The Father, the Prodigal and the Hypocrite.

Luke 15:11-32. If you heard a preaching about the parable of the prodigal son like i did many times, you probably never heard anyone talking much about the "other brother". I'd like to talk about him, because he has a lot in common with most, if not all of us. I will call him the hypocrite son. Let's see what Jesus said: He was as son as the prodigal one; when the father divided his livelihood, he gave to each of his sons what they were entitled to receive (the older a double portion); the prodigal enjoyed his share (what he did is now irrelevant) but the hypocrite, consumed by his pride, didn't touch anything; the hypocrite, even being a son, lived as a hired servant, never enjoying his possessions; the hypocrite lived a miserable life trying to gain his father's approval by working hard; he became an angry, bitter, resentful and unforgiving person; he became blind, couldn't see his name in the "property title". Let's compare the hypocrite's life with our own: How many times we didn't "feel" like being God's children? How many times have we thought that God didn't give us anything but "work" to do? How many times have we seen our brothers and sisters living an abundantly life and we've been living a miserable one? How many times we worked so hard that we became angry, bitter, resentful and unforgiving not accepting the prodigals back? How many times have we lived as "hired servants", never enjoying God's blessings, like freedom, for example? Maybe you are different, but honestly, as Jesus only mentioned those two brothers, i don't think there's a way of escape, at one point in our lives, we were either the prodigal or the hypocrite one. Romans 8:29. So, the purpose of redemption is not to make us like the prodigal or the hypocrite son, but, to make us conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.