INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Last week we saw a picture of a selfish son. The younger son had some real serious character problems, problems that he was not willing to acknowledge until he almost permanently ruined his life.
• As you read the story of the Prodigal Son, it is so easy to spend all our time examining the faults of the younger son. By the way if you did not catch it, the younger son represented all who have strayed away from God.
• It was meant to show us how foolish it is do stray and that we cannot stray too far to still receive the blessing of forgiveness, which we will examine next week.
• As I was saying, it is easy to look at the Prodigal and think how foolish and selfish he was. We wonder why it took so much bad stuff to happen to him to wake him up.
• Well, when the younger son left, something else bad was happening.
• The departure of the younger son started to bring to the surface another serious issue within the home, this time it is the eldest son, the eldest son who looked innocent and pure had some issues of his own and it took his young foolish brother leaving for his issue to rear its ugly head.
• The eldest son had a problem of a jealous heart. As I examined the eldest son, I really struggled with what his problem really was, was he just self-righteous, or was he just a jealous person from which the self-righteousness sprung forth?
• A jealous heart can wreak a lot of destruction in a person life as well as those around them.
• For our purposes, we are going to examine the older son from the aspect of his jealousy.
• Before we jump into the text, let us begin by seeing…
• SLIDE #2
SERMON
I. Jealousy defined.
• Jealousy is defined as: excessive concern for one’s own self, and what one fancies or desires should be his.
• Feeling resentment against someone because of that person’s rivalry, success, or advantages
• It involves resentment of the good fortune of others. It is an inordinate self-centeredness or possessiveness.
• According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, jealousy is used in three senses in Scripture;
• (1) as intolerance of rivalry or unfaithfulness;
• (2) as a disposition suspicious of rivalry or unfaithfulness; and
• (3) as hostility towards a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage. Sense 3 approximates envy.
• God is described several times as being a jealous God. He is jealousy for His honor, His holy name, along with wanting His status being preserved.
• When speaking of the jealousy of God, we are to understand this language to be employed to illustrate rather than represent the emotions of the divine mind.
• The same causes operating upon the human mind would produce what we call anger, jealousy, repentance, grief, etc.; therefore, when these emotions are ascribed to the mind of God, this language is used because such emotions can be represented to us by no other.
• The same causes operating upon the human mind would produce what we call anger, jealousy, repentance, grief, etc.; therefore, when these emotions are ascribed to the mind of God, this language is used because such emotions can be represented to us by no other.
• We see the attitude of jealousy throughout the bible. We see it both the good and bad. On the good side…
• Phineas is described as jealous with God’s jealousy (Num. 25:11, 13, sometimes translated zealous for God). Elijah is similarly characterized as jealous (or zealous) for God (1 Kings 19:10, 14).
• In the New Testament Paul speaks of his divine jealousy for the Christians at Corinth (2 Cor. 11:2).
• On the negative side…
• We saw the brothers of Joseph in Genesis 37. The brothers were very jealous of Joseph’s relationship with his father to the point they almost killed him.
• Saul tried to kill David several times in 1 Samuel 18 and following.
• There is a time when jealousy can be used an in favorable context, that is when it is a concern of God’s honor or glory.
• Well, in the case of the eldest son, it is not positive.
• Let’s pick it up at Luke 15:25-28
• SLIDE #3
• Luke 15:25-28(ESV) 25“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,
• SLIDE #4
From the eldest son we see that…
II. Jealousy breeds anger.
• The older son comes in from working hard in the field; he sees a celebration taking place. I do not know about you, but I like celebrations. You would think the older son would be ready for some fun and joy after working in the field.
• The older asks the servants, what is going on? The servants share the GREAT news that the younger son has returned home safe and sound!
• WOW! The older brother is now jumping for joy! OPPS! No, he is angry!
• Why? He is jealous. Killing the fattened calf was only done under very special circumstances, things like the Day of Atonement. This was a serious enough celebration that the father was going all out.
• Why is the brother jealous? I wonder if while the younger son was gone if the father was totally focused on the younger? I wonder if the prodigal was all the father could talk about.
• I wonder how many sleepless nights the father spent looking for the prodigal to return, all the while the older son was with him not giving him the attention he felt he deserved.
• When we get jealous, we get angry also. We say things and do things that are stupid and hurtful to others who get in the way of what we feel we should have.
• The father catches wind of what is going on and he goes out to plead and reason with his older son to join the celebration.
• The father forgave the younger son because he was filled with love. The older son refused to forgive because he was bitter about what he saw as injustice. The older son’s resentment rendered him just as lost to the father’s love as his younger brother had been.
• Well, it looks like the older son is not going to join the celebration and then he starts with the excuses.
• SLIDE #5
• Luke 15:29-30(ESV) 29but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
• SLIDE #6
From the eldest son we see that…
III. Jealousy is rooted in an entitlement mentality.
• The older son blows up.
• The older starts to list off all his accomplishments, I served you and never disobeyed you and yet you give me NO celebrations like this, that I might celebrate with my friend!
• Did you catch something here? The NIV may have caught it. IT gives us some insight to the real heart of the older son.
• In verse 30, the older says that I have SERVED you. The word served is the word for SLAVE. Some the English translations actually use the word “SLAVE” or “SLAVED”
• IF this is the intended meaning then we see that the older son did not serve the father out of love, but he did so thinking of himself as a slave.
• The older son was meant to represent the Pharisees and Scribes listed in verses 1-2 of Luke 15, they were part of the audience.
• Those folks were not serving out of love for the Father, but rather with a sense of entitlement.
• When we do what we do and then feel entitled, it causes us to be out of step with God.
• To add insult in injury the older also taunted the father for his forgiving heart.
• Now the older goes from his virtues to the prodigals faults.
• The obvious moral difference between him and his brother is made clear by his reference to his brother as this son of yours.
• He is well aware of the sins of his brother, yet he was totally blind to his own.
• He feels entitled to receive what the younger son was getting.
• Those Pharisees felt they earned or deserved heaven, and they felt the tax collectors and sinners had no right to access, that they were undeserving of forgiveness.
• When we feel entitled, we will lose our heart for what is important. We will feel superior to those who do not have Christ.
• SLIDE #7
• Luke 15:31-32(ESV) 31And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
• SLIDE #8
From the eldest son we see that…
IV. Jealousy steals away joy.
• This should be a joyous occasion and the older son because of his jealousy has had that stolen from him.
• The point here is simply that the older brother has no love for his younger brother. The father tries to help him understand: “We had to celebrate…because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again.”
• It is clear that the older brother represents those Pharisees who criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners (vv. 1-2). It is also clear that the Pharisees must have felt its “sting.”
• The religious leaders should have rejoiced over Jesus trying to reach the lost people, but instead they were angry, upset and jealous. That is what may have led them to kill Jesus.
• Had He just praised them and hung out with them, their attitude of Him may have been very different.
• The father spoke kindly to his overheated son; he explained that what the older son had been experiencing in the interim was far better than a one-day celebration.
• The older son had not been displaced as the firstborn—he had his relationship with his father (who obviously loved him very much), and he still had his inheritance.
• The younger son had squandered his and had gone through great suffering before coming to his senses.
• The wild life the younger son had sought had brought him only to ruin, and he returned home with no inheritance, humbled from having suffered some hard knocks.
• The older son needed to get his perspective, be grateful that he had not had to go through such pain, and celebrate this happy day of his brother’s safe return.
CONCLUSION
• Jealousy is very destructive and the older son was in worse shape than the younger because of a lack of repentance from the older son.
• The excesses of the younger would not keep him out of heaven because he was willing to repent.
• All the virtues of the older son would not let him into heaven because he valued pride in his heart.
• Where is your heart today?
