But he answering said to his father, Behold, so many years I serve thee, and never have I transgressed a commandment of thine; and to me hast thou never given a kid that I might make merry with my friends
The elder son has heard the music, learned why it is playing, and refuses to go in — and this verse is his answer to a father who came out and pleaded with him. Every word of it is a defence of himself and an accusation against the one he calls neither "father" nor "brother."
One writer points to the word he chose for those years:
"Serve." The verb is δουλεύειν, "to serve as a slave." Compare Hebrews 2:15, which speaks of people held in slavery all their lives.
One writer takes the reply line by line and marks what each claim really shows:
His father comes out in the fullness of love and pleads with him. The son answers with an indignation against divine love that looks pious but is really impious. That kind of feeling belongs to the natural mind and does not shock it. "Look, these many years I have served you" — hollow and wretched service! "And I never disobeyed your command" — the unhappy sinner had no sense of sin! "Yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends." So he was bold enough to judge his father, just as the self-righteous man does not shrink from judging God.
One writer meets that boast with a question, then a verdict:
Enough, enough — "I never disobeyed." Could a man with a grain of conscience speak like this? Elder son, loveless brother, stranger to the joys of the Father's house.
His complaint names what he wanted, and it was not his father's company. That one line puts him closer to his brother than he would admit:
If the younger son pictures the repentant sinner, the elder son is a true picture of the spirit of the Pharisee. The one was hungry and went in; the other was angry and stayed out. When grace arrives it always divides people into these two classes. Some know they are worthy of nothing. Others imagine they are worthy of more than they have got. The elder son said, "You never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends." So he too found his company and his pleasure in a circle of friends outside his father's circle. Only the character of the friends differed: the younger son's had a bad name, and his own, we may suppose, were respectable.
He never once calls him "Father," and even the animal he asks for is smaller than the one killed for his brother:
The younger son had addressed his father, and had done it in a respectful way, saying, "Father." The elder brother spoke to him as well, but in words of reproach, and with no recognition that he was speaking to his father. Surely the contrast between a calf and a young goat was deliberate. A young goat is smaller, and worth far less. He had never had even that, though he said he could count up years of unbroken, faithful service.
after_note: DELETE
He is not asking for a gift. He believes he has earned one, and that is why he got nothing:
Man's ruin magnifies God's grace. The more deeply a man feels his ruin, the more he values that grace. The elder brother never got a young goat so that he might celebrate with his friends — and why? Because he imagined he had earned it. "Look," he says, "these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command." Vain man! How could he expect the ring, the robe, or the fattened calf? If he had received them, they would have been only the trappings of self-righteousness. They would not have been the ornaments that grace puts on the believing sinner.
Commentators give the man a name: the Pharisee, who is sure he has the righteousness God requires. That type did not die out with him:
The Pharisee thinks he has righteousness for God; we have that described in the elder brother. You do not need to be a Jew to be a Pharisee — what the Lord calls a whitewashed tomb, full of all uncleanness. The elder brother is the Pharisee in every age; it is the most hateful thing that exists. A Pharisee has no sense of sin, or else he would know he was a sinner; no sense of holiness, or of love. It is the most thorough selfishness, with no thought for anything else. "You never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends."
- Service. The word behind "I have served you" means slave labour. He lived in his father's house on the footing of a slave.
- Claim. "I never disobeyed" is a sentence no honest conscience could form. It shows a man with no sense of sin at all.
- Complaint. He wanted the young goat for a party with his friends, away from his father. His chosen circle sat outside the father's, just like his brother's.
- Wage. He got nothing because he thought he had earned something. The robe and the calf would only have decorated his self-righteousness.
- Door. The younger son was too hungry to stay out. The elder was too angry to go in. Grace still divides people that way in every age.
but when this thy son, who has devoured thy substance with harlots, is come, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
The elder son has been out in the field, and when he learns why the house is full of music he refuses to join it. This verse is his reply to his father's pleading. It is a charge against his brother, and behind that, against his father's generosity.
One word is missing from his complaint: "brother." He also picks his own word for the property.
He does not call the prodigal his brother, but tauntingly "this son of yours." And though it was what the father had given, he calls it "your property." Every time, he puts the worst side forward.
The charge is loud about someone else's failure and silent about his own. Commentators recognise a familiar religious type in him.
The Pharisee thinks he has righteousness for God; we have that described in the elder brother. You do not need to be a Jew to be a Pharisee — what the Lord speaks of as a whitewashed tomb, full of all uncleanness. The elder brother is the Pharisee in every age; it is the most hateful thing that exists. A Pharisee has no sense of sin, or else he would know that he was a sinner; no sense of holiness, or of love.
His grievance turns on a comparison of two animals. He measures his brother's welcome against the smallest thing he says he never got.
The contrast between a calf and a young goat must have been deliberate — the goat is smaller and worth far less. He had never had even that, though he said he had served for years without a break.
The older brother has nothing to show for those years. His idea of what he had earned explains why.
The elder brother never got a young goat so that he might celebrate with his friends; and why? Because he imagined he had earned it. "Look," he says, "these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command." Vain man! How could he expect the ring, the robe, or the fatted calf? If he had got them, they would have been only the trappings of self-righteousness. They would not have been the ornaments that grace puts on the believing sinner.
He objects to a party in the house while wanting a party of his own. That detail exposes how little distance there is between the two sons.
If the younger son pictures the repentant sinner, the elder son shows the spirit of the Pharisee. The one was hungry and went in; the other was angry and stayed out. The arrival of grace always divides men into two classes. Some know they are worthy of nothing. Others imagine they are worthy of more than they have got. The elder son said, "You never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends." So he too found his company and pleasure among friends outside his father's circle. The only difference was in the character of the friends.
The father does not answer the accusation with an accusation. He had already left the feast to plead with this son. Commentators apply this to anyone who thinks grace is soft on sin.
Is there anyone who would say that divine grace approves of sin? Let him read his own verdict in the spirit of the elder brother here. Yet let even such a person see how grace speaks to him. "His father came out and entreated him." We see the patience of love toward this wretched man. Love was patient not just with a poor prodigal, but with this one who did not share in the general joy.
The younger son is inside; the older one is still outside, holding his complaint. Commentators note that the parable never shows him crossing the threshold.
The result is that he "would not go in"; he has no part in the Father's joy of grace. He has only satisfaction in himself. He has reproaches for the saved sinner, and insult for the God of all grace and His boundless goodness to "this son of yours."
- Wording. He says "this son of yours," not "my brother." He calls what was spent "your property" — each time picking the version that sounds worst.
- Blindness. The complaint has no sense of sin in it; a man who could say he never disobeyed a command shows he does not know himself.
- Arithmetic. He compares a young goat to a fatted calf, and thinks service should have earned him at least the smaller one.
- Friends. He wanted to celebrate outside his father's circle. That puts him nearer his brother's old life than he thinks.
- Outside. Grace came out and pleaded with him. The parable leaves him standing outside — pleased with himself, hard on the forgiven, insulting the Father's goodness.