He had it all

Whenever I read the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-42) I’m drawn to the character of the elder brother. The father and his errant son are more easily understood, the loving, grieving and forgiving Father and the wayward and repentant Prodigal. The elder brother is perhaps more ambiguous.

It’s possible to be quite sympathetic towards the elder brother. After all, he’s the one who stayed at home, worked hard and supported his Father throughout his life, particularly in the absence of a sibling who could help. Then the wastrel turns up and is feted with exuberance and the bitter words spill forth from the elder brother’s lips.

There are many modern -day equivalents. Families may have fractured relationships due to the responsibility of managing family finances or the care of elderly parents. We see siblings divided over the sharing of their parent’s estates. Children frequently feel that the parent’s love is not distributed evenly, that one child is the “favourite”.

Satan has been at work in families from the beginning. The first murder recorded in the Bible was Cain slaying his brother Abel, brother against brother. He’s still trying to fracture families, the basic units of stability in a society, equally so in church families.

It required the prodigal’s father to remind his eldest son that he had it all:

“Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” (v.31)

Perhaps the eldest son requires a different kind of sympathy. He doesn’t at that moment realize what he does have- the constant love of his father and the inheritance of everything that his father owns.

The story of course is a parable, a story through which we learn lessons about life with God. At some point Christians have all been prodigals, aware of their sin and need for forgiveness. And some of us have also been like the elder brother, becoming bitter and critical rather than generous and forgiving.  We need to be reminded to rejoice in the blessings of others and to just keep on working for God, each day.

This story is a reminder to be thankful for all the blessings that God has given us and the riches that we have in living with Him, of which His presence in our lives is by far the most precious.

Grape vines, Barossa Valley, South Australia