A Tale of Two Sons

Title: a Tale of Two Sons
Author: John MacArthur
Publisher: Thomas Nelson, 2008
Pages: 210
Begun: February 7, 2009
Finished: February 19, 2009
Rating: *****

The title of MacArthur's book on Christ's parable on the Prodigal Son is not only riveting, but the subtitle is equally gripping: "the inside story of a father, his sons, and a shocking murder." Yes, the "shocking murder" aroused my curiosity, but I resisted the urge to peek at the end of the book to find out about this murder (it occurs on page 195). More on that later.

A Tale of Two Sons is a series of sermons MacArthur preached on the parable of the Prodigal from Luke 15. MacArthur does a masterful job in detailing the plot, the characters, and explaining cultural and historical backgrounds for the parable. He begins in his introduction by immediately laying out the central message of the parable:

"The central message of the parable, then, is an urgent and sobering entreaty to hard-hearted listeners whose attitudes exactly mirrored the elder brother's. The parable of the prodigal son is not a warm and fuzzy feel-good message, but it is a powerful wake-up call with a very earnest warning."

After the introduction, the book is divided into five parts:
1. The Parable
2. The Prodigal
3. The Father
4. The Elder Brother
5. The Epilogue

Interwoven throughout the book, MacArthur explains the method of interpreting parables. The 10-page appendix is actually an article entitled: "Storied Truth: Learning to find meaning in parables." This was an explanation of a historical-grammatical approach in handling parables. I felt it was an appropriate way to end the book. From that appendix:

"Whether the true meaning of this or that symbol is patently obvious or one that requires a little detective work, the point is still the same: Jesus' parables were all illustrative of gospel facts. The stories were not (as some people nowadays like to suggest) creative alternatives to propositional truth statements, designed to supplant certainty. They were not dreamy fantasies told merely to evoke a feeling. And they certainly weren't mind games contrived to make everything vague. Much less was Jesus employing fictional forms in order to displace truth itself with mythology" (200).

"But on the question of whether each parable actually has a single divinely inspired sense and therefore a proper interpretation--an objectively true sense--there has never been any serious dispute among people who take the authority of Scripture seriously. The corollary of that idea is an equally sound principle: every possible interpretation that contradicts the one true meaning of a passage is false by definition" (201).

And to the shocking murder at the end of the parable? MacArthur explains:

"Don't forget that Jesus told the parable--including the abrupt ending--chiefly for the benfit of the scribes and Pharisees. It was really a story about them. The elder brother represented them....The Pharisees' ultimate response to Jesus would write the end of the story in real-life. Since the father figure in the parable represents Christ and the elder brother is a symbol of Israel's religious elite, in effect, the true ending to the story, as written by the scribes and Pharisees themselves, ought to read something like this: 'The elder son was outraged at his father. He picked up a piece of lumber and beat him to death in front of everyone'" (194-95).

This work was a gripping and sound treatment of the parable. He brought out interesting cultural facets and exegetical tidbits to shed light on the parable. An engaging and recommended read!