Expressive-initiated Storytelling by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke in English Translation: Re-visiting the Narrative Criticism

Although Kurz (1993) laid the theoretical foundation for narrative criticism, his analysis of the Gospel of Luke remains at the macro-narrative level, focusing on literary techniques across the Gospel as a whole. By contrast, this present study investigates conflict-driven narrative situations, examining scenarios in which Jesus’ storytelling is used in response to accusations, complaints, and criticism. The data consist of nineteen biblical narratives from the Gospel of Luke in English translation in which Jesus responds to expressive speech acts. The conceptual framework on narrative criticism, grounded in structuralist narratology, reveals multilayered communicative intentions, and, consequently, offers comprehensive interpretations of why Jesus, as the speaker of the parables, responds to expressive speech acts. The results show that most conflict-driven storytelling conveys moral instruction through the illocutionary force of directives aimed at inviting the hearer, the immediate audience, to commit to future actions. Evident in most parables with incomplete story elements, Jesus’ responses present narrative gaps that invite not only the immediate audience but also the actual reader to interpret moral lessons from the scriptural text. Intertextuality, which provides narrative echoes to Old Testament stories, appears infrequently when Jesus addresses accusations, complaints, and criticism. In response to these face-threatening acts, parables characterized by narrative gaps without intertextuality are frequently employed.