Jesus was definitely trying to
get across to the Pharisees and scribes at that time, particularly
in this parable, that he was looking that there would be a
law-gospel distinction. He takes two characters, he takes
three characters, he takes four characters, and begins to illuminate,
through a little moral-spiritual story, the parable of the prodigal
son. Let's take a look at the older
brother. Not so relaxed. At all. Right? Okay, was he jealous? He doesn't say he was jealous,
but he said he was angry. And I'll tell you what, the jealousy
and the anger starts soon as we start with the whole bigger,
better deal. What's in it for me? Comparison. The older brother
attitudes illustrates the judgmental spirit of the Pharisees who were
annoyed at the presence of a sinner. So when we talk about him saying
to his dad, hey, he's out there partying with all these whores.
Again, we've already done that. So to reiterate it very quickly,
how does he know that? But the parable picks something
that we would say. He didn't say he's out there
playing the ponies. He's out there at 7-Eleven around the
corner. He didn't say that. What he said was he picks the
most probably degradory thing of that time. Right? The most
carnal, fleshy, anti-spiritual thing he can think of at that
particular time, and picks that. But as Tullian to Vigin says,
why is it that the prostitutes, publicans, sinners, and thieves
get the gospel before the Pharisees, the scribes, and the Sadducees?
Because they need it more than anybody, right? They're the dregs.
Christ didn't come to spy out our sins. He came to relieve
us of those sins. And if you're suffering with
what the older brother is, with a really venomous case of self-righteous,
then we have our own set of problems. And it is my contention that
he is suffering discontent more than the brother. Because he
has everything there, he's supposedly following the rules. But Father,
I've never leaved you, I've done everything you've asked me to
do. So you put away the garden hose, you cleaned the shovels,
you mucked the stalls, you did everything I've asked you to
do. I mean, dotted every i, crossed the t's, every little tittle,
you've done all that stuff. No, he probably hasn't. But again,
it's parabolic, so we can just look at it for what it says.
No one does all those things. But he says to his dad, you know,
I've been here doing this whole thing. Where's the goat? Where's
even a baby goat, a kid? Now what's interesting is this,
he doesn't use the term, where's my fatty calf? He picks something
lower than that. He picks a goat. but in the realm
of there has to be a shedding of blood between bulls and goats.
And so he does pick something, the Pharisees should have picked
on this, but it was less than that fatted calf. It was less
than the number one prize that the father could have sacrificed.
He says, you've been here the whole time. There's nowhere in
the story where the older brother says to his dad, you know, I've
asked you a bunch of times for a party on Friday night, not
one time. His dad says, I've been here
the whole time. Here's what's interesting. The older brother has not lost
anything. He has two thirds of his father's
inheritance coming to him. He hasn't lost anything. He's
discontent. He's in the business of comparison.
Come on, man. I'm pointing at Dwayne. Come
on, Dwayne! Right? For me, at least interpretively,
it's hardcore that someone who thinks that they can maintain
the law is better than those of us that know we can't maintain
the law. And that self-righteousness is a venom unto itself. And all
venom is poisonous.