The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 16

from the cares and conflicts of lm to holy meditation, and to find rest for our troubled ~oul in communion with God. 2. The audience. Multitudes followed him excited ~robably by the startling events of the day. They longed to bear again the great l'encher who hnd held his ground against those famous rabbis and had convicted them nf hypocrisy and envy end falsehood. Many, doubtless, ca:Ue from curiosity, some from better reasons. The Lord would lose no opportunity of saving:- souls. Wearied· as he must have been, he went into a boat and sat down to preach to them, the whole multitude standing on the beach of fine white sand that borders the lake. 3, His- mode of teaching. He spnke in parables; now, it seems, for the first time, The parable was a bright, lively way of presenting truth, best suited for the dull understanding of the listeners. It would excite their interest; it would rivet their attention; it would stimulate them to think. The parables of Christ have sunk deep into the very heari of the Church. Perhaps they have been especially blessed to the simple and the unlearned; but they have been a !1ch store of spiritual ~ching for all Christian people, the most edm~ated ~ w_ell as the ignorant; they have given us many precious sayings, current now m daily hfe; they have coloured our language. Another advantage in the use of parables at that time was that the parable would give the Lord's enemies no 01,portunity for their malicions accusations. They might perceive (as in eh. xxi. 45) that he spake of them, or with reference to their doctrine; but they could find no ground for a charge of heresy. We shall meet with another reason for the introduction of this mode of teaching in vers. 13-15. II. THE STORY. 1. The call for attention. "Behold," the Lord said; in St. Mark there is the further preface, "Hearken." It is the Lord who speaks. We must listen~ we must give him the attention which be claims. His words are simple, but: they are full of spiritual instruction. Meditate on them; pray over them. They will throw a light on the dark mysteries of human life; they will guide us on our way to God. 2. The incidents. They were taken from the commonest details of daily life. The Lord's bearers might see them any day at sowing-time. Perhaps they were to be seen at that very moment. It may well be that the Lord, sitting on the raised prow of the boat. could see thfl corn-la.nd descending, as we are told it does, to the water's edge. He rnw, it may be, the sower as be went forth to sow. He could see the bard-trodden pathway running through the midst, with no fence to prevent the seed from falling on it. He could see the countless birds hovering over the rich Plain of Gennesaret. He could see the rocky ground of the hillside protruding here and there through the corn- field. He could see the large bushes of thorns springing up, as they do now, in the midst of the wheat. "He could see the good rich soil, which distinguishes the whole of that plain and its neighbourhood from the bare bills elsewhere descending into the lake, and which. where there is no interruption, produces one vast mass of corn" (Stanley, 'Sinai and Palestine,' pp. 426, 427). And be saw in these common sights a happy illustration of the varied effects of that Word of everlasting life which be came to preach. Happy are those who see in earthly things the shadows of heavenly realities, who walk by faith, not by sight. 3. The enforcement. "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." The Lord had bespoken attention at the beginning; he enforces that requirement again. He had shadowed forth solemn truths in those simple words; he would have men ponder them in their hearts. But not all would do so, be knew. All bad listened with the outward ear; but to many it was simply a story, a story and nothing more. They would not penetrate into its real meaning ; they bad not ears to hear. But "who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Let him whose heart God hath 0pened weigh well these holy words, for they relate to the most momentous issues in our earthly life. III. TBE CONVERSATION WITH THE DISCIPLES. 1. Their question. It wa3 the first time it seems that the Lord bad taught by parables. His disciples were struck by the ~bange U: his mode of teaching. W~en the multitude had departed and th~y were alone (Mark iv. 10), they asked him, " Why speakeat thou unto them in parables?" Men who are in earnest will be inquirers after truth. 2. The Lord'a answer. (1) His immediate disciples were more advanced in religious knowledge than the multitude; they had had the inestimabl~ advantage_of bis teaching and example. 1t was given unto them to know the mystenes of the krngdom ?f Go~-th?s~ Hecrets w1,'.,b are revealed to faith and love. Those secrets are mystenes, unrntelhg1ble awl OH. XIII.1-68.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 17