The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 194

wayside. In the narrative of the seed sown by the wayside, St. Matthew and St. Mark both tell us of the fowls, or winged cre.'\tures, of the heaven devouring it; while St. Luke states in addition the fact that it was trod,Jen down. In the interpretation which our Lord gives of this same portion of the parable, all three agree in informin" us that the Word that was sown in the hearers' hearts is taken away by the devil, or §a.tan, or the wicked one, as they severally designate him; while St. Matthew gives us the additional information that this occurs in the case of persons hearing the Word and not understand- ing it, and that he snatcheth it away; and St. Luke subjoins the object for which it is thus taken away, "lest they should believe and be saved." 3. The seed on stony groond, In the narrative of the seed sown on stony ground, or on the rock according to St. Luke, all three tell us that it withered away; but St. Matthew and St. Mark add that, before withering, it was scorched, after the sun bad risen, from want of root, and that owing to lack of soil; while St. Luke states simply that the withering was due to lack o/ moisture. In the explanation, again, all three tell us that those sown on stony ground receive the word with joy, but that they have no root, and that they endure or believe for a while; St. Matthew and St. Mark further state that when "affliction or persecution ariseth because of the Word, immediately they are offended," or stumble; but St. Luke speaks of such a season more generally as a time of trial, and intimates that they then stand aloof, or apostatize altogether. 4. The seed among thorns. In the narrative of that sown among thorns, aU three inform us that the thorns choked it; but St. Luke further informs us that the thorns grew up simvltaneou,sly with it; and St. Mark adds, what in these circumstances might be expected, that it yielded no fruit. In the explana- tion, all three acquaint us with the fact that it is choked aud becomes unfruitful; they trace the unfruitfulness to its being choked ; St. Luke says, by cares and riches and the pleasures of this life, as men go on their way in it; St. Mark uses a more comprehensive expression than the" pleasures of this life," which St. Matthew altogether omits, namely, "the lusts of other things;" while both St. Matthew and St. Mark qualify riches by an expressive term, adding " the deceitfulness of riches." 5. The seed sown on good ground. In the narrative of the seed sown on good ground, we are informed by all three that it bore fruit, but on a graduated scale-a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold, according to St. Matthew; but in reverse order according to St. Mark; while St. Luke merely specifies the maximum at a hundredfold, as if he had in view Gen. xxvi. 12, "Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him." Here again, in the explanation, all three coincide in the matter of fruitfulness. St. Matthew tells that " they understand the Word," St. Mark that " they receive it," St. Luke that "having heard it in an honest and good heart, they keep it, and bring forth fruit with perseverance." 6. A gradation. Thus the seed by the wayside did not even spring up at all; that on the rock did indeed spring up, but withered ; that among thorns sprang up and grew, but being choked yielded no fruit; only that on good ground sprang up, grew, and brought forth fruit to perfection. III. lNTEnPRl!:TATION OF THE SEED. 1. The seed is the Word of God. The seed is lhat Word of which, as has been well said," Truth is the substance, salvation the end, and God the author." The seed is that Scripture all of which "is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." The signature to a will or other document does not. need to be rewritten or repeated from time to time; nor does the seal to such an instrument need to be restamped once nnd again; so with those miracles which were the sign manual of God to the truth of his Word, and the seal affixed to it in attestation of its Divine author- ship. Once wrought, as those miracles were, according to the record of the most authen- tic history in the world-and no facts of history were ever more fully or more clearly testified, or more carefully and critically scrutinized-they remain to the present hour the signature of the Divine Author; and not only that, but his seal to the reality of the Divine origin of Scripture. Thus Heaven has stamped approval on the document. with its own seal and signature; while these proofs, authenticated by the most unex- ceptionable wituesses, remain permanent and powerful as ever, 2. Proof from prophecy. But view s~ripture again in the light of prophecy. The Messianic prophecies, for example, were delivered by different persons, in different places, at differ- ent times, under different circumstances, and oa different occasions ; yet these prophecies, 190 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [oH, IV, 1-41, ------ ------------------------·---- when carefully and correctly put together, portray unmistAkably Jesus of Nazareth ne the Messiah-the Christ of God, Suppose a painting executed in a somewhat similar way-the bead painted in Berlin, the hands in Boston, the arms in Paris, the trunk in St. Petersburg, the legs in Vienna, and the feet in Rome; suppose these different parts all brought to London and placed together, each in its proper position, and that, when thus put together, they present the exact picture of Christ which is seen in the famous" Descent from the Cross" as painted by Rembrandt, or by Rubens, or even by Jouvenet: what con- clusion would we, or should we, come to from such a phenomenon? Would it not be that some great master painter had presided over and prepared the whole, guiding in some way every hand, directing every brush, and inspiring every head so that one of the finest specimens of pictorial art was thus wondrously brought into existence? In like manner, let the Old Testament prophets who foresaw and foretold the sufferings of Christ as well as the glory that should follow-let Moses and Malachi, David and Daniel, Isaiah and Micah, Jeremiah and Zechariah, be brought together round the cross of Calvary, and let their pictures and prophecies meet together there, and they will unite in perfect har- mony, and present the exact picture of him whose hands and whose feet were pierced with nails, who "was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," and on whom "the chastisement of our peace was laid," and in whose riven side was opened that cleansing" fountain for sin and for uncleanness." Though the portions contributed, the prophets themselves, the periods at which they lived, the plans they pursued, the pre- dictions they delivered, were all different, yet one Spirit testified in them, one God inspired them. one unseen but almighty hand superintended them all; and the picture, brought together from so many different quarters and composed of so many different parts, is one. 3. Practwu proof, But let us take a still plainer and more practical test. See yon venerable patriarch whose locks are silvered with years; he resides in a remote hamlet, he dwells in a humble cottage. Observe with what reverence he takes down the ancestral Bible, and with what grace he reads its sacred page at the hour of morning or evening worship. He has never read, perhaps never heard of, any of the great writers on the evidences-Butler, or Paley, or Lardner, or Leslie, or Leland, or Watson ; and yet, if you ask him how he knows that volume, which he reads so duti- fully and devoutly, to be the Word of God, he will at once and unhesitatingly reply that he knows it must be the Word of God, for he has felt its power to be Divine, bringing, as it has done, pardon to his soul, peace to his conscience, light to his feet and a lamp to his path, joy to his heart, and the "sure and certain hope" of eternal life and immortal glory to his never-dying spirit. Wherever we find a man of that stamp, whether he lives in town or country, in city or village; whether he is the peer that owns a castle or the peasant that is only a tenant in a cottage; whether he be a native of merry England, or broad Scotland, or green Ireland, or gay France, or proud Spain, or the German Fatherland, or classic Italy; whatever be his caste, or calling, or country, or clime, that man, having God's truth in his heart, the grace of God in his soul, and the Spirit of God to guide his feet in the path of peace-that man, whoever he is, or in whatever rank he is found, is a living witDTSe that the seed, of which the Saviour speaks in this parable, is the Word of God and the abiding seed of holiness, for "being bom of God he doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, because he is bom of God." 4. The see,d is the Word of the kingdom. The seed is also called, and so explained to be, the Word of the kingdom. The King of the country to which we travel has issued this Word as a Guide-book to every pilgrim who is travelling to the kingdom of glory. It is the Law of him who is anointed to be a King for ever- who is enthroned as King upon the holy hill of Zion, yea, who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. It is the Word of that kingdom which at its first beginnings is as a little stone hewn out of the mountain without _hands, but whi,ch ifterwards becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. It 1B the Law of that King whose kingdom is to be without bounds, and whose reign is to be without end. Of his kingdom it is the Statute-book. From that kin~dom it comes and. to that kingdom it conducts, translating the sinner out of the kmgdom of darkness mto the kingdom of light, out of the kingdom of sin into the kingdom of grace, out of the kin~- dom of Satan into the kingdom of God. And no sooner has any traveller set his face and turned his feet from the City of Destruction towards the city of the great King, than, like Bunya.n's pilgrim he i.e observed with this Book in bis hand, and at 1111. rr. 1-41.] THE GOSPEL ACOORDING TO ST. MARK. 191