The Other Side Of The Story

The Other Side of The Story

Luke 15:11-32

I’m sure that almost all of you remember that back in the day there was this radio news pundit called Paul Harvey. I used to love listening to him, even though I was just a kid and he was talking about stuff that really wasn’t within my radar at the time, because I was a kid. But as I grew older, I really began to like listening to his common sense, wise words about something that was going on at the time. He was kinda like a modern version of Mark Twain or Will Rogers.

But anyway, Paul Harvey had a radio show called “The Rest of the Story.” It was wildly popular, and it was broadcast all over the country. He would begin his show with a news feature, telling everyone about whatever it was that was going on, and then right after a commercial he’d announce, “And now, for the rest of the story.”

Well, that’s kinda what I want to do today. You see, our text today is Luke 15:11-32, and if you’ve already opened your bibles to that, then you know that this is the story or parable of the Prodigal, or Wayward Son. It’s a story that I’m pretty sure everyone knows because in one way or another, you’ve heard it all your lives. It’s also a much-loved story, and that’s probably because so many of us easily identify ourselves as the prodigal who have spent much of our lives chasing things that weren’t right or good, but then one day a =happened and we “saw the light” as the song goes. We did an about face and returned to the narrow gate and the narrow road.

The vast majority of sermons that anyone has ever heard on this story focus on the prodigal son and the fact that he got his inheritance early, went off and blew it all in riotous living. Then in his poverty and starvation, he came to himself and returned home to a father who had been anxiously waiting for his son to come home the whole time. That’s what most people focus on, and like I said, it’s probably because we so easily identify with the prodigal. But, as Paul Harvey used to say, “And now for the rest of the story” because there is another side to this story. There’s another player here that we tend to condemn and then ignore. We chalk him off as a hard-hearted person who’s unworthy of our attention.

But is he? Is he truly unworthy of our attention? You know, when we blow off the older brother like we tend to do, we fail to understand the full purpose of the Lord’s story. You see, the reason why the Lord told this story is because the Pharisees and the Scribes were complaining that Luk 15:2 …"This Man receives sinners and eats with them." They didn’t like the fact that Jesus was accepting everyone who came to Him, and so they grumbled and complained about it.

So, after He heard what the Pharisees were saying, He gave them the stories of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son. But in that story of the Lost Son, there are two sons that are lost. The prodigal that refers to the tax collectors and sinners the Pharisees were complaining about, but also the older brother which is speaking of the scribes and Pharisees themselves. They are the ones I want to talk about today, they are the other side of the story.

So, if you have your Bibles opened and turned to Luke chapter 15, or if you wish, you can just follow along on the screen as we read verses 11-32

Luk 15:11-32 Then He said: "A certain man had two sons. (12) And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. (13) And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. (14) But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. (15) Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. (16) And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. (17) "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! (18) I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, (19) and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." ' (20) "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. (21) And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' (22) "But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. (23) And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; (24) for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry. (25) "Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. (26) So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. (27) And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.' (28) "But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. (29) So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. (30) But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.' (31) "And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. (32) It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.' "