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

shoulders may be commonplace from antecedents in the ancient Near East and the Greco-
Roman world, 35 but it nonetheless emphasizes the tender care and compassion of the
shepherd, as “he will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he
will carry them in his bosom” (Isa. 40:11). So great is his joy at finding the lost one that he
calls together his friends and neighbours for a celebration, as described in v. 7. This shows the
boundless joy of God. On this, Bailey excessively puts forward the suggestion that the
shepherd may have been an employee appointed by the community with responsibility for the
sheep, on the grounds that an average family would have between five and fifteen sheep.
“However, if this was a community flock we might have expected the pronoun (in v. 6) to
read , not .” 36
The invitation to friends and neighbours to join in the joy, along with
‘to lose’ and ‘to find’ functions as bonding the three parables together.
Leaving aside the argument as to whether is derived from Jesus or Luke, it is
at least obvious that Luke frequently utilizes it to introduce the application of parables (11:9;
14:24; 15:7, 10; 16:9; 18:8, 14; 19:26). The phrase, (joy in heaven), may
indicate the joy of God, including that of the angels, for in general, “heaven” is a traditional
circumlocution for God so as to avoid attributing emotion to God. “There will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no
repentance.”
Since repentance is mentioned nowhere in the parable, it has been argued that it is a
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secondary application added either by Luke or by tradition during transmission. It seems to
be so, for the sheep and coin are inappropriate symbols of repentance, and are only found
here. However, that the application is secondary in such an argument can be refuted by the
following points: First of all, for completion of the story, the application is surely necessary
and important. If there is no application, the parable would simply contain vague, moral
truths. Furthermore, repentance is a major feature of Jesus’ message. 38 Although Bailey
contends that repentance in Luke 15 presents itself as the acceptance of being found, 39
it is
35. Jack Finegen, Light from the Ancient Past: The Archaeological Background of Judaism and Christianity
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1959), 478.
36. Forbes, The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 116, n. 41.
37. Nolland thinks that the application was added to the parable to further a mission consciousness in the early
church. Nolland, Luke, 772, 776; Fitzymer, Luke, 1073; F.H. Borsch, Many Things in Parables: Extravagant
Stories of New Community (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988), 57; C.F. Evans, Saint Luke, 585.
38. Luke 10:13; 11:32, cf. Matt 4:17; 11:20-21; 12:41 and Mark 1:15.
39. Bailey claims that repentance in the parable is quiet explicit, especially, in the light of Ps. 23:3, Jer. 23:1-8
and Ezek. 34:1-24. Bailey, Finding the Lost, 68-70, 91; Jacob and the Prodigal: A Study of the Parable of the
Prodigal Son in the Light of the Saga of Jacob (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2003), 66-67, 79-82; Linnemann,
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