Day 23 The Older Brother Was Wrong

Luke 15:28–30 “But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you… yet you never gave me a young goat… but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’”

Let’s talk about the older brother.
You know, the good one.

The rule-follower. The faithful servant. The checklist king.
He didn’t rebel, didn’t run, didn’t wreck the family reputation.

And yet, when grace showed up in full party mode for his trainwreck little brother, he lost it.

Not because it was unjust. But because it was unfair.

And that’s exactly the point.

Grace is never fair.
It doesn’t play by merit.
It doesn’t hand out prizes to the best behaved.

Grace offends the religious person every time.

Grace dares to bless the one who blew it.
Grace welcomes the addict, the liar, the one who deconstructed and reconstructed and still smells like the pigpen.

And that’s what makes the older brother so dangerous.
He wasn’t rebellious—he was resentful.
He thought obedience earned him access, so he stood outside the celebration, arms crossed, heart bitter, demanding justice and missing joy.

The real scandal of this story isn’t the younger brother coming home.
It’s the older brother refusing to go in.

He wanted grace for himself and judgment for everyone else.
He didn’t understand the Father’s heart, even though he’d been living in the house the whole time.

And maybe that’s the twist.
You can be close to the Father’s work and still be far from the Father’s love.

There’s a little older brother in all of us.
When someone gets restored faster than they “should.”
When someone gets forgiven after they’ve ruined their life.
When someone we’ve silently labeled “too far gone” suddenly becomes the guest of honor.

Something in us recoils.
Because deep down, we still think grace should have a scoring system.

But grace doesn’t deal in debt.
It deals in delight.

And the Father?
He goes out to both sons.
He runs toward the rebel and pleads with the religious.

He says to the proud rule-keeper just like He said to the prodigal:
“Everything I have is already yours.”

But the party is inside.
And grace is the only way in.

Do Something

Ask yourself the hard question:
“Where have I stood outside, angry that grace came too easy for someone else?”

Then ask Jesus to wreck your scoring system.

Because if you’re in the family at all, it’s only because He carried you in—dirty feet, bitter heart, and all.