Luke 15:26 Commentary and Bible Study

The elder son is in the field; he does not yet know that his brother has come home, and as he hears the sound of the celebration, he calls one of the servants and asks what these things mean. That is a very curious thing to do. If he was the eldest son, he was the heir, he was the senior son in the structure of life in the east in those days. He should have been his father's right hand man. If he heard the sound of celebration, you would think he would go straight into the house; he would be eager to find out what this was all about. What is it that keeps this elder son skulking outside the house, calling over a servant to find out what is happening, instead of coming in and going in to the house? He hears this celebration, and immediately a cloud of suspicion crosses his brow, and he is hostile. ‘What is that?’ He is immediately ready to believe that something is wrong, something is the matter, and he calls a servant. He is not going in to ask his father, he doesn't seem to be on good terms with his father. Instead, he calls a servant: ‘What is going on in there? What is happening?’ We are introduced at once – if we just look at this with any perception – to quite a revealing situation. The elder son here is portrayed as someone who doesn't seem to be in the confidence of his father. He doesn't seem to be close to his father; his father has not shared with him this wonderful news. But the servants know; it has not been kept secret. The elder son is out in the field, and in the parable, that indicates a certain distance from the goings on within the household. He doesn't seem to be in sympathy with his father, but rather is suspicious and prefers speaking to the servants. Who is this elder son? Who does he represent? We can see that the prodigal son represents anyone roaming from God and returning, but who is this elder son?