Luke 15

“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’" vv.28-30

Read chapter 15
The story of the prodigal son.  Its an amazing picture of us as sinners being forgiven and received back by the Father God.  We can all relate to the younger son that rebels against his father whether you looked exactly like him in his rebellious ways or sinned in other ways in need of forgiveness and repentance for we are all sinners saved by grace.  But today I want to focus on the older brother and how sometimes we christians fall more in line with the older brother than the younger brother.
We first see the older brother's response of anger that his rebellious younger brother has come back after being lost for so long.  He's stubborn and jealous focusing on himself and what is not fair in his eyes.  He even calls his brother "this son of yours" when talking to his father not wanting to let him take the place of dear family.  He whines that he never got a fatted calf or a party like that thrown for him in all the good he's done.  We can see the older brothers point in sinful living verses faithful living of the two brothers and the reward that is given to the rebellious.
I think the Lord is calling out the Pharisees here as the older brother; we see that Jesus is talking to them or they are at least listening to who he is talking to from verse one of the chapter.  "In this, this older brother is much like the religious leaders whom Christ was speaking against, who offered no forgiveness under any circumstances for those they had deemed unfit to be a part of Israel...Just as his attitude towards his brother was not right, so the Pharisee’s complaints against the Lord Jesus’ compassion are not right. They like Christ should have been happy that these wayward children were being brought back to the father. Yet all they could feel was jealousy that God might have compassion on those whom they had rejected. This was not a right attitude, and the Lord’s parable points this out to them." (Bible Teacher Nathan Johnson).  
How can you see your heart, actions or words respond like the older brother or pharisees?