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

6. The Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son (15: 1-32)
6-1. The Literary Context of Luke 15
Luke 15 is relevant to ch. 14 in that they share a banquet image. Jesus heals a man with
dropsy on one Sabbath day, and then, by v. 24, with the banquet image he teaches people who
are dining with him at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees. In addition, the
Pharisaic attitude toward Jesus’ actions in 14:1-6, correlate with 15:2 where the Pharisees and
the scribes murmured, saying ‘this man receives sinners and eats with them.’ Furthermore,
the phrase at the end of ch. 14 where “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” is naturally
linked with the beginning verse of ch. 15 with the repetition of the Greek word, .
Here there seems to be a concrete example of the pronouncement in 14:35 as to who has ears
to hear. According to 15:1, there is no doubt that the tax collectors and sinners are the ones
who have ears to hear.
In regard to the relevance between ch. 15 and ch. 16, there have been some suggestions,
especially in structural and thematic unity. 1 In order to find a similarity between ch. 15 and
ch. 16, theologians concentrate on the connections between the parable of the Prodigal Son,
apart from the first two parables in ch. 15 and the parables in ch. 16. Austin argues that there
are some remarkable similarities between the parable of the Prodigal Son and the Dishonest
Manager: Both parables draw a relationship between two people; in each story another
person’s property is used recklessly, and in the action to evade a predicament, each uses a
monologue which serves as crucial turning points. For Austin, the prodigal’s act of selfinterest,
mirrors the dishonest acts of the manager. Apart from the fact that the dishonest
manager retained his former position as manager, the rest of the arguments give us an insight
into understanding both parables. 2 Kilgallen contends that, just as the younger son in the
parable of the Prodigal Son has the shrewdness to find and choose means to save his life by
returning to his father, so the manager in the parable of the Dishonest Manager also has the
shrewdness to find the means which lead to his salvation, namely a way to entry into the
kingdom of God. For him, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus also urges the Pharisees to
choose obedience to the Law as the shrewdness, that is, the means to enter into the kingdom
of God. 3
His point of view is considerably persuasive in terms of the thematic unity between
ch. 15 and ch. 16.
1. M.R. Austin, “The Hypocritical Son,” EvQ 57 (1985), 307-15; J.J. Kilgallen, “Luke 15 and 16: A Connection,”
Bib 78 (1997), 369-76.
2. Austin, “The Hypocritical Son,” 311-13, here 315.
3. Kilgallen, “Luke 15 and 16: A Connection,” 373-76.
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