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

therefore, must associate with sinners, who from a shepherding point of view, are lost so as to
seek out and save the lost. Jesus demonstrated that the kingdom is present through his
reception and eating with sinners. In this respect, the story is to be indirectly a kingdom
parable. On the other hand, in relation to the imagery of a shepherd as the religious leaders of
Israel, Bailey’s argument is right in that Jesus is here saying that the Pharisees and scribes, as
the current religious leaders, have failed to tend the flock of Israel. It is not correct, however,
that the responsibility for being lost attributes to the shepherd in the parable on the grounds
that in Middle Eastern culture one is reluctant to ascribe blame to oneself, 51
for any portrayal
of a bad shepherd is not found in the parable. In any event, it is at least clear, from an
audience perspective, that the actions of the shepherd in the parable immediately draw a
comparison between the imagery of a shepherd in terms of success and failure. On this level,
the parable may charge the religious leaders at that time with not doing their task in searching
for the lost.
The parable above all centers around seeking and joy. Audiences should not only see the
love of the searcher, that is to say, how much value the shepherd places on the lost by taking
the risk of leaving the ninety-nine in the wilderness and laying it on his shoulders, but also
the immense joy of heaven in finding the lost on earth: “he calls together his friends and his
neighbours, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost,” and
“there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous people who have no need of repentance” in vv. 6-7. While the love of the searcher
is, in particular, concerned with sinners and tax collectors, the great joy of finding the lost has
to do more intimately with Pharisees and scribes, implicitly conveying cessation of animosity
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towards Jesus’ actions with sinners. In addition, there is a premium on a soteriological
theme that includes even the outcast with limitless grace, thereby showing the concern of
God for the marginalized. 53
This is also one of the dominant themes of the Gospel of Luke.
6-3. The Parable of the Lost Coin (8-10)
51. Bailey contends that instead of a saying that ‘I’ lost the sheep, in Middle Eastern culture they are used to
expressing that ‘the sheep’ went astray. Bailey, Finding the Lost, 66-67.
52. Kilgallen, The Twenty Parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, 102.
53. Bailey finds a redemptive motif in the sense that the shepherd pays a physical cost to restore the sheep by
placing it on his shoulders, whereas Derrett seeks a redemptive motif in that the bringing of the lamb is
necessary preparation for the Passover. The latter however seems, to excessively stretch the point of
soteriological themes. Bailey, Finding the Lost, 75-76; Derrett, Fresh Light on the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin,”
44-45; Forbes, The God of Old: The Role of the Lukan Parables in the Purpose of Luke’s Gospel, 124.
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