The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 38

l. "Sor,ra SEEDS FELL BY THE WAYSIDE, AND THE FOWLS OAHE AND DEVOORl!:D THEM." The spiritual analogue is said to be in him" who heareth the Word, but undel'Standeth it ,iot." The beaten footpath and the cart-track have their uses, but they grow no corn. ri:he seed may be of the best quality, but for all purposes of sowinp; you might 11s well. epnnkle pebbles or shot. So there is a hearing which keeps the Word entirely outside. It does not even enter the understanding. H rouses no inquiry, provokes no contradiction. You have occasion sometimes to mention a fact to a friend which should alter all his purpose, but you find he has not taken it in. So, says our Lord, there are bearers who do not take in what is ssid; their understanding is impervious impenetrable. 'I'hey hear because this bas come to be one of the many employmen~ with which they fill up their time, but they have never considered why they 'should do so, or what result they should look for. Or there may be a slowness and cold frosti- ness of nature which prevents the seed from fructifying. The proposals made suggest nothing to the wayside hearer. In some cases the seed apparently lost for years is quickened and brings forth fruit, but in this case never. IL THE SEC01'"D FAULT IS SHALLOWNESS. The sprinkling of soil on the surface of the rock, where the seed quickly springs, and for the same reason quickly decays. There is not depth of soil for any time to be spent in rooting. The shallow hearer is dis- tinguished by two characteristics-he straightway receives the Word, and he receives it with joy. The man of deeper character receives it with seriousness, reverence, trem- bling, foreseeing the trials he will be subjected to. But while these are pondering the vastness of the revelation and the majesty of the hope, and striving to forecast all the results in and upon them, hesitating because they would receive the Word for eternity or not at all, the superficial man has settled the whole matter ont of hand, and he who yesterday was known as a scoffer is to-day a loud-voiced child of the kingdom. These men are almost certainly taken to be the most earnest; yon cannot see the root, and what is seen is showu in greatest luxuriance by them. But the same nature which made them susceptible to the gospel and quickly responsive makes them susc·eptible to pain, suffering, hardship, and easily defeated. When consequences have to be faced they give way. The question of how these shallow natures can be ssved hardly falls within the parable, but it may be right to say a man's nature may be deepened by the relationships and conflicts of life. Much deepening of character is effected in passing through life. IIL THE THIIlD FAULT IS WHAT IS TECiil,"ICALLY KNOWN AS DIRT, The soil can only support a certain amount of vegetation, and every living weed means a choked blade of corn. This is a picture of the preoccupied heart, the rich vigorous nature occupied with so many other interests that only a small part is available for giving effect to Christ's ideas. Their interest is real, but there are so many other cares and desires that the result is scarcely discernible. The good crop is not the one with the greatest density of vegetation, but where all is wheat. Most soils have a kind of weed con- genial, and the weeds here specified are "the care· of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches," the former being merely the poor man's species of the latter. Among rich and poor alike you will find many who would be left without any subject of thought and any guiding principle in action, if you took from them anxiety about their own position in life. It is not enough to put aside distracting thoughts. Cutting down the thorns won't do; still less holding them aside till the seed be sown. It is vain to hope for the only right harvest of a human life if your heart is sown with worldly ambitions, a greedy basting to be rich, an undue love of comfort, a true earthliness of spirit. One seed only must be sown in yon, and it will produce all needed diligence in business as well as all fervour of spirit. There is one important distinction between material and moral sowing. Man -is possessed of free-will, the power of checking to some extent natural consequences, 'fherefore the gospel is to be preached to every creature, and we may be expected to bring to t;he hearing ofit ueft, deep, clean soil of heart-what Luke calls "an honest and good heart." There will be dilfrrences of crop even among those who bring good hearts, but wherever the Word is held fast and patiently cared for, there the life will produce all that God cares to have from it. But even the honest heart is not enough unless we keep the Word. '!'he sower must be at pains to cover in the seed and ,oatck that it be not taken away. So the hearer loses his labour unless his mind goes back on what he ha1 orr. xm. 1-68.] THE GOSPEL .ACCORDING TO BT, MATTIIEW. 39