The older brother

In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), the most detailed parable in the Gospel of Luke, we are left with some interesting reactions: the father's excitement to receive the prodigal son back, the prodigal son’s humility, and the older brother who stayed with the father. My focus here is the latter. It seems that Jesus intended the older son to picture the Pharisees, who do not desire sinners to turn to God [1]. The parable goes that the older son, after a hard day's work, returns to his father’s house and hears music playing. Unaware of what is going on, he asks a servant, who informs him of his brother’s return. The very same brother who asks for the father’s share of the estate and spends it with prostitutes and wild living, is now poor after getting rid of all his fortune. The older brother, however, became enraged and confronted his father, saying that, despite his hard work and faithful service, not even a goat had been slain for him to celebrate. Still, his brother (whom he did not even call his brother, but called “this son of yours”), the father, celebrates his return and asks for the fattened calf to be slain, also putting a ring on the prodigal son’s finger and vesting him in a fine robe.

This is a claim of justice and fairness [2] in the father’s house. The Pharisees, representing here the older brother, are living in the father’s house, defined by God’s house, but they didn’t even realize what that means. They have everything they are supposed to have, but they complain because they see that the father is full of grace toward a sinful person rather than applying justice.

Recently, I was watching part of a sermon from a pentecostal pastor on Instagram, where the pastor said that Jesus explicitly asked pedophiles to kill themselves, based of the statement on Matthew 18:5-7 that says, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!”

Like the Pharisees in the parable of the prodigal son, this pastor and many Christians today believe God’s justice should be applied to sinners. I commented in the gloomy post that Jesus is not asking anyone to commit suicide, but using hyperbole to aggravate the problem of sin. Jesus is making the point that sin is very serious, and everyone should really try hard to stop sinning. However, my commentary generated furious reactions from many pastors’ followers (or I might say fans), stating that I was defending pedophiles, and that I should for sure be one of them. Instead of looking at the scripture I quoted and the explanation I posted about God’s grace surpassing any sin, which we should call for repentance, they were fervent for justice. As Paul said in Romans 5:20-21, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Of course, I’m not defending any pedophile, and all of them should pay the price of their heinous crime in jail, but one thing is our Earthly justice, the other completely different thing is God’s grace.

My objective was to explain that, although the sin of the pedophile is huge (and he should pay the price), to God’s eye, he still has a chance to be saved, because your sin and my sin are the same, and all of us deserve hell. Only through Jesus Christ can we be saved, and it doesn’t matter how many sins we have or how flagitious they are. Once we confess them all, we are saved by grace through faith. The people in the post reaction were comprehensive but also disturbing. I understand that they meant to condemn the child molester to the authorities, but that has nothing to do with Jesus asking the sinner to wrap a large stone around his neck and kill himself by throwing the stone with him into the sea. Again, the problem of sin cannot be taken lightly, and you, I, and the pedophile must confess our sins to Jesus and ask for forgiveness, receiving the grace (free) from God, like the father running towards the lost son in the parable. We are all lost without God if we do not come to Jesus, and reading the furious commentaries of my comment there makes me realize how some Christians believe they are better than others in terms of sin, thinking they are good people, or at least better than a pedophile. Again, in God’s eye, we are the same, and we should recognize that we also deserve hell and eternity apart from God, and because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can be saved through a (free) gift from God, where Jesus paid the price of our sins on the cross.

How far some Christians are from scripture understanding, condemning others instead of praying for repentance. One more time, I am not defending any pedophile; I’m just explaining what the Bible says, and that pastor should be preaching repentance, not suicide. That is the part that I believe is disturbing, because imputing suicide on others shows our Pharisee side. Some Christians are becoming the very same Pharisees in Jesus’ time who thought they were the saints, the purists, the owners of the truth, while all the rest should perish away from God. As the older brother from the parable, we may become blind to our unique spot in God’s house. Instead of trying to find the lost brother, we are worried that God didn’t give us better material things, and we are asking for justice and fairness, while we don’t deserve anything to claim that. We quickly forget that being in God’s house means picking up our cross daily. It is hard work. Jesus didn’t promise us anything easy. So many prosperity Gospel, TikTok pastors, and so many lost Christians are listening to a different Gospel, thinking they are good enough to deserve God’s payback, and a luxurious life, where God is just one more means for them to succeed here. I still hear people saying that “Jesus promised a life in full”, thinking the fullness of life is money, positions, power, good health, or any other earthly desire. It’s sad and disturbing because these people could end up confronting Jesus one day, and He may say, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23). What a frightening end to face!

Therefore, if you are in a position where you think you are good enough, please repent. You’re not. We are all sinners, and we all deserve hell. By the grace of God that calls you, we can be saved by believing in Jesus Christ… “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 3:23; 10:13)

[1] NIV Application Commentary on Luke, by Darrel L. Bock.

[2] Ibid.