Luke 15:25-32 (3)

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-If you would, please turn to Luke 15 one final time.

Lord willing, we’re gonna finish it up this morning.

And as you’re turning...

…let me remind you that...

...the WHOLE chapter was Jesus...

Responding to a singular complaint.

The complaint was lodged in Verse 2:

Luke 15:2 (ESV)

2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

And to respond to that...

…Jesus told them three stories:

The story of a lost sheep

The story of a lost coin

The story of a lost son

In all three of them…

…he had answered the pharisees’ complaint:

In Verse 7 (lost sheep), he had said it like this:

Luke 15:7 (ESV)

7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

In Verse 10 (lost coin), he had said it like this:

Luke 15:10 (ESV)

10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

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And then in verse 11...

…he had launched into a...

Third and final

But much longer and more detailed, story.

And, that’s the one we’ve been looking at...

…for the past two weeks.

That first week, we had focused on...

The initial rebellion

But subsequent repentance

…of the younger of the man’s two sons.

Last week, our focus had been...

On the gracious...

And even JOYOUS...

…response of the young man’s father (to his repentance).

Today, our primary focus...

…is going to be on the man’s older son.

Through him (through his character in the story)...

Jesus brings his response...

…to the murmuring Scribes and Pharisees full circle.

-Alright, let’s read the whole story again...

And then we’ll focus on those last 8 Verses.

Luke 15, beginning in Verse 11.

This is the inerrant and inspired...

…word of the Lord:

Luke 15:11–32 (ESV)

11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons.

12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.

13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.

14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.

15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!

18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’

20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.

23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

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.’ ”

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Pray

-We had ended our story last week...

…with the father of the prodigal...

Restoring his formerly wayward son...

Making a declaration of celebration.

He had told his servants in...

Luke 15:23–24 (ESV)

23 ...bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ . . .

And like the week before...

…we had ended with a statement...

…that had intimated that...

…the story wasn’t quite finished:

He had said, at the end:

And they began to celebrate...

-BUT… in Verse 25, the story...

…takes yet another turn.

Look at with me.

Luke 15:25 (ESV)

25 “Now his older son was in the field...

(NIV begins with, “meanwhile”)

This remind us of two things:

1.) This was the firstborn son.

The primary heir and administrator of the estate

2.) While the younger son had been living prodigally...

…this son had remained home...

...dutifully working in his father’s estate.

So, he APPEARS to be...

The better

More responsible

More faithful

…of the man’s two sons.

In fact, at first glance...

…he appears to be a model son!

But, let’s read on:

Luke 15:25 (ESV)

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.

So try to envision this scene:

You’re out working in the dust and the heat...

After a long day’s work...

…you’re hungry and tired...

…and you’re making your way to the house...

…and you start to hear...

…the faint sound of laughter and music...

But, even though you’re the...

....assistant manager of the estate...

…no one has said anything to you about it.

What in the world...

…could possibly explain...

…why someone would have hired a band...

…and “bought” all of that food...

…without first informing you about it, right?

(I’ll tell you where my vain mind would go…)

(It must be a surprise party… FOR ME!)

Let’s read on:

Luke 15:26 (ESV)

26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.

Again, if the party’s not in his honor...

…then it doesn’t bode well that...

…none of the servants...

…had thought to come tell him about it before now.

(Already we’re seeing indications, that...

…perhaps his wasn’t the model of perfect sonship...

…that he hitherto seemed to be).

-Now, In Verse 27, his servant responds:

He tells him the catalyst behind all of that Joy!

(And it isn’t him)

Luke 15:27 (ESV)

27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come...

I know this is a fictional story...

But, if it were happening in a real life scenario...

...do you think that would have been...

…anywhere even close...

…to what he was expecting to hear?

I would assume NOT!

Especially this part:

Luke 15:27 (ESV)

27 ...Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’

Now, let me point something out...

…that’s easy for us to overlook in that.

Contrary, to what the older brother assumed...

The purpose of this party...

Wasn’t to honor the derelict younger brother.

Was to express the delight of the father.

(The feast is an overflow of his inner joy)

(It’s celebrating his happiness)

Look at that last clause again:

Luke 15:27 (ESV)

27 ...your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back...

This isn’t ultimately about the younger son.

It’s ultimately about the father.

-And that makes Verse 28...

…all the more telling.

Here’s how the older son responds:

Luke 15:28 (ESV)

28 But he was angry and refused to go in...

One commentator I read said that...

“the Greek word used there...

…denotes an explosive rage!”

He is hurt, offended, “ticked off”

And, in his great wrath...

…he REFUSES to have anything to do...

...with his father’s celebration.

-Now, notice 2 immediate problems in that...

…before we read on:

1.) His apostate brother had repented!

He’s no longer...

Bringing dishonor to his family

Bringing dishonor to his father

Bringing dishonor to his nation

Bringing dishonor to his father’s God!

And yet, far from delighting in that...

He’s ENRAGED!

2.) Seeing his mourning father happy again...

…does nothing for him!

He seems completely unmoved by it (at best)

At worst, he despises him for it!

And he refuses to celebrate with him...

…even though it would shame and embarrass him!

-Now, let’s ask ourselves, why?

Why does this make him so angry?

Well, I think Jesus is illustrating something...

Very Deep

Very Universal to our fallen human experience

That we can all relate to

I think it’s similar to Jonah’s response...

to God’s response...

to Nineveh's repentance?

Jonah 3:10–4:3 (ESV)

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

He was angry...

…that they didn’t get what was coming to them!

Can we relate to that?

But, we need to be careful with that.

Here’s why:

Jonah 4:4 (ESV)

4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

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Guys, did he… do well to be angry?

Was it reasonable?

Was it reasonable for the older son in our text?

Had the father’s forgiveness of the younger son...

…or the father’s joyous celebration...

…brought insult or injury to him?

Well, not in reality, no...

But in his own proud mind, it did!

-Alright, let’s read on...

…and as we do...

…notice the similarities...

…to the father’s encounter with the younger son.

Luke 15:28 (ESV)

28 ...he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,

Once again, the father is merciful and gracious...

...to an insubordinate son.

Once again, he bears the shame...

…and goes out in pursuit of a disobedient son.

He calls him to come in and celebrate with him!

He calls him to come in and share in his joy!

-But, the son responds like this (Verse 29):

(In it, we see the depravity of his self-righteous heart)

Notice the NASB rendering:

Luke 15:29 (NASB95)

29 “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! . . .

Does that sound like...

A respectful interjection?

It sounds like...

An arrogant, insolent interjection!

From that interjection, he launches...

...a self-righteous indictment against his father:

Luke 15:29 (ESV)

29 ...these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command...

“served” is the verbal form of the noun “slave” or “bondservant”

(is he being an obedient slave now?)

He is deceiving himself, isn’t he?

I think the New English Translation...

…captures the essence well:

Luke 15:29 (NET)

29 . . . ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends!

Luke 15:30 (ESV)

30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

What’s he accusing his father of?

Injustice!

Unrighteousness!

False-Balances!

He’s telling his father:

You're Unjust!

You gave my wicked, licentious brother...

…that which he didn’t deserve!

But, you’ve withheld from me...

…that which I’VE EARNED!

…that which YOU OWE ME!

Guys, this son was just as lost as his younger brother.

He was just lost in a different way!

He was lost in his own pride and self-righteousness!

He had the same level...

…of contempt for his father...

…that his younger brother had had...

…prior to his repentance and conversion.

He had served his father dutifully...

But, he had done so out of...

A servile, self-seeking fear.

A proud, arrogant, boastful, self-centered heart.

Not out of gratitude and respect.

-Remember to whom this is being directed:

Luke 15:2 (ESV)

2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

What were they doing?

What was the older brother doing?

What was the blind spot?

It was this malady of heart:

Luke 18:11 (ESV)

11 . . . ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men....

Of that disposition of heart...

...Luke had said:

Luke 18:9 (ESV)

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:

Those two things go together!

Self-Righteousness

Condescension toward others

Let’s be warned, brethren:

1 John 1:8–10 (ESV)

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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And brethren, if we recognize ourselves as we really are...

We’ll celebrate when even the grossest of sinners...

Repent of their sins

Put their faith in Jesus Christ!

If our hearts are right toward our Father...

…we’ll delight in the joy that they bring him...

And, we won’t care at all, that...

We labored in his field longer than they did...

But still get the same eternal reward!

Why?

Because we’ll recognize that...

We don’t deserve it anymore than they did.

It was the Father’s goodness that made us his heirs...

And not our own worth or merits!

J.C. Ryle said it like this:

The man who really feels that we all stand by grace and are all debtors, and that the best of us has nothing to boast of, and has nothing which he has not received—such a man will not be found talking like the ‘elder brother.’ — J.C. Ryle

Amen, and Oh Me, right?

-Alright, look at Verse 31.

The father is so patient and so gracious...

…with his disrespectful, accusing, and self-righteous son.

Watch the tenderness with which...

…he responds to the false-accusations...

…that he had made against him:

Luke 15:31 (ESV)

31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

(“son” is “teknon,” instead of the more common “huios”)

More affectionate and endearing

What’s he doing?

He’s reassuring him that...

…the reconciliation of his younger brother...

…in no way damages him:

He’s not reneging on the contract that was signed...

…when the younger son left.

Furthermore, he’s reminding him of this:

What more could any son want? Everything that belonged to his father belonged to him. He had it all, every day: the best robe in the house, the ring of inheritance, the shoes of sonship.

All of that stuff that he’s jealous of...

Was his all along!

Even the fatted calf was his to enjoy, if only he would come and sit down for dinner. But more than any of that, he had a son’s greatest blessing, which was his father’s love. He was always with his father. — Ryken

So, the older son had not, and would not...

…suffer any wrong...

…by the grace that had been extended to his little brother.

-Furthermore, look at Verse 32:

Luke 15:32 (ESV)

32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”

“fitting” = binding or necessary!

Not just “my son,” but “your brother”

It’s not just okay...

It’s compulsory!

It HAS to be celebrated!

To NOT celebrate it...

…would be the actual injustice!

-Let me ask you brothers to come up...

And begin to distribute the elements...

As I read this concluding quote from Philip Ryken:

He says this:

The Scripture says that by virtue of both his humanity and his charity, Jesus rejoices to call himself our brother (Heb. 2:11).

As our brother, he has offered full and perfect obedience to the Father—not self-righteousness, but righteousness itself.

Rather than clutching to his Father’s riches, he gave them all up to come looking for lost sinners.

At the expense of his own life, he has given us the robe of his righteousness, the ring to his kingdom, and the feast of his grace.

Now the prodigal God is welcoming us into the embrace of his fatherly love.

He is calling us back from the far country of our sin.

He is pleading with us to set aside our self-righteousness and join him in receiving other sinners.

Will you taste the banquet of his joy? — Ryken

Brethren, Jesus did for his people...

…what the Scribes and Pharisees...

…were unwilling and utterly incapable...

…of doing for theirs.

And the Lord’s table reminds us of that beautifully!

-His body was given for us:

He rendered the perfect human obedience...

…that God required of us...

…in his earthly life!

He then went to the Cross...

…to bear the judgment that was due to our disobedience.

-His blood was shed for us:

He rendered complete satisfaction to the impeccable demands of divine justice

He cleansed us of our guilt

He washed us clean

Ensured our full forgiveness.

Made us acceptable as sons

He has done it!

He has done it all!

We simply look to him in faith...

…and receive what he has done.

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Let’s pray.

Alright, let’s commemorate his perfect work:

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 (ESV)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:25–26 (ESV)

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

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