24 Jody A. Barnard emphatic discourse marker ἰδού (v. 32)81 and the strong adversative πλήν (v. 33)82. Thus, the use of the present tense at this climactic juncture could be explained on the basis of Porter’s hypothesis. It should not be overlooked, however, that the present tense is also employed in the initial situation (v. 31) and that some of these verbs may owe more to a pattern of usage than to an alleged attempt to indicate pro- minence. ∆εῖ, for example, occurs 100 times in the New Testament, all of which are imperfective83 and τῇ ἐχομένῃ (ἡμέρᾳ) seems to be a fixed idiom (cf. Ac 20,15; 21,26)84. Thus, Porter’s proposal may be in danger of exag- gerating the significance of the present tense in these particular instances. Healing on the Sabbath (14,1-6) According to Bultmann the point of this story is the saying of v. 5, for which the scene has been composed85. Apart from his unnecessary dismis- sal of the historicity of this episode86, Bultmann’s analysis is a good one. The miracle itself is “no more than the instance in relation to which the matter in dispute is considered”87. For Luke the climactic juncture would seem to be Jesus’ rhetorical question (v. 5). The presence of οὐκ indicates the anticipation of an affirmative answer and εὐθέως adds intensity to ἀνασπάσει. Thus, when the climactic pronouncement is uttered there is a tense shift, but not from aorists to one of the imperfective or stative aspects, but to the “aspectually vague”88 future tense (cf. 19,40.42-44). It should also be noted that the imperfective aspect is exclusively found in the clauses that set the scene for the climactic pronouncement (vv. 1-3). The leper’s gratitude (17,11-19) Although this pericope displays a mixture of forms (miracle and pronouncement), Bultmann was probably correct to identify vv. 17-18 as the climactic point of the story89. Given Luke’s desire to show that the in-breaking kingdom includes those who were typically considered outsi- ders, it seems natural to consider Jesus’ commendation of the Samaritan as climactic (vv. 17-18). The fact that this commendation takes the form J.P. Louw and E.A. Nida, A Greek-English Lexicon based on Semantic Domains 81 (New York 1989) §§ 91:10, 13. Fitzmyer, Luke, 2:1031. 82 An Accordance search uncovered 84 instances of the present and 16 imperfects. 83 BDAG, 422. 84 Bultmann, History, 12. 85 See Marshall, Luke, 578. 86 Nolland, Luke, 2:746. 87 Porter, Aspect, 409-16. 88 Bultmann, History, 33. 89