Two Brothers

I recently had opportunity to attend a Bible study at a friend’s house. They were looking at the story of the Prodigal Son, with which we’re all familiar. The younger of two sons asks his father for his share of the inheritance and squanders it on riotous living. When he finds himself destitute, feeding pigs, and not even having as much to eat as the pigs do, he decides to return home, asking his father for the place of a hired servant.

But the father, having compassion on his son, calls for a robe, a ring, and shoes for him to wear. He kills the fattened calf, and throws a party such as the neighborhood has never seen.

The older brother, coming in from a hard day’s work in the field, sees that a party is taking place and learns that his brother has come home. However, he is neither happy nor excited to see him. Instead, he becomes angry and refuses to even step foot inside the house. When his father comes out, trying to persuade him to join the party, he says, “This isn’t fair! I work hard for you all day, every day. And what is my reward? You don’t even give me enough to be able to have an occasional party with my friends. Now, this son of yours, who’s been gone for months on end, drinking, gambling, sleeping around, and who knows what else—he comes crawling home, and you have a feast! What’s going on here?”

The father reassures his eldest son of his status in the family, saying, “All I have is yours.” But he also tried to get him to see the reason for the party: “Your brother was lost, and now he is found. He was dead, but now he’s alive again.”

After reading the story from Luke 15, the group was posed with the question, “Which brother do you most identify with?” As we went around the room, it was interesting to hear people’s responses; which brother they identified with, and why. Some identified with the younger brother; some with the older. One gentleman said he’s always had a tendency to identify with the older brother, but is slowly learning to identify with the younger. Another said he used to really identify with the younger brother, but had to admit that, since becoming a Christian, he sometimes falls into the trap of being the older brother.

When the question got around to me, I said that I am the younger brother, desperately trying to be the older brother. I want to be the son who does what the father commands. I want to be the son whom the father can be proud of. But this is not what I am, and because of the Sin Nature living in me, I never can be. So I am always frustrated in the effort.

My friend then did an excellent job of bringing us all back to the point of the story. He said that we should not want to be either of the two sons. For each one, simply being loved and accepted by the father was not enough. Yes, the younger son did come to his senses and return home, giving us a beautiful picture of repentance. But early on, he couldn’t wait to get away from home; away from his father. The older son stayed home, he worked hard in the family business for his father, always doing what was asked of him. But he wanted grand recognition and reward for it. Just being with the father and being loved by the father was not good enough for him.

The fact is, both sons were accepted on the same basis: the grace and love of the Father. That should have been enough for them. And it should be enough for us.

Which of these two brothers do you most identify with? Try not to be that one, without becoming the other.