the prodigal son's brother

Luke 15: 11-31

This parable on the prodigal son has always stuck out as special to me. The lost son coming home empty, humbled, humiliated and broken knowing that he has nothing left to offer his father, yet the father welcomed him back with a feast! What an amazing scene that is.

And yet, there's the other part of his brother feeling left out. I wondered why Jesus wanted to add that part in. The brother, on seeing the celebration felt angry and refused to go into the house. He said, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yhour who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you killed the fattened calf for him!'

The brother was being realistic. His feelings might even be justifiable.

But that is not how God wants our attitude to be. The father's reply was this, ' My son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we have to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again: he was lost and is found.'

What is our attitute towards lost sons/daughter and new christians? Are we encouraging them in a way that makes them grow in the Lord? The brother was looking at the situation from a 'me' perspective and how he thinks it should be.

I wanna conclude that instead of getting upset at situations that seems unfair, we should rejoice that the lost son humbled himself to come home to the father.

Chels