The Two Lost Brothers

Introduction

When you hear the word lost, what comes to mind?

Recently, at the high school, I met a boy in the corridor heading out for lunch. On his face was a sudden look of panic—he had realised he’d lost his glasses. What followed was twenty minutes of searching everywhere, retracing his steps again and again. His anxiety only grew as the glasses refused to appear. Thankfully, he later discovered them in his school bag that evening.

I don’t know when you last felt lost. Maybe your sat-nav sent you on a strange detour. Or perhaps you’ve been on a forest walk with coloured markers on wooden posts meant to guide you, only to notice you’ve passed the same one three times in fifteen minutes. Being lost is a horrible feeling.

Losing a loved one is something every one of us will face, and it may be one of the hardest experiences in life. Losing possessions, losing money, losing people—when something is lost, it is rarely good news.

Jesus speaks directly about lostness in this chapter. He uses three short parables to convey what it means to be lost, but also the joy of finding something. The lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. However as we’ll see it’s really the parable of the lost sons. Now we aregoing to focus on the third parable today.

To understand what Jesus is saying, we need to picture his original audience. Two groups were listening: tax collectors and sinners on one side, and the religious Pharisees on the othe. When considering the audience we can see the brilliance of Christ in crafting a story that fits his audience so perfectly.

Tax collectors and sinners were seen as outcasts—rejected by religious leaders like the Pharisees, who viewed them as morally compromised. Tax collectors were especially despised for working with the Roman Empire and often exploiting their own people. “Sinners” was a broad label for those who openly broke Jewish law.

The Pharisees, meanwhile, were a prominent religious group known for strict adherence to the Torah and oral traditions. They also carried a reputation for hypocrisy, emphasising ritual while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

What’s fascinating is that Jesus’ audience essentially becomes the characters in his story—a remarkable teaching strategy. And yet this parable speaks far beyond those two groups; it speaks to the human condition. The lostness described is one every person experiences outside of Christ. But this story doesn’t just diagnose our condition—it reveals the very nature of God. It contains the good news of the gospel in miniature.

That sets the scene—who was there, and who was listening. For many people this is their favourite parable.

The late Tim Keller wrote an excellent book on this passage, and in its opening he credits his mentor, Ed Clowney, whose teaching on Luke 15 reshaped his understanding:

“Listening to Ed on this changed the way I understood Christianity. I almost felt I had discovered the secret heart of Christianity. Over the years I have often returned to teach and counsel from the parable. I have seen more people encouraged, enlightened, and helped by this passage, when I explained the true meaning of it, than by any other text.”

Now I want to spend the rest of our time considering three headings that will help us compare and contrast the two brothers, gaining insight into the human condition and into the character of God the Father.

1. Recklessness and Ruin

Obvious nature of the sin

Let’s begin by looking at the younger brother.

His sin is obvious — wild living and open rebellion.

When I first heard this story as a child, the younger brother was always the character who stood out. Perhaps that’s because I’m a younger brother myself, but more likely it’s because his rebellion is so dramatic. If there were newspaper headlines about the two sons’ treatment of their father, the younger brother would dominate the front page. The older brother might get a quieter mention somewhere in the back.

In the cultural setting of Jesus’ day, the younger son’s request was shocking. To demand an early inheritance was essentially to declare, “I wish you were dead.” Even today, such behavior would be deeply offensive. The original hearers of this parable would have felt the weight of his dishonor immediately.

Listen to the wording in verse 12: “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.”

No respect. No hesitation. No please. He simply wants what he believes he is owed, and he wants it now. In that moment he turns his back on his father, choosing separation, independence, and self-rule. We see here that the younger son wanted the gifts of the father but did not want the father himself. He believes the father to be restrictive and witholding. and so he rebells in a very blantant manner.

The expectation might be that this father would refuse or disown his son—but one of the real shocks, perhaps the greater scandal, comes in verse 12: he actually does it. He gives his son exactly what he asked for. In the first century, there were no banks or trust funds waiting for a child’s inheritance. To give a son a third of his estate meant liquidating his wealth—selling land, cattle, and sheep—essentially parting with everything he owned. And that’s exactly what the father does. He lets go of his possessions, divides his estate, and sends his son on his way.

Some of us may relate closely to this kind of outward rebellion. Others may not see themselves as “wild,” but look at verse 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.”

Before the reckless living ever began, something deeper had already happened: he walked away. His outward behavior was simply the fruit of an inward posture — a heart convinced that life apart from the father would be more fulfilling.

To picture this in modern terms, imagine a father transferring a large sum of money to his son. The moment the notification appears on the son’s phone, he grabs his keys and leaves without so much as a thank you. He doesn’t look back. His course is set. The audacity is striking — yet Scripture tells us this is not far from our own natural posture toward God.

Are we any different?

The Bible is clear:

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to our own way.” “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” “There is none righteous… no one seeks after God.” “There is no one who does not sin.” “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves.”

Before coming to God in repentance, we stand in the same place as the younger son — turned away, convinced our own path is better.

Perhaps you are still on this path. Perhaps for years you have wanted nothing to do with God. Or maybe you’ve never lived what the world would call a reckless life, yet you still feel the pull to wander — to drift from God and chase what seems more exciting or satisfying.

Many Christians can testify to seeking fulfillment in all the wrong places, only to find emptiness. That emptiness is exactly what the younger brother discovers. You see the younger brother left his father belibeing that he would find freedom, adventure, independece anr excitement but instead of free dom he found bondage and poverty. Sin always decieves.

The age old story of rebellion and it’s false promise

This kind of recklessness isn’t new. In fact, the very first sin in Scripture followed the same pattern. All the way back in the Garden of Eden, sin began with deception. The serpent didn’t start by tempting Adam and Eve to break rules — he began by planting a lie about God. “Did God really say…? You will not surely die… God is holding out on you.” The enemy convinced them that life apart from God would be better, fuller, more exciting. That God’s way was restrictive. That independence would lead to freedom. But just as in the parable, the moment they reached for that false freedom, everything began to unravel.

The younger brother is simply reenacting this ancient story. He believes the same lie: that the father is holding him back, that joy is somewhere “out there,” that real life is found away from the Father’s presence. The tragedy of Eden repeats itself again and again in the bible The Tower of Babel - Genesis 11 ,Israel's Golden Calf Idolatry - Exodus 32, Refusal to Enter the Promised Land - Numbers 13–14, King Saul's Disobedience - 1 Samuel 15, The Prophet Jonah's Flight - Book of Jonah, King David's Sin with Bathsheba - 2 Samuel 11–12, Judas Iscariot's Betrayal - Matthew 26–27

And here in the far country it repeats itself. Sin is rebellion against God. Whene e believe that sin can offer us something God will not.

The younger brother’s famine reveals that the worldly pleasure people so often seek are temporary. They may satisfy for a little while but they do not last. The far country has no lasting joy. But that’s not the end of the story. .

2. Recognition and Return

Lk 15:17-20a

He makes a decision

A key detail that we shouldn’t miss is the younger son’s decision to return.

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.

This man had to reach the point where he understood just how lost he was. His eyes were opened and he came to the realisation that life is better with the Father. He comes to his senses but his repentance is not purely a result of his bad circumstances.

The ugliness of sin

He gives us an example of genuine repentance because he has realised the ugliness of his sin.. He has already received his inheritance and spent it all. He regards his actions as being so reprehensible that he deserves to be cut off from his family.

Do we view sin that way?

When we have sinned and we come to God, even as Christians, do we sometimes just saunter into his presence? We often can be guilty of not appreciating the ugliness and offensiveness of sin.

We might not view our sin as bad as that of the younger brother but we can often we forget the holiness of God. God is set apart from creation and set apart from any evil

But God’s holiness also has a moral side.Because He is holy, He cannot be close to sin. He is completely pure. Sin cannot live in His presence.

God never does wrong.

God never thinks wrong.

God never approves of what is wrong.

God is perfect in every way.

This is why when people understand God’s holiness, they not only feel small — they also feel sinful. They see the contrast between God’s purity and their own impurity. In light of this we are all called to repentance.

We considered earlier the posture of the brother as he turned his back. well notice in verse 20a the posture again.

And he arose and came to his father. Repentance is more than feeling — it is action. He doesn’t just think about going home; he gets up and goes. His repentance is a change of mind leading to a a change of direction

3. Reconciliation and Rejoicing

Lk 15:20b-24

The seeking love of the Father

Here in the story Jesus illustrates the grace of God. It’s the part of the story that the Pharisees cannot comprehend. They would be listening to the story and they would have been anticipating justice. They would expect the father to reject the son. What happens would shock them to their core.

The Father, despite having to sell all his stuff to gratify the son, in seeing him return with nothing, picks up his robe and runs towards him and embraces him. The word here for embracing literally means that he fell upon him. He fell upon his son and kissed him.

The son says no Dad listen I am here to confess my sin to you and I will just work away on the farm I am not worthy to be your son and what does the father say “ Go get the best robe, find my ring, get shoes for the boy, kill the fattened calf he are having a party tonight!”

In the son’s worst moment his father showers him with nothing but love, something the religious hearers would be losing their minds at.

I once heard in a sermon the story of Steven Curtis Chapman’s family. Steven Curtis Chapman is a contemporary American Christian singer songwriter.

Many years ago he and his family experienced the devastating accident in which their teenage son unintentionally struck and killed his younger sister.

Years later in an interview Steven told of how his first instinct in that moment as he got in the car to take his daughter to hospital was to look in his son's eyes and shout, “Your father loves you!” Your father loves you!”

Just as the prodigal’s father saw his broken, guilt-ridden child “a long way off” and ran to him with compassion before the son could even speak, Chapman chose immediate forgiveness rather than anger or accusation. He refused to let a child’s worst moment define their identity.

God our Father, who meets us in our most broken places with mercy, restores our identity, and declares over us the words we least expect but most need: “Your Father loves you.”

We see the love of the father earlier in the chapter. Turn with me to Luke 15:1–8 “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 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.”

God is the one who seeks out lost sinners and welcomes them home. It is purely by his grace that we are welcomed home and find restoration for our souls. He welcomes the prodigal and he transforms him. The Father was well within his rights to refuse his son’s apology.but listen to the words of the father as he explains to the older brother the celebrations. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”

More than forgiven

And he doesn’ He clothes him in the best robe and goves us a feast beyond what any of us could possibly deserved. Friends this is the grace of the gospel, the good news is that our father in heaven does not count our sins against us. “as far as east is from the west, so far He has removed our transgressions from us.” but on top of that 1 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Just like the younger brother if we are in Christ, our father clothes us with a robe of righteousness. We are welcomed to feast and enjoy all blessings and pleasures of being part of his household. Not mainly because we have said sorry, but because of the goodness of God.

4. Resentment and Restoration

A bitter older brother

Sadly, there are some who will never accept this grace and refuse to join the party as it were. The grace of the Father would not have sat well with the Pharisees and again the genius of Jesus here is that the older brother’s mood is perfectly aligned with what many of the Pharisees would have felt.

Turn with me now to chapter 15 and verse 25 where the focus of the parable shifts to the other brother.

Lk 15:25-32

We find the brother out working in the field and as he is walking back to the house he hears a joyful party. He asks one of the servants what is going on and the news that his brother has returned is given to him.

Now any of you who hear today who had siblings growing up can maybe relate to what the older brother is experiencing at this moment. When your sibling does something wrong you want them to get punished. You want them to get what they deserve. When you feel like you have done your chores, you want justice if your brother has not done his bit! We read here that the brother is bitter and angry towards his father. In verse 28 we read, “ he was angry and refused to go in”.

Instead of rejoicing that his lost brother was found, the older brother responds with resentment. Remember his audience here.

This attitude reflects the scribes (teachers of the law) and Pharisees’ complaint about Jesus’ fellowship with sinners (v. 2). We read in verse 2 that they grumbled.

He feels entitled and he is self righteous. He refuses to go and join the celebration. It reveals a hardness of heart and someone who has a wrong understanding of the law.

The entitlement is further revealed. “Look, all these years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command, yet what have you given me?”

What we discover here is that yes the younger brother broke the rules but the older brother was keeping the rules for all the wrong reasons. He didn’t obey his father because he loved him, he obeyed him ultimately for selfish reasons.

The younger son came to a place where he felt unworthy because of his sin

The older son felt of himself as worthy and has no regard for his sin.

How often do we share this attitude in the different parts of our lives? At work we maybe want too see the person who is cutting corners and not putting in the same effort to be found out and disciplined. Or in a marriage, do we count the number of household chores that we’ve done and compare that with our spouse. Maybe we are even guilty of the church. Look at the amount of rotas I am on and how much I am doing, such and such isn’t pulling their weight.

There is a temptation to be a pharisee just as much as there is a temptation to be a prodigal. And in the story the older brother is just as lost as the younger. With the older brother we see true legalism which is the belief that your salvation depends upon total obedience to the letter of the law.

Galatians 3:10–13

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Trying to be made right with God by perfectly following the law results in a curse because no one can succeed. Christ removed this curse and provided justification by faith through his sacrifice on the cross.

Sometimes, even if we are Christians, we can struggle to accept this.

Les Mis

The attitude of the older brother here reminds me of the Les Miserables story. I don’t know how many of you have read the book, seen the play or watched the film but it's a great story and I’m sorry but there may be one or two spoilers here. In fairness it was written in 1862 so it's not as if I am spoiling the newest blockbuster.

It follows the story of Jean Valjean, a man who spends 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. Hardened and bitter, he expects the world to treat him as nothing more than a criminal. But his life changes when a bishop shows him unexpected mercy—an act of grace that transforms Valjean into a compassionate, honorable man who devotes the rest of his life to helping others.

Opposite him stands Inspector Javert, a police officer who becomes Valjean’s relentless pursuer. Javert is a man of strict law and order. He sees the world in simple, rigid categories: good people obey the rules, bad people break them. For him, a person’s identity is permanently fixed by their past. Once a criminal, always a criminal. Javert finds security, purpose, and even a kind of righteousness in enforcing the law without exception. Mercy is foreign to him.

As the story progresses, Valjean and Javert’s paths cross again and again. Eventually, the tables turn: during a rebellion in Paris, Valjean captures Javert, who had been acting as a spy among the revolutionaries. In that moment, Valjean holds Javert’s life in his hands. He has every reason and every opportunity to kill the man who has hunted him for years. Instead, he cuts Javert’s bonds, tells him he is free, and sends him away unharmed. Hugo writes of Javert’s stunned reaction: “He felt that he was disarmed forever… This convict had been his savior.” Confronted by undeserved mercy, Javert’s rigid world collapses. He cannot accept a universe where grace overturns strict justice. He cannot accept kindness he has not earned. In the end, his inability to embrace grace becomes his tragedy.

Like the older brother he must obey the rules and take pride in his moral performance. He resents mercy shown to someone they believe is undeserving. He stands outside the celebration of grace—unable to rejoice because their hearts are bound not by rebellion, but by self-righteousness.

Tim Keller sums up the attitude of the older brother this way.

Pride in his good deeds, rather than remorse over his bad deeds, was keeping the older son out of the feast of salvation.

The elder brother’s problem is his self-righteousness, the way he uses his moral record to put God and others in his debt to control them and get them to do what he wants.

The thing is no matter how big your sins are in your past, you cannot come to God today and work it off. You can't come before him and say, if you'll hire me, Lord, maybe I can repay my debt. You can't come and do that. And instead, you never earn your status as a son or daughter. It is something never accomplished, only received.

And the point is this, that the older brother was just as lost as the younger one. His sin was in his heart. His relationship with his dad was purely based on what he would get out of it. He did not love his Dad.

C. Closing challenge

What is the challenge for us today?

How do we avoid the temptation to be a prodigal and be sucked in by what the world has to offer?

How do we learn to love grace rather than count our deeds?

The answer for us surely is to look at a third brother. Not one mentioned in the parable but the one telling it. The one who so perfectly came up with this illustration to explain the good news of the gospel to his followers.

Like the younger brother, he too left his father’s house. But not for a life of reckless living. He came to live a life that never gave into any of the temptations of the world. The older brother would be unable to keep the law perfectly but Jeus did. And Jesus’ perfection came from a heart that loved to do the will of his father.

Its through Jesus that each one of us here, despite our failings each day, is invited to join the party. Jesus gets an inheritance also - the church. The Church represents the multitude of people saved from sin and death, demonstrating the full power and success of Christ's redemptive work

Don’t be tempted by what the world has to offer, it won’t satisfy. Dont think you can earn your way into God’s house, you can’t. Look to Jesus and marvel what he has done for you.