A Tale Of Two Sons

I want you to imagine a scene with me. This scene unfolds at the gates of heaven. Two people have died at roughly the same time and they arrive, simultaneously, at the entrance of heaven. Jesus is there, awaiting them. To one of them, Jesus says the words we all hope one day to hear: [JOYFULLY] “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.” But to the other, the words no person ever wants to hear, the most utterly terrifying words one could ever: [SOBERLY] “I never you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” One is admitted into heaven; the other is banished to hell. Now these two persons lived radically different lives. One of the two lived what most of us would think is a good, moral, upright life – making a profession of faith at an early age, say 10. This person was baptized. This person was faithful in coming to church, this person avoided major sins; they served regularly in the church and community. And all that was all on the outside of this person – it was what others could observe. Only Jesus knew the inside of this person, the heart. The other person, however, didn’t live such an upright and moral life. The other guy had lot of sins he struggled with and weaknesses he kept falling into. And these sins were visible and noticeable to others – everyone knew about them; you didn’t have to look far to see them. This guy wasn’t thought well of in his community. His church attendance was sporadic at best. There were rumors that he had a drinking problem. He had episodes of mental illness which made him socially awkward. And, just like the first guy, all of this was on the outside of this person – it was what others could observe. Two very different men – one good, one bad. And two very different eternal destinies. How do they pair up? Which guy made it into heaven?

Our text this morning is going to help us answer this question. This is a tale of two sons – the irresponsible repentant son who receives grace, and the responsible, self-righteous son who does not. Which one is right with God? Which one is not? May God bless the preaching of His word.

The irresponsible yet repentant son receives grace

Verses 12-13 say, “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.’” Now, then, just like now, parents left their estate to their children. And judging from this parable, we know they were very wealthy. They have servants, nice clothes, plenty of cattle, and lots of land. And I wonder if this young boy is growing up around all this and seeing the wealth and imagining what it would be like for it to all be his. And at the same time, maybe, he’s on the outs with his dad. His dad loves him, but the son sees the dad as overly restrictive. And so maybe he’s thinking, “you know, I’ll be old enough to leave home in a couple of years. I can’t wait to gain my freedom, get out of this worthless town, maybe go to Rome; I know that since I’m the younger son I’m only going to get a third of all my dad’s wealth, but still – dad’s pretty wealthy. It’ll be a good chunk of money. Man, I can’t wait for that day.” And so he’s just waiting it out, anticipating his day of independence.

And, you know, maybe he gets tired of waiting. So he’s thinking, “You know, dad’s 60, seems like he’s in good health. I know that technically I’m not entitled to my share until he dies. But who knows when that’s going to happen? Besides,” he says to himself, “I’ve heard of men who’ve divided up the inheritance early. I could always make that suggestion to him. True, it’d probably hurt him pretty bad. It’ll definitely be a pretty bold and brazen thing to do. He’ll think I don’t love him and just want his money. That’ll be pretty rough. But, you know, all it’ll take to get my stuff together is a few days and then I’ll be on my way and won’t have to be around him anymore. Besides, he’ll have mom to comfort him, and he’s always seemed to like my older brother more anyway. He’s such a “hard worker”, a real stick in the mud. I think I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna ask him for the money now. It’ll be worth it.”

Now I know that none of that is in the text. But we do know something about the historical context of the first century; we do know something about Jewish inheritance laws and family customs. It’s likely that something like that was going on in this son’s mind and heart. So verse 13 says “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.” Verse 30 the older brother tells us the brother “devoured your property with prostitutes”, though the older brother might be exaggerating out of his anger. At any rate, the younger brother knows what he wants. His mind is set on it. Now that he’s out of the father’s house and has the money for it, it’s within reach. He goes for it.

Did you notice how blunt the son was? It’s not, “Father, if you see fit, and if you don’t mine, I’d like to have my share of the inheritance now.” No, what we have here is a demand, right? It’s an imperative. “Give me the share of property that is coming to me” – “give me what is mine, give me what I’m entitled to, and do it now.” His father is a means to an end. And we aren’t told what the father says in response. We aren’t told how it makes the father feel. All we’re told in verse 12 is that “he divided his property between them.” So the son strikes out on his own with his bags and his wallet full. And look where all of this gets him. “And when he had spent everything” – notice the timing – “a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.” Notice his downward spiral.

First, he goes from having it all to being destitute. All his money is gone.

Next, a famine hits. There’s no food.

Third, he has to “hire himself out” just to avoid starving to death.

Fourth, once he hires himself out to a local farmer (probably a non-Jew, which would have been degrading for a Jew), he’s feeding pigs. But apparently what he’s making still isn’t enough for him to survive. Verse 16 says “he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.”

He’s literally sunk as low as he can go. For an Israelite, feeding unclean pigs and working for a Gentile, this is absolutely the most humiliating state of affairs imaginable. This is his rock bottom. He’s never been this bad off.

This story is meaningful to me because there was a time in my life when I was the prodigal. When I was 23, I out of college and really restless. My plans for grad school had fallen through. The girl I was dating broke up with me. I didn’t know what I wanted to do but I did know I wanted to get away from home. I remembered something about an internship in Washington, DC that was in the field of arts management. I really didn’t think I would get it. But to my surprise, I was offered the internship. Finally, my life was moving toward something. I was headed to the big city, you know? My plan was to move up there and that was it. I really didn’t know what would come next.

Now within about a week of being up there, I met Shannon. She was an intern too at the same place I was. Literally my first memory of her is that her phone went off in the intern meeting on the first day. And I thought, “Oh man, that poor girl; that’s so embarrassing.” It was the Kennedy Center, an arts management internship – the business side of music and performing arts. We started dating and we fell in love.

And what do you do when you’re 23 years old, living in one of the most important cities in the world and dating the love of your life? You spend money. So much of it. We ate out four or five nights a week. She didn’t cook at her place, I didn’t cook at mine. She was broke, I had money, there was lots and lots of really good food there, so we ate out. I was making a small stipend at my internship but I overestimated how much I was spending.

Finally, at just the right time, my internship led to a job. But as all of us know when starting a new job, you don’t get your first paycheck on your first day of work. I would have to wait about 2-3 weeks to get my first paycheck. And I was broke. ]My “rock bottom” came when I literally didn’t even have enough change to buy the subway fare back to my apartment. I had to walk to where Shannon worked and get $1.25 from her just to get home. I still remember that phone call to my mom and dad telling them I had spent all my money and asking for help. It wasn’t fun.

That’s exactly what happens to the younger son here. In verse 17, your translation might say “when he came to his senses.” But my translation and alot of other translations and the Greek say: “But when he came to himself.” I think it’s interesting that Jesus phrases it this way, don’t you? This guy — he’s not only left his father’s house. He’s left himself behind too. He has forgotten who he is; he has walked away from the man God made him to be. And ultimately all of this is because he has walked away from God, too.

But God is pursuing him. It is God who has orchestrated all of these circumstances and brought them together at just the right time and in just the right way, to push this younger brother to his lowest point. He ran out of money; and at the same time all the food in the area ran out; and at the same time, the only job available was working for a Gentile man, feeding his pigs. God accepts us right where we are, just as we are. But He loves us too much to leave us where we are. His love for us is a holy love, a purifying love. He won’t leave us where we are. In fact we are all here this morning because God loved us too much to leave us where we were.

And so in verse 17 the young man says: “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.” That’s his plan.

Now notice his plan. This young man here assumes that something has changed in his relationship with his dad because he’s left. The young man isn’t saying “I’m no longer legally your son.” He’s saying, “I am not worthy to be called your son, my behavior has rendered me unworthy to be treated as a son.” He’s saying, “I’m not asking for you to receive me back as a son. I’m asking for mercy, I’m asking that you simply treat me as one of your servants. I would be grateful even for that.” Now, do you see what Jesus is doing here? He’s setting us up. We’re wondering how the father is going to respond. Will he turn his son away? Will he receive him back? Jesus is not telling this story to his disciples. Who is he telling the story to? If you’ll look with me real quick at verses 1-2 of chapter 15, this is what we read there? “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.” And then what does the very next verse say, verse 3? “So he told them this parable.”

The Pharisees and scribes Jesus is talking to here have been fuming this whole time — shaking their heads in disgust — as they’ve heard about what this son has done. In a shame and honor society, this son has done the most shameful thing possible – took his father’s money and abandoned his father. The Pharisees expect this man to shame his son, not welcome him home. But Jesus turns their expectations upside down.

“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. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’ 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” (Luke 15:20-24 ESV).

Now notice a couple of things here. Notice the flurry of activity on the father’s part. “He saw him, felt compassion, ran and embraced him and kissed him” – five verbs in one short verse. And then notice that the son doesn’t get through his whole speech before his father cuts him off and starts making plans to celebrate. Did you notice what the son did not get a chance to say? He didn’t get a chance to say that last part: “treat me as one of your hired servant.” His father cuts him off first. Why?

Now it’s true that the young son has sinned against heaven and before his father. It’s true that because of his actions he is no longer worthy to be treated as this man’s son. Everything the son has said in his confession has been true. And his father knows it. But what the father will not let his son say is “Treat me as one of your hired servants.” This father will have his son back as a son, and nothing less. In fact, he’s being treated as more than a son – he’s being treated as a king. Do you see that? The finest robe, shoes on his feet, a ring on his finger. Believers, pause with me for a minute, and realize with me that this is how God treats us. You see, when we repent and trust in Christ, God doesn’t just forgive us and wipe our slate clean, although that would be more than we deserved and more than enough. No, God not only forgives us, but He receives us as beloved children! He not only wipes our slate clean, he wraps us in the royal robes of His Son’s perfect righteousness. When you trust in Christ and begin to rely on Him to save you, God makes you one with His Son, He welds you to Him in a real union, so that what is yours becomes His (namely, your sin) and what is His becomes yours (namely, His righteousness). “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are!” (1John 3:1). Now from the start we were told this parable is about two sons. That’s the story of how the irresponsible, yet repentant son receives grace. But now the younger son fades from view and the lights come up on the other son, the older son. Notice with me now how the dutiful, self-righteous son rejects grace.

The responsible yet self-righteous son rejects grace

The younger son has been brought back into the father’s house. But what do we notice about the older brother? The older brother stays outside. He will not go into his father’s house. Look with me at verses 25-28: “Now, his older son was in the field [not in the house], and as he came and drew near to the house [he didn’t go in], he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant [rather than going inside the house to find out himself]. 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.”

We also notice that this older brother is the opposite of his younger brother. He never left home. He’s stayed at home. He’s been there for his father. He’s helping him in the fields now. He’s so busy serving his father that he cannot go celebrate with his father. He stayed at home with his father, but he will not go into his father’s house.

Why? Because the older brother is fundamentally a legalist at heart. Responsible? Yes. Loyal? Absolutely. A hard worker? Definitely.

[PAUSE]

But does he have a relationship with his father….? Not really. Because he’s too busy working for his father.

His father loves him and desires a relationship with him, though. Look at verses 28b-30, “His father came out and entreated him” – pleading with him, begging him to come in. “Son, why are you still working? The fields can wait. Your brother is back! We thought he was dead! But he’s alive, and he’s home. Please come in, it would mean so much to me.” But the son’s heart is calloused. He is not moved by his father’s emotion. The son opens his mouth to respond and out comes a flood of emotion. Verse 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.’ Now the son’s angry, but I don’t think that’s all it is. Have you ever felt passed over?

Maybe someone else got a job promotion when you know you deserve it more. Maybe growing up your mom and dad paid more attention to one of your siblings because they were difficult to deal with. And you felt invisible. Maybe you’ve wanted to serve at church in a certain capacity but someone you feel is less qualified, less gifted, got the job instead.

There’s usually some pride going on there, but still — it hurts to be passed over. I think this older brother is deeply, deeply wounded. It’s his own doing. But he’s wounded. With tears streaming down his face: “If anyone deserves this party, dad, it’s me. My brother left you, I stayed – these many years! My brother was rebellious and disobedient, but I’ve always tried to honor you. But you’ve never – never – rewarded me for my hard work and loyalty – not even with a baby goat!”

Verse 30: “But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your money, you killed the fattened calf for him!” Did you notice how he distances himself from his brother? “This son of yours” – In other words, “he may have at one time been my brother, but he took what was yours and abandoned you and left me here. I’m done with him. He may have been found, but I wish he was still lost; he may be alive, but as far as I’m concerned, he’s dead to me!” What’s going on with this older brother? It’s really simple. He’s self-righteous. He has been a good son; he is a hard worker, he does love his dad, he has been loyal to his family, he has a good reputation – he knows that, and that is precisely the problem.

Those are good things! It’s good to work hard, it’s good and right and biblical to honor your parents, loyalty is something God expects of us, all of those things are good and holy things.

But when we start trusting in them, when we come to believe that because of those things we deserve more than those people who in our eyes don’t do those things, then we’ve crossed over the line into self-righteousness.

The problem here is that this older brother has a defective view of his father. He believes that if he is to get anything from his father, he’s gotta work for it. “Yet you never even gave me a young goat,” he said. Self-righteousness distorts how you see God. You start seeing God as someone who dispenses blessings when you perform. You start seeing grace as something that you can earn by your own goodness. And when that happens, then you start to look down on people who don’t measure up to your standard. You think less of them. And when they get what you think they don’t deserve, you’re devastated and hurt.

But believers, do you want to know something? You can never be good enough to deserve God’s blessings, but He gives them anyway. You can never be righteous enough to earn salvation, but in grace God has come to us in Christ and offered us salvation anyway. In his book The Discipline of Grace, Jerry Bridges writes this: “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”[1]

How does the father respond to his son’s anger and pain? I imagine the father placing his hand on his son’s shoulder or maybe even embracing him the same way he embraced the other one. “Son” – and actually the Greek is more tender, it literally says, “Child” – you could translate it “my dear son, my precious son” – listen to the tenderness of the father here toward his self-righteous son – “my dear son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” These words here are some of my favorite words in this parable. They show us God’s heart for the legalistic Christian. “You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” “You don’t understand, son; you will always be my son, you will always have my unconditional love; I love you just as much as I love your brother! And you don’t have to work for it! You don’t have to earn it!” Sometimes now that I’m an adult when I got to my parents house and I open the fridge and see a really good looking slice of pizza or a piece of cake, I’ll ask my mom if I can have it. What does she say? “What are you talking about? Of course you can have it. You don’t have to ask. What’s mine is yours.” This father is reassuring his son: “What’s mine is yours. You don’t have to wait for me to offer you a goat; it’s not conditioned on your performance; if you want to celebrate with your friends, take it and do it; it’s yours; all that I have is yours!”

“I am always with you, and all that is mine is yours.” And, the father says, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad” – it was appropriate, it was right for us to celebrate; it would have been wrong for us not to celebrate – “for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.”

How does the older brother respond? I’d like to know. But Jesus doesn’t tell us. Do you know what I think is the reason why He doesn’t tell us? He leaves it unresolved because this story really wasn’t about these two brothers and this father. It’s about us. Jesus is telling this parable to some men who were very much like the older brother. They were religious leaders who were righteous and proud of it. They didn’t think they needed grace. They thought God owed them grace. But Jesus bypassed them often and offered salvation to the outcasts – the tax collectors who were paid by Rome to overtax people and pocket the difference; Jesus offered salvation to what the gospels call “sinners”, Jews in name only (like nominal Christians). Jesus reached out to these and offered them grace and salvation and entrance into His kingdom if they would repent. And the Pharisees and scribes hated that, and they hated Jesus for it.

Jesus leaves it open ended as a way of confronting their self-righteousness. The parable is about us. He’s calling you and he is calling me to “join the party” – to receive the sinners and tax collectors just as he did. All of heaven is celebrating the homecoming of the prodigal. If we will not celebrate with them, it’s our problem. It will be our self-righteousness that keeps us from celebrating with us. Could we also say that it is self-righteousness that will keep us out of heaven?

So now we’re ready to answer the question we started with today. Two very different men – one good, one bad. And two very different eternal destinies. How do they pair up? Which guy made it into heaven? It was the second man. The man who struggled with alcoholism. The one who wasn’t thought well of by others. The one who, externally seemed least likely to be heaven-bound, this one heard those words of Jesus, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master”. This seems to go against everything we think is right. It contradicts all of our moral logic, to say the least. Why on earth was the man who lived a good life outwardly condemned to an eternity of suffering, when the one who lived such a poor life outwardly was admitted into heaven?

Now we understand what’s going on. We see what’s on the outside, but God sees the heart. And the good and righteous man who was good and righteous externally, trusted in his own goodness and righteousness to save him. In his case, his righteousness was his problem; he knew he was righteous, he knew he was upright, and he trusted in it. He is the older brother. He’s working for His Father but has no relationship with His Father. He refuses to come into the Father’s house because someone who didn’t deserve mercy was shown mercy. The unrighteous man, though, knew he was unrighteous, that he had no hope of entering heaven except by grace, and so he placed his trust in Christ. He was the younger brother, who “came to his senses” and said “I will arise and go to my father’s house. This man, unrighteous by all external standards, is not received into heaven as a servant but as a son – and more than a son: as a king.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that how we live doesn’t matter. Christ calls us to be obedient. And if we’ve truly trusted in Jesus, there will be a change in our lives that will be evident. We will be in the process of becoming holy. But what I am saying is that a person can have it all together on the outside, and yet have a heart that is far from God. And a person who may not quite “measure up” in our eyes can be much closer to God than the other person...And the thing that makes the difference is this: what are you trusting in to justify you, to make you right with God? Would you prayerfully consider three questions with me in these last couple of minutes?

1. How do you respond when someone receives grace who you don’t think ought to get it? How does that make you feel? Do you rejoice? Does it make you angry? Does it unnerve you?

You see, how we respond to that question will reveal whether we really understand what the gospel is all about. If seeing God show grace like that bothers me, then deep down I believe that grace is really only for those who deserve it.

2. What are you trusting in to make you right with God?

The second you and I are trusting in our own goodness rather than in Christ, the further away from heaven we are.

3. Which son are you?

The Father is calling both self-righteous older brothers and irresponsible younger brothers to come home, be reconciled to Him, and join the celebration. There may be lost sons and older brothers here this morning. I don’t know, but maybe some of you feel so far from God right now that you think you can’t ever come back. Don’t believe the lie. The Father is waiting for you to come back, and is in fact drawing back to Himself this very moment. There is a full and free offer of eternal life and lasting satisfaction, and it’s open to anyone in this room who is willing to come home. How much faith does it take to be saved? Enough faith to come to Jesus. And once you’ve come to Him, He will keep you forever. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37). But there may also be older brothers here today. All your life you’ve been working, working, working. Maybe you see grace and salvation as something that really bad people need, but not you. Friend, you need grace too. The door is wide open for you this morning, too. It’s open and available to anyone who can truthfully say, “I’m done trying to live my life my way; I’m done trying to be good enough on my own; I understand that I am not righteous in and of myself but that there is a righteousness that is available to me by faith and that is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.” The promise to you from Scripture is that “anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

God’s sovereign grace is on the move in a powerful way, the worst of the worst are coming to their senses, going home, and being embraced by the Father. Heaven is rejoicing. Are we joining in with them?