ransom." 3. As the Christ he is O'lllT King. (1) He is the King of glory. Sitting on the r!ght hand implies partici,IJatio~ in th~ reg~f. power. But th_e _Lord of ~avid is on the right hand of Jehovah. (2) His rule 1s spmtual. The domrn10n to which David himself is subject implies a heavenly King and a heavenly kingdom. (3) Christ subdues his enemies by the power of love. Those who comply with his terms of salvation he makes victorious over sin, death, and hell. (4) Those who refuse the rule of love will be compelled to feel the rod of iron (see Pa. ex. 6, 6). We may estimate our character by our views of Christ. Some do not think of him at all. Some think too meanly of him, Some think too hardly of him. His true bride will esteem him "the fairest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely."-J. A. M. Ver. 3.-Man's ill-grounded wuful,ness. "And they would not come." There is nothing more to be said about it. They had no reasons. They offered no apologies, and no excuses. They were just wilful, stubborn, stupid; they had taken up with some unreasoning and unreasonable prejudice, and they "would not come." Dods points out that the" object of this parable is still the same (as of the previous parables), to set in a vivid light the guilt of the Jewish leaders in rejecting Christ, and the punishment which in consequence was to fall upon them." Our Lord bad used a similar figure of a feast before, but then he represented those who declined the invita- tion as having more or kss reasonable excuses. One was engaged over a farm, one over his oxen, and one over -his marriage; and they were not disposed to put these aside in order to fulfil their engagements with their host. But here there are no excuses, only sheer wilfulness, which is ready to run even into rebellion and insult (see ver. 6). I. THE OPPOSITION OF THE HEBELY WILFUL. Every parent knows the extreme difficulty of training a stubborn child. You cannot reason with him; you cannot persuade him. It does no good to chastise him. Many a parent is at his wits' end to know what to do with a wilful child. And what could any one hope to do with those stnbborn Jerusalem officials, who had ma.de up their minds that Jesus was an impostor, and so would heed no evidences, listen to no arguments, and yield to no persuasions ? They too were invited to the gospel feBBt. They loudly professed their readiness to respond whenever God called. The call came; Christ brought it, and then up went their backs; "they would not come," If you trouble them with any importunity, they will turn dangeroUB, and insult the messengers; as these officials afterwards did Stephen, Peter, James, and Paul. All Christian workers understand the hopelessness of dealing with the stubborn and wilful. No force seems to reach them. Labour is in vain. Opposition may be overcome. Unintelligent wilfulness is hopeless. II. THE TREATMENT OF THE MERELY WILFUL, They have to be let alone, and left to suffer, and to learn by suffering. It is a. hard school, and it must be a hard school, in which such persons have to learn. Our Lord even intimates that there must be a. specially awakening severity of dealing with them, because that stubbornness is not mere natural disposition; it is a product of self-conceit, pride, and prejudice. It is sin, and must be punished.-R. T. Ver. 6.-The enticement of mtJterial interests. "One to his fa.rm, another to his merchandise." These men, as we have seen, were discourteous from mere wilfulness, mere bad nature; but they turned away from the king's servants to their own private affairs, in order to make a show of reasonable excuse. So while it is true that men often are absorbed in their material concerns, I\Ild these may explain their neglect of religion, it is even more frequently true that men make their material interests excuse their bad-heartedness, and are busy with temporal concerns in the hope of hiding their stubborn self-wilhdness. A man's material interests never need really stand in the way of his religion; but if he is resolutely set against religion, ho can easily make his material interests into a stumbling-block in bis way. A great deal of insincere talk is made about the enticement of things seen and temporal; business anJ pleasure are supposed to carry away men who would be pious. The honest fact is that men usually do not want to be pious, and throw themselves into their worldly concerns as a. blind. I. MATERIAL iNTEREBTS REGARDED AB GENUINE TEMPTATIONS. There is, for all men, even for good-willed men, a fascination in things seen and temporal The sense- 390 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [on. xx.11. 1-40.
sphere is e.ttractive. In every me.n there is the natural ambition to succeed to rise in the. social see.le, and to win the comfort and security of wee.Ith. For me~ with the buemess f~?ltY,. trade and_ commerce are positively_ 9:ttractive. In these de.ye the range of hvmg 1s so luxunous, and trade so compet1t1ve, that a man is almost com- pelled to put his whole mind into his business, if he is to succeed. And every me.n hBB me.tene.l cliLims from those dependent on him. But, held in fair limitations our me.terie.l interests are not temptations. The soul's life in God finds expression thr:,ngh them. II. MATERIAL INTERESTS MADE AN EXCUSE FOB BAD-HEARTEDNESS. This may be opened, illustrated, and enforced, so as to be very searching. Men do not want to be religious; they are stubbornly resolved not to go to the gospel feast. That is the real reason for their extreme interest in their farm and their merchandise.-R. T.