The Older Prodigal Son - Rejoice!

It ends on a cliffhanger; we never know what the older son did, or how he eventually responded to his younger brother’s return (see Luke 15). On discovering the celebration, the older son refuses to join in, so his father goes out to him. His reasons have always slightly confused me: that his father had never given him as much as a goat so that he might have a party with his friends. But doesn’t he own everything anyway? At the beginning of the parable, the father divided his property between his two sons; the younger one sold everything and disappeared, so presumably anything left belongs to the older son? Why did he need to wait for his father to offer? Why, in fact, could he not have asked his father, if he wanted permission?

I do kind of understand where the older son is coming from. To ask for your inheritance early would have been shocking. Basically, the younger son was telling his father he wished he was dead, and that he wanted to leave the family – which is exactly what he did. The older son knew how outrageous his younger brother’s behaviour had been, so he stayed at home and continued his life as normal. This does seem to have included the fact that his father was still in charge. He obeys him and serves him as though the division of property had never taken place. His inheritance will come once his father dies, as it should. He conforms to social expectations, and follows the rules.

There is also the fact that the father seems to have started the celebrations without informing his older son of the younger one’s return. The older son was out in the fields and only discovers what is happening when he comes near the house and hears the noise. It does seem that there may well be some sibling rivalry going on here, but I can understand the older son feeling miffed that he hadn’t even been told the news – although, to be fair, it’s not what he says to his father. But motivations can be multiple.

Whatever the reason, the older son refuses to go in. The father becomes aware of this, and goes out to him, getting a rant about how he had slaved for his father without any reward, yet the fatted calf was killed for his younger brother. The father responds patiently: all that he had belonged to the older son, yet we needed to celebrate the fact of his younger son’s return for he was dead and is now alive, was lost and is found. We do not know what happened next. Did the older son relent, or did he continue to angrily refuse to enter?

It is all the more interesting because we are told exactly what happened to the younger son, and what caused him to return. We have the picture of his father throwing his dignity to the winds, and running to meet him. That picture of love resonates with us now, but may well have seemed shocking to some people of Jesus’ day, especially given how far the younger son had transgressed social norms, and exactly how he had wasted property that should have been nurtured and handed down. The younger son is well aware that he can only return as a beggar, as a hired servant: he has lost all right to be treated as a son. Yet that is exactly what the father does: treats him as a beloved son. No wonder the older son was angry. Even if he had anticipated his brother’s return, he was unlikely to have anticipated his father’s response. Why do we not know the end of the story?

Precisely because the end of the parable is ours to finish. This parable is told as one of three in Luke 15, the other two being the lost sheep and the lost coin. Verse 7, which concludes the parable of the lost sheep, has the point firmly: there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent. The comparison between the older and younger sons is right there. Jesus tells the parables in response to the religious elites’ criticism of Jesus’ habit of spending time with tax collectors and sinners. If we are to take the three parables to heart, we will realise that there are no righteous people who do not need to repent. The older son was just as lacking in awareness of his father’s love as was the younger one. One was a rebel, while the other was dutiful, but neither really saw their father for who he was. Jesus is not telling the scribes and pharisees that they were not sinners; he was encouraging them to see that they had more in common with the ‘sinners’ whom they exiled than they might have thought. That to reach out to those who have gone astray is not wrong. That their righteous condemnation of others was just as far from the love of God as was the behaviour of those they condemned.

We do not know the ending of the parable, because the ending was in the hands of those listening. We do not know their response, because what is important now is our response. Are we the older or the younger son? Or do we have some of both? Do we join heaven in rejoicing when people turn to God, or do we exclude others from God’s love, whatever our motivation? Are we on a journey of discovering the amazing love God has for each one of us, or are we following the rules? The good news is that any answer is the correct one; any answer can be the start of a journey where we turn around and begin to allow God to love us, and those around us; the start of journey which will cause heaven to rejoice. Will you join the party or stay out in the cold?