But the exact equivalent of ' search ' is ipewdw. It is used twice in Jn. (5^^ 7^"') of ' searching the Scriptures.' It may well be believed that it con- noted more on the lips of Jesus (5^^), who knew how to distinguish the spirit from the letter (Mt V^, Lk 72^ 1026ff-, Jn 683), and to bring forth treasures new as well as old (Mt 13'2, cf. 52"- ^^f. 913 i24ofif.), tlian it did upon the lips of tlie chief priests and Phari- sees (Jn7^2). — With Christ it meant to search the Scriptures with a candid mind and reverent spirit to find the will of the holy Father whose name is Love. But there was a ' veil upon the faces ' of the Jews (2 Co 31'^), because they did not look behind a private or traditional interpretation. The priests, who were mostly Sadducees, ' searched ' for passages tliat would serve a casual purpose (Mk 12'^"^-), and the Pharisees ' searched ' for what would maintain their burdensome traditions (Mk 2''-^\ Lk 13", Jn 92^), or even enable tliem to evade a moi'al issue (Mt 19^).
In Jn 53** ipevvare may be either Imperative (as AV) or Indicative (as RV) [cf. iriareveTe in Jn I41]. The former falls into line with the general tenor of Christ's teaching, that the Jews had only to use the means at their disposal in order to see in Him- self the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets (Mt 5", Lk 16-^' 242^ Jn 1^^). But the Indicative seems in best accord with the immediate context (^because ye think,' '■and these are they,' 'ye will not come to me') (cf. Westcott, in loc).
Literature. — Westcott on John ; Martineau, Hours of Thought, i. 54, 201, ii. 183 f. ; S. A. Tipple, Sunday Mornings at Norwood, p. 161 ff. ; Forrest, Authority of Christ.
A. Norman Rowland. SECOND ADAM.— See Divinity of Christ in vol. i. p. 477''.
* a finger-ring QiaxTuXio!), in which the seal was usually set, is mentioned in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 1522).
SECOND COxMING
SEEING
595
SECOND COMING. — This is the designation coininonly given to the final return of Jesiis in glory at the end of the ages, to perfect His King- dom. The term does not occur in the Gospels, but it has long been adopted in general usage to signify the supreme crisis of the Parousia, the most momentous and decisive of the various future comings which Jesus foreshadowed when He spoke of His death at the hands of men, and the mani- festations of His triumphant life and power that would follow it. The subject is dealt with under Coming again, and more fully, with a note on the Literature, under Parousia.
G. M'Hardy.
SEED. — Excluding the use of this term as equivalent to progeny, offspring, or race (cf. e.ff. Mk 12'9-2^ Lk P5, Jn 7^^), we find it exclusively employed in the parables of Jesus as an apt symbol for Divine influence, or for the expansion of the moral and religious life in communities or indi- viduals.
1. In Mk i^^-^, a parable peculiar to Mark, Jesus uses the process of sowing and the subsequent conduct of the farmer to illustrate the certain success of His Kingdom upon earth. What He preached about seemed perhaps to the disciples, as well as to outsiders, as weak as a grain of seed flung upon a field. Yet neither is an isolated or foreign thing in the world. On the side of the gospel were certain mysterious powers which would ensure it success, apart from human aid or inter- ference. All it required was time. The order of things was a ripening order, and at the proper moment these favourable conditions Avould bring about the fruit and result of what at present seemed a very precarious and unpromising move- ment among men. Sucli is the general point of the parable. The seed's vital energy and its appointed correspondence with the powers of nature sym- bolize features in the gospel which enable Jesus to aw.ait the future with quiet confidence and an easy mind. Neither is just what it seems to the outward eye. Each sets in action a slow but sure process of growth, upon which the sensible person Avill count. ' P'ruit grows thus,' said Epictetus ; 'the seed nmst be buried for some time, hidden, and then grow .slowly if it is to reach perfection.' It is by an extension, or rather a special application, of this usage that the self-sacrifice of man is compared to the burying of the seed in the furrow ( Jn 12-^"-"), with special reference to the death of Jesus Him- self. The ultimate efiects of such self-immolation depend on the thoroughness of the process itself.
The Kingdom is also comjmred to seed in the parable of the Mustard Seed (Mk 4''o-32=:Mt IS^i-^a =:Lk 1318- 18). A small thing to begin with, it ultimately surpasses all other movements which make a greater show at first to the untrained eye. Here the Kingdom is conceived of, not eschatologi- cally, but historically. When it is likened to 'seed,' tlie thought is mainly of the immense possi- bilities of growth in it, as compared with its initial size, the correspondence between it and tlie soul of man, and the pledge, which it contains, of some final and splendid issue.