This week we will have the opportunity to look Luke 15:11-31. This story is famously titled "The Prodigal Son."
Read all of Luke 15. Notice why Jesus tells this story.
Read the story in terms of reliability and honesty.
The older brother prides himself in his reliability. He does all the right things and carefully cares for the farm, but when the father throws a feast, for the younger son, who has been unreliable, the reliable older son is deeply angered and refuses to participate.
In a strange subversion of the typical way we'd expect this story to end, the younger, "unreliable", has become become close with The Father. The older "reliable" son has become unreliable as he fumes outside the house. He blames the Father. He blames the younger son. The story leaves us with bated breath. We are left hoping that the older brother's anger cools and that he asks the Father for forgiveness.
The story leaves us hanging. What will the older brother decide? What must happen in his heart before he enters into the party?
Might this story better be titled "Two Prodigal Sons"?
