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

Luke seeks to reassure his readers of the gospel through a pattern of God’s plan of salvation.
Luke deals with this theme more than the other Synoptic evangelists. As far as his usage is
concerned, the term appears once in Luke and five times in Acts. The plan of God,
, in the Gospel is connected with accepting the baptism of John (Luke
7:29), thereby justifying God (, Luke 7:30). In Acts the term appears in
2:23 (), 4:28 (), 5:38 (),
13:36 (), and 20:27 (). Along with the term,
other indications of God’s plan can be found throughout Luke-Acts. That is to say, it is to be
noted that references to God’s design are also seen in Luke 10:21 (), 22:42
(, Acts 21:14
(), and 22:14 (). Moreover, the plan of
God frequently occurs not only in the term “it is necessary” (), 136 and “it is about to”
(), 137 but also in presenting that takes the early church as fulfillment according to the
scriptures (and ) 138 and a cluster of -compounds and related verbs 139
which present the design of God and the execution of the plan of God. We can also add here
the epiphanies which manifest God, or divine messengers. 140
All these terms are used
interchangeably to refer to the same concept. Accordingly, Luke’s project is not to simply
write the story of Jesus and the early church, but that of the continuation and fulfillment of
136. The term is used 18 times in Luke and 24 times in Acts. Of the 42 times the following are noted: Luke
2:29; 4:43; 9:22; 13:33; 17:25; 21:9; 22:37; 24:7, 26, 44 and Acts 1:6, 21; 3:21; 4:12; 5:29; 9:6, 16; 14:22; 16:30;
17:3; 19:21; 20:35; 23:11; 24:19; 25:10; 26:9; 27:24. For more on the term, see C.H. Cosgrove, “The Divine ΔEI
in Luke-Acts: Investigations into the Lukan Understanding of God’s Providence,” NovT 26 (1984), 168-90,
concludes that the divine indicates four aspects: “First, this divine points back to God’s ancient plan (the
) and so grounds the kerygmatic history in divine sanction. Second, the divine is a summons
to obedience. The incentive for such faithfulness is found in the third aspect of the divine : God’s guarantee
of his plan. Fourth, the logic of the divine in Luke-Acts involves a dramatic-comedic understanding of
salvation-history as a stage set time and again for divine intervention, so that the spotlight of history
continuously turns on God’s saving miracle.”
137. Luke 9:31, 44; 22:23; 24:21 and Acts 17:31; 26:22, 23.
138. Luke 4:21; 9:31; 21:24; 22:16; 24:44 and Acts 1:16; 2:28; 3:18; 12:25; 13:25, 27, 52; 14:26; 19:21.
Luke 12:50; 18:31; 22:37. See also David Peterson, “The Motif of Fulfilment and the Purpose of Luke-
Acts,” in ed., B.W. Winter and A.D. Clarke, The Book of Acts in Its Ancient Literary Setting (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: The Paternoster Press, 1993), 83-104, prefers edification for a Christian audience to a direct apology for
unbelievers as the purpose of Luke-Acts.
139. (Acts 4:28); (Acts 3:18; 7:52); (Acts 2:23); (Acts
3:20; 22:14; 26:16); (Acts 10:41); (Luke 22:22; Acts 2:23; 10:42; 17:26, 31);
(Acts 13:48; 22:10); (Acts 1:7; 13:47, 48; 19:21; 20:28).
140. Luke 1:11-22, 26-38; 2:9-15; 3:22; 9:30-32; 22:43; 24:4-7, 15-31, 36-49 and Acts 1:3, 9-11; 2:3; 5:19-20;
9:3-6; 10:3-7, 10-16, 30-32; 11:5-10, 13-14; 12:7-11:23; 16:9-10; 18:9; 22:6-8, 17-21; 23:11; 26:13-18; 27:23-
24.
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