The Parable of the Two Sons

In a recent talk at BYU, John Welsh gave a really interesting interpretation of the parable of the two sons found in Matthew 21:28-31.  He suggested that we could see the man as God the Father and these two sons as Christ and Lucifer.  In the King James Version, the first son answered his father’s call to work in the vineyard with these words: “I will not.”  Brother Welsh said the Greek text here can be translated as “I will it not,” or “I’d rather not,” or “it is not my will” language that clearly reminds us of the Savior’s plea to the Father in the garden. 

The phrase that “but afterward he repented” meant really that he afterward reconciled himself, which is exactly what the Savior did.  The second son in the parable answered by simply saying “I”—the King James Version fills in the text with the word “go” but this is in italics and is not in the original Greek.  If we interpret this second son as Satan, then his answer that only pointed to himself reminds us of Moses 4:1 where he used “I” and “me” a total of six times in a conceited response to the Father: “Here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind… surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.”  Part of the reason that Brother Welsh gives for interpreting the parable in this manner is that Jesus was answering a question about authority, and certainly this answers that question showing that Jesus received His authority from the Father (although the Pharisees probably would not understand this, as Jesus intended with his parables).  Another indication to me that suggests that this might have been what Jesus actually meant is that the next two parables he gave also spoke of a man and son.  He told of “a certain householder” who “sent unto [his husbandmen] his son, saying, They will reverence my son” (Matt. 21:33-41).  Clearly this father/son pair was referring to the Father and Christ.  Jesus then told another parable where the kingdom of heaven was likened to a king “which made a marriage for his son” (Matt. 22:2).   According to Elder Talmage, “The king in the parable is God; the son whose marriage was the occasion of the feast is Jesus” (Jesus the Christ, pg. 500).  So, assuming the interpretation from Brother Welsh for the first parable, this would make three parables in a row speaking of the Father and Son which come after the question from the chief priests, “By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?” (Matt. 21:23).  Together the three parables then give a resounding reply: Christ’s authority comes directly from God the Father.