The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 339

on whom life can be eafely built, and yet they try to pase on in life as if hii were nnt there, While they do eo they are held back, distracted; their life is a mere make- believe Or habitual falseness of spirit is produced, it may be unconsciously to them- selves. But the frost that has only lasted a few minutes is as surely frost as when it bas formed a strength of surface the hammer cannot break. Each refusal to determine regarding Christ leaves the conscience a little blunter. It is thus men are bruised on this Stone of stumbling. (2) The second action of the Stone is final. Those whr, determinedly oppose Christ lie at once slain and buried by what should have bee11 their joy. Their dwelling and refuge become their tomb. Things are to move on eternally in fulfilment of the will of Christ, To oppose his course, to attempt to work out an eternal success apart from him, is as idle as to etand on the path of an avalanche of stone in order to stem it. Acceptance or rejection of Christ is the determining element in human destiny, Without him we can make nothing or worse than nothin;,; of life. "Better," will a man say-" better that a millstone had been hanged about my neck, and that I had been cast into the sea, than that I should have lived to reject him." Think of it more, go closer to him, keep yourself in the light of his words and life, and you will see that it is so, and must be so, that he is the Hand of God stretched out to us, the Word of God spoken to us out of the silence.-D. Ver. 45-ch. xxii. 14.-17ie marriage of the King's Son. This parable, taken along with the parable of the two sons and the parable of the wicked husbandmen, forms a climax to them. In the first, God ie represented as a Father issuing a command; in the second, as a Householder who expects the performance of a contract; in the thir,1 parable, God appears as a King, not commanding, but louking for acceptance of an enviable invitation. Already the kingdom of God had been likened to a feast, but here prominence is given to the circumstance of the host being a King, and the occasion the marriage of his son, and it is impossible to avoid the impression that our Lord meant to indicate that he was the King's Son. He and John had both familiarized the people with the title Bridegroom as applied to the Messiah. But it is rather from God's side than from man's the Bridegroom is here viewed. In Christ God and man are m,~de one. No union can be so close. And in this, the greatest event in God's reign, and the indestructible glory of humanity, God might well expect that men should rejoice with him. Proclamation had been made, invitation given, and people remained wholly indifferent. The earnest sincerity of God in seeking our good in this matter is marked by one or two unmistakable traits. 1. By the King's willing observance of every form of courtesy. One of these is the sending of a second messenger to announce the actual readiness of the feast. And so God had not only sent the prophets, bidding the Jews expect this festival, but sent John to remind and bring them. And so he still offers his blessings in ways which leave the reluctant without apology._ He considers your needs and your feelings, and what he offers is that in whlch he has his own chief joy-fellowship with hie Son. 2. lly his wrath against the murderers. You may be so little in earnest about God's invitation that you scarcely seriously consider whether it is to be accepted or not, but nothing can so occupy him as to turn his observation from you. • To save sinners from destruction is his grand purpose, and no ~uccess in other parts of his government can repay him for failure here. The last scene in the parable forms an appendix directed to a special section in the audience. Seeing the gates of the kingdom thrown open, and absolute, unconditioned freedom of entrance given, the ill living and godless might be led to overlook the great moral change requisite in all who enter God's presence and propose to hold intercourse with him. The refusal of the wedding dress provided wns not only studied contempt an(. insult, but showed alienation of spirit, disaffection, want of sympathy with the feelings of the king. The guest must have lacked the festive spirit, and was therefore" a spot in the feast." He sits there out of harmony with the spirit of the occasion, and dis- loyal to bis king. Therefore is his punishment swift and sudden. 'l'he eye of the king marks the intruder, and neither the outer darkness of an Eastern street, nor the pitchy blackness in which he lies unseen and helpless, can hide him from that gaze of his Lord which he feels to be imprinted on his conscience for ever. In applying this parnhle, we may mark: (1) 'I hat there is no way of accepting God's invitation without accepting his spirit, character, and ways. There is no real acceptance, no abiding in  844 THE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [011. nr.1-48.