A New Perspective on The Prodigal

The story of the prodigal son is an extremely familiar story. Most of it know it well. But lets just run through it real quick. The story is found in the book of Luke chapter 15 starting at verse 11. A Father has 2 sons one of them decides he doesn't want to wait till his father dies before he gets his inheritance. So the son goes to his father and tells him to divide his portion of his inheritance to him. The father divides the inheritance to them. The prodigal then sells his part takes the money and moves to the big city. There he wast all of his money partying. After his money is gone and his friends with it. A famine arises in the land.
The prodigal takes a job feeding pigs for a farmer. The man was so hungry he would have eaten the pig food. But then he came to him self, and said to him self, "how many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to spare, and i perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, 'Father, i have sinned against heaven and before you, and i am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.'"
So the son heads back home. The father sees him while he is great way off. Runs to him, falls on his neck, and kisses him. The son starts his prepared speech about being not worthy to be his son. The Father ignores him, tells the servants to bring out the best robe put a ring on his finger and new shows on his feet. Then the father tells his servants to kill the fatted calf and party.
Well the older son is out in the field working during all this. When he comes to the house, he hears the party, and ask whats going on with this. Well a servant tells him, and big brother gets an attitude. The father comes out to talk to his older son. The sons says to his father, " These many years do I serve you, neither transgressed I at any time your commandment. Yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this, your son, was come, which hath devoured your living with harlots, you have killed for him the fatted calf."
The Father answers him saying, "Son, you are ever with me, and all that I have is your. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this your brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found."
It is an awesome story of the Fathers Love. But the Fathers Love is not what i want to talk about. I want to talk about the older brother. We saw in the story that the Father was looking for his lost son to return home. The older brother was in the field working, if the older brother really cared about what the Father cared about he would have been out there with his father looking for the little brother! But no, he was in the field working.
Just why was in the field working? They had lots of servants. Why would the older brother had to have worked? Simple answer is because he doesn't know his father. He thinks he does but he doesn't. If he did know his Father he would have been out there with his Father Looking for the Little brother. He would have cared about what the Father cared about.
Why did the older brother get mad when the Father had a party for the little brother? His answer to the Father tells it all. "These many years have I serve you, neither have I at any time transgressed your commandment. And yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this, your son was come, which has devoured your living with harlots, you have killed for him the fatted calf."
He was angry because he said the Father never gave him a "kid" or a young goat, so he could through a party with his friends. But that was very far from the truth of the matter. Remember back at the beginning of this story when the prodigal ask for his portion? Lets look at.
Luke 15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
Do you see it? It says "And he divided unto THEM his living." Who is them? His two sons. You see all the Father did not have anything anymore. Everything in this story after the little brother wasted his portion belonged to the big brother. Because the Father had given the Them his living. So that brings us back to why was the big brother working his own field? And why was he angry with the Father for not giving him a goat? He owned everything on the farm. It was all his.
The truth is the big brother was like many Christians today. They don't know what is theirs.
Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
What is left out of ALL THINGS? Simple answer nothing. Most preschoolers can tell you that. But most Christians will argue with you over it for days. The Older Brother never accepted his inheritance. He was like most Christians. He had a work/earn mentality. That is why he was working in the field. He could not believe the Father was good enough to give him everything. He felt like he had to work for it.
He had the mentality that the Blood of Jesus wasn't good enough. You see it in the way he talks about his little brother, "which has devoured your living with harlots". He throws his brothers sin right back in the Fathers face. Even though the Father had already forgiven His son, the older brother thinks it his job to tell the Father what the son had been doing. Just an interesting point here. How did the older brother know about the harlots? He was busy working the field. Also no where else in the story does it say anything about harlots. The older brother is assuming that the little brother had been with harlots. Most likely because that's what he was thinking about doing! Anyways.
Then the older brother gets angry with the Father for killing the fatted calf. Because He said the Father never gave him a goat to make merry with his friends. With his friends. Once again the older son does not know the Father. He wants to earn stuff from the Father to have fun with his friends. He does not want to hang out with the Father. Besides he IF he had any right to be angry it should have been over the fact that the Father had killed his fatted calf, and not told him about the party!
The older son owned all things. He even owned the calf his little brother was eating! He never took the time to be with his Father. He never learned what was his, and how good the Father is. So he never enjoyed the benefits of being a son. The prodigal always new the Goodness of the Father. I think that's why he asked for his inheritance in the first place. Think about it.
God Bless!