In many such parables, spake Jesus to the multitude, as they were able to hear; so that the saying of the prophet was accomplished: I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

Then dismissing the multitude, he went into the house; and his disciples came to him, saying: Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field. Then he answered: The sower of the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; the darnel are the sons of evil; the inimical sower is the deceiver; the

verted and healed. But the end of that age took place about 40 years after this parable was pronounced, the angels or messengers, being whosoever, or whatsoever God pleases to send or employ, were the Romans; the darnel, or degenerate wheat, were the perverse and rebellious Jews; the furnace of fire was the burning of Jerusalem and the calamities which befel the Jews at that time; because God said, his furnace was in Jerusalem, and thither he would gather the Jews, and melt them, Ez. xxii. 17-22; and the wheat, were the believing and pious, who escaped these calamities, and shone forth in the kingdom of their father Christ, which was established about the year 70, on the ruins of the former dispensation. See the Lecture on the Coming of Christ, in my Systematical Theology.

To this view of the subject, I am inclined because that kingdom of God, the subject of the parable, is almost uniformly represented in the Jewish writings, whence the phrase is derived, as the polity of Israel, whose subjects were the Jews, and hence called by Josephus, soxgaria or Theocracy. In this sense Christ, as a Jew, must have used it, and in this sense it was understood by his auditors. When we open the book of Daniel, from which both Jews and Christians have borrowed the phrase "kingdom of God," we find it described as a kingdom or polity possessed by saints, governed by the God of Heaven, and contrasted with other kingdoms and polities. This kingdom of the Messiah is not merely a dominion or reign; for even this, involves the notion of subjects.-In a word: It is the Christian Polity; all the professors of a Divine Revelation are its avowed subjects; Jesus is the king; the scriptures are the laws, constitution, and statutes of the Kingdom; and the rewards and chastisements annexed to the character of the subject, are the sanctions of the Laws. With this view of the kingdom, there arises a perfect harmony between the preaching of John and Jesus; for darnel is the chaff of John, which was consigned to enquenchable

harvest is the end of this age; and the reapers are the messengers. As, therefore, the darnel is gathered and burnt in fire, so shall it be at the conclusion of this age. The Son of man will send forth his messengers, and they will gather out of his kingdom, all offensive things and workers of iniquity, and cast them into the fiery furnace: weeping and gnashing of teeth shall be there. Then shall the righteous shine like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. Whosoever has ears to hear, let him hear!

fire; while grain, wheat, believers, were gathered into the granary or barn. Compare Matt. xiii. 30; and Luke iii. 17.

I admit, the word Basiλeia kingdom, should be translated reign, when time, motion, or secrecy, is implied; as when Luke, xvii. 21, says the reign of God comes not with observation. The reign of God is within you. But even here, the term within may be contested; for evros is used in the sense of among by Xenophon, in his Cyrop. i. i. and in Anab. L. vi. C. v. § 5. The word Evros, how

ever, signifies within, Matt. xxiii. 26; but there it is used substantively. Thus I have given both views of the parable, let the reader choose which he pleases; and probably he will act most wisely who believes both.

In the two minor parables of this section, our Lord gives a beautiful and encouraging prospect of the growth and prosperity of the kingdom. Like seed sown, whether observed or not, it still progresses. The size of the mustard tree is said to be very considerable in the East. One Rabbi Simeon narrates in the Jerusalem Talmud, that he had a stalk of mustard in his field, on which he was wont to climb as on a fig-tree. Small, even the least of sects was the Christian, at the time our Lord pronounced this prophetic parable; but now it is the greatest; and we may rest assured it will universally triumph.

SECTION NINETEENTH.

A STORM ON THE LAKE.

Now, on the same day, when the evening was come, Jesus, seeing great multitudes about him, gave orders to his disciples to pass over to the opposite

shore. But, as they went, a certain scribe,* coming to him, said: Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Jesus said to him: Foxes have holes, and fowls of heaven roosts, but the Son of man has not where to rest his head. Then he said to another: Follow me; but he replied: Master, permit me first to go and bury my father. Jesus answered: Let the deadt bury their dead; follow me, and publish the reign of God. Then another also said: Master, I will go with thee, but suffer me first to bid my family farewell. Jesus answered him: No man, looking behind, after he has put his hand to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Now, when he had gone aboard the vessel, his disciples, dismissing the multitude, followed him, and launched forth, accompanied by some other barks. But as they sailed, he fell asleep; and a storm com

* The scribes, of whom Ezra was the most eminent, assumed their name and profession about 900 years before Christ, 2 Chron. xvii. 7-9. Their general employment was to transcribe books, read, and expound the law, Nehem. viii. 7--8. They were divided into two classes, Civil and Ecclesiastical. The Civil class was accessible by men of any tribe, and consisted of various ranks in office, from the common scrivener to the secretary of state. The Ecclesiastical were descendants of Levi, and the learned men of the nation; hence called doctors or teachers of law, which they expounded to the people, Matt. xvii. 10; Mark xii. 35. Indeed, they were the preaching clergy of the Jews, whose business was to instruct the people, whilst the office of the priest was to attend on the sacrifices: but it seems these scribes were strenuous advocates of traditions, and litigious about trivial rites.

Let the spiritually dead bury those who are dead in the common acceptation of the word. The Jews called all dead, who lived not in conformity to the law. The term, dead, frequently occurs in the Scripture, in a figurative sense, implying those who are insensible to the duties and precepts of religion. Such Jesus would leave to attend to the concerns of the literally dead, whom they resembled ; but commands all, into whose souls the divine life had entered, to pursue its dictates. That man who has no spiritual sensibility, as well as he who would manifest more concerns for the affairs of the present life, than for those of the spiritual and eternal, must be ill adapted to serve in the public offices of religion.

ing down on the lake,* the waves beat into the vessel, so that they were in danger.† And the dis ciples came to him, sleeping astern on a pillow, and awoke him, saying: Master, save us, we perish! Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, saying: Peace, be still! And the wind and swell of the water ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them: Why are ye so fearful? Where is your faith? But the men feared exceedingly, and wondered, saying one to another: What kind of person is this? for he commands even the wind and the sea, and they obey him.

*This lake is a collection of fresh water, and abounds with the best fish; therefore, its coasts were inhabited by fishermen, who collected much money from the fish-markets. It is called the Sea of Chinnereth, Numb. xxxiv. 11; Josh. xiii. 27; Lake of Genesareth, Luke v. 1, from a tract of Galilee, so called, which bounded it on the west; the Sea of Galilee, Matt. iv. 18, from the province of that name bounding it on the west and north; the Sea of Tiberias, John vi. 1, from a city of that name, built by Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, in honour of Tiberius Cæsar, which is situated in the most fertile part of Galilee, on the southwest extremity of the lake, and possessing many privileges, became one of the principal cities in those parts, having in it thirteen synagogues. The lake is said, by Josephus, to be five miles in breadth, and twelve in length; but Pliny makes it seventeen miles long, and six broad.

+ There is a strong current in the lake of Gennesareth, caused by the river Jordan passing through the midst of it; and, when this current is opposed by contrary winds, which sometimes blow here with the force of a hurricane, from the southeast, sweeping from the mountains into the lake, a very boisterous sea is instantly raised, which the small vessels of the country are ill qualified to resist.— E. D. Clarke's Travels.

This is proof complete of the miraculous power which was exerted on the occasion. The surface of the sea was smooth imme diately at the words, Be still! Whereas, after a storm, the sea generally remains long in agitation. Hence this circumstance gave force and evidence to the miracle.

SECTION TWENTIETH.

CURE OF THE GADARENE DEMONIAC.

And they sailed down to the country of the Gadarenes, which lies on the other side of the sea, opposite Galilee; and immediately on landing, there met him a man of the city,* coming out of the tombs, who had been possessed of demons a long time, and wore no clothes, nor abode in a house, but dwelt among the tombs. This man was so exceedingly fierce, that none could pass that way; nor could any man bind him, even with chains: for he had been often bound with chains and fetters, but the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in

* Because of some inconsistency in the narration of this section by the Evangelists, and the extraordinary nature of the subject, the rantings of Rousseau and the motley groupe of his faithless disciples, have been as extravagant, as they have been hazardous and unfounded. The verbal discrepances are these: 1. Matthew calls the people, inhabiting the country on the south east of the Lake opposite Galilee, Gergesenes, but Mark and Luke give them the name of Gadarenes. Compare Matt. viii. 28; Mark v. 1; Luke viii. 26. Now this discrepance is reconciled by a single geographical remark: Gadara and Gergesa were two neighbouring cities, in the district of Decapolis, and the country was indifferently called by the name of either of these cities. Here, therefore, there subsists no discord. This remark will be farther confirmed by the following brief notice. Gadara, according to Josephus, was the metropolis of Perea, or the region beyond the Jordan, and being not only the capital, but also a very rich city, it was of great note in that country. Nor, if we follow Schoetgen, will the city of Gergesa yield in popular fame to her sister city.-Among its ruins are seen, two Amphitheatres, solidly built of marble ;three temples; several palaces; and a whole street, ornamented on both sides, by a row of marble columns of the Corinthian order.

+ The second discrepance arises from Mark's declaration, that the Demoniac came out of the tombs, whilst Luke says he came out of the city. This is reconciled in my translation, by saying, he was a man of the city, as Jesus is said to be of, ano, Nazareth, John i. 45, and came from the tombs. According to Josephus and E. D. Clarke, these tombs were cut out of the rocks on the borders of the Lake, and were such caves, as served to shelter or conceal robbers. Shaw says, the chief Moors have cupolas, built over their graves, of four yards square, which are frequently open.