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tion on the occurrence," and presumed to usurp the place of God in passing judgment upon others. He bids them, here as elsewhere, look to themselves. So in the kindred case, of which He Himself reminds them, when eighteen of themselves were suddenly killed by the fall of a tower. Such events may befall Jews as well as Galilæans. If it is a judgment in the one case, why not in the other?2 But it is not for men thus to deal out the Divine judgments. God, who makes His sun to shine on the evil as well as on the good, sometimes permits such events and accidents, as we call them, to light on the good no less than on the evil. The Lord warns them generally to repent of their sins, to discharge their duties; 3 lest, not just a few as here, but their whole nation, perish in like manner. His prophetic warning was in vain. One of themselves, an historian of their own,* relates that in the siege of Jerusalem, which took place about forty years after these words were spoken, multitudes were buried beneath the ruins of the city, and numbers slain while in the act of sacrificing in the Temple.

CCVII.

THE BARREN FIG-TREE.

St. Luke xiii 6-9.

He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit

1 A Plain Commentary.

2 On the tower of St. Edmund's Church in Salisbury may still be seen an inscription, set up during the Puritan intrusion, commemorating the fall of the tower and the freedom from injury of those who assumed themselves to be "the Lord's people." In the vestry is a parchment giving further particulars, and intimating that the same immunity from danger was not enjoyed by those of "another religion" in a similar accident at "the

Church of Blackfriars in London." In apparent opposition to our Lord's teaching here, this fourth verse is actually cited in the margin.

In the original, the word rendered "sinners" in v. 2, is distinct from that so rendered in v. 4. In this latter case it may possibly have reference to the two concluding verses of the foregoing chapter. Compare St. Matt vi. 12; Is. i. 16, 17; 1 St. Pet. iii. 11. Josephus B. J. vi. iv.

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thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it : And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

The Lord enforces His call to repentance by a parable. It was customary in the East to plant fig-trees in their vineyards. So had God planted a Church in the world; the Jewish nation among the nations of the earth. Christ Himself, to whom all power is committed in Heaven and earth, condescended to be the dresser of this vineyard, and bestowed especial care upon the fig-tree planted therein. After three years, such fig-trees as are not probably barren usually begin to bear. Three times had God specially visited the people of the Jews; by the patriarchs, by the prophets, by His Son. Nevertheless it bare no fruit; and not only so, but it even 2 injured the ground. It was not only unprofitable, but injurious; occupying ground which might have been occupied by a fruitful tree, and shedding a baleful influence on the soil. So sentence was passed by the Proprietor; for every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. But, at the request of the Dresser of the vineyard, execution is stayed. He intercedes for the barren fig-tree and obtains a respite. At His intercession, a term is allowed for special labour on His part, and for opportunity to the tree. And if it bear fruit, nothing more shall be said; 5 but if not, even the Intercessor Himself, even He who takes this special interest in it, must leave it to deserved judgment. "But the Parable has clearly a personal application, as well

1 So Grotius, who points out that those who here refer to the three years of our Lord's ministry, will have a difficulty with the one year asked for.

2 Note the force of the conjunction in the original of verse 7. In the E. V. it is omitted altogether.

3 66 Gregory the Great brings out

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as a national one. Year after year, to lead an unprofitable life; to resist God's invitations in boyhood, in manhood, in old age; putting forth much leafy promise, but producing no fruit, what is this but to stand like a barren fig-tree the vineyard of the Lord?

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CCVIII.

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.

St. Matthew xiii. 1-9.

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

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The Lord we find teaching everywhere; now in the house, now by the sea-side, even in the same day; at home and abroad; in His going out, and in His coming in.3 It was on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias or Lake of Gennesaret," that large lake or inland sea which is still the glory of Galilee. From the house of Andrew and Peter probably, at Capernaum, He had come forth, the Lord of all, in His human nature, to catch, it might be, a breath of cooler air. But here also, as

1 A Plain Commentary.

2 St. Mark iv. 1.

3 Deut. vi. 7.

4 St. John xxi. 1.

s St. Luke v. 1.

St. Mark i. 29.

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before,' and as elsewhere,2 crowds gather round Him; and for their convenience no less than for His own, He entered into the little ship or boat which belonged to His fisherDisciples, and which lay moored at hand, and from that pulpit addressed, as on another occasion, the listening multitude on the sandy shore. His discourse on this occasion took the form of a series of parables. So "He taught them many things." The first, this Parable of The Sower, whose meaning we have afterwards from His own lips. "The Lord lifted up, it may be, His eyes, and saw at no great distance a husbandman scattering His seed in the furrows." It was what, in a spiritual sense, He was about to do Himself. The way-side here is the hard foot-path, "where the glebe was not broken," the soil not stirred by spade or plough, where it would be trodden down under the foot of passers-by, or lie exposed a prey to the birds which in the East follow the labourer in flocks. The stony ground means, not a soil covered or mingled with stones, but a rock with a scanty sprinkling of soil, such as in Syria is often found; where, from its very shallowness, the seed soon springs up, and, for the same reason, is as quickly scorched. So the thorns mean not an occasional bramble, but patches of land covered with prickly pear, or some such strong thistle, which grow up with the seed itself and prove in the end too strong for it; strangling 10 the life out of it; so that it yields no fruit. At the end of the parable the Lord calls upon His hearers to make use of the faculties which God has given them, to use their ears to some purpose; not to be as those who, having ears, hear not; not to close the ears of their heart; but to listen and lay to heart.

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CCIX.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM.

St. Matthew xiii. 10-12.

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

We learn from another account that this inquiry was afterwards, at some interval, when He was alone with the Twelve and some others who waited on His teaching more particularly than the general multitude.' Most are content with simply hearing sermons; a few are found who study and strive to understand their subject. These however did not now interrupt our Lord in His series of parables, but afterwards they inquired respectfully, first why He adopted this manner of teaching (a matter which seems often to have exercised their minds 2), and then the meaning in particular of this first parable of the Sower. His answer is in itself a mystery, which with our present powers we may not hope to fathom. We know in part, and we prophesy in part. We must not expect the whole scheme of the Divine providence to be unfolded in this world. But this much we may humbly take upon us to say in expounding the Lord's answer, that to these inquirers, and to all who shall resemble them, is given a knowledge of Divine things which is withholden from a careless crowd. And for this reason-our Lord quotes a proverb of their own-" Whosoever hath, to him shall be given." Those who make a good use of what they have already received, shall receive more. Do not even men the same? We intrust our talents not to the slothful servant, but to him who will with them gain more. From the 1 St. Mark iv. 10, 34. 2 St. John xvi. 25, 29. 3 St. Matt. xxv. 14-30.

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