Sons not Servants
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:1-2
Now tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So [Jesus] told them this parable…
Most people are familiar with the three parables of Luke 15. A better way to think about them would be to see them, not as three distinct parables, but as one story looked at from three different angles. The first two verses of Luke 15 set the stage and give the background that helps us understand why Jesus told these parables and what their point is.
In each parable, “The Lost Sheep,” “The Lost Coin,” and “The Prodigal Son,” the climatic moment is when the celebration of finding that which was lost happens. The setting in which Jesus tells these stories is a meal with sinners that caused the Pharisees and scribes to grumble.
The problem with the Pharisees is they were operating out of the same mindset as the older brother in the parable of “The Prodigal Son.” They saw themselves as faithful and dutiful sons who were always home and always working and doing their father’s will. They couldn’t understand why the father would give a party for a wayward brother who had done so much wrong.
John Wesley said of his own pre-conversion life, “I had, even then, the faith of a servant, not that of a son.” He was the son of a preacher, orthodox in his beliefs, religious in his practices, and full of good works. He and his friends regularly visited inmates in prison. They gave to the poor children in the slums. They went to church and gave tithes. They fasted and prayed.
In all of this, Wesley was trusting in his own righteousness instead of trusting in Christ. Eventually, Wesley came to see himself as a sinner in need of a Savior and trusted in Christ alone for salvation. It was in looking back on his life that Wesley observed that he had the faith of a servant and not the faith of a son.
Christianity is a faith of sons, not slaves.
Thankfully, older brothers who complain like Pharisees and trust in themselves that they are righteous can be saved too. Like Wesley, they can be delivered from faith in their own righteousness and come to trust in Christ alone.
