inferences, knowing that these would be corrected by the discipline of experience. He souglit especially to preserve the individuality of His disciples, and to unfold the characteristic endow- ments of each. None of them was to be other than himself. No one was to be a model for tlie rest. He knew each so well that He could play on him as on an instrument, but this knowledge He used only to promote the welfare of the disciple. The manifestation of personal cliaracter, the per- sonal discernment of truth, the exhibition of personal sympathy, appreciation, reverence, devo- tion, love, filled Him with delight.
The Gospels show on every page that our Lord encouraged the disciples to ask Him questions. Whatever. difficulties presented themselves to their minds they were free to place before Him. This they did so constantly that the habit must have been created by our Lord. How large a portion of the Gospels is occupied with the questions and remarks of the Apostles ! It is to these questions that we are indebted for tlie explanation of the parable of the Sower (Mk 4"). The same is true of His teaching regarding defilement (Mt 15'^). How much we owe to Peter's questions—' How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him ? ' (Mt 18-M ; ' What shall we have therefore ? ' (Mt 19"). But perhaps the finest illustration of the relations of our Lord and the Apostles in this connexion is the intercourse on the night of the betrayal. No passage in the Gospels is so in- structive as to the readiness of the disciples to break in by questions on what our Lord was say- ing, and the skill with which He availed Himself of these questions to open to them His deepest thoughts and purposes (.Jn 13^"^).
The resources of human spiicch li:ivc lif.'ii strained to tlie utmost to describe the ^rinr ;in.l [uiwer of the language of Jesus, and yut llir n.-uli is felt to be inadequate. Did the Aiiuslles lucu-uize the originality, the strength, the flexibility, the charm, tlie aptness, the simplicity, the depth of the words of Jesus? We cannot tell ; it may have been that their apprehension of the beauty and majesty of His language was much less than ours, but even they must have felt a strange thrill as they heard the most sublime of all truths clothed in terms which they were in the habit of using every day of their lives. It was a new experience to have religion speak the tongue of the home, the work- shop, and the street. Then, too, the illustrations which He used ! The whole life of the ordinary man was laid under tribute to illustrate the King- dom of God. The furniture of his home, his food, his clothing, his work, his intercourse with liis fellows were made the symbol and the vesture of heavenly truths. Earth shone in the light of heaven. One form of speech is specially identified with the teaching of Jesus— the parable. The parable may be regarded as the creation of Jesus. The parables of the OT, and those found in Jewish writings, hardly deserve mention in this respect. Nor did Jesus teach in parables because the lan- guage of parable is the language of the East. He devised the parable to meet the requirements of His hearers. The parable is His own workman- ship, the product of His mind and heart. The parables of Jesus are unique alike in literature and religion, and are as distinctive of Him as the miracles.
An ordinary reader of the Gospels is apt to suppose tliat the ministry of Jesus, from its beginning;,' to its close, was distin- guished by the use of parables. But this oiiiniun No parables marked the openinnr of the iiiiiiistry. of the parable is noticed at length. To the tiuest finally adopted the parable most men would reply- intersst, to stimulate, to find the readiest and nios to the mind for truth and duty. But when the Oi
APOSTLES
APOSTLES
taught in parables, not to reveal but to conceal__^th_e_ truth not to instruct but to condemn men (Mk always been a Btumbling-block '
These words interpreters. Perhaps their true significance may never be ascertained ; but the view whkh rejecte them as the correct desoript.on of the parables as r whole is justified, because they are at vananoe ^7* the Gospels Jtemselves. The 'most cursory exammat.on of the parables shows that many of them are messages of grace J^^" ?«„ „ to discern that the heart of God is represented m the Pfable of the Prodigal Son as the heart of a Father? Is this truth meant tn pvtinmiish hone' Again, an examination reveals that many o? the p'arable'^rere splken to the disciples theniselves Was this the penalty of their blindness "nd hardness of heart? Accordinoly, the common view of the parable is the true view, and nur Lord suoke in parables to render his teaching as simple v^vld, stinmfati^S! and'^.tlective as possible. See Parables, and Illustrations.
The extent to which the parables wer? addressed to the Twelve has scarcely received adequate recog- nition. Indeed the parables are seldom spoken of in connexion with the education of the iwelve. Yet one-third of them were, to all appearance, directed to the Apostles exclusively. These cover the period from the time when our Lord farst began to speak in parables till His death The ten parables belonging to this class, following the order first of St. Matthew and then of St. Luke, are : the Hidden Treasure, the Pearl, the Drag-net, the Unmerciful Servant, the Labourers in the Vine- yard, the Ten Virgins, the Talents, the Friend at Midnight, the Unprofitable Servant, the Unmst Judfe A slight acquaintance with these parables shows that the lessons they teach were those our Lord was most anxious that His disciples should learn. The measureless value of the kingdom of God, the certainty of a final severance between the evil and the good, the necessity of a forgiving dis- position, the nature and conditions of the future recompense, the obligation of watchfulness, the reward of perseverance in prayer, the truth that no men have claims of merit on God, are the sub- iects with which these parables deal, and these subiects were constantly in the heart and on the lips of our Lord. A flood of light was thrown on all these topics by the parables. The truth was now clearer, more comprehensible, more atlecting, more subduing. . ,