Abstract:
Scholarly expositions of the sermon in Luke 12:1-13:9 tend to divide the discourse
into two thematically distinct sections: Luke 12:1-34 is exposited in terms of wealth
ethics, while the eschatological comments of 12:35-13:9 are said to be spiritual in
their focus. The present article argues that the two halves of the sermon cannot be
separated in this manner, and shows that the eschatological paraenesis of 12:35-13:9
is especially concerned to stimulate the proper use of wealth. To substantiate this
reading, the essay proceeds sequentially through the constituent pericopae of 12:35-
13:9. Supplementing conventional historico-linguistic exegesis with narrative
criticism and occasional attention to patristic interpretation, the article shows how
Luke 12:35-13:9 contributes to the wealth-ethical comments which feature so
prominently in 12:1-34, and thus underscores how tightly eschatology and ethics are
interwoven in Lukan soteriology.
