This is the most difficult and
hardest case among the lost ones—the hypocrite. Hypocrisy means things
different inside and out. They don’t express the ugly things inside but pretend
to be having no problem at all. The ugly things inside are like anger,
bitterness, hatred, jealousy, falsity, slander, murder, theft, and all kinds of
evil thoughts. The older son worked for the father hard without saying a word
of complaint until a circumstance caught him badly. Our Lord Jesus called the
religious leaders like the Pharisees and the teachers of the law the hypocrites
and gave the serious warnings and woes recorded in the Gospels. Jesus says what
defiles us is not the food that goes into the mouth but the things that come
out of the mouth.
“Don’t you see that whatever
enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things
that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality,
theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating
with unwashed hands does not defile them.” (Matthew 15:17-20)
When the father celebrated the
homecoming of the younger son, setting a great banquet with the kill of the
fattened calf for him, the older one came home from work and learned all about
what was going on in the house. When he knew all things he didn’t immediately go
see his returned brother with delight and joy. Instead, he was angry and
refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. Here is another
lost son who was seemingly doing well. Now he didn’t get lost just when his
younger brother came back and was offered a huge celebration by the joyous and
delightful father but since when his brother left home with the money that the
father gave or maybe even before. This circumstance simply revealed that he had
been lost even though he was with his father all the time.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in
the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he
called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has
come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has
him back safe and sound.’ The older brother became angry and refused to go in.
So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look!
All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet
you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But
when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes
home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are
always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be
glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.’” (Luke 15:25-32)
How did the father handle this?
The father went out and pleaded with him to come and join the celebration. Look
how the father did, pleading with him. But he refused to come in the house,
saying something he had in mind all those years. “Look! All these years I’ve
been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me
even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of
yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill
the fattened calf for him!”
The resentment, hatred, anger,
bitterness, frustration, and jealousy which were hidden within now exploded and
manifested in his words toward the generous father and the useless younger
brother. All those days he had been tormented and haunted by the ugly things in
his heart and mind, which now openly rose up above the surface. Despite of the
father’s plea, he would not listen to him, nor changed his mind. This is a very
serious and dangerous response and practice because it is an act of refusing
for repentance against the Lord Almighty. This isn’t the first time offer to
change his mind and repent, nor the last one. Sure enough, the father had
already known what was going on around and in the older son, but he endured with
longsuffering and patience, embracing his stubborn and hypocritical attitude in
love and truth. The father may have not said a word to the son but expressed
his loving kindness and patience countless times in his body language.
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you
are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and
be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.’” (Luke 15:31-32)
Although the lost human race
feels far, far away from the gentle and compassionate touch of God, it’s not
true at all. Listen to what the father says, “My son, you are always with me.”
At the time the new generation of the people of Israel stood in front of the
Jordan River to cross over to the land of promise, Moses gave the words of
instruction and admonishment for the children of God, which are written in the
Book of Deuteronomy.
“Now what I am commanding you
today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in
heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and
proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you
have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may
obey it?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart
so you may obey it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)
They don’t need to go up to
heaven to get the Messiah down to the earth and neither to cross the sea to get
the crucified Christ back to life. In fact, it is impossible for any man to do that.
It is a uselessly futile try but the people of Israel were doing it during the
wilderness wondering forty years and even in the land they entered in. It’s
called the legalistic activities which they thought they were pleasing God. Numerous
and numerous sacrifices and animals and blood were offered every day through
the evening sacrifices and morning sacrifices. It was still going on as usual
in the temple when our Lord Jesus Christ visited his own people in the first
century. It has been still going on centuries after centuries among millions of
Christians.
There is nothing wrong with the
sacrifices and offerings which were designed and prescribed by the Lord God.
Sunday services, worship, offerings, prayer meetings, Sunday school, bible
studies are all good and normal as the acceptable Christian activities. What is
then wrong and not acceptable to God? What God is after is not the offerings
and sacrifices but the heart of the worshipers. The older son seemingly and
outwardly obeyed the father, taking care of sheep and goats out in the field
all day long under the heat of the sun. But inwardly and inside he was
completely different as he expressed the outburst of anger, hatred,
frustration, jealousy, murmur, resentment against his father and brother.
There is the heart of God amply
expressed in the sacrifices and offerings and blood. What is it? God outpours
his love, joy, and peace upon the heart of worshipers through the way he
prescribed in the Law of Moses. The way indicates the death of Christ, so
without blood no worshipers could approach the holy place. God is always love,
giving everything what his beloved children need. God is not in need of blood
and sacrifices and offerings ever. That’s why Moses says that the word is very
near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. God is
spirit so he searches those who worship him in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
King David understood truthfully
what the true sacrifice was through the painful and bone-crushing revelations
of God. He committed the double sin of adultery and murder and was found guilty
by Prophet Nathan after he kept it secret for more than a year. Then he wrote a
psalm written in the Fifty-First Chapter of Psalm. He learned that God didn’t
want the animal sacrifices and offerings, or he would bring thousands and
thousands of them. The true sacrifice God accepts is a broken spirit; a broken
and contrite heart.
“You do not
delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not
take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My
sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and
contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.”
(Psalm 51:16-17)
Here is another Psalm that says
what the true sacrifice is, the sacrifice of thank offerings to God.
“Listen, my
people, and I will speak;
I will
testify against you, Israel:
I am God,
your God.
I bring no
charges against you concerning your sacrifices
or
concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
I have no
need of a bull from your stall
or of goats
from your pens,
for every
animal of the forest is mine,
and the
cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every
bird in the mountains,
and the
insects in the fields are mine.
If I were
hungry I would not tell you,
for the
world is mine, and all that is in it.
Do I eat the
flesh of bulls
or drink the
blood of goats?
“Sacrifice
thank offerings to God,
fulfill your
vows to the Most High,
and call on
me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will
honor me.” (Psalm 50:7-15)
Then the father said to the son
that everything he has was his. The privilege of nearer to God is to take and
share his inheritance through the faith in Christ Jesus. That’s the father’s
heart. He wants his son to have all in full and more abundantly (John 10:10).
There is nothing prohibited for the son to come and take and share the
inheritance of the father. What caused the older son not to take and share the
father’s inheritance? It’s the
misunderstandings and ignorance of the father’s heart. The worse thing is that
the older son pretended to know the father although he knew little about the
father. Since he knew little about the father’s generosity and openhandedness
he couldn’t ask a thing even a young goat. Although he was the legitimate son
he considered himself as a slave to the father (Luke 15:29). The father never
thought and treated him as a slave, nor did he to the younger son who really
wanted to be his servant.
This is a tragic truth that even
millions of Christians fall into the same trap that although they claim to know
God they don’t know little about him and his loving kindness and lavishing
generosity. Yet they are so puffed up with pride and self-righteousness that
they insist on the stubborn way of serving God which is not. In the church of
Corinth, it was reported that there were cliques, quarrels, divisions among the
saints. Some followed Paul, some Apollos, some Peter, and some even Jesus
Christ. They didn’t sit and talk to each other. It’s found in almost every
church on the earth. Apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthian Christians that they
never understand the true inheritance of God that is Christ Jesus and him only
for all the children of God.
“So then, no more boasting about
human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the
world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are
of Christ, and Christ is of God.” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23)
Thus, this parable ends with
once again the plea of God. “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this
brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Our
Lord intentionally left out what had happened next to the older son. It leaves
in the air, so that the listener may search the answer. Are you the older son
or the younger son?
Prayer: Thank you for Father for
your honest and truthful plea for the fallen race to see through the truth and
reality, not the illusions and fantasies of the world. God pleas to the lost
race, saying “Come, everything is now ready!” In Christ’s name. Amen.
December 29, 2015
© 2015 David Lee Ministries – All Rights
Reserved.
