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

the poor. All Christians are called upon to reflect right relationship with God through the right
use of wealth. Lastly, it is especially faith and repentance that Christians ought to exercise in
their relationship with God. Two prayer parables, the Friend at Midnight (11:5-8) and the
Judge and the Widow (18:1-8), convey that prayer itself is an expression of faith toward God.
Indeed, the faithfulness called for in prayer is evidence of constant fellowship with God. With
respect to repentance, we can enumerate the following parables: the Barren Fig Tree, the
Parable of the Prodigal Son and the Pharisee and the Tax-Collector, including implicitly the
Rich Man and Lazarus, the Great Feast (14:15-24) and the parable of the Unjust Steward.
These parables are calls for urgent repentance in the light of imminent judgment. They are
also descriptions of repentance in these parables: To honestly acknowledge that one has
broken the relationship between oneself and God, and fervently desiring the restoration of
that relationship. All things considered, what Christians should pursue in their relationship
with God is faith and repentance.
The faith-life of Christians, which include newly-changed life in the whole realm of
one’s life in accordance with Jesus’ life and teaching, is further emphasized and supported in
the structure of the travel narrative. The Christian life in the Journey can also be explained in
the motifs of Jesus’ in 9:31 and a way, and in the Gospel of Luke and
Acts. Lukan travel narrative reminds the reader of the Exodus from Egypt, through the
impressions of aimless wandering and the conflict between Jesus and his followers in the
Journey, which are parallel to the experience of the wanderings of the people of Israel, and
their confrontations with Moses. In this respect, the travel narrative functions as a new
Exodus. The teaching then in this ‘new Exodus’ shows how Christians should serve their God,
and how they should live their lives in the world. Likewise, the way, , is a preparation of
the disciples for the time of Jesus’ absence after the ascension. 1
In the course of the Journey,
the disciples are prepared for authentic witnesses of Jesus’ words and deeds. At the same time,
the way in the Journey becomes understood as a manner of living that brings salvation to men,
and furthermore demands a responsible attitude from men who try to build a new society and
realize salvation for each other. In this respect, Jesus is the Guide who has originated this way
of living through his death and resurrection through his journeying among us. The way
continues as if it reached Theophilus and us. In this way, Luke clusters his parables on
1. Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus (Oxford Bible Series, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 91,
also contends that “within the framework of the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem, Luke is primarily interested in
the way Jesus equips his disciples for carrying on his preaching and teaching after his death.”
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