generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. When the un- 43 clean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith: I will 44 return into my house, from whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then 45 goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and from Judea. In the judgment. Or, in the place of judgment. Uttermost parts of the earth. An expression for a great distance, and not literally the most remote part of the world. Arabia was the most distant country in the south known to the Jews. She took great pains to hear the wisdom of Solomon by travelling a long journey. But the Jews would not listen to one far greater than Solomon, though he preached among them. They were condemned, therefore, by a comparison with the heathen queen, as being less desirous of wisdom, and unwilling to make even far less sacrifices to receive and obey it. 43-45. See Luke xi. 24-26. 43. When the unclean spirit, &c. To illustrate the growing depravity of the Jews, Jesus makes use of an illustration suggested by the cure of the demoniac, verse 22, and founded on the common belief in demoniacal possessions. We may suppose that he employed opinions and even superstitions familiar to his hearers, but which he did not believe, as instruments to express and adorn his doctrines. Thus we commonly speak of the rising and setting of the sun, though we know that it is philosophically incorrect. Jesus frequently calls to his aid in his instructions the manners, customs, and institutions of his nation and age; without, however, vouching for their goodness and propriety. He even used fictitious narratives, the better to unfold and paint his divine principles. - Dry places. Or, waste, desert places, which were supposed to be the peculiar haunts of such spirits. We are to remember that the whole imagery of this parable is Jewish, and are not, therefore, to seek a moral correspondence in all its minutiæ, but to take its general import. - Seeking rest, &c. This graphically describes the uneasy, dissatisfied state of one who has partially reformed, but who has not given up all longings after his past sins; though it is observable that the spirit, and not the man, is represented as perturbed. 44. My house. The man, in accordance with Jewish notions, is described as being the abode of the evil spirit. - Empty, swept, and garnished, i. e. prepared for the guests. No impediment existed to prevent the unclean inhabitant from entering again. So far from any guard being placed to exclude him, his dwelling was ready for his reception. No good thoughts or spiritual affections had been welcomed and entertained to exclude the entrance of evil. A vacant mind is ever an exposed one. 45. Seven other spirits, more wickcd than himself. Seven was a favorite and sacred number among the Jews. It frequently means several. It was the belief of the times that spirits which had been exorcised 46 the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and 47 his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him: Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand partially kept, breaks in some measure the dominion of evil, and enlarges the freedom of the soul. We are to resolve and re-resolve with iron purpose, and step by step to pursue the narrow, but glorious path of virtue. The mountain of holiness is to be built up by adding particle to particle, thought to thought, prayer to prayer. 46-50. Compare Mark iii. 31 35. Luke viii. 19-21. 46. While he yet talked, &c. Jesus' method of instruction was oral conversation. He conversed familiarly with the people upon the deep themes of the spiritual life. His condescension and blandness of manner were such that the ignorant and doubting were encouraged to approach him and unburden their difBrethren. or, according ficulties. These were might return reinforced to their either the sons of Mary by Joseph, or, as is more likely, the sons of the sister of Mary, the wife of Cleopas, and therefore the cousins of Jesus. For we know that relatives of that degree were called brothers, according to Jewish custom. The brethren or cousins of Jesus are often alluded to in the New Testament; at least three of the Twelve, James, Simon, and Judas, or Jude, are supposed to have been thus related to him. Matt. xiii. 55; Mark iii. 25, vi. 3; John ii. 12, vii. 35; Acts i. 14; 1 Cor. ix. 5; Gal. i. 19. They came to Jesus, probably strengthened with parental authority, to rescue him, as they considered it, from rash exposure to the hatred of the Jews, to counsel prudence, and to put him upon his guard against their machinations. without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and 48 said unto him that told him: Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his dis- 49 ciples, and said: Behold, my mother, and my brethren. For 50 whosoever shall do the will of my father, which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. Desiring. Endeavouring. They had been making the attempt to speak with him for a considerable time. Mark iii. 21. 47. We are told that they had sent a message to him, calling him. Their object was, perhaps, to warn him of some plot against his life, and to induce him to withdraw to some more secure place, though selfishness, as well as affection for him, may have mingled in their motives. The crowd was so large that they were unable to speak with him directly. The request was probably passed from one to another through the multitude. 48. Our Lord, ever ready to convert to a moral account the passing incidents of the day and hour, turns to his disciples, and enforcing his words with a gesture of his hand, verse 49, declares who were his mother and his brethren. We are not to suppose that it was any want of filial and fraternal affection that dictated the questions of this verse. Jesus was a dutiful son and an affectionate brother. He discharged the domestic obligations with perfect integrity. He loved the circle of his family none the less, because he loved mankind the more. It was not coldness of affection, but the desire of fastening the attention of the people upon his words, that led him to say, "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?" ii. 51; John xix. 25-27. degree of rebuke, at an untimely interruption of his work and teaching by their officiousness, may be supposed to have been mixed with his words. Luke Some 49. Stretched forth his hand, &c. How vivid the picture of our Saviour's manner here presented! We seem to see him stand with outstretched hand, and countenance beaming with affection upon his disciples, and sublimely saying,Behold my mother and my brethren! behold those who by their spiritual attachment supply the place to me of the nearest kindred! "Who is my mother? or my brethren? He spake, and looked on them who sat around With a meck smile of pity, blent with love, More melting than e'er gleamed from human face. As when a sunbeam, through a summer shower, My mother, and my brethren; for I say, 50. For whosoever shall do the will, &c. Remark here, how simple is the test he proposes of fellowship and relationship: the doing of the will of God. He sets up no arbitrary standard, no dogma of faith, no ecclesiastical rule, but advances one essential and comprehensive requisite, as beautiful as it is explicit. John xiv. 21.- Is my brother, and CHAPTER XIII. Parables of Jesus. THE same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the 2 sea-side; and great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multi3 tude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them sister, and mother. Is dear to me as all relatives in one. Says a beautiful writer on the Gospels, Furness, "Is it looking at the passage too curiously, to see in the introduction of the word 'sister,' a little fraction, as it were, a bright but delicate hue of truth?" in relation to the woman who had spoken, Luke xi. 27. Jesus declares the superiority of the spiritual to the natural ties. He elevates the connexions of the good with one another above the tenderest attachments of kindred. He thus proclaims the brotherhood of his disciples with one another and with himself. If, then, we do the will of Heaven, we are encouraged with the thought, that we are forming holy and happy ties with the beings of higher and brighter worlds; that we are entering into blessed associations, not only with the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the glorious company of the apostles, the noble army of martyrs, and the holy church throughout all the earth, but also with him who is Head over all, the beloved Son of God. We are not called to a life of solitary and uncheered virtue. The good are bound together and joined to God and Jesus by the ties of an everlasting sympathy. The golden chain of love which has been let down from heaven joins all below to one another, and all below to all above. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world," "for the world passeth away and the lust thereof," "but whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven," said Jesus, "the same is my brother, and sister, and mother,' " and he abideth for ever. CHAP. XIII. 1-23. See Mark iv. 1-20; Luke viii. 4-15. The latter Evangelist gives a less full and particular account. 1. The same day. Or, perhaps, at that time. For we can hardly conceive that the events and instructions mentioned in the last and this chapter, with those related in the parallel passages, could all have happened in one day.-House. Matt. xvii. 24. His home seems to have been at the house of Peter. - Sat by the sea-side. Capernaum was situated on the Sea of Galilee. He left the house because the multitudes were unable, on account of their number, to hear him, except in a larger place. 2. He went into a ship. The original is, the ship or boat, meaning a particular one kept for this purpose, or more probably one owned by his disciples, who were fishermen. The crowds were so dense as to render it necessary for him to withdraw from the shore, and address them from the water. -And sat, &c. It was customary among the Jews for their teachers to give their instructions sitting, but for their hearers to receive them standing. Jesus followed the manners of his day, so far as they were innocent. in parables, saying: Behold, a sower went forth to sow. 3. Parables. A parable is a comparison, or similitude. But the term has a wider meaning. It stands often in the Old Testament for proverb. Fables and apologues are parabolical. In the New Testament, parables are usually stories to illustrate spiritual doctrines or facts. It is immaterial whether the narrative be a historical account or not, provided only it is appropriate to the illustration of the truth in hand. This mode of teaching was very popular in the east, and especially among the Jews. We find innumerable specimens of it. In the Old Testament some instances of it occur, as that of the trees, in Jud. ix. 8-15, and that of the poor man, in 2 Sam. xii. 1-7. The Talmudical writings are full of this species of composition. Jesus, therefore, employs it in the instructions of his religion. But it is remarkable, that he commenced it so late in his ministry. Would it not seem that the method of direct precept and proverb had proved inadequate, and that he now resorts to a new instrument of address, better suited to the stupidity of the people, and to the spirituality of his doctrine? The only instance of a parable before this is supposed to have been that of the unclean spirit, Matt. xii. 43-45, illustrating the increasing depravity of the Jewish people. The disciples question him, verse 10, as if he were now introducing a novel way of teaching. There were advantages in it, both to the teacher and to the taught. It saved the one from the bald and open statement of doctrines that would be misunderstood by the people, and draw down their immediate violence, and crush their propagator ere he could explain himself. On the other hand, it delicately veiled spiritual truths in the robes of fancy and imagination, for And 4 the benefit of the hearer. It spoke a material language to those who were buried in sense. Again, it conveyed a hidden meaning, which could only be attained by an honest and unprejudiced inquirer, and left those in ignorance who preferred blindness. It taught only those who wished to be taught. In the words of another, “It is naturally adapted to engage the attention, and is level with the capacity of all, and conveys moral or religious truths in a more vivid and impressive manner than the dry, didactic mode, and, by laying hold of the imagination, insinuates itself into the understanding and affections, and while it opens the doctrines it professes to conceal, it gives no alarm to men's prejudices. It extorted assent ere the prejudiced hearer put his mind on the defensive against the truth which it was intended to convey. Furthermore, it planted truths in the memory, which, understood long afterwards, might spring up and bear fruit. The parables of our Lord are always simple, beautiful, and forcible. They often interpret themselves. They are level to the comprehension of the humblest honest mind, whilst they are the vehicle of the profoundest principles of our religion. They have been classified as relating, 1. to the design of the Gospel, as a scheme of mercy; 2. to its rise and progress, both in the individual and the race; 3. its fruits; and 4. its grand consummation in futurity. The following parable is ranked in the second class. - A sower went forth to sow. This parable is taken from agriculture, with which the majority of mankind are familiar, and is therefore intelligible and interesting to them. The original is, the sower, referring perhaps to some individual then in sight. |