Reading the Gospels Together The Storyline of Luke’s Gospel – Part 9 At this point Luke creates for his readers one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible. The audience is the religious leaders who are grumbling because Jesus welcomes outcasts and sinners. In answer to their grumbling, Luke joins together three parables of Jesus. The first parable Luke shares with Matthew. It is about the shepherd who searches for the one lost sheep even though he already has 99 sheep safely in the fold. The second parable is found only in Luke but it sounds a lot like the first. A woman tears her house apart to find one lost coin even though she already has 9 others. And the third parable is the most powerful of all. A father has two sons. The younger asks his father for his inheritance even before his father is dead and gets it. He leaves home and squanders all he has. In desperation he returns hoping to become a slave in his father’s house. But the father welcomes him back as a son. And here is the point of the parable. The older brother who stayed home refuses to welcome his brother back as a brother. Will he finally come and join the celebration? Luke leaves the question open-ended for his readers. And the point is that Jesus welcomes sinners and outcast. Will his followers welcome them too? Welcoming the visitation of God to his people turns on whether or not we are willing to receive God as a gracious forgiver of sinners or not. The next parable that Luke tells is as ambiguous as the last three parables were clear and forthright. No one seems to be able to understand this parable. Luke’s purpose for placing that parable at this point in his story slips by his interpreters – at least at this point in time. Perhaps his first readers understood, but most of us are left wanting. Luke ends the parable by telling us once again of the threat of wealth to keep one from the kingdom. And the Pharisees react in rejection of Jesus because they loved money. This leads Luke into another parable only he will tell his readers. The dangers of wealth are abundantly apparent in this parable. The rich man has the opportunity to help a man in need but he fails to see him. And so he ends up in torment while the poor man ends up in the bosom of Abraham. Even there the rich man sees himself in charge as he asks that the poor man be sent to care for him. But that is no longer possible. And then, in words that drip with irony, he asks that the poor man be sent back to his brothers to warn them. Certainly if someone rose from the dead people would listen. But Jesus ends the parable by saying that if they are not willing to listen to Moses then they will never listen if someone were to rise from the dead. Of course Jesus will rise – will they listen? The collection of stories continues. Luke dips back into Mark briefly to tell of the dangers of becoming a stumbling block and of the need to forgive someone who asks forgiveness even if you need to forgive him seven times. Readers might remember that Mark had placed this material in a different context and called for forgiving seventy times seven times. Near the end of his gospel when the disciples were marveling over the withered fig tree Jesus had told his disciples that if they had faith like a mustard seed they could tell a mountain to get up and move into the sea. Here Jesus tells them if they have such faith they can tell a bush to do the same. Luke is focusing on discipleship and so he tells his readers that they are to be servants who expect nothing from their master. They are to do what they are called to do. Luke now reminds his readers once again that Jesus is journeying to Jerusalem, once again on the border between Samaria and Galilee. On the way he is met by ten lepers. Jesus directs them to go and show themselves to the priests and on the way they are healed. One, a Samaritan, returns to give thanks to God.