Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael The Disciple
Hmmm....Altho their may be some merit in your interpretation it seems like you are overlooking one important thing.
31: And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
32: It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
The Father himself said Son thou are EVER WITH ME.
So the Elder son had NOT strayed from his Father.
The Father himself said to him:
"All I have is thine".
So the parable shows forgiveness and restoration for the wayward son it also shows the full inheritance of the faithful son.
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Thanks, Bro. Mike for your comments. I see your points and agree. However, thats the beauty of the Word. God speaks to us in many different ways thru His Word. Paul, in writing to the the Galatians says some pretty harsh words to them, referring to them as being "so soon removed" from the Lord, "foolish", "bewitched," and in danger of being "entangled" by the yoke of bondage. These were Christians, of the Elder Son variety, who were living beneath their spiritual privilege. Their Christian experience had become nothing more than a position of servitude, rather than a position of sitting in heavenly places as God intended for them. They had become lax in the faith, and were resorting back to the law (servitude) to sustain them.
Reminds me of water baptism. We often here the need for, the absolute necessity of being baptized in Jesus Name... but we seldom hear of the incredible opportunity, the honor and privilege of taking on the Lord's name in baptism. Baptism has been reduced to a command, a requirement rather than the beautiul expression of faith that it is. Baptism, it seems in some minds, is nothing more than another act of servitude, when God intends it to be the means of "putting on Christ". (
Gal. 3:27).
No, I didn't necessary neglect what you are saying. I simply looked at things from a different perspective as I often do. The father, I am sure, appreciated his sons service, just as God appreciates ours. But what God wants from us more than our service, is our fellowship. And that is what, it appears to me, was missing in the life of the Elder Son.
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