“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
Luke 15:22-30
These are highly significant verses. The father spares no expense to celebrate the home coming of his younger son. He commands the servants to get the best robe and clothe him. I told you in Gem 1039 that the special robes were symbolic of the family. They were worn by the father and the sons to represent the family. The fact that the father commanded the servants to clothe the son means the servants now had to honour the son as a son of household again. Before that he would have been classed as an outsider because Kezezah had been pronounced over him. For the servant to clothe him in the family colours would mean they now had to honour him as a son, restored and in his rightful place. The family ring has been restored to him. His brother would have had one too along with the father. The sandals symbolise that he has had his sonship and relationship with the father restored. He can wear his sandals in the house again like a son and heir. Wearing the ring means he has the power and the authority of the family. The ring included the family seal and so he could sign things in the name of the family and his father. But the father still likely holds the rights of dispersal of property.
What does all this mean for the older son? Does it mean he has lost anything as some commentators infer? The answer is “no”. The younger son has his family robe restored; but the older son has one too. The younger son has his sandals restored; the older son has them too. The point is as sons of the father, the sons sd the father can wear their sandals in the house. All others must take their sandals off at the door. The younger son has the family ring restored; the older son has his family ring too. The older son should not be upset because of any of these items. Some people just get upset when good things happen to others. They prefer it when others around them suffer bad things. It appears to be a sign to them that they are being blessed. They seem to like it even more when it’s at the expense of their protagonist. They are like children in the family who constantly have to measure what the other siblings get. Am I disadvantaged by what I see my siblings getting? Of course we are all familiar with the parental technique of having one child cut the cake and then allowing the other to choose. The one cutting the cake goes to extreme measures to ensure the other is not advantaged by the portion they choose. It’s comical. Life is a bit like that. Life is not always fair. Even God doesn’t always ensure things are fair in the short term. There are times when evil men appear to prosper. Get used to it. Grow up and mature and accept the fact that someone else can prosper even when they don’t deserve it. A good test of our maturity is if we can rejoice when others succeed or prosper more than us.
But that can’t be the reason the older son got upset because he also had the sandals, the robe and the ring. He just didn’t like to see that his younger brother has had those things restored. He wanted his brother to be punished and it irks him that he hasn’t got his just desserts. It is interesting that we want others to get the judgement they deserve while we want grace for us. Grace for us and judgement for them. But when you are given grace, remember it is UNDESERVED FAVOUR. Yet so often we treat the grace we are given as our right as though we earned it. Let me remind you again: you can’t earn grace. It’s a gift, not payment for something you have done. I find it so amusing when people look at someone else who is manifesting the gifts of the Spirit and then conclude that it is a sign of their spirituality. It’s a gift, by grace not by works lest anyone should boast. There is nothing that the father has done so far that should have triggered the reaction in the older son.
When it comes to the fatted calf it is a different matter. Perhaps he has a legitimate grievance here. If indeed the older son has been given his two thirds share in the property / estate and the younger son has cashed up his third then chances are that the older son has control of the estate. Especially so if the older son has been given the rights of possession, despite the fact that he has received it before the appropriate time. We have explored that fact in the previous gems on this parable. But if the father still holds the rights of disposal then the older son has no claim to unfairness. The father can do as he pleases. It is possible though that the son should have been consulted on the matter of killing the fatted calf for the younger son’s homecoming. If the older son holds the possession rights and the father still has the rights disposal, then logically they should have talked about it together. But it is understandable how the father would want to celebrate the son’s homecoming. It’s a natural reaction. It should also be natural for the older son to want to have his brother back again. But it seems that does not make him pleased. I wonder why!
Perhaps one reason is that he is miffed that his father should have gone and killed the fatted calf without offering it to him to share with his friends. It could be that he is annoyed that the father made a spur of the moment decision to kill the fatted calf when faced with an occasion so joyous and worth celebrating. After all they could always fatten another calf. It’s not the end of the world. In fact farmers usually have a number of calves that are being grain fed to cover for unexpected feasts or special occasions. Clearly there is something else driving him behind the scenes. These events have triggered something within the older son. His reaction is over the top. We will investigate that in the Gem to come. It’s worth thinking about.
Seen on T shirt recently: I have an attitude and I know how to use it.
Anon
Attitudes don’t just happen; they are the products of our choices.
Joyce Meyer
God can’t fill you with anointing if you’re filled with envy, resentment or judgmentalism. You’ve got to lose your attitudes.
Rick Warren
You Are Either The Master Of Your Thoughts Or The Victim Of Your Attitude.
Robb Thompson