the older brother saw that and hated what he had done to him. The older brother decided that he would never forgive him for that. He would carry the burden of that offence toward his brother for his father. This was a burden his father never asked him to carry but there was also another scar on the elder brother's heart.
In the mind of the older brother the younger brother had betrayed him. Though the circumstances of the departure are not expressly stated, other than his impudent request, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me’ (Luke 15:12) his hasty departure to a far country showed his contempt for his father and his family. The older brother felt this on a personal level when he remained at home and served his father faithfully all the while his brother lived it up and utterly wasted his precious inheritance. No doubt he resented the added burden of responsibility in his brother's absence. He chaffed under the weight of work which fell to him that should have been shouldered by his brother. He was also probably jealous of the pleasures of the lifestyle which his brother was living (ignorant of the fact that this 'lifestyle' would only lead to a degenerate and depraved existence in the end). He imagined that his brother was happy and full while he suffered difficulty and sacrificed his pleasure to do the things which his father asked of him.
But the older brother also resented his father and we can see this by his answer to him. "But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’" (Luke 15:30). Those who carry their bitterness rehearse it over and over in their minds as their wound festers and worsens. As if the father had hated him and punished him for his faithfulness all those years. In his mind, he was justified for resenting his younger brother and for hating his father but in truth, neither was right and both infected his soul with a brooding darkness.
When the father showed his love toward the wayward son, he did not cease loving the faithful one, nor did it diminish him in his eyes. The reassurance and confirmation of the father are the words that this older brother needed to hear. He called him "son", for that he was, and he assured him that he had seen his faithfulness. Our Father is not ignorant of our lives. He is not been blind to our perseverance and sacrifices through the years, for he says, "You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours." (Luke 15:31) How those words should fill our hearts! God is faithful and he is generous with his abundant riches and every spiritual blessing. This son had lost sight of the goodness of his father and the secure favor which he had received from him. Goodness so precious that the younger son had seen it when he was in the depth of loss. A benefit so worthy that he came back in hope of just being in the shadow of his father's favor. A blessing so wonderful that his father freely welcomed him back into the fullness of his favor. Something which the older son and brother always had right in front of him but somehow failed to see it.
If there is a rebuke which can be directed toward those who are holy and faithful it is these words with which the father rebuked his older son. We must not resent God's goodness toward those who repent nor should we imagine that God's goodness toward us will ever fail.
Let us rejoice whenever an erring or lost soul returns to their God.
"Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)
