Is the Older Son just as lost as the Younger Son?

He's back at the ranch:
1. doing what is the right thing - working;
2. doing what is required - farming;
3. not acting like an idiot;
4. not abandoning his family;
5. not suffering fools gladly;
6. not supporting unjust actions (his younger brother wanted his father dead - or at least ready to give up his part of the farm);
7. clearly understanding the difference between right and wrong;
8. showing he can be trusted;
9. illustrating why he is respected as the older brother;
10. being relied on for supporting the old man;
11. not being stupid;
12. not being gullible;
13. not being disrespectful;
14. being the model citizen;
15. showing he should get more - because he earned it;
16. still working - even after a family crisis;
17. being frugal - not wasting even one animal for a party;
18. declaring that he has proven himself.

IF anyone of us could put all that on our CV - WOW! We'd have a VERY good reputation in the community. "Nothing wrong with that guy!" we would say... but he forgot that his younger brother still had a home.

No matter how we look at it, God's grace doesn't make earthly sense.

"Your brother was dead and is now alive; he was lost and now is found!"

The father wants the lost son back at home. Grace is a father running down a street in the Middle East, disgracing himself; it's throwing a party - lavishly; it's not fair! It's Grace!!!

(Thoughts from Dan Clark on "Why we root for the Older Son!"