as in portion A, to the Twelve and to them alone, as in portion B, there is a slight basis for junction of the two sayings in that each deals with judicial procedure. But the element of judicial activity in the Matthaean portion A seems to be an accretion to the original saying of Jesus as recorded in portion A of document P$54B. Shall it be said that the portion B is an additional and still later development due to the same tendency? Is it an expression of the tendency of "the church" to assume the right to pass final judgments upon the conduct of men, especially concerning the movements of the religious life?

It is difficult to find any relation between the sayings in the portions C and D and those that precede them in A, B, or a definite connection in thought between that in portion C and that in portion D. Certainly no sayings of Jesus exceed in scope of promise those in C, D. It seems necessary to raise the question whether the sense of community life involved in "if two of you shall agree" ought to be considered as a development from experience, and the saying in portion C treated as a modification of some such original as is attested by document MK 11:24, "All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them." If one may draw an inference from the results of tendency which are ascertainable where parallels are present, one would conclude from the comparison of gospel LK 21:14, 15 with document MK 13:11 that the assignment of post-ascension activity to Jesus, as is done in portion D above, is the outcome of the actual spiritual experiences of the early community, rather than the promise of Jesus himself to his disciples beforehand.

Apparently it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that what was begun in document MK 9:33-50, namely, the making of that section of the document the depository for several distinct sayings added to document MK subsequent to the time that the exemplar used by Luke was produced,' was carried forward yet farther in the parallel portion of gospel MT after the time when Matthew had produced the eighteenth chapter of his gospel from document MK in combination with portions of document P and the parable from document M §20. From an examination of all the evidence in Matthew's eighteenth I See pp. 67-78.

chapter, it seems necessary to hold, (1) that, of the exhibit on pp. 69 and 70, Matthew derived from his document MK, after the manner previously outlined,' the portions A-M except L; (2) that, having added the portion L from document P§54A, he continued with P $54B; (3) that to these sayings from P §54 he added the appropriate parable from document M §20, thus closing that section of his gospel; (4) that the parable in portion Q with its introduction in portion P and its application in portion S are from a later hand, not being drawn from document P, but preserved by some other line of tradition; (5) that the modification and enlargement of portions T and V and the insertion of the portion U are the work of some one subsequent to Matthew; (6) that in all these sayings inserted subsequent to the framing of the gospel by Matthew there are most evident marks of the late origin of the thought expressed in them.

There is no reason why the above paragraph should be considered in any study of the teaching of Jesus about the future of the Christian community, except for the fact that in the portion G of the Lukan account there appear the words "this do in remembrance of me." Neither these words nor any other slight suggestion that the institution of an ordinance for the future is intended are recorded by the document MK. However, the whole of the portion G is omitted by Bezae Cantabrigiensis, and by the Old Latin (Itala) manuscripts a, b, e, ff2, i, l. Naturally it is treated, therefore, by Westcott-Hort as one of "a few very early interpolations in the gospels." It has apparently been derived by some later editor from I Cor. 11:236-25. That portion of the letter of Paul is traceable, in turn, to some such report as that in the above portions B, C, D of document MK. It is notable and significant that the only words in the Pauline paragraph which cannot be derived from the Markan portions B, C, D are "which is for you: this do in remembrance of me" and "this do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me," that is to say, the words quoted in Paul by which an ordinance is definitely established are absent from both document MK and the document used, if other than document MK, by Luke in the above paragraph. From whence Paul received these additional words we do not know; it suffices for present purposes that it be clearly seen that they are not derivable from the reports of Jesus' words as these are transmitted by document MK and gospels MT and LK.

$5. PHYSICAL IMMUNITY IN THE MISSION

In that section of the Gospel of Mark which is proved, by MSS evidence, not to be a genuine part of document MK, there are large powers and startling immunities promised to the promoters of the mission:

GOSPEL MK 16:17, 18

And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

These words probably had their origin and vindication in the reputed history of the early days of the new community; in that history it is possible to find incidents in support of substantially all of these "signs." The tremendous outburst of new and vital religious conviction, enthusiasm, and consequent power, which marked the

first movements in the history, manifested itself in activities of an extraordinary nature. The outlook of those who moved in the midst of these striking phenomena did not extend to the distant future of the society, to that slow process of normal growth, by the very customariness of which all the exuberant vitality of new-found truth and conviction would be worn into the commonplace. For them, there was no future for the society different from the present. Thus it was that present experience could fashion itself into expectation for the future; could regard itself as promised in the past; and, as both promise and expectation, could take form as the completion of the document MK which, ending at 16:8, was without a forward look.

But certain of these phenomena had a significance other than that of forwarding the mission. They testified to the victory of the forces of good over those of evil; they were open evidences that in the clash of the two great world-powers, God and Satan, the latter was being cast down; this casting-out of devils, this taking-up of serpents, prophesied the entire overthrow of "the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world." And beyond that overthrow, but to be accomplished only through it, there lay, in the hope of the early community, "the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ."

Apparently out of this world-view and these experiences, it came about that there was attached to a fresh, vivid, suggestive phrase from Jesus, spoken at a moment of high feeling and in a form which lent itself to misunderstanding ("I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven"), a body of ideas similar to those which found expression in the unauthentic conclusion to the Gospel of Mark:

DOCUMENT P 87

And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us in thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.

Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.

The rapid recession of these phenomena, and the consequent imperiling of the validity of the promises of immunity, led later, it may be surmised, to the repudiation of significance in them, and to emphasis upon another, surer possession:

Howbeit in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

I Rev. 12:9, 10.

This accretion also is expressed in that phraseology peculiar to the circle which most strongly cherished the type of world-view fostered by the preceding added saying, that is, the circle in the early community from which there came forth the Book of Revelation. It may be that it is to this later recession of these phenomena that there is to be ascribed the omission by Matthew of document P §7, though he inserts in his gospel both what precedes, P §§2-6, and what follows, P §§8, 9.

Jesus himself, under such circumstances, it may reasonably be assumed, would hardly make a contrast between a phase of the mission's activity ("Behold, I have given you authority," etc.) and an assurance of the future ("Howbeit in this rejoice not," etc.), but, if at all, between this passing phase and the more significant fact of the message delivered and its ultimate effects.

$6. THE EXTENT OF THE MISSION

There have been brought under consideration at one point or another in preceding studies all references in the Synoptic Gospels to the extent of the mission, except one in gospel MT and one in gospel LK, namely,

GOSPEL MT 28:18-20

All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the consummation of the aeon.

GOSPEL LK 24:46, 47

And he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Before entering upon the study of these final passages, there may be summarized the results of the examination of all other sayings on this theme in the Synoptic Gospels. It will be observed that the above sayings belong to the post-resurrection life of Jesus; the following summary deals with those sayings which belong to the period before the death of Jesus.

1. The thought of Jesus.—It seems that Jesus at no time before his death defined with precision the limits of the mission. What his conception was must apparently be deduced mainly from the parables of "the mystery of the kingdom of God." By no one of these parables does Jesus explicitly set the bounds of the mission beyond 1 See Rev. 3:5; 5:1; 12:9, 10.