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Luke 's Tale Of Mercy

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Through this exegetical work on Lk 19:1-10, an understanding of the universal call to conversion will be given. People who are lost , are the main character of Luke’s tale of mercy. Hopefully, this exegetical work will give a sense of what Luke wishes to portray to his audience and how the mercy of God is applicable on all the people who strife for it. The conversion of Zaccheus (LK 19) is a pure characteristic of Luke’s Gospel. This conversion of Zaccheus is not portray by Luke only as a casual event that occurred to this man, but it is relevantly linked to the cure of the blind man that take place always in Jericho (LK 18). In both cases there is a metanoia in the life of these two men: The blind man would become a follower of Jesus, whereas Zaccheus would give half of his property to the poor.
Therefore, Luke inserts the cure of these two men as the beginning of his journey towards Jerusalem, where he will fulfil the scriptures . Only after describing Jesus being guest in Zaccheus’ house, he will portray the entering of Jesus and the subsequently accomplishment of his mission.
The way that Luke uses his narration of event in order to lead his audience up to Jesus’ glorious entry in Jerusalem is not merely by chance. It is a progressive narration, which helps his audience to understand what kind of messiah Jesus is. In fact, although his disciple has been with him for quite long time, they are not able yet, to understand how Jesus will fulfil the scriptures

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