Westcott  admits  that  its  position  in  Luke's  digression  has
been  determined  by  editorial  motive.  He  classifies  the  whole
section  Luke  xiii.  10-xiv.  24  under  the  heading  '  Lessons  of
Progress,'  and  he  believes  that  the  daughter  of  -Abraham  re-
presents the  Church,  which  after  being  set  free  grows  both
outwardly  and  inwardly  (Luke  xiii.  18-21). '  That  the  ar-
rangement is  due  to  the  evangelist's  aim  of  ministering
to  the  edification  of  his  readers  can  scarcely  be  doubted
by  any  student  of  the  gospels.  The  woman  may  not  be
intended  to  represent  the  Church ;  but  the  ruler  of  the
synagogue  and  the  other  adversaries  of  Jesus  undoubtedly
resemble  unfruitful  fig  trees  which  are  spared  instead  of  being
cut  down,  and  the  daughter  of  Abraham,  on  the  other  hand,
notwithstanding  her  long  physical  infirmity,  is  not  considered
to  be  a  sinner  (Luke  xiii.  1-5).  The  connection  with  the
earlier  context  is,  therefore,  quite  as  clear  as  with  the  later ;
and  this  connection  is  editorial,  for  events  do  not  happen  with
a  view  to  the  edification  of  believers.  So  far  the  argument  is
unassailable,  but  how  can  we  advance  to  the  conclusion  sug-
gested ?  I  beg  the  reader  to  notice  (1)  that  the  narrative  is
followed  in  the  third  gospel  by  the  parables  of  the  Mustard
Seed  and  Leaven  (Luke  xiii.  18-21),  which  according  to  the
testimony  of  Matthew  were  delivered  at  the  Sea  of  Galilee
(Matt.  xiii.  31-33,  cf.  Mark  iv.  30-32)  ;  (2)  that  Luke's
account  of  the  tour  through  the  cities  and  villages  is  followed
by  the  parable  of  the  Sower  (Luke  viii.  1-3) ;  (3)  that  Mark,
in  the  section  which  has  already  been  recognised  as  a  collec-
tion of  incidents  made  to  serve  a  purpose,  introduces  a  narra-
tive of  the  healing  of  the  palsy  after  the  story  of  the  leper  and
before  a  visit  to  the  seaside  (Mark  ii.  1-12) ;  (4)  that  in  the
fourth  gospel  Christ's  visit  to  Jerusalem  is  followed  by  a
similar  narrative  (John  v.  1-18),  and  that  this  again  is  fol-
lowed by  a  journey  to  the  sea  (John  vi.  1).     The  objection

'  Introduction  to  the  Stndij  of  the  GospeU,  p  .  393-395.
