The Love of the Father Part 2: Older Brother Syndrome

Intro: When reading the Parable of the Prodigal Son (As discussed in The Love of the Father and Service/Transformation), many will draw most of their attention to the story of the younger son and become content with knowing the redemptive persona of our great Father in Heaven. The second half of the story, which concerns the older son, often gets overlooked along with it's vital implications. Realize that this story concerning the older brother does not have a happy ending, and we do not know what happens to him. Luke 15:25-32

25 Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, 'Your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him! 31 And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.'

Somethings to take note of about the heart of the older brother:

1. He was very obedient, but as evidenced in his claim over his father's gifts (v. 29b-30), we can see that his concerns were over what this father would provide, not his father. There is no love from the son to the father.
2. He was self-righteous, believing that in his good works he deserved more than his younger brother. With self-righteousness only came contempt and dissatisfaction when he was not recognized as much as he believed he deserved.

Older Brother Symptoms:

• We get angry when life doesn't go the way we think it should v.28a.
• Story (not Biblical): Jesus tells His disciples to each pick up a rock before they depart on their journey. Peter picks up a little pebble in order to make his journey easier. Upon reaching the foot of a mountain, Jesus turns each disciples' rock into bread. Peter, having picked up a pebble, had little to eat. Before leaving to climb the mountain, Jesus tells them to pick up a rock once again and Peter picks up the biggest rock he could find. When reaching the top of the mountain, Jesus had them discard the rocks and Peter was angry. Who was Peter carrying the rock for, himself or Jesus?
• Obedience feels like a duty and is fear-driven, it lacks love and joy v.19.
• Suffer from a sense of superiority in terms of morality v.30
• Feel insecure and relish when justice has been served

Read on the significance of having Older Brother Symptoms here.

Key points:

• God doesn't owe us anything but judgment.
• Our good performance doesn't mean we deserve more, it's not about getting reward from performance.
• We obey out of love for Him -- NOT to get something from Him. We have already received His grace.
• Without love, all we do and all we are counts for nothing (Corinthians 13:2)
• We must have a relationship with God in order to enjoy His blessings -- because it is when we have a relationship with Christ that we will also be in His favor.
• The minute we think we are better than someone else, we automatically are deemed worse than that person. We can only fully lift others up to Christ when we are humble.