Digging Deeper – December 8, 2023
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
Luke 15:25-32 (NLT)
THE PERFECT OLDER BROTHER
The older brother in the gospel of Luke is far from perfect. As mentioned earlier this week, we see that he, too, is blinded by the desire for wealth and standing through commitment to extreme morality. But when we look at the whole gospel, we realize the reason our Heavenly Father is able to welcome us home is because of the Perfect Older Brother that He sent down to us. The grace God freely gives us came with a cost.
The prodigal son’s grace from his earthly father came at a cost to his older brother as well. It cost him much of the wealth he would have received had his younger brother waited, as was tradition, until the father passed. Now the older brother in the story would receive even less than the younger son had squandered upon his return and welcoming back into the family and back into the blessing of his inheritance. This older brother was unwilling to join in his father’s celebration.
Our true older brother in Christ not only shares in the celebration of our return, but is the reason we are able to be welcomed home with grace freely given. He paid the cost of this return with His life. We cannot return to the Father by ourselves. The Son of God was born into this world to die for us that we may be given this free grace.
I think it’s important to remember that both the younger brother and the older brother in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son needed this same grace. The younger brother comes home and must repent of his past. But the older brother must realize that his moral goodness does not make him righteous for his father’s blessing. We see the full picture in this parable of why a Savior is necessary. As we come into the season of Christmas where we celebrate the birth of our Savior, I challenge you to dig into which brother you might relate more to. Begin challenging your thinking as it relates to this story. May you remember not only the grace you are FREELY given, but also the price that was paid for it. Let us rejoice in this holiday season for a Heavenly Father who RUNS to us through the gift of His Son.
Courtney Miller is the Special Needs ministry Director at NorthStar Church. She was born a Texas girl, but has lived in Georgia the majority of her life (Go Dawgs!). She married her husband, Chris, in 2012. They have two children with a third on the way.