Finding Morality In Luke’s Disturbing Parables

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A long tradition of theological interpretation has taken the sting out of the most famous stories and parables in the Gospel of Luke. Today we are no longer challenged and offended by them. Many of these stories and parables are read in Sunday church services regularly. They include the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32), the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–13), the Rich Man and Poor Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31), the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1–8a) and the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9–14).

Only Luke records these stories; there are no parallels to them in any of the other Gospels of the New Testament. Luke must have copied them from a source that was not accessible to the writers of the other Gospels, and it is commonly held that among them one finds some of the most genuine parables of Jesus.

We take it for granted that these stories speak about God, who forgives the repentant sinner and who is generous, just and loving. However, modern narrative analysis has taught us that these stories are not about God, but about people and their extraordinary behavior. If we think that there are limits to love and generosity, that wealth is a good thing, that justice should be impartial and that following the commandments and giving to the poor makes a person acceptable to God, we are in for a surprise.

The parable known as the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32) demonstrates how difficult understanding these stories of Jesus can be. The parable is not about a prodigal son, but about a father who had two sons. With this parable, Jesus asks whether his listeners can identify themselves with this father, who acts very stupidly: He gives away half of his wealth to a young and inexperienced offspring who has not even graduated from college, not to speak of business school. When the boy comes back home, having squandered everything, the father runs down the street to greet and to embrace him and orders a welcome-back celebration before the wretched guy even has a chance to utter his cleverly calculated confession of wrong-doing. No wonder the older son, having worked hard all day as usual, complains bitterly. The only answer the father has is that he loves both of them and shares all he has with them, no matter whether they do right or wrong. Do those who listen to this story have the courage to be fathers, mothers and friends like the father in the parable?

Even more puzzling is the parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–13). Again, the conventional title is misleading. It is a story about a rich man who had a steward. When he hears that the steward is wasting his goods, instead of calling an independent accountant, he gives the steward the opportunity to falsify the accounts. Very generous, but not very smart. Then the story goes on to say that “The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness” (Luke 16:8a). At this point, the story breaks off. What follows are several comments that have been added by church redactors, who tried to make sense of this puzzling story (Luke 16:8b–13). It is certain that the original parable did not set up the steward as an example of responsible conduct; rather, the listener should learn from the behavior of the rich man who was the master of the steward. As the preceding parable of the father who had two sons shows that genuine love knows no limits, perhaps this story suggests that generosity and trust cannot be conditional.

The Rich Man and Poor Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31) is also quite disturbing. There is nothing wrong with the rich man; he is not evil nor immoral, simply rich and enjoying his wealth every day. In the parable, that is enough reason for him to be sent to hell after his death, while poor Lazarus when he dies goes to Abraham’s bosom because he received “evil things” during his earthly life (Luke 16:25). Again, nothing is said about the morality or piety of Lazarus; he is rewarded because he was poor, homeless and sick. The rich man—speaking from his torment in hell—asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn the rich man’s five brothers about their fate. Abraham replies that the brothers have no need for Lazarus—they have Moses and the prophets to heed. What could the brothers of the rich man learn from Moses and the prophets (Luke 16:27–31)? The prophets indeed say that the enjoyment of wealth and the neglect of the poor is an unforgivable sin (see, for example, Amos 4:1–2).

In another disturbing parable, the “judge who neither feared God nor had any regard for people” (Luke 18:2 and 18:4) is not a good example for a man in the legal profession. When the judge decides that he better take up the case of the poor widow, he does it for the wrong reason: The widow bothers him and he is afraid that “she will wear him out by her continual coming” (Luke 18:5). Jesus does not seem to be concerned whether a judge or other public figure official is a good, pious and moral person or whether his motivations for actions are laudable. He simply asks whether such an official does the right thing for people who are poor and have no power.

The Pharisee in the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9–14) is often 010considered by Christian interpreters as a typical boasting, self-righteous “Jew.” The publican, by the same light, is an example of the typical Christian who is humble enough to confess his sins. But how many Christian ministers would not love to have this Pharisee as a member of their congregation! After all, he observes the commandments, fasts twice a week and tithes his possessions. And the truth is that very few people today would have any love for the publican, the tax collector who is in the employ of the government and puts most of the money he collects into the wrong pocket. But Jesus clearly prefers the tax collector. The concluding sentence of the story (Luke 18:14a; verse 14b seems to be a later addition), “this man [the tax collector] went to his house righteous rather than the other [the Pharisee],” recalls a statement from the Hebrew Bible. Genesis 38 tells how Tamar, childless after losing two husbands, dresses as a harlot and becomes impregnated by her father-in-law Judah. When her pregnancy is discovered, Judah orders that she be burned; Tamar then produces proof that Judah himself is the father, to which he responds, “she is righteous rather than I” (Genesis 38:26). This is righteousness upside-down.

Perhaps, Luke’s parables tell us, God accepts people who are immoral, strangers, despised and rejected by society. Jesus seems to think so.

A long tradition of theological interpretation has taken the sting out of the most famous stories and parables in the Gospel of Luke. Today we are no longer challenged and offended by them. Many of these stories and parables are read in Sunday church services regularly. They include the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32), the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1–13), the Rich Man and Poor Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31), the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1–8a) and the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9–14). Only Luke records these stories; there are no parallels to them in any of the other Gospels of the New […]