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

arrangement that offer the Journey a principle of arrangement: 9:51, 10:38, 11:53-54, 13:22,
14:25, 17:11 and 18:31. Along this line, Fegarghail builds a seven-part structure for the travel
narrative, in which 13:22-14:24 becomes the central position in the structure.
a) 9:51-10:37 a’) 18:31-19:48 Introduction and Conclusion of the travel narrative
b) 10:38-11:54 b’) 17:11-18:30 Acceptance and Rejection and the Kingdom of God
c) 12:1-13:21 c’) 14:25-17:10 Readiness for Judgment and Discipleship and Repentance
d) 13:33-14:24 The Universality of Salvation.
He seeks for thematic similarities between the paired parallels, but the correspondence in
each parallel paired occurs under several themes, not a single theme. The thematic
correspondences between 9:51-10:37 and 18:31-19:48, for example, come into being within
diverse topics: Jerusalem as the goal of the journey (9:51; 18:31; 19:11, 28, 29-48), Jesus’
preaching of the kingdom (9:57-62; 19:11-28), his rejection (9:53; 10:13,25; 19:11-28, 39,
41-44, 47), acceptance (9:57-62; 18:35-43; 19:1-10:48), Jesus’ royal (cf. 9:60, 62; 10:1;
19:11-28, 29-38), prophetic (9:54, 62; 19:45-46) and teaching roles (10:25; 19:39). In his
view, the central verses, 13:22-14:24 provide the prospect of salvation for the Gentiles, and
include a number of Lucan themes, connecting the centre of the Journey to its extremes:
Jerusalem as the goal of the journey (9:51; 13:33; 19:28, 29-48), Jesus’ healing activity
(13:33; 18:35-43), his prophetic status (cf. 9:54; 13:33; 19:45-46), his lament over the city
(13:34-35; 19:41-44), the allusion to Ps 118:26 (13:35; 19:38), the temple (13:35 19:45-48)
and Jesus’ death in Jerusalem (13:33; 19:47-48). For him, such correspondences reveal that
the material was disposed with a chiastic order under an atmosphere of emphasis on the unity
of the section. 38
R.S. Reid basically sees the gospels as literary works written by means of rhetorical
conventions of a strategy of discourse that enables the readers to discover the intentions of its
implied author. In his view, the author’s voice, the fictive argument of his narrative, can
virtually be found in the reasons why he tells the various stories, and in the order that he tells
them. In light of this, he analyses Luke’s journey to Jerusalem, with expecting something to
give help to preachers. In order to overcome the weaknesses of chiastic inversion as the
compositional technique, he employs step parallelism as an aesthetically acceptable
alternative to inversion, thereby grouping materials into thematic sub-collections. His chiastic
38. F.Ó. Fegarghail, The Introduction to Luke-Acts. A Study of the Role of Lk 1:1-4:44 in the Composition of
Luke’s Two-Volume Work (Roma: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1991), 48-61.
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