The True Elder Brother

In The Prodigal God, Tim Keller shows how the Pharisee-like elder brother makes us long for a true elder brother who will go after his younger brother in order to bring him home. The problem in the story is that the elder brother is unwilling to pay the cost to bring the younger brother back into the family. Listen to what Keller says, "Forgiveness always comes at a cost to the one granting forgiveness... The younger brother's restoration was free to him, but it came at an enormous cost to the elder brother." After all, the elder brother now owned everything of the father, since the younger brother had already received his portion of the inheritance. The robe, ring, sandals and fattened calf were all part of the elder brother's inheritance. To bring the younger son back would have cost the elder brother dearly. Keller says, "By putting a flawed elder brother in the story, he is inviting us to imagine and yearn for a true one." That true, ultimate elder brother is Jesus, who "was stripped of his robe and dignity so that we could be clothed with a dignity and standing that we don't deserve. On the cross Jesus was treated as an outcast so that we could be brought into God's family freely by grace."