Bible Study

Have children look up the passages and discuss using the questions and comments below.

1. Read Luke 15:25–29; 31–32:

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, ²⁶ and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ ²⁸ The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, ²⁹ but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to do . And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. ³¹ His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. ³² We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

• Why was the older brother so angry with his father? Why would he not take part in the celebration? For welcoming the son back—for throwing a party for him.
• What does it feel like to see someone get the same reward as you, even if they did a lot less than you, or if they disobeyed the rules?
• Do you think the father should have punished the younger son or made him work as a servant to pay him back some of the money he wasted?
• The older son complained that his father never had a celebration feast for him even though he had obeyed and worked for his dad for years. How did the father respond? The father replied that all he had was his, too.
• God is our heavenly Father and we are His children. Do you think there are some blessings we haven’t asked God for, that He would love to give us? What are some of those blessings?

2. Read Romans 12:15:

Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.

• How can we apply this verse to our story?
• Is it hard to sympathize with someone going through a difficult time? Why?
• Is it hard to be happy with someone when they get something that we don’t have? Why?
• Why was it hard for the older brother to be happy when his brother came back home?

3. Read Ephesians 2:8–9:

⁸ God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

• Look at verse 9. How can we apply this verse to the older brother? The older brother based the father’s approval, acceptance, love, and blessing on his work and obedience. He was boasting about his work. He believed the younger son did not earn or deserve a reward.
• How can we apply this to the younger son and father? The father’s forgiveness and restoration, welcoming home, was a gift of grace and love—not due to anything the younger son did to deserve it.
• Have you ever felt like you needed to earn God’s love and acceptance?
• Does this parable change your view of salvation? How?

4. Read Luke 15:1–2:

¹ Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. ² This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that He was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

• What character in Jesus’ parable do you think is represented by the religious leaders? The older brother.
• Do you sometimes have a hard time believing that God loves some people—or that He would spend time with them?
• Do you think the religious leaders were any better than the people they called sinners? No - all have sinned, including them.
• Do you think that Jesus considered the actual religious leaders as lost, and needing to turn to God and repent? Yes, they needed to trust in Jesus for their salvation and not their own works and self-righteousness.

Conclusion: The older brother was so jealous and angry that he missed the wonderful blessing that his brother who was lost, was now found—he was alive! We need to have the love of God in our hearts and rejoice when others turn to Him—no matter what they have done!