A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance
by Fred G. Zaspel
Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son is widely recognized as one of the greatest stories ever told. In just 388 words (in the original), the master-teacher tells a story that is at once simple, beautiful, compelling, insightful, and convicting. What is not often recognized is that in this story Jesus echoes the Genesis narrative in multiple ways. In this little book, Peter Williams highlights Jesus’ “genius” as a teacher of Scripture and theology as displayed in this famous parable. The genius is multi-layered, and, in the end, the parable is all the more penetrating.
Williams surveys Jesus’ other parables also, only briefly but enough to demonstrate that the parable of the prodigal son is not unique in its display of Jesus’ teaching interpretive genius.
If you’re planning to preach or teach from Luke 15, or any of Jesus’ parables, for that matter, you will certainly want to read this little book. Insightful and wonderfully rewarding.