In the best of families siblings don’t always get along together. Jesus told a story of two brothers like that. The brother who had been left to run the farm on a restricted budget had a point. With the younger swanning off, taking his part of the inheritance with him, the farm would have been in a straightened position. Added to this his father was not an active member of the team as he spent all his time looking for the return of his younger son.
But God’s kingdom is an up-side-down one. It is the younger son who is eventually restored to favour, while his brother sulked about the whole situation. We can’t judge any of the characters in this story. Where would we have been in the whole situation? When we realise that Jesus is likening the younger son to our sinful selves, other son to the stiff-necked Pharasees and the father to God, it puts a different slant on the tale. As my friend says, ‘This is one of the big parables.’