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

Greg W. Forbes 59 sets out not only to make a unifying motif of the Lukan parables, but to
link these parables with the purpose of the Gospel of Luke. He begins with a brief survey of
the history of research on the Lukan parables as well as the recent tendencies of the
interpretation of the parables under a title, ‘The Parables: Key Factors in Historical
Research.’ 60 Based on the foregoing analysis, he establishes some methodological bases and
then analyses the Lukan parables. What is interesting about his search for possible unifying
motifs is the fact that he tries to observe it in the light of the promise-fulfilment theme as the
overall purpose of Luke’s Gospel and the literary setting of conflict or controversy with
contemporary Judaism. 61 From what he analysed, he contends that each of the parables
contains either an explicit or an implicit portrait to the character and nature of the God that
had its roots in the Old Testament. 62 He also maintains that Luke is not only using the
parables to depict God’s nature, but he may also want to contrast Jesus’ portrayal of God with
the view of God held by his Jewish contemporaries. 63 As such, the Lukan parables perform
not only a parenetic function but also an apologetic function to Gentile or Jewish Christians
seeking definition vis-à-vis Judaism, in particular to Theophilus. The conclusion to be drawn
here is that the portrayal of the character and nature of God of the Lukan parables is integral
to the promise-fulfilment theme, whereby Luke wants to present to us that Jesus is the
legitimate fulfillment of the Old Testament promise. 64 We shall deal later with his contention
that all the features and themes that are present in the parables are associated with the
character of God, either directly or indirectly. 65
At the almost same time as G.W. Forbes’ work, Mikeal C. Parsons wrote a meaningful
66
article about Lukan Parables . He begins with considerations of a classification of the
parables in order to know whether it is adequate to his study, ‘the Function of Lukan Parables
in the Lukan Travel Narrative’ in particular. As a result, he discards both Jeremias’ ten
thematic categories and Scott’s classification on the basis of three of the elementary aspects
of Mediterranean social life and culture since it does not assist in the organization of the
59. Forbes, The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 22-23.
60. Ibid., 24-51.
61. Ibid., 224, 225-260.
62. Ibid., 261-278.
63. Ibid., 279-306.
64. Ibid., 328-329.
65. For evaluation on the work of Forbes, see D. Reinstorf’s review article. Reinstorf, “Luke’s parables and the
purpose of Luke’s Gospel,” HTS 58/3 (2002), 1281-1295.
66. Mikeal C. Parsons, “Landmarks Along The Way: The Function of The ‘L’ Parables in The Lukan Travel
Narrative,” SJT 40 (1997), 33-47.
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