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

about religion or theology.” 74
Even though it is his social-scientific reading of the parable
that gives us an insight into understanding the parable, it is wrong to view Jesus’ historical
activity merely in terms of politics and the restructuring of society. In addition, although from
an emic perspective, he finds Abraham’s unwillingness to help the one that needs help, as
rhetorical strategy, but the parable, at no point, conveys Abraham’s unwillingness to help.
Instead, the parable accounts that Abraham simply rejects the rich man’s demand on account
of what he cannot do, given the great chasm fixed that none cross from one side to the other,
not that he does not do what he can do.
The parable serves to warn the rich who use wealth only for themselves while neglecting
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the needs of the poor. The parable also addresses private charity in its modern form, in that
it teaches the correct use of one’s own wealth in responsibility to God and other people. In
this respect, the parable, as noted above, is coupled with the teaching of the preceding parable
(Luke 16:1-13). On the other hand, seen in the perspective of Luke’s Gospel that the poor
functions as a symbol of the pious and those who receive God’s mercy, the parable further
serves to assure the poor that God is on the side of the poor by Lazarus being named and his
reversal of the fate in the afterlife. At this point, the parable subverts conventional Jewish
wisdom which viewed the rich as blessed by God and the poor as punished for their
wickedness. 76
To be sure, Luke’s account leads the reader to revalue their life and to act
accordingly.
In the second part of the parable with in v. 30, explicit is, to some extent,
the theme of repentance that here is represented as the proper use of possessions, and concern
for the poor as one aspect of it. The reason why the rich man is suffering in Hades is that he
fails to show concern for Lazarus in life. The rich man has recognized too late that Abraham
is Lazarus’s father as well as his. If his five brothers do not repent according to the teaching
of Moses and the prophets, they may also suffer a similar fate. The audience, who mainly
consisted of Pharisees and the disciples, are also challenged to reconsider their lives by the
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rhetorical device of the open end of the parable.
74. Ernest Van Eck, “When Patrons are not Patrons: A Social-Scientific Reading of the Rich Man and Lazarus
(Lk 16:19-26),” HTS Teologiese Studies 65 (2009), 346-56.
75. Hultgren, Parables, 115; Stephen I. Wright, “Parables on Poverty and Riches,” 238; Metzger, Consumption
and Wealth in Luke’s Travel Narrative, 156.
76. Scott, Hear Then the Parable, 150; Blomberg, Interpreting The Parables, 206; Forbers, The God of Old:
The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 195. See also Gen. 24:35; Deut. 28:1-13; Job
42:10-17; Ps. 112:3; Eccl. 3:10-13.
77. Lehtipuu, “Characterization and Persuasion: The Rich Man and The Poor Man in Luke 16:19-31,” 100-104;
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