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Week-day evening addresses, delivered in Manchester
Weekday evening addresses delivered in Manchester Author:Alexander Maclaren Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. THE PRAYING CHRIST. Luke xi. I. As He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray. ... more » TT is noteworthy that we owe our knowledge of the '' prayers of Jesus principally to the Evangelist Luke. There is, indeed, one solemn hour of supplication under the quivering shadows of the olive-trees in Geth- semane which is recorded by Matthew and Mark as well; and though the fourth Gospel passes over that agony of prayer, it gives us, in accordance with its ruling purpose, the great chapter that records His priestly intercession. But in addition to these instances the first Gospel furnishes but one, and the second but two references to the subject. All the others are found in Luke. I need not stay to point out how this fact tallies with the many other characteristics of the third Gospel, which mark it as eminently the story of the Son of Man. The record which traces our Lord's descent to Adam rather than to Abraham; which tells the story of His birth, and gives us all we know of the " child Jesus;" which records His growth in wisdom and stature, and has preserved amultitude of minute points bearing on His true manhood, as well as on the tenderness of His sympathy and the universality of His work; most naturally emphasizes that most precious indication of His humanity—His habitual prayerfulness. The Gospel of the King, which is the first Gospel, or of the Servant, which is the second, or of the Son of God, which is the fourth, had less occasion to dwell on this. Royalty, practical Obedience, Divinity, are their respective themes. Manhood is Luke's, and he is ever pointing us to the kneeling Christ. Consider, then, for a moment how precious the prayers of Jesus are, as bringing Him very near to us in His true manho...« less