Psalm 72 is interesting in that it is attributed to King Solomon, but at the end of it there’s a note that reads, “This concludes the Psalms of David, Son of Jesse.” The psalm itself is a “royal” psalm, and King Solomon calls on the LORD to bless the king, because of the kings righteous actions toward his subjects. This is a longer psalm, and Solomon lists many aspects of how the king blesses others, as well as calling on the LORD to bless that obedience.
In Psalm 73, Asaph raises a poignant prayer to the LORD. Poignant because in the end, Asaph realizes the many blessings of the LORD, he realizes the LORD is always with him, and the LORD is always worthy of praise, but at the start he tells us “my foot had almost slipped.” What does that mean? It means Asaph had nearly abandoned his pursuit of the LORD. Why? Because he saw evil people prospering. Asaph wasn’t so concerned at the moment with why bad things happen to good people, but rather with why good things happen to bad people. Asaph wanted life to be fair and just. He wanted the good to be blessed and the evil to be cursed. It wasn’t working out that way, so he assumed a lack of faithfulness on the LORD’s part. In the end, he came around and realized the LORD’s goodness and faithfulness are beyond our understanding at times, but they are always sure. That’s such a helpful reminder for us when we are ranting about good things happening to bad people, and our getting the short end of the stick. In the end, the Lord’s holiness, justice, and mercy are always apportioned in a way that glorifies Him, and builds up His people.
In Psalm 74, Asaph calls on the LORD to deliver His people from their suffering. They were going through a time of great despair and devastation. Asaph forgets one important detail: they were suffering for their abandonment of the LORD and His Law. Yet Asaph calls on the LORD, “reminding” Him of His covenant and of how He had been with Israel in the past. Asaph calls on the LORD’s faithfulness and recognizes, He will deliver His people in the end.
In Psalm 75, Asaph’s tune has changed. He is extolling the virtues of the LORD and reminding us of all He has done. The LORD is God forever, and Asaph calls us all to remember that. As with every book of the Bible, we need to see one verse in light of the rest, then one chapter in light of the rest. We also need to see each book in light of the others. In this way, we let the Bible interpret the Bible rather than taking every statement or chapter, or book as an isolated offering. When we let the verses, chapters, and books stand alone, we can come up with some strange understandings of the LORD and His will, but when we gain an understanding of His written word as a whole, and then compare and contrast one part with another, each part becomes more understandable and the whole is seen as the integrated testimony to God it is.
As we turn to Luke 15, we turn to one of my favorite chapters of the Bible. In it Luke tells us the context first. Jesus had gather with a group of tax collectors and other “sinners.” Jesus did this so often and it frustrated the religious leaders so much, because they would not associate with “those” people. Jesus showed us we are all “those” people, which means all people are “us.” As Jesus gathered with the outcasts, the Pharisees gathered around, too. By this time, they were always present, watching to see if they could catch Jesus in some word or action through which they could accuse Him. Jesus tells us three parables about things which become lost: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus tells us about a shepherd who leaves his ninety-nine sheep in a field to go look for one lost sheep. This is significant, because when the shepherd left the ninety-nine, there was great potential for them to wander off. Nevertheless, the value of the one was so great to the shepherd, he went and searched for it until he found it. When he found the sheep, the celebration was out of all proportion to what had happened. He called all his friends and threw a party. Then Jesus offered the punchline: 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:7 (NIV) Remember the audience: “sinners” and Pharisees. At the end of the story, some of the “sinners” would perhaps dare to hope Jesus was talking about them. The Pharisees would be shaking their heads.
Next, Jesus told a story of a woman who had ten coins and lost one. Just as the shepherd before her, she made a diligent search throughout her house until she found it. When she found it her response was again extravagant, as it was with the shepherd. She called her friends and threw a party. Once again Jesus offered the punchline: 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10 (NIV) By this time the “sinners” had to have been thinking, “He is telling these stories for us.”
Finally, Jesus told the story of a man who had two sons. The younger came to the man and said, “Drop dead.” Jesus doesn’t put it that dramatically, but the younger son wanted his share of the inheritance, which one only gets after one’s parents die. In that culture such a request would have been so offensive the father would have cut the son off from the family. Instead, the father gives the son the money. He leaves and wastes it all on wild living. When he is broke, his friends leave, because they weren’t really friends. They were only there for the party the younger son provided. He found himself feeding pigs, which for a Jew, was the lowest it gets. As he was watching the pigs eat, while he starved, he “came to himself.” In that moment of self-remembrance, he realized his fathers servants had more than enough to eat. He had forfeited his right to be a son, but perhaps if he returned to his father, he would be given the position of servant. He rehearsed his apology as he returned, but while he was still a long way of his father saw him and when running to him. (Note: The only way the father could have seen the son from a long way off, is if he were on top of his house watching the horizon for the son’s return. Also, in that culture a father never ran to his son. We would think especially not this son, who had told him to drop dead.)
As the son attempted to apologize, the father fell on his son’s neck, hugged him, kissed him, and then called for a robe to be brought, sandals, and a ring. While these might seem like “nice” gifts to us, they were symbols of the son’s belonging as a son, not as a servant. The father was reinstating him in full. Then he killed the fattened calf and threw a party. We might think, “Wow! Now the ‘sinners’ really know God loves them!” But there’s more.
The older son comes in from a hard day’s work in the field and asks one of the servants what was happening? One of the servants told him his brother had come home and their father was throwing a party. The older son was indignant. Somehow the father heard about the son’s unwillingness to join the party and went out to him. (No father in that culture went out to a son. Spoiler alert: the older brother represents the Pharisees.) The older brother pitches a fit, and complains that he had “slaved” all these years for his father, and not once did he even receive a goat to have a party with his friends, but this “son of yours” (not brother of mine) who wasted all your money on “prostitutes” (While that might have been the case, Jesus made no mention of it in telling of what the younger son did in the far country. We would assume the older brother’s body had been in the field all those years, but his mind was with his brother.) you throw him a party. The brother was right from a legal standpoint, but his father’s response goes far beyond what was right.
The father said, “Son, everything I have is yours.” (This was literally true, because when the father divided his property between the two sons, the younger son would have received one third, and the older brother the other two. He was now the “owner” of his father’s property, but in his mind he was acting as a slave.) Then he got to the point: “We had to rejoice and be glad. This brother of yours (not son of mine) was lost, but has been found, was dead but is now alive” The story ends there. We don’t know whether the older son went into the party. We don’t know whether the younger brother got up the next day and went and worked in the fields with his brother. Jesus left it that way on purpose. The Pharisees had to realize they were the older brother. The “sinners” had to realize they were the younger brother. Now, they all had to choose whether to receive the truth and love of the father and respond accordingly.
Many times when I have preached this passage of Scripture at the end I ask, “With which of the characters in the story do you identify most?” Typically, people will either say, “The older brother,” or “The younger brother.” But there is another character: the father. After forty-nine years of following Jesus, I still have plenty of both the older and young brother in me, but the one in the story with whom I identify the most is the father. I have come to understand how important it is to welcome the younger brothers/sisters who return after coming to themselves. I understand how important it is to implore the older brothers/sisters to remember their relationship to their other siblings, and to remember that those relationships are more important than what is right or fair. By the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we become more and more like the father over time, and we are more and more able to speak the truth in love to folks whether they are “sinners” or Pharisees. Many people have said to me, “What right do I have to tell someone else what to do, when I have sinned so often myself?” We not only have a right to tell others what is right according to the LORD’s teaching, but an obligation. Otherwise, how will anyone learn what is true? At the same time, we must offer the truth in love. When we rail against the sin of others, but show no compassion, even though we are also sinners, people rightly reject our hypocrisy. When we admit we are also sinners, who have fallen short of God’s glory, and show others that doesn’t excuse us from repenting, turning back to the LORD, and calling on Him for restoration, we give them the path they need to return.
It isn’t older brother or younger brother. Although when we recognize Jesus’ salvation was provided for both, we move closer to becoming like the father. That is Jesus’ will for each of us, that we move from where we are, whether we’re more like the older brother or more like the younger brother, and let the father’s truth and love transform us to being more like Him!
Great wisdom! Thank you!