Jonah - The Elder Brother

Read: Luke 15:1-2,11-32 & Jonah 3:10-4:1-11

I’m going to do a lot of reading of scripture tonight to help set the context of my message. Please if you can read along with me. Two passages Luke 15, and Jonah 4

Luke 15:1–3 KJV 1900

1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

Luke 15:11–32 KJV 1900

11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Jonah 3:10 KJV 1900

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Youngblood reminds us that “This unit is also significant because it contains the first real dialogue between Jonah and YHWH. In previous episodes, either YHWH addressed Jonah and received no verbal response (1:1-2; 3:1-2), or Jonah addressed YHWH and received no verbal response “

Jonah 4:1–11 KJV 1900

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Our first reading is from what we usually call the parable of the prodigal son. But if you read what Jesus really says, he actually title it for us:

Luke 15:11 - A certain man had two sons. we usually focus on the Prodigal but Jesus actually makes it a story about two sons.

If you remember from Luke 15:1-3 Jesus is talking to two groups of people. GROUP 1. The pharisees and scribes . GROUP 2, The publicans and sinners.

Group 1 were murmuring and fussing at Jesus because he received sinners (the second group) and ate meals with them.

Group 2 were the sinners and spiritual outcasts of group 1

Now Jesus begins the story of the two sons about the youngest son - he was a boy who wanted to experience the world, wanted to live life to the excess. Wanted to party, and party hard.

SO he goes to his father and demands his part of the inheritance. The father complies and watches with no doubt tear stained eyes his son run down the lane to leave home.

For awhile life was fun, parties, women, what-ever he wanted, but then the money ran out. and then a famine came and he “began to be in want” That means he ran out of necessities.

He went to work at a hog farm -

now the Bible makes it clear that there is nothing wrong for a Christian to eat pork. If you need clarity on this subject you come talk to me

But for the Jew it was one of the biggest no no’s in the book. You weren’t to eat, or be around pork. They were unclean.

But here he is not only working in the pen with them, but wanting to eat with them.

Finally he comes to his senses and realized that his father’s had hired servants that had it better than he did. “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”

(Notice the Son begins to think about the goodness of Father’s house - Paul echos this truth in Romans 2:4 “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance”)

He started home - but before he ever got there Father came running to meet him.

The Father says to a servant, bring the best robe, and put it on him; put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry;” Luke 15:22-24

We often stop here - but Jesus doesn’t.

I imagine the publican’s and sinners at this point were melted and in tears, but Jesus continues...

He gets to the Older brother - He refused to come in and celebrate the return of the prodigal. He was angry and bitter he would not go in - so the father came out

Now notice this is the second time the Father comes out - he has to talk to both of them - one to restore one to rebuke -

Now lets get a little understanding about what is going on here - we have the elder son who never so much as outwardly balked at Father’s commands. When Dad said go rake the hay, Elder brother raked the hay. When Dad said go milk the cows Elder brother milked the cow.

Younger brother not so much. When Dad said “Younger - go rake the hay” Younger either said ‘Awe dad, can’t Elder do it? I’ve got some friends I’m going out with later.”

When Dad said “Younger go milk the cow” Younger would go out and do everything but milk the cow.

He was ornery, always in trouble, he was a bad boy.

The Elder brother was depending on all his goodness to keep Father indebted to him, when younger brother took his half and came back - who’s money and things did it interfere with - the elder brothers.

SO now Elder brother was bitter, and angry. He was just as lost the younger brother.

Now I want to leave these two for a moment and go back to Jonah...

God has seen the repentance and change in behavior of the Ninevites and he relents from destroying them. He gives them mercy. This should be a time of grabbing the robe and ring and feasting on the fatted calf -

But instead - he refuses to go in -

1. Jonah was like the elder brother in that he was good:

Jonah begins like the Younger brother -

When Jonah ran from God he was acting like the Younger brother but - soon relapses into the Elder brother.

One wrote, “Jonah wants to receive God’s grace without being changed by it and at the same time to snatch it away from those whose lives are in fact changed by it.” Jonah was a prophet, he was known for getting and giving messages from God. He was a connection between the people and God.

But now in chapter 4 he becomes like the Good Elder Brother -

He was used many times to prophecy great things

He was a man who kept the Law - was righteous before God-

He expected because he was so good that life would be so good.

He figured that God would have to bless Him for being so good.

Does this sound familiar - There are many ways to miss out on a relationship with God and Jonah and the Elder brother found on of the greatest - “If I am good I will ingratiate God to me, I can have some leverage against God”

Jonah was like the elder brother in that he was angry:

Jonah 4:1 KJV 1900

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

compare that with the Elder brother

Luke 15:28 KJV 1900

28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

He was angry because they were now spending his money,

Luke 15:31 KJV 1900

31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

Notice what God tells Jonah:

Jonah 4:10 KJV 1900

10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

2. Jonah was like the elder brother in that he was lost:

Verse 11 reminds us that this father had “two sons,” and both were lost.

• The younger son was lost in “the far country.”

• The elder brother was lost in the father’s house.

• The younger son was a lost hedonist; he lived for pleasure.

• The elder brother was a lost moralist; he lived to maintain appearances.

I don’t know if you see yourself in either of these portraits tonight, but If you do I want to tell you an extremely important truth -

There may be two ways to be lost - but only one way back -

Jonah failed in his mission, and the test of grace and mercy

The Elder brother failed in his test as well - he was at home in Father’s house but did not Know the Father real well -

We sound stuck - but we are not stuck -

We have one - another a different elder brother

This is a point of the parable of the two sons and a point of Jonah

Right in the midst of alienation and lostness there is one who is not -

Jesus is not: I love Hebrews 2:11

Hebrews 2:11 KJV 1900

11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

Jesus says he is not ashamed to call us brethren - He is the perfect the true Elder Brother -

He came to earth and really obeyed his Father, never disobeyed - He has all power in heaven and earth - He has inhereited all things

He has a right to all the father owns, but instead he came and sought for the lost ones found us in the pigstys and brought us home on his shoulders

He gave us his robe, his ring, his place, his wealth — all at his own expense

So if you are down in the pig pen or still back at Father’s house - wherever you are God’s grace and mercy can reach you

I trust Jonah finally came to this realization.