The Resentful Heart

We often think of rebellion as running far from God, but what if we could be just as lost while sitting in church every Sunday? This powerful exploration of the prodigal son's older brother reveals a sobering truth: we can be physically close to God while our hearts remain distant, trapped in the prison of self-righteousness. The older brother never left home, never squandered his inheritance, never fed pigs in a distant country. Yet his heart was just as far from the father as his wayward brother's had been. His anger at the celebration, his refusal to join the party, his bitter accounting of his own faithfulness—all reveal a man who saw his relationship with his father as a transaction rather than a relationship. We see ourselves in his resentment, don't we? When we've worked hard, been faithful, followed the rules, we expect God to reward us accordingly. But this parable shatters that contract mentality. It reminds us that salvation has never been about earning our way into heaven through good behavior. The ground at the foot of the cross is level—none of us deserve grace, yet all of us desperately need it. The older brother's blindness to his own spiritual poverty is our warning. Pride convinces us we don't need forgiveness because we haven't committed the 'big sins.' But Jesus shows us that a clean exterior with a resentful, self-righteous interior is just as spiritually bankrupt as the prodigal's wild living. The question left hanging at the end of the parable haunts us: will the older brother go into the party? Will we?