The Last Shall Be First: The Rhetoric of Reversal in Luke

Many recent studies recognize the feature of reversal in individual narratives in Luke. What contribution do they make to Luke's eschatology, and how do they enable us to define the historical audience of Luke's Gospel? York's study focuses on the numerous sayings, parables, and narratives in Luke that exhibit a double or 'bi-polar' reversal of fortunes. It concludes that this rhetorical form is a fundamental element in Luke's understanding of the death and resurrection of Jesus and the nature of life in the Kingdom inaugurated by Jesus.