Jonah i. 17.

thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas : for as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, and was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be to this generation, and be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.* The men of Nineve Jon. iii. 4, 5. shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

1 Kings x. 1-13.

tions.

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even SO shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

While he yet talked to the people, behold his mother and Christ's rela- his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him, and could not come at him for the press.† Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

* Jesus we know was only parts of three days in the grave; but the expres sion three days and three nights," which our Lord here quotes from Jonah i. 17, was generally and indefinitely used for three days simply. The Queen of the South came from Sheba, a city and province of Arabia, to the south-east of Judea

+ Christ's brethren were James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. born probably of Mary after she became, in the strict sense, Joseph's wife.

SECT. XIV. JESUS TEACHES IN PARABLES.* (MATT. xiii. MARK iv. LUKE Viii.)

SEA OF GALILEE.

the sower.

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him out of every city, so that he entered into a ship and sat in it on the sea, and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there went out a Parable of sower to sow and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and, because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundredfold. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

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

*The teaching in parables, which now begins, marks an onward and important step in our Lord's ministry. It was now apparent to him that the great body of the people had not discernment of his divine character and mission, and he adopts this method of instruction to hide his true meaning from the careless and foolish, while the discovery of it would not be difficult to the earnest and diligent searcher for truth. Sitting on board a small ship close to the shore, that he might avoid the pressure, and better command the hearing and attention of the multitude, he "taught many things by parables."

Isa. vi. 9.

Parable of the wheat and tares.

Parable of the mustard

seed.

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.

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. And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

the leaven.

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

And with many such parables spake Jesus the word unto the multitude, as they were able to bear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them; that it might be fulfilled Ps. lxxviii. 2 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. And when they were alone he expounded all things to his disciples.

SECT. XV. JESUS EXPLAINS THE PARABLES TO HIS

DISCIPLES.

(MATT. xiii. MARK iv. LUKE viii.)

Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house. And when he was alone, they that were about him, with the twelve, asked him, saying,. What might this parable be?* And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. The sower soweth the seed, which is the word of God. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, Satan, the devil, and taketh away the word which was sown in his heart, lest he should believe and be saved. 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 immediately with joy receiveth it, yet hath he no root in himself,

*The interpretation of the parables was furnished at the request of the disciples, and addressed to them alone, as Mark distinctly informs us-hence the arrangement which we have adopted. Besides the interpretations, three other parables are added.

F

Parable

of the hid treasure.

and so endureth but for a time; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, immediately he is offended and falleth away. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the pleasures of this life, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, so that he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into good ground, is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, that in a good and honest heart keepeth it, and bringeth forth fruit with patience, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

And he said unto them, No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light. For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. If any man hath ears to hear let him hear. And he saith unto them, Take heed what ye hear : with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you ; and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath to him shall be given : and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.

And his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which, when a man hath found, he hideth,