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

2-2-2-1. Gentile Christians
Many scholars have considered the audience of Luke-Acts to be predominately Gentile
Christians for several reasons: 105 (1) Luke’s prologue is very similar to a Greco-Roman
preface. Luke in his preface employs a literary convention already widespread in the Greco-
Roman world, such as Greek historiography, biography, and scientific works such as
technical treatises on crafts, including medicine, engineering, architecture and philosophy. 106
(2) Luke-Acts has an emphasis on the Gentile mission (Acts 10-11; 13:46-48; 18:6; 28:24-28)
and the Gentiles. The Gospel of Luke also shows considerable concern for the Gentiles (Lk.
2:31-32; 3:6; 4:25-27; 14:16-24; 24:47), although Luke’s concern towards Gentiles intensifies
in Acts. The Gentiles appear in Acts especially as the God-fearers (Acts 10:2, 22, 35; 13:16,
26, 43, 50; 17:4, 17; 18:7). (3) Luke avoids Semitic expressions (Lk. 6:14; 8:54; 22:42;
23:45). (4) Luke substitutes non-Palestinian architecture (Lk. 5:19; 8:16), weather, and
geography (Lk. 6:48-49) for Palestinian, as well as Greek names for Hebrew or Aramaic
terms, for example, the substitution of the term ‘lawyer’ for ‘scribe’ (Lk. 10:25; 11:52). (5)
Luke explains Jewish customs (Lk. 22:1, 7) and Jewish localities (Lk. 4:31; 8:26; 21:37;
23:51; 24:13). (6) Luke extends Jesus’ genealogy from Joseph to Adam (3:38) instead of to
Abraham as Matthew does (Mt. 1:16). (7) Luke’s use of ‘Judea’ in generic terminology to
describe ‘Palestine’ may imply that his audience was of a non-Palestinian origin (Lk. 1:5;
4:44; 6:17; 7:17; 23:5; Acts 2:9; 10:37). 107 (8) Luke uses the LXX rather than the MT when
referencing the Old Testament. 108
M. Dibelius argues that Luke-Acts was written for a Gentile audience consisting of
uneducated believers and well-educated unbelievers. For him “Luke’s Gospel was intended as
105. M. Dibelius, Studies in the Acts of the Apostles (London: SCM Press, Ltd., 1956), 173-4; E. Käsemann,
Essays on New Testament Themes (London: SCM Press, Ltd., 1964), 90-91; Haenchen, The Acts of the Apostles:
A Commentary, 49; Frank Stagg, “The Unhindered Gospel,” RevExp 71 (1974), 451-62; Conzelmann, The
Theology of St. Luke, 10; Talbert, Literary Patterns, Theological Themes and The Genre of Luke-Acts, 135:
Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke, 57-58; Eugene A. Laverdiere and William G. Thompson, “New
Testament Communities in Transition: A Study of Matthew and Luke,” TS 37 (1976), 567-97, here 583.
106. For an argument for a literary convention in the Greco-Roman world, see Moessner, “The Appeal and
Power of Poetics (Luke 1:1-4),” 85, 88, 97-98, 109, 112-113; Robbins, “Prefaces in Greco-Roman Biography
and Luke-Acts,” 193-207; Talbert, Literary Patterns, Theological Themes, and the Genre of Luke-Acts;
Alexander, The Preface to Luke’s Gospel: Literary Convention and Social Context in Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1,
42-101, especially 103-106.
107. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke, 58.
108. See Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke, 57-58; Stein, Luke, 26-27; Forbes, The God of Old: The Role
of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 318.
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