Pastor Greg spoke about the older brother in the prodigal son parable that Jesus told the Pharisees recorded in Luke 15. I resonated with me a lot. My favorite quote of the day was "What does it take to get a party around here?!" said by an exasperated, miffed older brother who is upset about his younger, irresponsible brother getting such a warm greeting and party from their Father. The response of the father was, "But you have been with me all along." Relationship instead of religion. Grace instead of condemnation. And the older brother was upset. He was upset that his brother was living in and experiencing grace that the older brother may not have experienced for a while.
Pastor Greg also noted that the father actually had two lost sons. One lost in irresponsible living. The other in responsible, dutiful living. Neither was experiencing the grace of the Father and relationship with the father.
This painting, Rembrandt: The Prodigal Son (L'Hermitage, St. Petersburg), was on the screen throughout the message. I listened to the message some, enough to get the main points, but I was captivated by this painting. Look at the bottom right corner of the painting. There are what seem to be steps starting here and wrapping around the area that the Father and Prodigal are on. However, look at the older brother. If those are steps, the scale in this picture is way off. The older brother would have to be around 7 feet tall while Father is a measly 4 feet. Follow the line of the "steps" up to the Fathers body, around to the onlooker in the near background and then along the bottom of the older brothers cloak. I would like to suggest that there are two hands, palms up, extended toward the Father.
Maybe I am just seeing things. But this image has shaken me today. Those need to be my hands, reaching out to the grace that the Father has for me and relationship that He wants with me. I am both the prodigal and the older brother. It just depends on the day.
1 comment:
WOW! I would never have seen what you saw in this painting....oh don't get me wrong, I see it clearly when you pointed it out....but without help, I could have looked at it for days and never seen it. Isn't that how we are with God's grace sometimes, we look at Him for days/months/years and never really get it. And don't we all need to reach out for God's amazing grace. And aren't all of us both prodigal and older brother, I know I am. The way you think never ceases to amaze me, it is so different from the way my mind works! You are an amazing young woman whose depth in understanding things of the Lord never ceases to amaze me. Love ya Babe, Mom
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