The Son Who Never Left Home
We love happy endings! Perhaps that is why the parable of the prodigal son is so appealing to us. The younger son followed a destructive road, but he "came to himself" (Luke 15:7). His repentance and his humble confession to his father are intensely moving. The compassion of the father and his willingness to forgive his prodigal son is no less touching, evoking strong emotion in all of us who realize our own need for divine grace.
The parable of the prodigal son is the last of three parables that Jesus told in Luke 15 about lost things or people. The shepherd rejoices when he finds his lost sheep (vs. 4-7), the woman rejoices when she finds her lost coin (vs. 8-10) and the father rejoices when his lost son comes home. To be sure, there is progression in the parables, but rejoicing at the "finding" of something is the theme which ties this trilogy together.
We learn from the beginning of the chapter that the tax collectors and sinners were anxious to hear what Jesus had to say. The Pharisees and scribes, however, were scandalized by Jesus’ contact with such people (vs. 2) and complained. The parables of Luke 15 were spoken to these religious elitists and in response to their sinful attitude toward others.
I don’t mean to sound presumptuous, but it may be that we have misnamed this parable. We emphasize the circumstances of the prodigal in the parable and it is certainly true that important lessons about sin, repentance and forgiveness can be seen in the details of the story which surround his actions. However, it is also clear that the older son in the parable represents the Pharisees and scribes to whom Jesus was telling the story. Jesus wanted them to see the contrast between the attitudes of the father and the older son.
Although the father was overjoyed to receive his repentant son back home, the older son was jealous and arrogant. He boasted of his obedience ("I never transgressed your commandment at any time" – vs. 29) and was jealous of the attention and blessings which the younger son was receiving ("yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friend. But…you killed the fatted calf for him" – vs. 29-30). He sullenly refused to enter the house where rejoicing at the return of his wayward brother was taking place.
The older son may never have left home, but his attitude was sinful. He could not bring himself to rejoice at the return of his brother. The father’s response to him carries an implied rebuke – his lack of compassion or concern for the lost and his jealousy were wrong (vs. 32). It is pretty easy to see the failure of the prodigal son; after all, he left home! The older son, however, is a reminder that one can hide behind the guise of faithfulness and yet be "lost" to the Father at the same time.