LT.-COL, G. MACKINLAY^ ON THE EMPHASIS OF ST. LUKE. 255 



as it was to find those in the Acts, which emphasized the com- 

 missioning and the obedience of Peter and Paul. In the Gospel 

 triplication, it is not stated that the story is retold, and 

 comparatively few of the same events and discourses are repeated 

 in such component. 



One event, however, the start for the last journey — (ix, 51) in 

 Luke (A), (xiii, 22) in Luke (B), and xvii, 11 in Luke (C) — is 

 clearly told in each of the three Lukan narratives. Now a 

 journey has a destination and an object ; in this case the destina- 

 tion was Jerusalem, and the object was the Death of our Lord 

 there (ix, 31 ; xviii, 31-33) ; consequently, the prominence given 

 to the account of this journey is most appropriate, because it 

 conducts to the climax of the Gospel. 



In the Acts we noticed that the triplications, emphasizing the 

 commissioning of Peter and Paul for their Work of evani^elization, 

 are supported by the minor ones of the sheet let down three 

 times, and of the three days of blindness respectively ; while the 

 Work of St. Paul is further emphasized by several other threefold 

 iterations. 



It is natural, therefore, to expect that we may find triplications 

 in the Gospel of Luke, supporting the long, thrice-repeated 

 narrative, which emphasizes the Atoning Death of our Lord. 

 This expectation is abundantly realized: Luke (A) contains a 

 striking special triplication (No. 6) pointing to our Lord's 

 Death, and especially to His Resurrection ; it also points to God 

 the Father's very great love for Him. In it loved " only " ones 

 are raised up by Christ : the first, the only son of a widow ; the 

 second, an only daughter, these both from death ; and the third, 

 an only child, from a living death. A gradation is here apparent : 

 with an only son taken, there might be daughters left ; with an 

 only daughter dead, there might be sons alive ; with an only child 

 practically dead, there might be the hope of another being 

 born. This leads us to think of a further step, of the beloved 

 only-begotten S(m of God, Who could never be replaced, but Who 

 was nevertheless given by God the Father to die for our sins. 

 Our conclusion, that this triplication refers to our Lord, is 

 strengthened by the fact that the Greek word for only son, 

 daughter, and child in each of these three components is 

 /jLovoyevr)^;, a word which is only applied elsewhere in the 

 New Testament to our Lord (John i, 14, 18 ; iii, 16, 18 ; 

 I John iv, 9), or to Isaac, who was a type of Christ 

 (Hebrews xi, 17). 



Luke (A), Luke (B), and Luke (C) resemble each other because 

 each contains a similar triplication of prophecies by our Lord of 



