The Surprising Genius of Jesus: What the Gospels Reveal about the Greatest Teacher

This book is an eye-opener. Peter Williams takes us on a journey through the whole Bible and he does so without leaving the little story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). It is as if every word of the story is a hyperlink that takes you to another page of Scripture. He shows how the story links with other parables in Luke, other parables and passages in the other Gospels, and other passages in the Old Testament (covering the Law, the Prophets and the Writings - 27 of the 39 OT books are referred to).The point is there is an astounding amount of material packed into this story, showing the source of the story had a remarkable knowledge of Scripture and also an amazing story-telling ability. To take all these threads of Scripture and weave them into a beautiful short story is the work of a genius.Who is the genius behind the story? The suggestion that the Gospel writer came up with it doesn't fit the facts or make sense. The suggestion that Jesus is the genius does. That invites another question about this genius - is He who He claimed to be and who His disciples proclaimed Him to be - the Son of God? Williams closes the book with a short, simple but strong chapter that Jesus isn't just the source of the story of Luke 15, but the source of the whole story of Scripture.

This is a marvellous small book that very ably shows how Jesus used parables to tell the profoundest truths, and did so in a way that shows us his genius. For once the commendations - including by no less than Tom Holland of the podcast And the Rest is History - get the book right: this is a fascinating work that delivers what is promised. I am not surprised it is being widely bought as a gift! Buy it and buy copies for your friends.

- Surprising connections to significant stories throughout Genesis that reveal how much is packed into the story.- Valuable, encouraging insights that show the depth and force of the parable.- A fresh perspective on the masterful teaching of Jesus.I’ve already recommended the book to 6 or 7 people.

Amazing book, so many unreal insights that proves Jesus is the ultimate master!

Peter Williams shows through careful demonstration but in short form that Jesus so rightly divides the word of truth that we may consider his familiarity with the Old Testament facility for teaching as being best explained by supposing him to be the word become flesh. A sort of Christology from below Williams develops the argument that Jesus’ astute and intimate knowledge of the Old Testament is better explained by assuming he was the author. In the beginning was the word. As a teacher myself I came to further appreciate the brilliant coherence of Jesus teaching in Luke 15 around the lost and rejoicing and yet Williams makes clear the sheer breadth of scope which Jesus leverages to speak to his audience. At once Jesus can engage with socially disparate groups in his audience having a group before him with mixed prior learning and yet crafts, with astonishing verbal economy, a parable with immediate poignance, drawing on a hinterland befitting a lifetime of study. Williams having set himself to such a study resoundingly makes the case that Jesus’ knowledge and pedagogic proficiency demands a hypothesis that Jesus is more than a genius story teller. The occasion for Jesus longest parable of the two sons is a criticism by the scribes and Pharisees in his audience that he ‘receives sinners and eats with them’. The parable becomes a curriculum in itself. Jesus skilfully proclaims the love of God to the sinners in his audience by the characters ‘lost far off’ (younger son, sheep). The sheep and coin stories are beautifully sequenced with heightening worth and percentage lost (1%, 10% and 50%, sheep, coin, son respectively) forming a web of heightening significance tightening in on the lost son(s). Jesus deftly characterises the ‘grumbling’ scribes and Pharisees in his audience as ‘lost at home’ (lost coin/older son) at least to those with an ‘ear to hear’. The older son’s self righteous refusal to welcome his father’s lost son (he won’t say brother) represents those in his audience who although were close to God had not grown like him. Plumbing the depths of the OT and Jesus parables (allusions with Jacob Esau and Joseph to scratch the surface here) Williams skilfully makes the claim that these layers of deep connection exist simultaneously with a profoundly simple story. The parable is sublimely simple and yet repays rigorous study- a feature of a truly powerfully constructed curriculum. A lesson which meets every student’s prior learning, experience and socio-religious identity. I can testify that my children find the parable compelling and gripping as a bedtime devotion and I am equally captivated by the hours of study reading and presentations I’ve engaged in. Yet Williams does not just pose and answer closed questions of what feature of the parable matches this or that text in the OT rather the open question is also posed what we ourselves do today with the genius of Jesus which genius he ably demonstrates. In the same way, Williams also points out the invitational nature of the open ending of the parable itself. Will the older son join in with the rejoicing? The text doesn’t say. It finishes with the father coming out to the self righteous son, still inviting him in to relationship and rejoicing. I recommend this book to everyone. It deserves as wide a readership as Jesus’ original audience (those lost at home and those lost far away) and I hope it proves equally invitational, inviting us as readers to answer Jesus’ own question of ‘who do you say that I am?’.Cristo Rodriguez

This book is superb! No fluff and incredibly engaging.

I tell it to my daughter every night before bed. I have it memorised in 2 languages. I know it like the back of my hand. And I can tell that Peter J. Williams does, too. And he has employed that knowledge as well as his discipline as a textual scholar to make some fresh and interesting observations about “the 2 sons story”, as my daughter affectionately calls it.I recommend this book for thinkers. I found it really illuminating

Peter is a truly brilliant mind. All of his books and talks have been sensational and have helped me deepen my understanding of Jesus and have shown me clearly the authenticity of the New Testament. There is so much more to the parable of the two sons and Peter clearly showcases the brilliance of Jesus through his communication to the Pharisees.

I really enjoyed the treatment and references word by word of passages with the Old Testament relationship of the parables.Even though I have read a couple of books about the parables, those references enriched my perspective on Jesus words. Recommended!

This book is a quick read but don’t let that fool you. The contents will stick with you. It will make you see things that you never saw before. Fascinating facts that were always there….it just took someone to point them out. I am going to give it to my pastor as I think he will appreciate it.