Spiritual snobs. This is background to Luke 15.
Note: It is really a story about the Father. Also a story of repentance.
1. The younger son. Son is wishing dad was dead. Costly and difficult for the father. The son lived on the goodness of father without the father. Beautiful picture of restoration. He is restored to sonship. God is worth turning back to, even though we have broken God's hand.
2. Repentance. V21 - he encounters love, and all the son can say 'I am unworthy' - no deals. The older son thinks he has been good enough, and prefers the company of his friends rather than the father.
3. The Father loves the older son too. Treats the older son as if he is still family. We are sons and daughters of God, not employees. The chapter ends with the older son still outside.
