A story of two brothers

I've taken some extra time to analyze and decide what I want to write in this post. This was a week of more emotion than prior weeks which makes it hard to write so we shall see how it goes.
So this past week was another great week of teaching. We took an in depth look at Luke 15, and the parable of the Prodigal Son in particular. The first thing that our speaker, Pierre, said is that the title is wrong and that it makes it so that you miss a key fact of the story. There is not one prodigal son but two, along with a father. So the proper title should be two lost sons and their father, or something like that.
The title of the week was the father heart of God, and what it looks like. We looked at the three individuals in this story; the younger son, the father's reaction to the younger, the older son, and the father's reaction to the elder.
Starting with the younger, the beginning of the parable shows that he is bitter and angry with his father, and asks for his inheritance (essentially removing himself as his father's son). After he receives his portion, he leaves and spends it and is soon living in poverty. One of the questions asked, "was the portion when it says 'he came to his senses' a revelation of the Holy Spirit?" The was a partial yes, because it started off well. "Father I have sinned against heaven and you..." This is what was given by Holy Spirit as it shows repentance, but the younger doesn't stop there, and repeats what happened at the beginning of the parable, "I am unworthy to be called your son..." Since when does the loser (the younger) demand the terms? Just like in the beginning, he makes demands. "Give me my inheritance...", "Make me like one of your servants...". He thinks that he can redeem himself on his own, instead of waiting for the father's reaction.
I could spend the entire post on just the father, so I'll make it brief. This is the clearest portion of the parable, and the love that the father shows is tangible. Seeing how the father runs, embraces, kisses, and clothes his returned son shows how the father is willing and wanting to forgive and accept. We only need to turn to him, and confess.
Now onto the often overlooked person of this parable. The elder brother. He is commonly seen as the symbol of the scribes and pharisees that Jesus so often encountered during his ministry. We see that he stays home and works for his father, and he becomes angry when he comes and hears about the party that is being thrown for his brother that returned home.
The elder then begins to list all the ways that he is more worthy than his brother and why he deserves the party.
"But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!" (vs. 28-30) He says that he has never disobeyed his father and yet he refuses to enter the home even when the father asks, making him a liar. Then he says that he was never given a goat, but again looking at the text shows that the father, "divided his property between them." (vs. 12) In reference to what's written in Deut. 21:17 shows that the elder would receive double of what the younger receives so when the elder asks for a goat, he is greedy. All he needs to do is go and take a goat for himself. He is being ungrateful and selfish.
To finish with, Pierre then drew some parallels between this parable and our own lives. It is quite easy to go from the where the younger is, living in very visible sin and rejecting the father, to where the elder is, rejecting the father and living in hidden sin. In the same way we as Christians must be aware of how we are living; that we don't live as the younger did, with outright rebellion, nor as the elder, with his harsh and cold religiosity. We need to be careful, coming from a church background, that we don't become jealous of new believers that seem to experience God more.
The way Jesus closes the parable is a blessing for us today. "... you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours." (vs. 31) This is a promise that we should repeat to ourselves daily. That all that is God's, is ours. An amazing promise.
I hope this makes sense. I wrote it as I understood it, so please feel free to ask questions and post comments.
Many thanks and blessings.