The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 203

out of every oity, he spake by a para.bis. A to hee.r his words and look on his miracle-, gront change, it is clenr, took place in onr the Lord knew that his work had practically Lord's wo.y of working at this period. We failed. At the first he spoke to the people hnve nlrendy (in the note on ver. 1) reme.rked pie.inly. The sermon on the mount, for thl\t from henceforth he dwelt no longer in inste.nce, contains Jitlle, if anything, of the one centre, his own city Ce.peme.um, but pa.re.hie form; but they nnderBtood him not, moved about from place to pince. A new forming al together false views of the king- woy of teo.ching was now e.dopted-that dom he described to them. He now cha.ngee of the " po.rable." It was from this time his method of teaching, veiling his thonghts onwo..rd the.t, when he taught, he seems in para.Lies, in order that hi8 oicn, to whom genero.lly to have spoken in those famous privately he gave the key to the right under- parables, or stories, in which so much of his standing of the parables, ehou Id see more recorded teaching is shrined. Hitherto in clearly, and that those who deliberately mis- his preaching he had occasionolly mo.de use understood him-the hostile Pharisee and of simile& or comparieons, as in eh. v. 6 Sadducee, for instance-should be simply and vi. 29, 48; but he only began the formal mystified and perplexed as to the Teacher's use of the parable at this period, and the meaning; while the merely though tlees parable of the sower seems to have been might poBBibly be fascinated and attracted the earliest spoken. Perhaps because it by this new manner of teaching, which we.s the first, perhe.pe on e.ccount of the far- evidently veiled some hidden meaning. reaching nature of its contents, the story These le.at would probably be induced t.o of "the sower" evidently impressed itself inquire further as to the meaning of these with singnle.r force upon the minds of the strange parable-stories. Professor Bruce, who disciples. It evidently formed e. favourite has very ably discussed the reasons which "memory" among the first heralds of the induceli Christ at this period of his ministry new faith. It is the only one, with the ex- to speak in parables, says there is a mood ception of the vine-dressers, one of the latest which leads e. man to present his thoughts spoken, which he.a been preserved by the in this form. " It is the mood of one whose three-Matthew, Mark, e.nd Luke. It is heart is chilled, e.nd whose spirit is :saddened identical in structure and in teaching in all by a sense of loneliness, and who, retiring the three, which shows that they were re- within himself by a process of reflection, lating the so.me story. It differs, however, frames far his thoughts forms which half con- in detail; we thus gather that the three did ceal,halfre,·ea.l them-revee.l them more per- not copy from one primitive document, but fectly to ihose who understand, hide them that these "memories" were derived either from those who do not (e.nd will not)--forms from their own recollections or at least beautiful, but e.lso melancholy, as the hues from different sources. Now, what induced of forest in late autumn. Ii' this view be the Master thus deliberately to change the correct, we should expect the teaching in manner of his teaching? In other worth, parables would not form a feature of the why, from this time forward, does he veil so initial stage of Christ's ministry. And such much of his deep Divine thought in po.ra- accordingly we.a the fact." As regarded the bies? Let us consider the attitude of the men of his own generation, did he use the crowds who till now had been listening to parable way of teaching e.lmost a.a a fan to him. What may be termed the Galilrean separate the wheat from the chaff? "That revival ho.d well-nigh come to an end. The he had to speak in parables was one of the enthusiasm he had evoked by his burning burdens of the Son of man, to be placed words, his true wisdom, his novel exposition side by side with the fa.et that he had not of what belonged to human life and duty, where to lay his hee.d" (Professor Bruce, was, when he left Capernaum and began • Para.bolio Teaching of Christ,' book i. bis pre11ching in every little village (ver. 1), eh. i.). .And when mu.eh people we-re gathered e.t its height. But the great Heart-reader together, and were come to him out of every knew well that the hour of reaction was at city. The impression of the witness who hand. Then the pressure of the crowds told the story to Luke and Paul evidently which thronged him was so great that, to was that at this period of the Lord's ministry spea.k this first parable, he had to get into e. vast crowds flocked to listen or to see. St. boat and address the multitude standing on Mlltthew expresses the same conviction in a the shore (Matt. :.:iii. 2); but the moment different but in an equally forcible manner. was e.t hand which St. John (vi. 6G) refers Only the Lord knew bow hollow all this to in his sad words, " From that time many aeeming popularity was, and how soon the of his disoiples went back, e.nd walked no orowds would melt awe.y. He spake by a more with him." It was in view of that parable. Roughly to distinguish between moment that Jesus commenced his parable- the parable and the fable: Tile fable woulri teaching with " the sower." As reglll'ds the tell its moral trutll, but its imagery might great 1na,, of the people who hacl crowded be purely fanciful; for iru;tance, aninwl,. or  TITR GOSrEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. [on. vm. 1-liR.