We can learn wonderful lessons from the prodigal's son's brother and Jonah. Reading Jonah 4 is like reading Luke 15:25-31. If God is going to put two similar accounts in the Bible – one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament – it seems He’s trying to drive home the points they make.




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We can learn wonderful lessons from the prodigal's son's brother and Jonah. Reading Jonah 4 is like reading Luke 15:25-31.



Table of contentsFamily Worship Guide for Lessons from the Prodigal Son's BrotherSermon Notes for Lessons from the Prodigal Son's BrotherLesson One: Jonah contains the parable of the prodigal son.Lesson Two: When God blesses others it doesn’t mean less for us.Lesson Three: Do we recognize our spiritual blessings?Lesson Four: The Prodigal Son's Brother and Jonah teach us (Part One) to rejoice over salvation.Lesson Four: The Prodigal Son's Brother and Jonah teach us (Part Two) God wants to forgive.



Family Worship Guide for Lessons from the Prodigal Son's Brother



Directions: Read the following passages and answer the questions below:



Day 1: Jonah 4—How is the parable of the prodigal son revealed in Jonah 4? How do you see the father, youngest son, and oldest son in Jonah 4? What are the similarities between the accounts?Day 2: Luke 15:31 and Ephesians 1:3-11—Why do you think the older brother wasn’t aware of everything he had available to him? What spiritual blessings are available to us? What spiritual blessings might we neglect or fail to appreciate are available to us?Day 3: Luke 15:31-32, Jonah 4:11, 2 Peter 3:9, Romans 5:20—Why do you think God has two similar accounts, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament? How do these accounts reveal that we should rejoice over salvation? How do they reveal that God desires to forgive?



Sermon Notes for Lessons from the Prodigal Son's Brother



On Sunday mornings we’re working our way through Luke’s gospel verse by verse and we find ourselves at Luke 15:31. This will be our last sermon on the parable of the prodigal son. The parable has greatly encouraged me, and I hope it has you as well.



The title of this morning’s sermon is, “Lessons from the Prodigal Son's Brother and Jonah.”



First, we are going to look at some verses in Jonah and I will begin with a lesson to set us up…



Lesson One: Jonah contains the parable of the prodigal son.



I have been thinking about the ways Jonah resembles the older brother, but I wanted to wait until we got toward the end of the parable so you would have the familiarity to see the similarities.



Reading Jonah 4 is like reading Luke 15:25-31. Jonah is like the Old Testament older brother. I hope this will become clear as we read the verses, and allow us to examine our hearts and see if we’re at all like Jonah or older brother.



Go ahead and start at Jonah 3:10 for context…



Jonah 3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.



Now if you didn’t already know this account, what would you expect the next verse to say about Jonah?



Then Jonah rejoiced greatly over the Ninevites’ forgiveness. He was very thankful and blessed that God was so gracious and merciful. He called together his friends and neighbors and said, “Rejoice with me, for the Ninevites who were lost have been found. They were dead and are now alive.” And he began to celebrate.



Instead, he looks just like the older brother…



Jonah 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.



Here’s the typology:



The Ninevites look like the younger brother. They live wickedly, but they repent and are immediately forgiven.Jonah looks like the older brother. He’s upset about the Ninevites’ forgiveness like the older brother was upset about his younger brother’s forgiveness.And God looks like the father. He forgave the Ninevites as quickly and graciously as the father forgave the youngest...