Die Funktion von Lk 17,1–10 im Mittelteil des Evangeliums

In Lk 17:1–10, the evangelist has combined three logia from Q and another of uncertain origin into a new literary unit. At first glance, this composition seems to have no internal connection with the preceding and following narratives. The state of affairs forces us to ask about the editorial intention. Luke takes the three pieces of tradition and forms a parenesis for his current Christian readers. The latter live in an already socially tiered community of all social classes, from poor to rich, young and old, free and slave, male and female, Jews and Non-Jews. Mindful of their own moral frailty, they are to learn to live together harmoniously and to trust in the power of their faith. Especially their leaders from the upper class are supposed to be aware of their status definition thus traced back to Jesus: to be and to remain slaves of God in all their actions. In the literary process, motifs from the entire middle section of the gospel are taken up throughout the text and applied to the new community situation. The so-called “Reisebericht” is altogether no journal, but parenesis.