THE LOST AND THE FOUND

Our text this morning is often called “the gospel within the gospel”. The gospel’s are filled with radical stories but none as radical as this one. Jesus means for his parable to correct the human misconception of how one connects to God. His parable finds the entire human race guilty of knowing how to connect with God.

Jesus is saying here that every thought the human race has ever had about how to connect to God, whether East or West, whether in the ancient, modern, or post-modern era, in every religion, in all secular thought, has been wrong. Every human idea of how to connect with God is wrong. Jesus is here to shatter all existing human categories. A historian once said (it’s hard for us to grasp this) when Christianity first arose in the world, nobody called it a religion. It wasn’t seen as another religion. It was called the anti-religion. It was seen as anti-religion.

As American’s we have additional connectivity problems. We possess a western mindset while our text was written about those who lived in the east. Though some have misinterpreted our text most have missed the fullness of its meaning. Let’s first look at the parable as whole.

For 200 years, the Romans called the Christians atheists! The reason was the Romans understood that what Christianity was saying about God was so different than what any other religion said it really shouldn’t be given the same kind of name; it was in a whole other category altogether. They were right, and this passage tells us why they were right.

Luke 15:1–23 ESV

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. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 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. 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. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. “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! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 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. 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.’ 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. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.

Luke 15:1–32 ESV

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. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 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. 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. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. “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! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 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. 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.’ 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. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 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.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 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. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”

Luke 15:1-

Its one parable not three.

Luke 15:3 ESV

So he told them this parable:

Luke 15:1–2 ESV

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.”

There are four parts to this parable. Part 1 (lost sheep) is a parallel to part 3 (younger son). They are both lost in the far country. Part 2 (lost coin) is a parallel to part 4 (elder son). They are both lost at home.

The story is in two acts, actually. The title of is “The Lost Younger Brother.” The title of is “The Lost Elder Brother.” begins with a speech. The younger brother comes to the father and says, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” When the original hearers heard this, they would have been absolutely astounded. If you had two sons, then when you died, the estate would be divided with two-thirds to the elder and one-third to the younger. The rule of thumb was the oldest got a double portion of what all the other children got. So if there were only two, the eldest got two-thirds and the youngest got one-third. That happened when the father died.

When the son came and asked the father for his share of the estate now, the original hearers would have been astounded. One of the commentators, a scholar who knows something about the history and culture of the time, said that to ask for the inheritance while the father was still alive was to wish him dead.

the younger son is saying is, “I want your stuff, but I don’t want you. I want the father’s things, but I don’t want the father. My relationship with you has just been a means to an end.” Such behavior was unheard of and demanded swift punishment. The father should have struck his son with the back of his hand until he had driven him out of the home. However, our text tells us something all together different,

Luke 15:12 ESV

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.

This same commentator who knows something about the history and culture of the time says a traditional Middle Eastern father could only respond in one way. He would be expected to drive the boy out of the house with verbal if not physical and violent blows, but this father doesn’t do that.

The translation uses the word property, but the Greek word used here is bios, from which we get our word biology. It really says, “The father divided his life between them.” Why would he say that? We do not understand the relationship people in the past had to their land. This father’s estate was his land. His wealth was his land. He would have had to sell off one-third of his land to give his son that part of the estate. Their very identity was bound up with the land. To lose your land was to lose yourself, and to lose part of your land was to lose your standing in the community, which was tied to how much land you had.

It says, “So he divided his property between them.” The translation uses the word property, but the Greek word used here is bios, from which we get our word biology. It really says, “The father divided his life between them.” Why would he say that? We do not understand the relationship people in the past had to their land.

This son is asking his father to tear his life apart, to tear apart his standing in the community, to tear himself apart, and he does! The hearers had never seen a Middle Eastern patriarch respond to such an insult like this. What this father is doing is enduring the worst thing a human being can endure … rejected love.

How do we often respond in such situations? We get mad, retaliate, and reject. We do everything we possibly can to diminish our affection for the person so we don’t hurt so much. However, this father maintains his love for his son and endures the agony of rejected love.

So the son goes off, and he squanders everything he has. When he is literally down in the mud, down in the pig sty, and he realizes how stupid he’s been, he comes up with a plan.

Luke 15:17–19 ESV

“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! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’

The rabbis taught if you had violated the community mores, the only way back into the community was not just an apology; you had to make restitution. These are not the words of repentance but restitution. There is one more indicator in our text to support our claim of restitution not repentance. In verse 18 he says “I will arise”. If repentance had been his motive he would have used the Scriptural language of “I will return”.

He says, “I will go back and say, ‘Father, I have sinned … I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ That’s not the same thing as asking to be a slave. A slave or a servant worked in the estate and lived on the estate, but the hired man was a craftsman and lived in town, and had to be apprenticed to learn a skill, and therefore, made a wage. Most commentators think what the young man was doing was very simple.

Luke 15:20 ESV

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.

The rabbis taught if you had violated the community mores, the only way back into the community was not just an apology; you had to make restitution. What the son is probably doing is coming back with a plan and saying, “Father, if you will apprentice me to one of your hired men and teach me a craft … I know I can’t be your son. I know I can’t come back into the family, but this way at least I could begin to pay you off, to pay you back a little bit for what I’ve done to you.”

LukeSo he has a plan. He comes back, and the father sees him far off, and he runs. Middle Eastern patriarchs did not run. Children ran. Youth ran. Women would run, but not fathers, not owners of estates. You would have to pick up your robes and bare your legs, and you didn’t do that sort of thing. But this one does.

The father sees him far off, and he runs. Middle Eastern patriarchs did not run. Many commentators have said this father doesn’t act like a father; he acts like a mother here. Middle Eastern fathers did not act like this; mothers did. He runs to his son. He shows absolute emotional abandonment and kisses him. The son tries to roll out his restitution plan.

So he has a plan. He comes back, and the father sees him far off, and he runs. Middle Eastern patriarchs did not run. Children ran. Youth ran. Women would run, but not fathers, not owners of estates. You would have to pick up your robes and bare your legs, and you didn’t do that sort of thing. But this one does.

The father says, “Get the best robe.” The best robe would be the father’s robe. What he’s saying is, “I’m not going to wait for you to clean up. I’m not even going to wait for you to take a bath! I’m certainly not going to wait for you to prove yourself.” He says to his servants, “Cover my son’s nakedness and rags with the robe of my office and honor, and we are going to feast. You’re not going to earn your way back into the family. I’m bringing you back.”

When the elder brother hears about it, he is furious. He is specifically upset about the cost.

Luke 15:30 ESV

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

The elder brother comes to the father and says, “You gave him a calf! You never even gave me a goat, and you gave him a calf! What is this all about?” Meat was a delicacy and was rarely eaten during this time except for parties. There was nothing more expensive that you could do than slay a fatted calf. It was the sort of thing most families wouldn’t do as a private party, ever, because it was so expensive.

Therefore, the older brother is saying, “How dare you use our wealth like this. I have obeyed you. I should have some say in this.” In other words, “I have some right over your things. How dare you do this!” He insults the father in verse 29, he doesn’t say, “Father.” He says,

Luke 15:29 ESV

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.

This is a deliberate insult. He publicly humiliates his father by not going into the greatest feast his father has ever thrown, and he publicly humiliates him by refusing to call him father. How does the Father respond? He says, “My son,” (actually it could be translated as “My child,”) “I still want you in the feast. Almost every other father I know would have disowned you already for what you’ve just done, but I still want you in.”

He publicly humiliates his father by not going into the greatest feast his father has ever thrown, and he publicly humiliates him by refusing to call him father. But what does the father do? He responds with a very tender word. He says, “My son,” (actually it could be translated as “My child,”) “I still want you in the feast. Almost every other father I know would have disowned you already for what you’ve just done, but I still want you in.”

What is the purpose of this parable? In this parable Jesus redefines God, sin, and salvation.

Luke 15:1–2 ESV

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.”

First of all, let’s tale a look at the story and make sure we understand it. Then let’s draw out the three things I think Jesus is trying to tell us in this story. The story is in two acts, actually. The title of is “The Lost Younger Brother.” The title of is “The Lost Elder Brother.” begins with a speech. The younger brother comes to the father and says, “Father, give me my share of the estate.”

What is the purpose of this parable? In this parable Jesus gives us a complete picture of God, sin, and salvation.

Jesus, more than anyone in history, called God Father. He was the first person to address God as Father, and every single time he ever addresses God in the Bible (except one) he calls him Father.

What the younger son is saying is, “I want your stuff, but I don’t want you. I want the father’s things, but I don’t want the father. My relationship with you has just been a means to an end, and I’m tired of it. I want my stuff now.” Unheard of! Even more unheard of is the second half of verse 12, because if the original hearers were amazed at the speech in verse 12a, they were absolutely astonished by what the father did in verse 12b.

This same commentator who knows something about the history and culture of the time says a traditional Middle Eastern father could only respond in one way. He would be expected to drive the boy out of the house with verbal if not physical and violent blows, but this father doesn’t do that.

It says, “So he divided his property between them.” The translation uses the word property, but the Greek word used here is bios, from which we get our word biology. It really says, “The father divided his life between them.” Why would he say that? We do not understand the relationship people in the past had to their land.

Oh, we know we belong to the land

And the land we belong to is grand.

Do you notice what it says? We belong to the land. It doesn’t say the land belongs to us. We belong to it. We don’t understand that, but they identify with the land. T

He says, “I will go back and say, ‘Father, I have sinned … I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ That’s not the same thing as asking to be a slave. A slave or a servant worked in the estate and lived on the estate, but the hired man was a craftsman and lived in town, and had to be apprenticed to learn a skill, and therefore, made a wage. Most commentators think what the young man was doing was very simple.

The rabbis taught if you had violated the community mores, the only way back into the community was not just an apology; you had to make restitution. What the son is probably doing is coming back with a plan and saying, “Father, if you will apprentice me to one of your hired men and teach me a craft … I know I can’t be your son. I know I can’t come back into the family, but this way at least I could begin to pay you off, to pay you back a little bit for what I’ve done to you.”

So he has a plan. He comes back, and the father sees him far off, and he runs. Middle Eastern patriarchs did not run. Children ran. Youth ran. Women would run, but not fathers, not owners of estates. You would have to pick up your robes and bare your legs, and you didn’t do that sort of thing. But this one does.

The father won’t even hear it, because he says, “Get the best robe.” The best robe would be the father’s robe. What he’s saying is, “I’m not going to wait for you to clean up. I’m not even going to wait for you to take a bath! I’m certainly not going to wait for you to prove yourself.” He says to his servants, “Cover my son’s nakedness and rags with the robe of my office and honor, and we are going to feast. You’re not going to earn your way back into the family. I’m bringing you back.”

When the elder brother hears about it, he is furious. As you see here, he’s particularly upset about the cost. That may not be as obvious to you as it will be in a second. Did you notice the big deal here is this calf? The elder brother says to the servant, “What’s going on?” The servant says, “Your younger brother is back, and your father gave him the calf!” The elder brother comes to the father and says, “You gave him a calf!” We’re sitting here reading this and saying, “I know this means something, but I don’t know what it is.”

Therefore, the older brother is saying, “How dare you use our wealth like this. I have obeyed you. I should have some say in this.” In other words, “I have some right over your things. How dare you do this!” He insults the father, because down in verse 29, he doesn’t say, “Father.” He says, “Look,” which is an English translation that gets across the fact that this is a deliberate insult. He doesn’t give any address to his father at all. He is basically saying, “Look, you,” the most incredible insult.

He publicly humiliates his father by not going into the greatest feast his father has ever thrown, and he publicly humiliates him by refusing to call him father. But what does the father do? He responds with a very tender word. He says, “My son,” (actually it could be translated as “My child,”) “I still want you in the feast. Almost every other father I know would have disowned you already for what you’ve just done, but I still want you in.”

As we’re on the edge of our seats asking the question, “Will, in the end, the family come together in unity and love? How will the other brother respond? Will they all come together in the end?” Jesus ends the parable and never tells us. Cliffhanger. Why? What is Jesus trying to get across? I told you Jesus is telling us three things, and they are so radical. Jesus redefines God, Jesus redefines sin, and Jesus redefines salvation.

Jesus, more than anyone in history, called God Father. He was the first person to address God as Father, and every single time he ever addresses God in the Bible (except one) he calls him Father.

First of all, most briefly, he redefines God. There are an awful lot of people who really struggle with this concept in the Bible that God is a father. I’ve shown you, however, that Jesus, more than anyone in history, called God Father. He was the first person to address God as Father, and every single time he ever addresses God in the Bible (except one) he calls him Father.

This idea of God as a father in the Old Testament was rare. Jesus uses this parable to define what he means by father. Many people struggle with the God as Father because of their own earthly father. They say; Fathers are hard, condemning, and controlling. Others say they are absent or aloof. They go on to define the type of God they want. I want a loving, sensitive, forgiving God. A God who longs for reconciliation and relationship.”

Do you know what Jesus is saying here? Jesus Christ gives us a father unlike any father of that time … his emotional abandonment, his generosity, his willingness to receive the agony of rejected love. What Jesus is saying is, “I’m sorry. I know a lot of you had fathers like this, but my Father is not like that. For all of his power and majesty, he is loving, he is suffering, he is longing for your love, he loves you.”

Jesus brought together such traits and attributes as the meekness and majesty of God, and the power and tenderness of God, and said, “That’s who God is!” No one has ever described God in those ways. He redefines God.

In the first act (the younger brother act) Jesus gives us a picture of sin that is very traditional. It’s in the second act the Jesus gives sin a complete definition.

At the end of the second act we are left with two sons. One is very good, and one is very bad, and they are both alienated from the father’s heart. Each one of them wanted the father’s things, but not the father.

Each one of them used the father to get what they really loved. They didn’t love the father. The used the father to get the things they really loved. One of them did it by being very, very good, and one of them did it by being very, very bad. They are both lost. The bad one is lost in his badness, but the good one is lost in his goodness. In the end, it’s the bad son that’s saved, as far as we know, and the good son that’s lost, and that goes against what anyone has ever believed.

The elder brother was not lost in spite of his goodness. He was lost because of it.

Luke 15:29 ESV

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.

He says it: “Here’s the reason I won’t go into the feast of the father. Here’s the reason I reject you, Father. I have never disobeyed you.”

He’s proud of his goodness. It’s not his sins keeping him from the father. It’s his righteousness. The reason we read the first two verses is because it tells us there were two groups of people around Jesus when he told this parable: tax collectors and sinners and Pharisees and teachers of the law. All of a sudden, you begin to realize who these two guys in the parable are.

Sinners are younger brothers. Pharisees, religious teachers, moral and religious people are the elder brother. What we have in front of us are the two basic ways human beings try to make the world right, to put themselves right, and to connect to God … moral conformity and self-discovery.

In moral conformity, people say, “I’m not going to do what I want to do; I’m going to comply. I’m going to submit. I’m going to be good. I’m going to work hard.” In self-discovery, people say, “I’m going to decide what is right or wrong for me. I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to live as I want to live. I’m going to find my true self.” Each side says, “This is the way the world would be better.” Each side says, “This is the way you’ll be happy.”

Jesus says, “You’re both wrong.” Both wrong! You’re both lost. You’re both making the world a terrible place in different ways. The elder brothers of the world divide the world in two. They say the good people are in, and the bad people (you) are out. The younger brothers do, as well. The self-discovery people also divide the world in two. They say, “The open-minded, progressive-minded people are in, and the bigoted and judgmental people (you) are out.”

Jesus says neither. He says, “It’s the humble who are in and the proud who are out. It’s the people who know they’re not good or open-minded and they need sheer grace who are in and the people who ever think they’re on the right side of those divides who are out.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is not religion or irreligion. It’s not morality or immorality. It’s not moralism or relativism. It’s off the scales. It’s not halfway in the middle. It’s something else.

Now you see what Jesus is saying about sin. Now you see how different it is. There are two ways to be your own savior and lord, just like there were two different ways to get control of the father’s stuff. One son tried to get control of the father’s stuff, not loving the father, but trying to use the father to get what he wanted. One son tried to control the father’s stuff by living a bad life, but the other son tried to control the father’s stuff by living a very, very, very good life.

There are two ways to be your own savior and lord. There are two ways to try to control God and the people around you and your own life. There are two ways to stay in control. One is by going off into the blue and living any old way you want. The other is being very moral, very religious, reading your Bible, obeying the Ten Commandments, and praying all the time.

FLANNERY O’CONNOR, IN ONE OF HER NOVELS, DESCRIBED ONE OF HER CHARACTERS BY ESSENTIALLY SAYING, “THERE WAS A DARK, NAMELESS UNDERSTANDING IN HIM THAT THE WAY TO AVOID JESUS WAS TO AVOID SIN.” SHE NAILED “ELDER BROTHERNESS.” DO YOU KNOW WHAT SHE’S SAYING? IF YOU THINK, “IF I LOVE PEOPLE, AND I’M GOOD, AND IF I PRAY, AND I READ MY BIBLE, THEN GOD HAS TO BLESS ME,” JESUS MIGHT BE YOUR REWARDER, HE MIGHT BE YOUR EXAMPLE, HE MIGHT BE A LOT OF THINGS, BUT HE’S NOT YOUR SAVIOR. YOU’RE YOUR OWN SAVIOR.

YOU’RE AVOIDING JESUS AS SAVIOR BY AVOIDING SIN. YOU’RE TRYING TO CONTROL GOD THROUGH WHAT YOU’RE DOING. ALL YOUR MORALITY AND ALL YOUR OBEDIENCE IS A WAY OF GETTING GOD TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU REALLY WANT, AND IT’S NOT GOD HIMSELF. RELIGIOUS PEOPLE OBEY GOD TO GET THINGS. GOSPEL PEOPLE OBEY GOD TO GET GOD … TO RESEMBLE HIM, TO LOVE HIM, TO KNOW HIM, AND TO DELIGHT IN HIM.

You can see why elder brother “lostness” and younger brother “lostness” are both terrible. Younger brother lostness, with its self-indulgence and its addiction, brings a lot of misery into the world. But elder brother lostness, you can see it. Look at his judgmentalism. Look at his anger. He’s always angry. Why is he angry? It’s because he’s lived such a good life that God (the father) owes him to do things his way.

Of course, since your life never (except for a few years at a time) ever goes the way you want, if you’re living a good life because you think you deserve a good life, you’re always going to have an undercurrent of anger. You’re always going to be looking down on other people. According to Jesus’ definition, religion is the source of a tremendous amount of misery and strife in this world.

It all comes down to motivation. If you love the father you’re going to obey him. But why? The elder brother doesn’t obey out of love. The elder brother obeys to get stuff. How can motivation be completely changed around so the reason we obey is out of love and gratitude?

Do you now see that Christianity cannot divide the world into good and bad people? It doesn’t go deep enough to get at what’s really wrong with the world and with you and me. . The default mode of every human heart, whether moral or immoral, religious or irreligious, is self-justification.

It’s being your own savior and lord, trying to control things, trying to control people. So how can we be saved?

Do you notice the father goes out to both sons in order to bring them in? He goes out to the younger brother and kisses him before he repents. The repentance does not trigger the kiss. The kiss facilitates the repentance. You’re never going to seek him unless first he seeks you.

Luke 15:21 ESV

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.’

Luke 15:20–21 ESV

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. 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.’

Notice the father goes out to the older brother. This is amazing, because remember, Jesus is telling this story to Pharisees, and Jesus knows the religious people, the religious leaders, are the ones who are going to kill him. That’s because the gospel is every bit as offensive to moral and religious people as it is to immoral and self-discovery people, except the religious people usually have more power.

Notice the father goes out to the older brother and asked him to attend the party. Yet, this elder brother, who professed strict obedience to the father now rebels. His actions prove the true condition of his heart and his need of repentance.

Yet he has the father go out and plead with the Pharisee to come in. He’s not a Pharisee about Pharisees. He’s not self-righteous about the self-righteous. It’s amazing. You know, the red states think the blue states are the trouble, and the blue states think the red states are the trouble. Jesus says, “You’re all in trouble, and I love you.”

How can we be saved?

The younger brother comes back and has a lot of sins to repent of. You and I and almost everybody in the world says, “Oh, that’s what you do. That’s how you get right with God. You repent of your list.”

If you stop there you miss the radical truth of this parable? The elder brother is lost, but he has nothing on his list! He says, “I have always obeyed you,” and the father doesn’t contradict him. How does a person who is lost, with no sins on the list, get saved? There is no such thing as a person who is sinless so here’s the point. When Pharisees sin they repent. They feel terrible about their sins, but when they are done repenting they are still Pharisees. The difference between a Christian and a Pharisee is that Christians repent of what they’ve done wrong and for the reasons they did right.

But here’s the point. When Pharisees sin (and they do sometimes), of course they repent. They feel terrible about their sins, but when they are done repenting they are still Pharisees. The difference between a Christian and a moralist is that Christians also repent of what they’ve done wrong. Sure you do. You have to. But a Christian is someone who has also learned to repent for the reasons you did right.

Christians repent for what they’ve done wrong, but they recognize the reason for even the right things they do is self-justification and a desire to control God and others. When you begin to see the desire to be your own savior and lord, not only under the bad things you’ve done but also under the good things everything changes.

When that penny drops … When you begin to see the desire to be your own savior and lord, not only under the bad things you’ve done but also under the good things … When you say, “That’s got to change,” when that epiphany happens, when that penny drops, that changes everything. Everything.

How can we be saved?

Thirdly, you need to be melted and moved by what it cost to bring you home. You see, I just said the key difference between a Christian and a Pharisee is motivation. The Pharisee obeys God to get things. The Christian obeys God just to get God. Why? Because something the Christian has seen has melted his heart toward God, so he (or she) finally loves the father.

You see, I just said the key difference between a Christian and a Pharisee is motivation. The Pharisee obeys God to get things. The Christian obeys God just to get God. Why? the Christian has seen the cost and it has melted their heart toward God.

The father’s acceptance of the younger son was costly not to the father but to the elder brother.

Luke 15:31 ESV

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

At the very end, Jesus gives us the hint. In the last verse, when the father says, “… everything I have is yours,” that’s literally true. Why? Because the younger brother had liquidated and had spent every bit of his inheritance. Now every single thing the father had belonged to the elder brother. Every robe, every ring, and every fatted calf belonged to the elder brother.

“… all that is mine is yours,” that’s literally true. The father liquidated 1/3 of his property for the younger son to possess his inheritance leaving what remained in ownership of the elder brother. Every single thing the father had belonged to the elder brother. Every robe, every ring, and every fatted calf.

The younger brother could only be brought back into the family at the enormous cost and expense to the elder brother. It’s not free! It’s not simple to be saved. Somebody has to pay. The elder brother has to pay, and he’s furious about it.

Luke 15:

Luke 15:27 ESV

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.’

Why does Jesus put in such a nasty elder brother? Because he is showing the Pharisees what they look like.

What would a true elder brother have done? A true elder brother would have seen the agony of the father and said, “Father, I’m going to go out and look for my brother, and if he has ruined himself and he has squandered all his inheritance, I’ll bring him home, even at my own expense.” That would have been a true elder brother.

The younger brother doesn’t have a true elder brother, but we do. Jesus Christ gives us a bad elder brother so we’ll long for the right one. We don’t just need an elder brother to go out into the next town to find us. We need someone to come from heaven to earth. We don’t need an elder brother who brings us into God’s family just at the cost of his wallet but at the cost of his life.

On the cross, Jesus Christ was stripped naked so we could be clothed in the robe of honor we don’t deserve. On the cross, Jesus called, “My God, my God,” the only time he never called him Father, because at that moment he was not being treated as a son, so you and I could be. There he paid the debt that, deep down, we all know we owe.

He had everything the Father had, but he shares it with us, and he brings us home at enormous expense to himself. This is the picture that will change your motivation and approach toward God.

The party is a celebration of the success of the fathers costly efforts at winning his son from servanthood back to sonship. The fatted calf was killed not to celebrate the prodigal’s homecoming. The father said; “it was fitting to celebrate for your brother was dead and is alive.” Who brought the son to life? The father saves the prodigal then celebrates His grace.

But guess what? Your self-discovery mode hasn’t really been working real well lately, but you don’t want to go back into Christianity. That’s just another religion. Jesus Christ says, “You’re wrong.” Would you start to reconsider it? If this is the first time you’ve ever been to this church, would you keep coming to reconsider and realize maybe you’re wrong … maybe Christianity isn’t just like the other religions at all? You may have had a lousy home. You might have had the kind of father everybody else thought this guy should be. This is the love you need.

Secondly, this parable is really to elder brothers. Why do you think it ends the way it does? Jesus is basically speaking to Pharisees, and he’s inviting the elder brothers to listen to this appeal, and to put themselves in and respond. It’s participatory theater. There are a lot of you who have an elder brother type of heart, so you’re always mad.

You’re mad at those people who have hurt you, and there are classes of people you look down on. Mainly, you feel like your life is not going the way it ought to, and you think, “I’m the good one in my family. Why is it everybody else has broken my parents’ hearts, and they’re happy and I’m not?” The reason you’re so unhappy is because of your goodness.

The main thing between us and God is not our sins as much as our damnable good works. You’re mad at people, and you’re mad at things because you think, “I’ve tried hard and my life’s not going right.”

Lay your deadly [goodness] down—

Down at Jesus’ feet;

Stand in Him, in Him alone,

Gloriously complete.

We will never stop being elder brothers until we see and are melted by what our true Elder Brother did for us.

Lastly, if you’re going to be in a church that believes this is Christianity, we’re always going to be misunderstood, because there are going to be things we do here, attitudes we have, practices we do … Some people are going to say, “That sounds like a liberal human institution.” Other people will say, “That sounds like a conservative institution.” Of course, that’s the way it’s going to be.

We’re going to be misunderstood all the time. People are going to try and stick us into human categories (although, of course, since we aren’t Jesus, to some degree we have a tendency to go into human categories). Ultimately, you’re not going to be able to stick a church that cares about the gospel like this into those categories. We are going to be misunderstood, but that’s all right. Jesus understands, and he is our true Elder Brother. Let’s pray.

Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

THE LOST AND THE FOUND

PARABLE

PARTICIPANTS

PARTS

PARTS

PURPOSE

PURPOSE

COMPLETE PICTURE OF GOD

COMPLETE PICTURE OF SIN

COMPLETE PICTURE OF SALVATION

We need the initiating love of the father.

You need to learn how to repent for something besides sins.

You need to be melted and moved by what it cost to bring you home.

WE NEED TO CELEBRATE THE GRACE OF GOD