The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 39

heard, and he sees that he has really got hold of it. We have all heard all that is necessary for lire and godliness; it remains that we make it onr own, that it secures a. living root in us and in our life. We must bea,r it in mind, so that all that comes before us may throw new ligM on it and give it further hold on us.-D. Vera. 24-30.-Parable of the tares. In the parable of the taree we see what appearance the kingdom of heaven presents in this world, and are warned against expecting to see now that perfect condition which will in the end be brought about. It has perplexed God's servants in all timee that all in this earth should not be unmingled good. This world is God's; men are his property. .And all that is needful for the production of the fruit dear to God ha.q been done by him; and yet look at the result. Hae he mistaken the capabilities of the field, or does he not care to develop them? The answer is, ".An enemy bath done this." This is enough for us to know. We are not to stop short of this, and pause at men and hate them; but, pitying them, a.re to pass with our indignation and hatred to the enemy. We are not, on the other hand, to go beyond Satan, and think blasphemously of God as the Sower of bad seed ; but, viewing his friendliness, and the cost he spends on this field, and his destruction of our enemy by his Son, are to spend e.11 our hate on Satan. Such being the condition of the field and such the cause, what is to be the conduct of the servants? " Wilt thou that we go and gather them up?" This and that other propagator of falsehood, and per- petrator of evil, would it not be well if their hindrance were taken out of the way? Would not good men come to a quicker and more fruitful maturity were they not continually held down by the scoffing, exasperated by the persecution, and led astray by the example of the ungodly? "Let both grow together until the harvest," is the law of the Master. .Again and again the Church has, in the face of this parable, taken upon her to root up infidtls and heretics. The reasoning bas been short and summary. We are Christ's; these men are Satan's-let us destroy them. This attempt to make the field of the world appear uniform has been one of the most disastrous hindrances to the growth of religion. This measure of the servants has effected a more frightful desolation and barrenness than anything which the existence of the tares could have done. But each of us has something of the persecutor within him, and needs to apply this parable to himself. It does not say that the world is as it ought to be, does not say that there is no distinction, or a very insignificant one, between good and bad men, but tells us we are not to act upon this distinction to the extent of injuring a man. If a man, because he is ungodly, defrauds his neighbour, murders, or robs, he is of course lawfully punished, but not on the score of his ungodliness, but of his breaking human law; not because he has been an unprofitable creature of God's and an offence in the sight of God, but because he is an inju1ious member of a civil community. No punish- ment is to be inflicted by us purely on the ground of a man's spiritual condition, of his not bee.ring fruit in the kingdom of heaven. It is most detrimental to the cause of Christianity when a Christian in his conduct towards an ungodly person seems to be always saying, "I wish you were out of the world; anu. for my part, and as far as I can, you shall be deprived of all its advantages." From the earliest times, however, it has been the all but universal opinion that this parable had reference to eccksie.stical discipline. .And if not meant in its first intention to be applied thus, it is valid for this purpose as well. Within the Church it is often very difficult to know what is wheat and what is not. An opinion whioh is condemned as scandalous or full of danger may turn out to be true and wholesome ; if it be at once pronounced tares and thrown over the hedge, the good fruit it might have borne is thrown away with it. And even where it is clear that evil has sprung up in the Church, it is a further question whether it should be summarily removed. If you leave false doctrine alone, may you not get rid of it sooner than if you fix public attention upon it? No man who had a regard for his field would carry a seeding thistle through every pnrt of it and shake it in every corner. Our Lord gives two reasons for this method of delay. 1. If we endeavour to anticipate the end, we shall injure tho children of the kingdom. You are not to root up the tares, because you will inevitably root up good corn along with them. You cannot mjure one man and one only, and of those who are attached to him can you be sure there are none who are of the kingdom? 2. But tho kingdom of heaven has a Judge and a.o. executive of its own, which will be apparent in the end. An<l.  to TB.E GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTIIE\V, [en. xm. 1-38.