A Tale of Two Sons Bible Study Guide

By John F. MacArthur

In The Tale of Two Sons Workbook, one of America's greatest Bible teachers takes readers deeper into Luke 15 than they've ever been before, revealing insights into the culture of Jesus' day and a surprise secret ending.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) has been preached in every pulpit and is known by many who read and cherish the Bible. It's so special because it presents in clear and inspiring terms our struggle with sin, the need of our hearts to be accepted and pursued, and the Father's inexhaustible mercy and love. But most Christians would say that they've heard every sermon possible from this gem of scripture. That it has lost its luster. In The Tale of Two Sons, one of America's most beloved pastors restores the brilliance of this passage for the layperson, giving engrossing historical background and a surprise ending readers may have never known.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Apr 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781418536657

John F. MacArthur

Widely known for his thorough, candid approach to teaching God's Word, John MacArthur is a popular author and conference speaker. He has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, since 1969. John and his wife, Patricia, have four married children and fifteen grandchildren. John's pulpit ministry has been extended around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You, and its satellite offices in seven countries. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly two thousand English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, and digital recordings by John MacArthur. John is chancellor of The Master's University and Seminary and has written hundreds of books and study guides, each one biblical and practical. Bestselling titles include The Gospel  According to Jesus, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, Slave, and The MacArthur Study Bible, a 1998 ECPA Gold Medallion recipient.

Book preview

Title Page with Zondervan logo

© 2008 by John MacArthur

The publishers are grateful to Terry Hadaway for his collaboration and writing skills in developing the content of this book.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [e-mail].

All Scripture quotations in this book are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-4185-2820-1

09 10 11 12 13 QWE 8 7 6 5 4

Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

EBOOK INSTRUCTIONS

In this ebook edition, please use your device’s note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your device’s highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).

CONTENTS

Ebook Instructions

1. Greatest Short Story. Ever.

2. A Wide-Angle Preview

3. His Shameless Demand

4. His Shameful Misconduct

5. His Turning Point

6. His Return

7. His Forgiveness

8. His Generosity

9. His Resentment

10. His True Character

11. The Shocking Real-Life Ending

Leader’s Guide

About the Author

ONE

Greatest Short Story. Ever.

"Jesus’ intention in telling the story was not to impress His hearers with dramatic artistry. Rather, if we understand the parable correctly, its spiritual lessons leave a far more indelible impression on our hearts and minds than any literary analysis of the parable could accomplish."

—A Tale of Two Sons (p. 14)

Rewind

Many of the more familiar passages of Scripture are ripe with unnoticed theological truths that, if discovered and applied to our lives, could improve the quality of our relationships with God and each other. One such passage is the parable of the prodigal son.

Prodigal living is characterized by wasteful extravagance and wanton immorality (MacArthur New Testament Commentary, p. 220). The story of the Prodigal Son is more about the loving father than the wayward son and his spiteful brother. Jesus didn’t tell the story in order to improve His reputation as a great storyteller; He told it to reveal some characteristics of God that had been veiled by the religious practices of the scribes and Pharisees. The cultural tension between Judaism and Jesus’ ministry was underlying every word Jesus spoke.

Before we begin, we must remember that the meaning of Scripture is not fluid. The truth of the Bible doesn’t change with time or mean different things in different cultures. Whatever the text meant when it was originally written, it still means today. Therefore, if we can grasp the original meaning of the parable, we can apply it to our lives today.

It is all too easy to rip biblical stories out of their original contexts, force them into a postmodern frame of reference, and miss their full import.

1. Before beginning this study, what is your understanding of the meaning of the parable of the prodigal son?

[Your Response Here]

2. We sometimes make the mistake of limiting our understanding of Scripture to what we read about Scripture. Read Mark 12:37b and identify the primary audience to whom Jesus spoke.

If this was Jesus’ primary audience, what should be the degree of difficulty in determining the meanings of His words?

__ Only the religious elite can understand.

__ Only the avid Bible student can understand.

__ Only those who know the code can understand.

__ Most anyone can understand.

[Your Response Here]

So if we expect to draw out of this parable what God wants us to learn and what He intended to reveal for our edification, we need to try to hear it the way Jesus’ original audience heard it.

Rethink

The parable of the prodigal son was recorded by Luke, but not by the other gospel writers. Luke was the more detailed of the four gospel writers and was intimately familiar with Judaism and the stark contrast between traditional religion and Jesus’ message.

3. Place the parable of the prodigal son on the timeline of Jesus’ ministry by placing an X at the appropriate place.

[Your Response Here]

4. Luke 9:51 says that Jesus steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. What is the significance of this statement?

In Old Testament times, scribes were those trained to record important events. By the time of the Babylonian exile, scribes were considered to be experts in the written Word of God. By New Testament times, scribes were a group of Pharisees with the responsibility of teaching, interpreting, and enforcing the Law of Moses. (Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 1452)

[Your Response Here]

5. The principle enemies of Jesus’ ministry were the scribes and Pharisees. Based on your perception, what are some adjectives that can be used to describe the scribes and Pharisees?

What are the characteristics of modern-day scribes and Pharisees?

In what settings might you encounter a modern scribe or Pharisee?

[Your Response Here]

6. On page 10, it is said that the scribes and Pharisees "were legalistic—believing that the way to gain favor with God was by earning merit—and the best way to gain merit in God’s eyes, they thought, was through fastidious observance of the law." Thus, they based their salvation on their own self-righteousness. As Christians, we know that our salvation is only based on the finished work of Christ. Yet we can sometimes allow forms of legalism and self-righteousness to creep into our own thinking. What are some ways in which we can become legalistic?

What are the effects of religious legalism in our lives?

[Your Response Here]

7. The scribes and Pharisees were also hypocritical . . . They valued the public display of religion more than private devotion and true righteousness. What are some ways in which this is evident in our society?

[Your Response Here]

8. Jesus never entered into negotiations with the scribes and Pharisees; He stood His ground. Of course, this only heightened the tension. As a result, Jesus was at the top of their Most Wanted list. There have been times when we all have backed down rather than suffer the consequences of standing our ground on what we know to be right. In what areas of your