ions in this
Gospel we may notice two sayings which are found in Matt. and Mark, and
which seem to us to have been peculiarly appropriate for St. Luke's
general purpose. The first is the saying of Christ that He had come
"not to be ministered unto, {74} but to minister, and to give His life
a ransom for many" (Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45). The second is the
statement that the Gospel "shall be preached in the whole world" (Matt.
xxvi. 13; Mark xiv. 9). With the omission of these sayings we may
compare the omission of any record of the visit of the Gentile wise men
to the cradle of the infant Saviour of the world--an incident which
would probably have appealed most strongly to the heart of St. Luke, if
he had known it. Its absence from this Gospel is one of the many
proofs that St. Luke was not familiar with the Gospel according to St.
Matthew.

We have already noticed that much of the freshness of this Gospel is
due to its being in a peculiar sense the Gospel of praise and
thanksgiving. It is also peculiarly the Gospel of _prayer_. All the
three Synoptists record that Christ prayed in Gethsemane. But on seven
occasions St. Luke is alone in recording prayers which Jesus offered at
the crises of His life: at His baptism (iii. 21); before His first
conflict with the Pharisees and scribes (v. 16); before choosing the
Twelve (vi. 12); before the first prediction of His Passion (ix. 18);
at the Transfiguration (ix. 29); before teaching the Lord's Prayer (xi.
1); and on the Cross (xxiii. 34, 46). St. Luke mentions His insistence
on the duty of prayer in two parables which no other evangelist has
recorded (xi. 5-13; xviii. 1-8). He alone relates the declaration of
Jesus that He had made supplication for Peter, and His charge to the
Twelve, "Pray that ye enter not into temptation" (xxii. 32, 40).

As the Gospel according to St. Luke is more rich in parables than any
other Gospel, we may conclude by giving a few words of explanation
concerning our Lord's parables. The word "parable" means a
"comparison," or, more strictly, "a placing of one thing beside another
with a view to comparing them." In the Gospels the word is generally
applied to a particular form of teaching. That is to say, it means a
story about earthly things told in such a manner as to teach a {75}
spiritual truth. The Jews were familiar with parables. There are some
in the Old Testament, the Book of Isaiah containing two (v. 1-6;
xxviii. 24-28). The r