the role of the lukan parables in terms of the purpose of luke's gospel

followers are strongly encouraged to use worldly money to help the poor so that when this
age is gone their friends will receive them into the eternal home. Even though in the teaching
of Jesus there seems to be a tension between giving without expectation of return (6:30, 32-
35; 11:4), and giving with expectation of a future reward (12:33), it seems as if Jesus here
allows and encourages self-interest among his disciples. 71 In this respect, the parable plays a
role as a positive instance concerning the proper use of unrighteous money in the light of the
eschatological perspective. 72
Vv. 10-13 shifts the focus from employing the parable as a positive example to using that
as negative instance. In contrast to the steward who was prudent but dishonest and unfaithful,
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the sons of light, as a number of interpreters have emphasized, are to be wise and faithful.
Jesus, as Marshall maintains, 74 gives a general principle from human experience in verse 10,
namely, “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in
a very little is dishonest also in much.” Jesus continually applies the general principle to the
disciples in verses 11-12 with a rhetorical question. They have no choice but to infer that no
one would do so. In order to come to such a conclusion, as Bailey’s claims, 75 Jesus uses an
antithesis and a parallelism. 76
Through this observation, we find that the parallel members of
each side of the antitheses, (and
are synonyms. In other words, in view of the
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unrighteous mammon in verse 11 with regard to that of verse 9a, “a very little” , “the
71. Green, Luke, 594; Metzger, Consumption and Wealth in Luke’s Travel Narrative, 125; Duff and McGrath,
Meeting Jesus, 107; Wright, “Parables on Poverty and Riches,” 227; Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, 417.
72. Almsgiving here, as Marshall has pointed out, should not be counted as salvation by good works as
generosity, but as a testimony to discipleship. Marshall, Luke, 622; Ireland, Stewardship, 102-103, 216; Forbes,
The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 169.
73. Ellis, Luke, 198; Fletcher, “Riddle,” 21; Grundmann, Lukas, 319; Marshall, Luke, 622; Ireland, Stewardship,
108; Forbes, The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 169. Against this
suggestion, see Descamps, “Composition,” 51; Jeremias, Parables, 47.
74. Marshall, Luke, 623. He notes that “the saying is a good example of a secular truth being used as a basis for
a religious lesson.”
75. Bailey, Poet and Peasant, 110. Bailey claims that the inversion principle is used in verses 10-12 and 13 as
well as in verse 9.
76. The parallelism is as follows:
//(v. 10a)
//(v. 10b)
///(v. 11a)
//(v. 11b)
///(v. 12a)
//(v. 12b)
77. N. Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition and
108