“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. . . Both the one who makes men holy and the those who are made holy are of the same family.  So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”   Hebrews 2:9 & 11

The parables of The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin (Luke 15:3-10) both prominently feature someone who searches diligently for that which is lost.  Interestingly, that character seems to be missing from the third parable we commonly know as The Prodigal Son.  Then it may dawn on us:  Shouldn’t it have been the elder brother?  But his help is conspicuously absent.  Timothy Keller wrote, “By putting a flawed elder brother into the story, Jesus is inviting us to imagine and yearn for a true one.” (The Prodigal God, p.84)

• Jesus Christ identifies as our “brother.”  Matthew 12:46-50 & Hebrews 2:9-11
• For Jesus, there are no “acceptable losses.”  1 Timothy 2:3-4 & 2 Peter 3:9
• He was willing to pay the price for our reconciliation to God.  Philippians 2:6-8 & Ephesians 1:7
• We are called to be like Jesus, not the elder son or the Pharisees. 
• He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-19).