Although the two sons in this famous parable are very different characters, there is one way in which they are similar—that is, they value pleasures, things, and possessions over people and relationships. However, each goes about seeking to obtain these material things in a very different way. The younger son is brazen and unapologetic in simply demanding his share of his inheritance and departing for a distant country. In contrast, the elder son chooses to remain, not out of any special affection or love for his father, but rather in anticipation of inheriting what remains of the estate. And so, even as the younger son sets out on his ill-fated adventure and the elder remains at home, it seems neither has any real love for his father. Accordingly, the younger son leaves home and forgets his father, while the elder remains and grudgingly lives under his authority—expecting that such questionable loyalty will secure him his inheritance.
This ulterior motive becomes clearer in his anger at his father’s welcoming the returning younger son. Sadly, it’s not that he is jealous of the father’s obviously deep love for the younger son but, instead, it is that he was not given any “thing” in return for his years of faithful obedience and service—not even a young goat to feast on with my friends! This reaction by the elder son highlights the fundamental difference between these two men. Although they initially share a preference for material pleasures and possessions, the younger son is driven more by his love of pleasure, and thus possessions are simply means to that pleasure. The elder son, by contrast, is not driven by such passions or desires, but seems to value possessions as ends in themselves. Furthermore, his strategy for securing his inheritance, suggests a proud, self-disciplined, but also a selfishly calculating character.
In this, the two sons can be thought to represent two broad categories of sin: The younger son, represents those bound up with the humiliating weakness of the flesh in its struggle against the spirit; the elder son, those bound up with that prideful strength of spirit, and its potentially cruel dominance of the flesh and intolerance of weakness. As the parable draws to a close, we discover that the younger son’s weaknesses of the flesh open him to humility, repentance, and an urgent desire to reconcile with his father; while the prideful strength and bitter zeal of the elder son alienate him from his father and impede any reconciliation with his brother.
This is, of course, not to endorse or encourage sins of weakness, or of the flesh, as safeguards against sins of pride and arrogance, but it is to remind us once again that God’s love—as illustrated in this parable—is not something that can, or needs, to be earned. Similarly, neither is God’s love something owed to us as a reward for virtue and holiness. And so, if we are struggling to extricate ourselves from sins of weakness and of the flesh, let all failed attempts nurture that true humility which opens the heart to receive the unmerited and undeserved forgiveness and love of God. And as we are gradually freed from our weakness and strengthened in virtue, let us guard against pridefully presuming that our growth in virtue now entitles us to God’s favor and love. For to do so would be to totally misunderstand God and to forget Saint Paul’s insistence that God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.