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The Prodigal Son: Part III: Religion vs Gospel
If you haven't read the first two posts within this series, you can find them here and here. If this reads a little odd, it is because they came from a sermon series I did at chapels at a local private school. I hope that these will aid you in your understanding of the Gospel more fully. I also want you to know, as I stated in the first post, that I leaned highly on the sermons given by Tim Keller that can be found here.
Here is the last post in regards to the Prodigal Son.
The Vengeful Brother
So, it looks like everything is going great, the celebration has started, the whole town is there celebrating a feast that they probably have never seen before. It’s actually so loud that the elder brother can hear it as he starts to approach the house. Here is what follows in the story.
“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
“And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.
“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 became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”
At this point in the story, the Pharisees that are standing around listening to the story that Jesus is telling, are very angry. They are thinking to themselves: this boy wished his father dead, completely devastated his family, squandered his dad’s money with prostitutes, and lived alongside an unclean animal, now the father has the gall to merely forgive him? Not only forgive him, but throw a huge celebration for the son?
Then Jesus starts in with the elder brother and they have to be thinking, “finally, someone who is thinking correctly”
To give you some context in what should have happened in a true God loving country…it was the elder brother’s job to bring back the prodigal son to restore the family's image and respect among the community. But, for the elder son to do this for the younger, it would cost him a lot of money. Remember, at this point, everything is going to be the elder brothers now when his father dies…and because the elder brother is an idolator also of his father’s possessions, he won’t go out to get seek the younger brother. But instead of seeing himself as no better than his younger brother he actually sees himself as superior to the younger brother, because of all the work he has done for the father.
Look at the response of the elder brother.
“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
Why is he so mad? The reason is that he feels like he has earned the right to be his father’s son with all his works, but doesn’t believe that the Prodigal Son has earned any right to be called the son or part of the family.
At this point, he has done the same thing that the Prodigal did when he repented, he wants to be his father’s hired servant. He says:
For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours;
Here you will see that the elder brother believes he deserves something from the father because of him following his commands. It isn’t enough to be called a son and be with the father, he wants more…he wants his father’s things
You see Pharisees do two things: they believe their works save them, but they also believe that their works make them earn God’s love and God’s grace and ultimately, his gifts.
We have to realize that God doesn’t owe us anything. No matter if you read your bible, pray, help others, go to church, go to a private school, wear WWJD bracelets, wear Christian t-shirts, listen to Christian music, smile all the time like you're on something,etc. God doesn’t owe you an easier life.
I have heard before that if you read your Bible your days will be better. Therefore, you read your bible so you have a better day. But what happens when you read your bible and your dad dies?
What are you going to do? You’ll blame God because you followed everything God said to do, yet your life isn’t better, it’s worse.
You are telling God, “you owe me!...look at all I did!” God says, “I owe you nothing, but I gave you everything!”
I want to really drive this home: This is anti gospel, this is religion. Which states, I get to earn my salvation by my works.
The elder brother is so messed up. But, I want to be able to give you some ways to see if you are the elder brother. Because the interesting thing is that it is easy to see the Prodigal Son and who they are. They are usually the ones hooked on drugs, getting drunk, living for money, caught up in very visible evil things.
The hard thing with the elder brothers is where they congregate. They don’t congregate in the pig slop, they congregate in churches, in Christian schools and Christian businesses.
Because outwardly, they look like they are doing all the right things…they give to the poor, they read their bibles, they come to church every week, they serve in the church and memorize their Bibles, they have Christian bumper stickers, they have the latest Top 50 Worship Songs CD, etc. Now are any of these things wrong? We could debate on some of them, but, is it wrong to go to church, christian schools, work at a Crhistian business, read your bible, pray, etc.? No…of course not..unless the heart is jacked up…
Religion does all these things to gain God’s favor, they do it to look good, not because they love God.
Think about this…what is the difference between a Mormon that gives to the poor, reads their Bibles, does many moral things that are good and you? What is the difference?
If you can’t answer, “My works are merely because I love my God and am thankful for what he has done for me” you might be an elder brother candidate…
King David puts it this way:
Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:6-8
But, when you think of this: didn’t God say that burnt offerings and sin offering were required? But notice that David says he does these things not to earn God’s favor but does it because he delights to do God’s will.
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
Matthew 15:8-9
Jesus wants your heart, not merely your works. But know this: out of a heart that loves God and desires him most, good works will come.
Here is some things to watch for to see if you are an elder brother candidate who loves religion instead of gospel: I totally stole this from Tim Keller.
1. Anger
Notice the brother was angry with his father. An elder brother, or Pharisee, is someone who is angry because he is not getting what he thinks he deserves…”why aren’t I prospering God? I do all these things, my life should be good, my grades should be good, I should have lots of friends, I should have the nicest clothes, I shouldn’t have to struggle like this”
You will always think that you are better than “that guy” and you will often say when you hear a message at church, “so and so needs to hear this message,” but you will never see that the message was speaking to you.
2. Duty without Beauty
You slave for God. You don’t enjoy church, you don’t enjoy praying, you don’t enjoy reading your bible, you don’t enjoy loving others…because elder brothers find God useful, not beautiful.
You see, for an elder brother God is not the end, he is not the gift of our salvation, but God is a means to get what they want. Gospel Christians obey because they want God. Elder brothers obey God to get his stuff. Gospel saturated Christians obey because they want to draw close to God and find God and love his presence.
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to ..what? money? power? health? a good life? a safe life? no…he died to bring us to God
For the elder brother this isn’t good enough, God isn’t good enough. They need recognition, they need God’s things, not God himself. Why do you obey God? So you can look good on the outside to others? To get a good day out of God? Or do you obey God because you deeply love him, knowing that if everything was taken from you, your joy would not be stolen.
As an example: elder brothers pray to get things not to get closer to God
3. Religious and Cultural Class Superiority
If you ground your self image in your performance then you have to look down upon those who are failures, if you ground your self image in your work, then you have to look down upon those who are lazy. If you ground yourself on being and American, you look down on anyone who comes in this country illegally. So, if you ground your self image in your good grades, playing sports, playing an instrument, being an amazing artist, wearing a t-shirt with some weird saying of Christ..if this is where your self image lies…all those who can’t do these things…you’ll look down upon them.
The elder brother says that God owes him grace and love because of his works, the gospel centered person states, “I am not worthy to be your son”
Notice the elder brother says,
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
We mustn’t say: I can’t believe that person is a murderer, thief, drunk, druggy, homosexual, or pedophile…instead, we must say, without God’s grace I would be in their same sinful state and then we take and show the gospel to them.
We must be careful not to be the elder brother who is really viewing himself as a hired servant only interested in getting what he feels owed to him. We must be gospel centered, knowing we are not worthy to be called God’s sons and daughters.
Notice how this parable ends:
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”
At this point, I can see Christ looking right into the eyes of the Pharisees. The interesting thing is that although the father should be angry with his eldest son, he shows much compassion for him. Like the younger brother, the father comes out to the eldest son, and like he did with the younger brother, he shows forgiveness and love for the eldest son instead of anger.
Notice, Jesus uses the term “son” when the father says, “son, you have always been with me…” which means something close to “my child”…it is very intimate. The father pleads with the son to come in and enjoy the feast. Jesus is telling the Pharisees that there is still time for them to turn and know that they can be saved, not by their works, but the work that is about to happen on the cross.
Then, the parable ends. We are left to see that the Prodigal Son is saved and in his father’s house, even though his works were filled with sin. But because of his father’s mercy and grace…he is redeemed. Showing those who have a life filled with sin, that they too can be forgiven and be in heaven some day, because of the greater father, Jesus Christ, who paid the price for their sins and stands ready to forgive them.
But, the elder brother is left outside. He is going to hell despite his good works. He, like his younger brother, has now torn the family up once again. But he, unlike his brother, believes his salvation and grace should come by what he has done, instead of what his father has done.
Jesus actually doesn’t tell us the end of the story because his hour to die hadn’t yet come. But, if we were to work out this parable to the end, as the father is pleading with his son to come in and celebrate, the elder son out of all his anger picks up a piece of wood and beats his father to death with it.
In the end, Jesus dies on the cross at the hands of the self righteous Pharisees, who believed their works were what earned them the right to be loved by God. They couldn’t believe that this Messiah came to save the prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, homosexuals, liars, thieves and pedophiles. They couldn’t believe that he came to save you and I.
Conclusion
There is much to glean from this parable that we have yet to uncover. But which are you? There are only three to choose from. Are you the prodigal? Do you live out your own desires and have many idols that are ahead of God?
Are you the elder brother? Do you believe that God owes you something because you read our Bible every morning, pray every morning or help those in need?
Or, are you a blood bought Christian that understands that God is the gift. God is our redeemer and salvation. He is the one that has paid it all, not only for our salvation, but also for our sanctification?
Are you one that is repentant because you break God’s heart and you desire to live for him because you love him?
I hope that this study has opened your eyes to the understanding of the true Gospel of our Christ. He paid it all. He desires you to be saved and he has removed all obstacles for you to be saved. You just need to repent and turn to him and tell him that you have sinned against heaven and you are not worthy to be his son. But, be careful, because if you ever feel as though you are worthy to be called his son…you are becoming that elder brother
I will end with a quote from Augustine from his confessions:
What does ambition seek except honor and glory, but only you lord have a glory forever that can never be lost
What does power of the mighty desire except to be feared, but none has power that can ever be ceased and stolen but you
What do the lonely and the anxious long for, except a love that they cannot lose, but who can give a love that does not fade and die but you
What does wariness seek except rest, but what sure rest is there apart from you
Thus the soul commits adultery whenever it turns from you and seeks these things that it cannot find except in you
Oh Lord you made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you
May we seek to find our rest in God himself, instead of God’s things.
Here is the last post in regards to the Prodigal Son.
The Vengeful Brother
So, it looks like everything is going great, the celebration has started, the whole town is there celebrating a feast that they probably have never seen before. It’s actually so loud that the elder brother can hear it as he starts to approach the house. Here is what follows in the story.
“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
“And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.
“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 became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”
At this point in the story, the Pharisees that are standing around listening to the story that Jesus is telling, are very angry. They are thinking to themselves: this boy wished his father dead, completely devastated his family, squandered his dad’s money with prostitutes, and lived alongside an unclean animal, now the father has the gall to merely forgive him? Not only forgive him, but throw a huge celebration for the son?
Then Jesus starts in with the elder brother and they have to be thinking, “finally, someone who is thinking correctly”
To give you some context in what should have happened in a true God loving country…it was the elder brother’s job to bring back the prodigal son to restore the family's image and respect among the community. But, for the elder son to do this for the younger, it would cost him a lot of money. Remember, at this point, everything is going to be the elder brothers now when his father dies…and because the elder brother is an idolator also of his father’s possessions, he won’t go out to get seek the younger brother. But instead of seeing himself as no better than his younger brother he actually sees himself as superior to the younger brother, because of all the work he has done for the father.
Look at the response of the elder brother.
“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
Why is he so mad? The reason is that he feels like he has earned the right to be his father’s son with all his works, but doesn’t believe that the Prodigal Son has earned any right to be called the son or part of the family.
At this point, he has done the same thing that the Prodigal did when he repented, he wants to be his father’s hired servant. He says:
For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours;
Here you will see that the elder brother believes he deserves something from the father because of him following his commands. It isn’t enough to be called a son and be with the father, he wants more…he wants his father’s things
You see Pharisees do two things: they believe their works save them, but they also believe that their works make them earn God’s love and God’s grace and ultimately, his gifts.
We have to realize that God doesn’t owe us anything. No matter if you read your bible, pray, help others, go to church, go to a private school, wear WWJD bracelets, wear Christian t-shirts, listen to Christian music, smile all the time like you're on something,etc. God doesn’t owe you an easier life.
I have heard before that if you read your Bible your days will be better. Therefore, you read your bible so you have a better day. But what happens when you read your bible and your dad dies?
What are you going to do? You’ll blame God because you followed everything God said to do, yet your life isn’t better, it’s worse.
You are telling God, “you owe me!...look at all I did!” God says, “I owe you nothing, but I gave you everything!”
I want to really drive this home: This is anti gospel, this is religion. Which states, I get to earn my salvation by my works.
The elder brother is so messed up. But, I want to be able to give you some ways to see if you are the elder brother. Because the interesting thing is that it is easy to see the Prodigal Son and who they are. They are usually the ones hooked on drugs, getting drunk, living for money, caught up in very visible evil things.
The hard thing with the elder brothers is where they congregate. They don’t congregate in the pig slop, they congregate in churches, in Christian schools and Christian businesses.
Because outwardly, they look like they are doing all the right things…they give to the poor, they read their bibles, they come to church every week, they serve in the church and memorize their Bibles, they have Christian bumper stickers, they have the latest Top 50 Worship Songs CD, etc. Now are any of these things wrong? We could debate on some of them, but, is it wrong to go to church, christian schools, work at a Crhistian business, read your bible, pray, etc.? No…of course not..unless the heart is jacked up…
Religion does all these things to gain God’s favor, they do it to look good, not because they love God.
Think about this…what is the difference between a Mormon that gives to the poor, reads their Bibles, does many moral things that are good and you? What is the difference?
If you can’t answer, “My works are merely because I love my God and am thankful for what he has done for me” you might be an elder brother candidate…
King David puts it this way:
Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”
Psalm 40:6-8
But, when you think of this: didn’t God say that burnt offerings and sin offering were required? But notice that David says he does these things not to earn God’s favor but does it because he delights to do God’s will.
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
Matthew 15:8-9
Jesus wants your heart, not merely your works. But know this: out of a heart that loves God and desires him most, good works will come.
Here is some things to watch for to see if you are an elder brother candidate who loves religion instead of gospel: I totally stole this from Tim Keller.
1. Anger
Notice the brother was angry with his father. An elder brother, or Pharisee, is someone who is angry because he is not getting what he thinks he deserves…”why aren’t I prospering God? I do all these things, my life should be good, my grades should be good, I should have lots of friends, I should have the nicest clothes, I shouldn’t have to struggle like this”
You will always think that you are better than “that guy” and you will often say when you hear a message at church, “so and so needs to hear this message,” but you will never see that the message was speaking to you.
2. Duty without Beauty
You slave for God. You don’t enjoy church, you don’t enjoy praying, you don’t enjoy reading your bible, you don’t enjoy loving others…because elder brothers find God useful, not beautiful.
You see, for an elder brother God is not the end, he is not the gift of our salvation, but God is a means to get what they want. Gospel Christians obey because they want God. Elder brothers obey God to get his stuff. Gospel saturated Christians obey because they want to draw close to God and find God and love his presence.
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to ..what? money? power? health? a good life? a safe life? no…he died to bring us to God
For the elder brother this isn’t good enough, God isn’t good enough. They need recognition, they need God’s things, not God himself. Why do you obey God? So you can look good on the outside to others? To get a good day out of God? Or do you obey God because you deeply love him, knowing that if everything was taken from you, your joy would not be stolen.
As an example: elder brothers pray to get things not to get closer to God
3. Religious and Cultural Class Superiority
If you ground your self image in your performance then you have to look down upon those who are failures, if you ground your self image in your work, then you have to look down upon those who are lazy. If you ground yourself on being and American, you look down on anyone who comes in this country illegally. So, if you ground your self image in your good grades, playing sports, playing an instrument, being an amazing artist, wearing a t-shirt with some weird saying of Christ..if this is where your self image lies…all those who can’t do these things…you’ll look down upon them.
The elder brother says that God owes him grace and love because of his works, the gospel centered person states, “I am not worthy to be your son”
Notice the elder brother says,
but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
We mustn’t say: I can’t believe that person is a murderer, thief, drunk, druggy, homosexual, or pedophile…instead, we must say, without God’s grace I would be in their same sinful state and then we take and show the gospel to them.
We must be careful not to be the elder brother who is really viewing himself as a hired servant only interested in getting what he feels owed to him. We must be gospel centered, knowing we are not worthy to be called God’s sons and daughters.
Notice how this parable ends:
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”
At this point, I can see Christ looking right into the eyes of the Pharisees. The interesting thing is that although the father should be angry with his eldest son, he shows much compassion for him. Like the younger brother, the father comes out to the eldest son, and like he did with the younger brother, he shows forgiveness and love for the eldest son instead of anger.
Notice, Jesus uses the term “son” when the father says, “son, you have always been with me…” which means something close to “my child”…it is very intimate. The father pleads with the son to come in and enjoy the feast. Jesus is telling the Pharisees that there is still time for them to turn and know that they can be saved, not by their works, but the work that is about to happen on the cross.
Then, the parable ends. We are left to see that the Prodigal Son is saved and in his father’s house, even though his works were filled with sin. But because of his father’s mercy and grace…he is redeemed. Showing those who have a life filled with sin, that they too can be forgiven and be in heaven some day, because of the greater father, Jesus Christ, who paid the price for their sins and stands ready to forgive them.
But, the elder brother is left outside. He is going to hell despite his good works. He, like his younger brother, has now torn the family up once again. But he, unlike his brother, believes his salvation and grace should come by what he has done, instead of what his father has done.
Jesus actually doesn’t tell us the end of the story because his hour to die hadn’t yet come. But, if we were to work out this parable to the end, as the father is pleading with his son to come in and celebrate, the elder son out of all his anger picks up a piece of wood and beats his father to death with it.
In the end, Jesus dies on the cross at the hands of the self righteous Pharisees, who believed their works were what earned them the right to be loved by God. They couldn’t believe that this Messiah came to save the prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, homosexuals, liars, thieves and pedophiles. They couldn’t believe that he came to save you and I.
Conclusion
There is much to glean from this parable that we have yet to uncover. But which are you? There are only three to choose from. Are you the prodigal? Do you live out your own desires and have many idols that are ahead of God?
Are you the elder brother? Do you believe that God owes you something because you read our Bible every morning, pray every morning or help those in need?
Or, are you a blood bought Christian that understands that God is the gift. God is our redeemer and salvation. He is the one that has paid it all, not only for our salvation, but also for our sanctification?
Are you one that is repentant because you break God’s heart and you desire to live for him because you love him?
I hope that this study has opened your eyes to the understanding of the true Gospel of our Christ. He paid it all. He desires you to be saved and he has removed all obstacles for you to be saved. You just need to repent and turn to him and tell him that you have sinned against heaven and you are not worthy to be his son. But, be careful, because if you ever feel as though you are worthy to be called his son…you are becoming that elder brother
I will end with a quote from Augustine from his confessions:
What does ambition seek except honor and glory, but only you lord have a glory forever that can never be lost
What does power of the mighty desire except to be feared, but none has power that can ever be ceased and stolen but you
What do the lonely and the anxious long for, except a love that they cannot lose, but who can give a love that does not fade and die but you
What does wariness seek except rest, but what sure rest is there apart from you
Thus the soul commits adultery whenever it turns from you and seeks these things that it cannot find except in you
Oh Lord you made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you
May we seek to find our rest in God himself, instead of God’s things.
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