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commissioned by God. The reason was this. The whole nation, with one consent, looked at this time for their Messiah, but made sure of recognizing in him a temporal king. Even the disciples and apostles continued long under this delusion. But the difference between their case and that of those who rejected him was; that although they could not explain to themselves how his lowly condition was consistent with their view of prophecy, yet they were candid enough not to shut their eyes to the evidence arising from miracles.

The scribes, on the contrary, went so far as to impute these miracles to the agency of Satan; which occasioned our Lord to assert, that "he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation;" meaning, that although they may revile him, with some plea, as long as they regarded his actions as merely those of a man; yet, when they perceived his actions to proceed from superhuman agency, and they still reviled; it was God and not man they were blaspheming. Their case was hopeless. Even so when Ananias and Sapphira were smitten

with death, St. Peter's declaration was, hast not lied unto men, but unto God"."

"Thou

CHRIST'S DISCIPLES, HIS MOTHER, AND HIS

BRETHREN.

Ver. 31-35.

And the multitude Behold, thy mother

There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. sat about him, and they said unto him, and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

This is a very striking instance of a peculiarity in our Lord's teaching, which has been already more than once noticed. Instead of expressing in any metaphors that chanced to occur to him those truths, which, from being new or strange could only be expressed metaphorically, he frequently made present scenes and objects the sources from which he derived his figurative language. This was probably the first lesson in a long series, on a subject which only allowed of

b Acts v. 4.

figurative language—the new relationship between God and man through the Holy Spirit. As Jesus was declared to be the Son of God, because of the union of the divine and human nature in him; so he intimates that a union, of a different kind indeed, but still a union between the divine and human nature, was to take place in us. That those who heard his word were to become the sons of God by adoption; "his mother and his brethren." When afterwards in the Gospel narrative, and in the apostolic Epistles, we meet with the phrases, "being born of God," " born again," born of water and of the Spirit,"

putting on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness," and the many other kindred expressions, it will be useful, from time to time, to think on this, the apparent origin and fountain of all these phrases; we shall then be reminded that they are metaphors, and be guided in our interpretation of them by remembering also the scene which appears to have first suggested them.

CHAPTER IV.

PARABLE OF THE SOWER.

Ver, 1-9.

And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

THE imagery of this parable was no doubt derived from a scene which was frequently present to Jesus and his hearers-the fields with their

various culture and produce-the rich land, the stony ground, and the highway-the ripened corn, the blighted stalk, and the trampled blade. These are accordingly images which very frequently recur in his teaching; not only in his parables, but in his other discourses, which of course contained allusions to the imagery of his parables.

By this repetition of the same images and metaphors, under different combinations, in parable after parable and discourse after discourse, there was one very obvious purpose accomplished. His lessons were more easily connected, and each new one more readily and fully understood, from the familiarity which his hearers acquired with the class of metaphors so continually used. In this, as in all other respects, the constant hearer enjoyed an advantage over the casual attendant. And this indeed was agreeable to our Lord's declaration, "to him that hath shall be given." To the same principle must be referred his practice of explaining his parables only to his disciples. It was their privilege to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

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