"Stony places," protruding rock, covered with a slight sprinkling of earth.

66

Thorns,"

the Nabk, or Zizyphus Spina Christi, of whose branches the " crown of thorns" was made. The plant is a thick bush, with round pliant branches, ivy-like, glossy, deep green leaves, and bristling with small, sharp spines.

Christ informs the Disciples why He teaches in Parables.

(AT THE SEA OF GALILEE, AFTER THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.)

(c. xiii. 10-17.)

"And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables ?

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive for this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."

Mysteries"

= secrets.

"The mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven,"-revelations concerning the Gospel Dispensation.

"Whosoever hath," &c.,-i.e., Whoever has a desire to at

tend to and receive the Gospel shall be fully informed of its doctrines, and enriched with its treasures; while those who care not for it shall be deprived of the slightest means of salvation. It was so with the Jews. They rejected the Truth, and boasted of possessing their Temple and sacrifices now the latter, "that which they had," are taken away.

"They seeing see not; and hearing they hear not,”—i.e., "They overlook what they see, and are inattentive to what they hear."

"The prophecy of Esaias.”— Is. vi. 9, 10,

"And He said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."

This was the message sent by God, through Isaiah, to the Jews, when He appeared to the prophet in glorious vision, in the days of "King Uzziah." This sentence upon the people primarily refers to them until the Captivity, as the succeeding verses, (11, 12, 13,) shew:

"Then said I, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof."

It points secondarily to the spiritual bondage in which the Jews should be until their conversion, and restoration to the Promised Land.

The prophecy was fulfilled in their treatment of Christ. They heard the sound of His voice; but did not understand His words spiritually; they saw His miracles, but could not perceive in them proofs of His Messiahship.

"This people's heart is waxed gross." The ancients believed that a large quantity of fat about the heart stupified the mental and moral powers.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

(AT THE SEA OF GALILEE.)

(c. xiii. 24-30.)

"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up ? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

This Parable is peculiar to Matthew.

"Tares."-The Ziwan of the Arabs, and Lolium temulentum of botanists. It closely resembles the wheat until in ear, which it presents large and coarse and containing very few grains. It possesses deleterious properties, producing vertigo, delirium, and all the symptoms of narcotic poison.

"Let both grow together until the harvest."-This is actually done in the case of the wheat and the Ziwan, women and children being employed to pick out the noxious stalks from the wheat. It would be vain to attempt to distinguish the two before they are in ear, and any previous effort to separate them would result in quantities of the wheat being rooted up in mistake.

So, in the world, good and bad are so intimately mixed, that the punishment of the guilty in the present state would bring suffering upon the innocent. Therefore the separation is delayed till the end of the world.

The Parables of the Grain of Mustard Seed and the Leaven, and Matthew's Comment upon Christ's Parabolic Teaching.

(AT THE SEA OF GALILEE.)

(c. xiii. 31-35.)

"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Another parable spake he unto them: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."

"Mustard seed,"-the Salvadora Persica, a large branchy shrub, its fruit grows in clusters like currants, and is used as a condiment.

Meaning of the Parable.-The insignificant commencement of the Gospel, and its marvellous increase, especially amongst the Gentiles. It also illustrates the feeble beginning, and final full development, of Divine grace in the heart.

=

"Three measures."-The measure here meant is ephah about 1 pecks English.

Meaning of the Parable of the Leaven.-The gradual, but sure, spread of the Gospel over the whole world. It also illustrates the sanctifying process going on in the believer's soul.

"The prophet."-The writer of Psalm lxxviii., in which, (v. 2), the passage is found, "I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old."

The Psalm is one describing God's dealings with Israel. The passage quoted is not really prophetic of Christ's teaching in parables, and, therefore, Matthew by saying "That it might be fulfilled" merely indicates the fitness of its application to Christ's case.

Christ dismisses the Multitude, and retires
into the House.

(AT CAPERNAUM.)

(c. xiii., part of 36.)

"Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house."

We learn from Mark that, after the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Christ delivered another, of The Seed Growing Imperceptibly but Surely, and when He was alone the disciples asked Him to interpret the Parable of the Sower. This, then, is the proper place for that discourse.

Christ interprets the Parable of the Sower. (AT CAPERNAUM,-IN THE HOUSE.)

(c. xiii. 18-23.)

"Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."