Ed BeisA Reflection by Ed Beis

Timothy Keller in his book The Prodigal God, Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, (Dutton, 2009) analyzes the spiritual condition of the two sons in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 1-3, 11-31). The parable is not directed at “wayward sinners” but religious people who keep the rules. The parable “reveals the destructive self-centeredness of the younger son, but it also condemns the elder brother’s moralistic life in the strongest terms.” (Keller at 10) Jesus is saying that both “are spiritually lost and both paths are dead ends (p. 11). The younger son is restored to the family indicating that God’s love and forgiveness can pardon and restore any and every kind of sin and wrongdoing”(p. 24). The elder son is furious at the Father’s forgiveness of the younger son and refuses to enter the feast. “The lover of prostitutes is saved but the man of moral rectitude is lost” (p.34).

The sons illustrate two approaches to life: the way of “moral conformity” (elder son) and the way of “self-discovery” (younger son), and both are wrong. Both sons wanted independence from their father and control of his property. The elder son uses “careful obedience to God’s law as a strategy for rebelling against God” (p. 36). The elder son believes that if he keeps the rules, his prayers should be answered because God owes this to him.

Keller says “Religious and moral people can be avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord as much as younger brothers who say they believe in God and define right and wrong for themselves”(p. 43). Sin is not just breaking the rules, it is also “putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and judge, just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life” (p. 43).

Basically, elder brothers lack assurance of the Father’s love. If something goes wrong or a prayer is not answered, they wonder if they are not living right, whether they are lacking in some area. When they are criticized, they are devastated. They are often angry. Though elder brothers may be diligent in prayer, there is no wonder, awe, intimacy, or delight in conversations with God. They do not ask God to change them because they see no need for change and this is fatal.

Most people have characteristics of both the elder and younger son. Others move from younger brother to elder brother and vice versa.

Keller asks “How can the inner dynamic of the heart be changed from one of fear and anger to one of joy, love, and gratitude? (p. 74) First, we need God’s initiating love. If you feel lost and a need to change, it is not your effort but God reaching out to you. “It is only when you see that the desire to be your own Savior and Lord lying beneath both your sins and moral goodness that you are on the verge of understanding the gospel and becoming a Christian indeed.” (p. 78) Then “to truly become Christians we must also repent of the reasons we did everything right. Repent of our pride in keeping the rules.” The humble are in and the proud are out of the kingdom.

The way to change our hearts is to be “moved by the sight of what it cost to bring you home. The key difference between a Pharisee and a believer in Jesus is inner heart motivation. Pharisees are being good, but out of fear—fueled by the need to control God. They don’t really trust him or love him. To them, God is an exacting boss, not a loving father. Christians have seen something that has transformed their hearts toward God so they can finally love and rest in the Father”(ps. 85, 86). Knowing He did this will transform us from the inside out…” (p. 87). This is a transformation both the elder and younger son need.

Now there is a choice other than the path of the younger brother or the older brother. “…The sacrificial, costly love of Jesus on the cross changes that, when we see the beauty of what he has done for us, it attracts our hearts to him. We realize that the love, the greatness, the consolation, and the honor we have been seeking in other things is here. The beauty also eliminates our fear. If the Lord of the universe loves us enough to experience this for us, what are we afraid of? To the degree we ‘see his beauty’ we will be free from fear and neediness that creates either the younger brother or the elder brother.” (p. 89.)

Jesus in the parable “has retold the story of the human race, and promised nothing less than hope for the world”(p.90). The younger brother longs for home. We have been living in exile since eviction from the Garden of Eden when we turned away from God and we long for home. Salvation is depicted as a feast and echoes the Feast of the Lamb in Revelation at the end of history.