January 25, 2024

Believe it or not, the older brother is the main point of Jesus’ story. He’s telling it in response to what we read back in the first two verses where Jesus is sitting, talking, and eating with people who were “notorious sinners,” and the religious leaders get mad. Using the older brother to illustrate the hearts, minds, and attitudes of the Pharisees and others, Jesus drives a few pretty profound points home.
One is that you don’t have to leave home to be “lost.” As I mentioned in an earlier devotional, we typically think of sin as an act or some kind of behavior. But Jesus points out over and over again that sin is birthed in our hearts and minds. In Matthew, He tells us that lust and anger are the same as adultery and murder. Ouch!
Another point is that knowledge is not the same as transformation. The Pharisees knew A LOT about God. But they hadn’t allowed that knowledge to change their hearts and minds. They felt that their rituals and sacrifices were what made them righteous. But they didn’t. They only made them arrogant. When you truly encounter God, you become blatantly aware of your own sin and your own unworthiness before God. THAT’S the beginning of righteousness. There’s a big difference between being religious and being godly.
Last, people with the “older brother syndrome” have a hard time being happy about the blessings of others. It wasn’t as if the father was taking something from the older brother to celebrate his lost son coming home. It wasn’t the older brother’s house they were celebrating in. It wasn’t the older brother’s calf that was being used for the meal. But when you think of being right with God as something you have to earn, you have a hard time being happy about God giving a blessing to someone you know didn’t earn it. The “older brother syndrome” robs you of an important perspective. None of us earn ANYTHING from God. It’s all a gift. Even for those of us who never went far from home. That’s God’s Word for you today.