Christmas is a time to spend with family and friends which can get complicated if there is conflict around the table.
In Luke 15:11-31 Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son. The story makes a sweet Sunday School lesson, but there is a lot more to it than that.
In his book Prodigal God, Timothy Keller uses the two brothers to show the opposite ways to approach a relationship with God. The younger brother squanders his wealth and comes home with his tail between his legs in humility. The older brother thinks he is better than the younger brother and thus deserves the bigger portion of his father’s blessings.
I love this parable because I find myself in both sons:
I used to be the older brother – I thought I was better than other poor sinners because I was always working hard to please the Lord. I cringe when thinking of it now, but it is true.
As Jesus worked on my heart and opened his Word to me, I realised that I was a poor sinner who had nothing to offer the Father. I was humbled that he would even want a relationship with me.
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Only when we understand the reconciliation that Jesus achieved for us on the cross can we see ourselves as God, the Father sees us.
Jared Wilson interprets this parable as Jesus being the perfectly redeemed older brother who is not only overjoyed by the reconciliation of the family but also goes out to look for the lost brother.
Isn’t that just a beautiful picture? He doesn’t wait for us to clean up our act and sort ourselves out – he comes to fetch us in the fodder.
How does the reconciliation Jesus achieved on the cross change your perspective on the conflict you face with your family?
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Jesus set aside the comforts of his heavenly home to reach us out in the wilderness. He is the good older brother who goes to find the younger brother and do the work of reconciliation-work we ought to do but can’t: work he shouldn’t have to do but does. – Jared Wilson