This week's Gospel text begins with one of Luke's periodic signposts, set up to remind the reader that this episode is still a part of the travel narrative in Luke's great center section. Stretching from 9:51 to 18:14, this crazy-quilt of stories, parables and incidents stands apart from the rest of Luke's tightly woven, thematically skeined text.

Under the thin guise of a journey motif, Luke stockpiles a series of texts that could easily stand independently. Verse 22, then, serves as another Lukan reminder to readers that this journey is still underway, with Jesus going "through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem." In fact, this pericope begins the second stage of this travelogue section, extending from 13:22-17:10. Scholars have recognized that t…