We could go through this. You could put two columns down, and we could write in them. On the prodigal’s side, he is a son by grace; on the older brother’s side, he is a son by law. On the prodigal’s side, he’s done nothing to merit God’s kindness; on the older brother’s side, he’s done everything to earn it. On the prodigal’s side, this is salvation by the sheer mercy of God; on the older brother’s side, this is an attempt at salvation by obedience and the keeping of the commandments.

This isn’t to say that son number two wasn’t at least outwardly a good, steady, faithful son. Jesus is not here saying that the Pharisees were all rotten. Oh, sure, they had hypocrisy that was part of their existence, but they weren’t the sort of archetypal hypocrite on two legs. These people had given their lives to religion. These people were concerned to know God. These people stayed up late in the night reading the Torah, searching it out, telling others how they can also live by these obligations. So it’s not that this older brother represents some kind of pathetic creature. No, we should think of him exactly as he’s described: as a good, steady, faithful son

God desires a restored relationship with everyone—not because of what we’ve done, but on the basis of His great kindness in Christ.

The older brother's heart was as corrupt as the younger brother's had been, but he was able to conceal it until the end.

I think the pharisees were indeed all rotten. They had no real interest in God. If they had, they would have accepted God when He showed up as Jesus.

It's all good, Walter. I do appreciate your earnestness for God. It's my prayer that we will both advance in our love for Christ.

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he was able to conceal it until the end.

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Not so much conceal. He misunderstood.

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The older brother's heart was as corrupt as the younger brother's had been, but he was able to conceal it until the end.

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He had a heart of rebellion against his father—expressed differently from the rebellious heart of his younger brother, but nevertheless he was in the same predicament. And he was in need of the same mercy. And what he deserved, he should not be asking for. And what God was willing to give, there was no basis for him to receive.

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I think the Pharisees were indeed all rotten. They had no real interest in God. If they had, they would have accepted God when He showed up as Jesus.

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When the Bible says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” that does not eradicate the degrees of difference that exist amongst men and women. Right? Not all of us have committed murder. We have all sinned. Not all of us have violated every command in the way another has. Not all of us have lived consumed with pride, or consumed with something, in the way that someone else may have done. So that there is a distinction—not a distinction in terms of whether a man is a sinner or not a sinner, but all are sinners, but the sense of sin and the expression of sin works itself out in different ways and in different people’s lives.

So there is vast difference between these two brothers. But it is a relative difference. Right? One of them definitely lived better. You can’t argue that. He lived better! He stayed home, he shined his shoes, he went to work, he did his business. He was present when he said he would be present. His life, from one perspective, was a better and a more constructive life than his brother’s, who made a hash of it. But the difference is relative, because they were both equally sinners, both equally in need of mercy. And it was this fact that the elder brother couldn’t understand—because he represents the Pharisees

It’s grace. It’s grace. And the danger of certain chunks of American evangelical fundamentalism is that it has actually never understood grace. And in the absence of grace, it has lived with lists, and it has lived with obligations, and it has lived with shibboleths, and it has lived with accretions, and it has lived with rules, and it says to people, “If you will do this, and if you will meet that, and if you will come there, and if you will fulfill this, then there’s a chance, you know.” Which is nothing at all about the way that the father grabs the boy up the street, is it? It’s all grace. He deserves a hiding; he gets a hug. He deserves to stay down in that mess; he’s given a new bedroom. He deserves to walk the streets in his sorry outfit and with the stinky smell of the pigs on him, and he’s given a bath, and he’s given all of the radiance of his father’s welcome. It’s a wonderful story. And you would think that anybody would want to go to this party, especially his brother. But he refused to go in.

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I think the Pharisees were indeed all rotten. They had no real interest in God. If they had, they would have accepted God when He showed up as Jesus.

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Well, why was that? Well, because the very necessity of it all he couldn’t understand or he refused to accept. He resented the irresponsibility and rebellion of his younger brother. After all, he was the picture of loyalty, and responsibility, and faithfulness, and obedience. The elder brother saw himself as spiritually sound, if you like, and healthy. Therefore, he couldn’t grasp the reason for which the father so joyfully welcomes the prodigal home, because he couldn’t see that he was as much in need of grace as this useless brother of his.

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Originally Posted by waltero

It’s a wonderful story. And you would think that anybody would want to go to this party, especially his brother. But he refused to go in. Well, why was that? Well, because the very necessity of it all he couldn’t understand or he refused to accept. He resented the irresponsibility and rebellion of his younger brother. After all, he was the picture of loyalty, and responsibility, and faithfulness, and obedience. The elder brother saw himself as spiritually sound, if you like, and healthy. Therefore, he couldn’t grasp the reason for which the father so joyfully welcomes the prodigal home, because he couldn’t see that he was as much in need of grace as this useless brother of his.

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Years ago, a good friend asked me, "I've been a Christian all my life, have attended church regularly, have put my tithe into the offering plate, have made many a casserole for church suppers and picnics, and have raised two childen who pray, praise, and give thanks to the Lord. So I'm supposed to be happy and even excited when I hear about a person who never made a kind or generous effort in his life has, on his death bed, accepted Jesus as his Savior?"

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So I'm supposed to be happy and even excited when I hear about a person who...accepted Jesus as his Savior?"

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God said; you need my Son, believe my Son and when you trust my Son lets party. Let's celebrate. Notice verse 32- we 'had to celebrate' and be glad. We didn't have any option. This wasn't press button B this is the overflow of our lives. Your brother was dead now he is alive he was lost and was found. The Necessity of the celebration is revealed in the fact that God and heaven are concerned with it, when somebody is saved God and heaven rejoice together.

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Originally Posted by waltero

The Necessity of the celebration is revealed in the fact that God and heaven are concerned with it, when somebody is saved God and heaven rejoice together.

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As my friend would then ask, "And that celebration of the son who disappeared and finally returned negates my lifelong devotion that has no disruption?"

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

In what way would her lifelong devotion be "negated"?

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

In what way would her lifelong devotion be "negated"?

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I asked her that. "Because I have been faithful all my life. Why should he, who confessed Jesus as Lord the last hour of his life, get the same reward that I will? It's not fair!"

Who said he would get the same reward?

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Who said he would get the same reward?

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Heaven is the reward.

14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

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I asked her that. "Because I have been faithful all my life. Why should he, who confessed Jesus as Lord the last hour of his life, get the same reward that I will? It's not fair!"

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Your friend is looking at them in terms of rewards and he missed the point of love and of grace.
You want to live like a slave or do you want to become a slave for Christ Jesus?

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Originally Posted by waltero

Your friend is looking at them in terms of rewards and he missed the point of love and of grace.

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He was a she.

So how would you have responded to her?

Your friend is looking at it in terms of rewards and she missed the point of love and of grace...she might miss out.
Better?

Your "friend" says it's not fair...and it's not fair. It's grace.
Sounds as if your friend is standing in the same shoes as the Prodigal's older brother?

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"I've been a Christian all my life, have attended church regularly, have put my tithe into the offering plate, have made many a casserole for church suppers and picnics, and have raised two childen who pray, praise, and give thanks to the Lord.

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What is she expecting?

Notice what she says, all these years I've been slaving for you and I've never disobeyed your orders. just like the individualist; I have always gone to church I have always kept the ten commandments. I am a good person, and yet you make a fuss about all these people getting saved...why don't you make a fuss about me! The spirit of the Pharisees creeps out in the heart of this woman. They adhered to the rules but they were inwardly estranged from God.

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Originally Posted by waltero

Your friend is looking at them in terms of rewards and she missed the point of love and of grace.
Better?

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And she would have responded to you by saying heaven is our reward for faithfulness. Otherwise, she would have had all sorts of wicked fun during her life and then, on her deadbed, confessed Christ as Savior.

Heaven is not a reward for OUR faithfulness. Heaven is a reward for those saved by grace through faith. The faithfulness we count on is the faithfulness of Jesus to fulfill His word, and thank God eternally for that.

I don't know that your friend ever really knew Jesus. If she did, she would have been overjoyed to have Him as her reward even now, and thrilled to have a sinner saved.

Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according to his deeds.

Notice what she says, all these years I've been slaving for you and I've never disobeyed your orders. just like the individualist; I have always gone to church I have always kept the ten commandments. I am a good person, and yet you make a fuss about all these people getting saved...why don't you make a fuss about me! The spirit of the Pharisees creeps out in the heart of this woman. They adhered to the rules but they were inwardly estranged from God.

It’s grace. It’s grace. And the danger is she never understood grace. And in the absence of grace, she has lived with lists, and...

All the religious Joes and the Holy Willy's and the erudite Pharisees hang tough with one another planning their own parties and can't celebrate when a genuine work of grace takes place.

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Heaven is not a reward for OUR faithfulness. Heaven is a reward for those saved by grace through faith. The faithfulness we count on is the faithfulness of Jesus to fulfill His word, and thank God eternally for that.

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Praise God! What else can be said.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

I don't know that your friend ever really knew Jesus. If she did, she would have been overjoyed to have Him as her reward even now, and thrilled to have a sinner saved.

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Knowing Jesus is a learning process. That's why we go to church, read and study the Bible, pray without ceasing. I know she did all of those things. I pray she came to an understanding before she died.

Thank you, waltero, for Post #157. It's your most comprehensive and clearest post to date! And I love the last paragraph.

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Knowing Jesus is a learning process.

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Usually having to learn the Hard way. A person will never really "know" Jesus until they come to the end of self.