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

(the petitioner)
The noun , therefore, refers to the shameless request of the man who comes
asking in the middle of the night. The rudeness of the petitioner which was evaluated as
“shamelessness” by the petitioned person, relates primarily to his conduct at midnight. The
negative term describing the rudeness of the petitioner can be understood as boldness which
the parable wants to encourage in praying. All prayers should ask their needs to God with
boldness, no hesitation.
2-3. The Interpretation of the Parable
In order to avoid the difficulty of interpretation, it is not right to shift and change the focus of
the parable and to speak of persistence or importunity. Nor does the parable have continual
asking or knocking and initial refusal. Here, it is important to interpret the parable, keeping
the negative meaning of the noun .
Even though the parable makes it difficult to understand its purpose and intent, in that
there is no explicit statement, no specific application or nimshal, it is clear that the main point
of the parable is boldness in approaching God in prayer. All those praying should approach
God boldly, by throwing away all the rising disturbances in relation to one’s prayer, such as a
time, a place, a content of prayer, or a doubt of a prayer response and so on. This is stressed
in 11:1-4 (in terms of “our Father”) and 11:9-13 (in a certainty of a prayer response).
The parable, teaches in effect, the certainty of a prayer response on the basis of the
character of God. If a man will get up at midnight and grant the request of a rude friend, how
much more will your heavenly Father grant the requests of his children? Here is a parable
contrasting God who is not like the sleeper. The parable thus encourages the believer to be
confident of their prayer on grounds of the character of God. The parable ends with the
sleeper’s standpoint, which is compared to God willingly granting the request, beginning with
the petitioner’s viewpoint, with the emphasis on boldness of the petitioner, and no hesitation
and discouragement in the face of opposition. 17
In other words, the point of view of the
parable naturally shifts to the attitude of prayer toward the character of God.
17. Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables, 276.
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