The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 41

regenerate and the unregenerate. The leaven is manifestly useless while it lies by itself. IC our Lord had secluded himself in the household of Bethany, and never eaten wHh publicans and sinners, little of his Spirit could have passed into other men. The closeness of the intimacy, the depth of the love, is the measure of the effect produced. And in a country like ours, where what belonged yesterday to one person is to-day possessed by a thousand, good or evil propagates itself with the speed and certainty of contagion, the more effectually because insensibly. 'l'here is no banishment for the moral leper; no man can be evil for himself alone. This mixing is provided for in various ways-by nature, which sets us in families; by society, which compels contact of various kinds with others. Beyond these are the casual meetings we are unawares thrown into, and the voluntary friendships and associations we form. Of the first we may say, that if we cannot always choose our company we can always choose how we shall conduct ourselves in it; we can make our meeting a means of spreading the Spirit of Christ. The additions to his kingdom must be chiefly from among those who do not at present respond to Christian sentiments. For the regulation of connections which we forrn of our own choice the parable suffices. Can they be leavened, and by us? It is folly to argue that because some one else can go into certain company, or engage in certain pursuits and not be the wor~e for it, that therefore you can do so. But there is a culpable refusal to mix. as well as a too great eagerness to do so. Two very opposite feelings lead to this. (1) One is the Pharisaic contempt for, or hopelessness about, other people. A converted person often seems to forget the hole of the rock whence he was digged-what he was yesterday, and what the unbeliever on whom he scowls may be to-morrow. Or (2) there is the opposite feeling, that our influence can only do har:::n. But this feeling should prompt us not to separate ourselves from the world, but to renew our connection with the leaven. If we fear to touch another lest we com- municate disease, let us first touch him out of whom flows healing for all diseases. 2. But, the mixing being accomplished, how does the process rucceed 1 The parable says-Be leaven, and you will leaven. Be a Christian, and you must make Christians or help to make them. No doubt direct address forms one great part of the means of leavening those around you, but the figure here points rather to the all-pervading and subtle extension of Christian principles than to their declared and aggressive advocacy. What is the influence of your example? If you are not leavening others, it is because you are yourself unleavened. There is no such thing as leaven that does not work. You cannot confine the perfume to the flower, or restrict the light of the sun to its own globe. It is a glorious consummation here spoken of-till "the whole" is leavened. In Christ's kingdom is to be gathered all that has ever served or gladdened humanity. His Spirit is to take possession of all national characteristics and all individual gifts. And all is to be achieved through personal influence. Can you know the earnestness of Christ in this behalf, and lift no finger to help him? Is there nothing you ought to do in leavening some little bit of the great mass ?-D. Vers. 44--46.-Parables of the hid treasure and the pearl of price. These parables depict the two great classes of men who become Christians. Some men are boru mer- chants, others day-labourers; some, i.e., are born with a noble instinct which prompts them to believe that there is infinite joy and satisfaction to be found, and that it shall be theirs; others, again, never look beyond their present attainment, have no specu- lation in them, no broad plan of life nor much idea that any purpose is to be served by it. 'l'his difference, when exhibited in connection with religion, becomes very marked. L The point of the first parable, and its distinction from the other, seems to lie ill this-that while the man was giving a deeper furrow to his field, intent only on his team, his ploughshare suddenly grated upon the chest that contained the treasure. Or he may have been saunteriug through a neighbour's field, when his eyo is attracted by some sign that fixes him for the moment to the spot, because he knows that treasure must be there. Ages before this treasure had been hid; for him it had been prepared without any intention or labour of bis, and now suddenly he lights upon it. Out of poverty he, to his own astonishment, steps into wealth, and his whole life is changed for a time without hope or effort of his owu. So, says our Lord, is the kingdom of heaven. Suddenly, in the midst of other thoughts, a man is brought face to face with  42 THE GOSPEL ACCCRDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [cu. xm. 1-Ci