Slaughtering stewards and incarcerating debtors : coercing charity in Luke 12:35-13:9

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.