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

2. The confirmation of the gospel as the purpose of Luke’s Gospel
2-1. The Preface to Luke’s Gospel (1:1-4)
2-1-1. The Structure of Luke’s Prologue and Hellenistic-Jewish Writings
In comparison with both Matthew and Mark’s prologue, Luke’s preface is obviously the other
part in which he spells out to us why and how he writes, and even reveals the tradition about
Jesus at the time when he wrote. What is more, special attention is given to its literary style
because of its close similarity to contemporary secular writings of the period, such as
Josephus, Diodorus or Dionysius, and the like.
As for the structure, the extended sentence is one long Greek sentence, the so-called
“period” which is “the organization of a considerable number of clauses and phrases into a
well-rounded unity.” 1 The structure which includes a protasis (1:1-2) and an apodosis (1:3-4)
has three parallel phrases: “many” in verse 1 is parallel to “also to me” in verse 3, “to
compose a narrative” in verse 1 goes with “to write for you” in verse 3, and “even as
eyewitnesses and servants handed down” in verse 2 corresponds to “in order that you might
have assurance” in verse 4. According to Tiede, the parallelism of Luke 1:1-4 goes as
follows: 2
a) Inasmuch as many have undertaken (v. la)
b) to compile a narrative of the things… (v. 1b)
1. F. Blass and A. Debrunner, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature
(Chicago: University of Chicago, 1961), §§458, 464; Green, Luke, 36, also sees Luke’s prologue as periodic,
one complete sentence made up of five clauses organized into a balanced unity:
many have undertaken—I too decided
to set down an orderly account —to write an orderly account
the events that have been fulfilled among us—everything
from the beginning—from the very first
just as they were handed down to us—so that you may know.
2. D. Lenz Tiede, Luke (ACNT, Minneapolis, Minn: Augsburg Pub House, 1988), 33. On the other hand, Paul W.
Felix, “Literary Dependence and Luke’s Prologue,” MSJ 8/1 (1997), 61-82, here 66, divides Luke’s preface as
follows:
1. The context of Luke’s writing project (1:1-2)
A. The activity of his contemporaries (1:1)
B. The activity of the eyewitnesses (1:2)
2. The commentary on Luke’s writing project (1:3-4)
A. The credentials of the writer (1:3)
B. The purpose of the work (1:4)
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