In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus heals a woman with “a spirit that crippled her” for 18 years so she could not stand up straight. Jesus’ attention to her and subsequent healing of her infirmity is offensive to the synagogue leader who is “indignant” that Jesus healed on the sabbath. The incident juxtaposes Jesus with the Jewish leaders who were more concerned with doing things the right way then doing what is right. Jesus responds with anger and wonders at the hypocrisy of people who would help their animals on the sabbath but not a fellow Jew who has been bound up for years. The healing reflects Jesus’ larger mission, as quoted in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus’ mission is further illustrated in the banquet parable of Luke 14:13-24. This parable has similarities to Matthew’s wedding banquet parable. In Matthew, the story seems more concerned with morality or character (using words like good and bad to describe the guests) and is a warning tale, violently depicting those who are not selected to join the kingdom of God. Luke’s story, while it has similar framework, portrays the guests quite differently. For one, it removes the idea of the originally invited guests as being bad, but further emphasizes them as too concerned with their own temporal matters. While Matthew’s version of the story serves primarily as cautionary tale, stressing the punishment of the excluded or unfaithful, Luke’s version is more focused on who is included in the kingdom of God; specifically “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” and doesn’t stop there, but also extends the offer to anyone who will come. The banquet parable echoes Jesus’ earlier mission statement of who he has come for – the poor and the blind. Luke is making very clear that he sees Jesus as the champion of the oppressed and marginalized, that there is a place for all in God’s community.

Another parable further develops the social reformer aspect of Luke’s Jesus. A story in Luke 18:1-8 tells of a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people (a description in which the judge of the story even uses of himself). He is a person of power who is wearied by the cries of a widow who comes to him continually seeking justice and begging for help. The unjust judge gives in and helps her, not out of concern for her plight, but because he is tired of her incessant pleas. This parable was meant to illustrate that God responds to the ones who cry out to him – the ones in need, vulnerable people. Jesus tells them that God hears their cries and is quick to respond with help and justice. While God will surely grant justice quickly, what about those with power to do so on earth? (v. 8 – “will he find faith on earth?”) It is a call not only to those in need to cry out and pray to God, but also a exhortation to those in power to use it justly and to care for the vulnerable in society.

White compares Luke’s Jesus to Greek and Roman philosophers (White, 340). In this way, social justices stories may have been somewhat familiar to a first-century audience who may have heard similar Cynic criticisms of wealth and improper treatment of the poor. If so, Jesus would resonate as one morally elite, a worthy leader who has wisdom, compassion and authority. This depiction of Jesus would likely be very positive to the mostly Gentile community that Luke was writing to, regardless of their particular social-economic status. For those who identified with the lower strata of society, this Jesus would be attractive as a champion of their plight. For the more educated and wealthy in the community, this Jesus would be appealing as a moral philosopher. While his ideas and inclusiveness may have been challenging or even offensive to some leaders of more established religion (such as the Jewish Pharisees), Luke is trying to build a new group that is set apart from religious elitism and portrays Jesus as both hospitable host and social reformer.