Lange Commentary - Matthew 13:1

Lange Commentary - Matthew 13:1 - 13:51

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Lange Commentary - Matthew 13:1 - 13:51

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D. CHRIST MANIFESTS HIS ROYAL DIGNITY BY PRESENTING, IN SEVEN PARABLES, THE FOUDING AND DEVELOPMENT OF HIS KINGDOM THROUGH ALL ITS PHASES, FROM ITS BEGINNING TO ITS END

Mat_13:1-51

(Parallels: Mar_4:1-20; Mar_4:30-34; Luk_8:4-15; Luk_13:18-21.)

Contents:—The parable of the sower; or, first parable concerning the kingdom of heaven: Its institution by the Word. The teaching of Jesus concerning parables.—Second parable: the tares among the wheat; or, the seed of the Spirit and the heresies.—Third parable: the grain of mustard-seed; or, the spread of the Church.—Fourth parable: the woman and the leaven; or, the Christianization and evangelization of the world.—Fifth parable: the treasure hid in the field; or, invisible salvation hid within the visible Church.—Sixth parable: the pearl of great price; or, Christianity as the highest spiritual good in the world.—Seventh parable: the net full of fishes; or, the judgment which ushers in the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven.

EXEGETICAL NOTES ON THE WHOLE SECTION

[Literature on the Parables.—Unger: De parabolarum Jesu nature, interpretations, usu. Lips., 1828. F. G. Lisco: The Parables of Jesus, Berlin, 1831. and later. Arndt: The Parables of Jesus Christ (16 Meditations), Magdeb., 1842. E. Griswell: Exposition of the Parables and of other parts of the Gospels, Lond., 1839, vols. 6 Richard Chenevix Trench (now archbishop of Dublin): Notes on the Parables of our Lord, 9th ed., Lond., 1863 (a former edition reprinted in New York). A very useful and deservedly popular book. Special introductory essays on the Parable by Dr. Lange in Herzog’s Encycl., sub Gleichniss vol v., p. 182 sqq., and another in Schneider’s Deutsche Zei schrift für christl. Wissenschaft, etc., for 1856; by Card. Wiseman in his Misc. Essays; by Dr. Gerhart in the “Mercersburg Review,” etc. Among the commentators of the Gospels. Olshausen and Stier (Words of Jesus) are especially rich on the Parables. For older works on the Parables and the exposition of particular Parables, see Danz and Winer in their Manuals of Theol. Liter., sub verbo Purabel; Heubner: Comment, on Matthew, p. 181; and Trench: Notes, etc., pp. 494 and 495 (6th Lond. ed.).—P. S.]

1. The Evangelist Matthew combines the seven parables of the Lord concerning the development of the kingdom of heaven into a connected series, and at first sight creates the impression that they were uttered on the same day. But we must remember, that on that day Jesus had already been engaged in another great work, and that Matthew himself intimates at least two distinct pauses between the different parables (comp. Mar_4:10). But according to Mark (Mat_4:1 seq.; comp. Mat_13:35 and Mat_8:18 seq.), three of these parables—that of the sower, that of the grain of mustard-seed, and between them the beautiful parable concerning the natural growth of the seed—had been taught by Jesus at an earlier period, viz., on the day when He passed over to Gadara and calmed the storm. Luke records the parable of the sower together with the calming of the storm at sea somewhat later (Luk_8:5 seq.; 22 seq.; comp. Mat_8:23 seq.). Hence we must not look here for a strict chronological succession, while from the definite notices of Mark we infer that some of these parables had been uttered at an earlier period. But Matthew had good internal reasons for the pragmatic unity of his narrative. Foremost among these is the motive which induced the Lord to choose the parabolical form of teaching. This motive, which had appeared at an earlier stage of this history, became a distinct and avowed principle of action when the enmity of the Pharisees and of the people broke forth in an undisguised manner, and forced Him to come out with the full doctrine concerning the kingdom of God; while at the same time, on account of the spiritual decay of the people, it could be set forth only in the form of parables. Another motive which helped to determine the arrangement adopted by Matthew, was the close internal affinity of these seven parables, although we cannot, with Meyer, regard it as necessarily implying chronological succession. The greater part of them were, no doubt, delivered on one and the same day; and it is quite possible that Jesus, for the sake of their connection, again repeated on this occasion the parables which He had previously spoken.

2. The omission of the particle äÝ serves to give additional force to the expression in ver 1. For, in this case we have not merely a historical continuation; the term implies that on that day the Lord fully adopted the parabolic mode of teaching

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL IDEAS ON THE PARABLES

1. The Parables of Christ.—As parables were one of the forms in which the Lord conveyed His doctrine, they should, in the first place, be studied in connection with His other methods of teaching. The first and most direct of these was the simple declaration or preaching of the gospel, which accompanied the facts of the gospel—such as the proclamation of the kingdom of God, of forgiveness of sins, the call to discipleship, the bestowal of a new name, or of power and authority, special promises, special injunctions, etc. When addressed to a sympathetic audience, this declaration of the gospel was delivered in a regular, didactic manner, in the form of maxims, or gnomes—as, for example, the Sermon on the Mount. The use of proverbs, gnomes, or sententious maxims ( ðáñïéìßá , proverbium, îָùָì , which, however, may also denote a parable), was a favorite mode of teaching among the Jews, after the example of Solomon in the Book of Proverbs. The proverb is a short, epigrammatic, pointed sentence, frequently figurative and concrete, occasionally paradoxical and hyperbolical, at other times poetical, but always vivid and sharply outlined, so as to present in a transparent and significant form a deep, rich, and pregnant idea, which shines in the light of truth and burns in the fire of personal application—bright and brilliant like a true gem. But in dealing with individuals, the Saviour made use of the didactic dialogue (instead of the formal declaration), which in the presence of His intimate disciples assumed the form of the most direct address, at once instructing the mind and moving the heart. So especially in the parting discourses of the Saviour as recorded by St. John. When, on the other hand, those before Him were either strangers to His word or prejudiced against it, the heavenly Teacher made use of similitudes or parables. Under special circumstances, these were extended into parabolical discourses,—i. e., discourses which assumed the form of parables, or parables to which the interpretation was added. Lastly, when confronted by enemies and accusers, Christ adopted the method of questioning (disputation), following it up by a warning, or by what would serve to silence an opponent—the ultimate mode of dealing with such persons being either open rebuke, or else solemn testimony. Finally, His silence also should be ranked among the forms of His teaching—viewing, as we do, each of them not merely as a speech, but as a fact.

The object of the parables, therefore, was to present the truth, more especially the doctrine of Christ concerning the kingdom of heaven, as in all its phases in direct opposition to the popular prejudices of the Jews, yet in a manner adapted to the weak understanding of a people ruled by these errors.

The use of parables for conveying instruction was very common among Eastern nations generally, and more particularly among the Jews (see Jdg_9:1; 2Sa_12:1; Isa_5:1; Unger, de Parabolarum Jesu natura, interpretatione, usu, Lips. 1828). The parable is a species of figurative speech, îָùָׁì (which, however, comprises with the full parable also the parabolic sentence and the gnome). Unger defines a Parable as “collatio, per narratiunculam fictam, sed veri similem, serio illustrans rem sublimiorem.” Meyer regards it as “the narrative of a fictitious but common and natural occurrence, for the purpose of embodying and illustrating some doctrine.” But in treating of the parables of Scripture, it is not sufficient to enumerate only these outward characteristics, more especially us in the Gospel of John the outward and visible order of things is throughout employed at the transparent symbol of the invisible world, or of the kingdom of heaven. This mode of teaching itself must have had some special meaning and object, and convey some evangelical truth. The parable is a distinct outward reflection of spiritual life, under the form of a scene taken from real and everyday life, which, besides its primary object of embodying some particular lesson, also conveys the general truth, that spiritual life is capable of being symbolized and reflected. The real, though figurative, relations subsisting between the outer and the inner, the lower and the higher life, suggest the elements from which the didactic and poetic parables were constructed, which in turn were either extended into parabolic discourses (or gave rise to them), or else summed up in parabolic expressions. To illustrate this, we submit the following Table:—

(1) Constituent Elements of Parables; or Parables in the narrowest sense.

a. Ôýðïò . b. Óýìâïëïí . c. Ἀëëçãïñßá . The outline, archetype, or model of some reality which was yet to appear. Similitude of essence, difference of development, prototype of that which was to be developed and evolved. Thus the ordinances and institutions of the Old Testament were, in their inward essence, types of the New Testament. Similarly, the first era serves as a type of the second. The equivalent, visible sign of what is invisible. That which is outward a sign of that which is inward, and hence the lower a sign of the higher. Similitude of mode and form, difference as to the stage of life, emblem of what is higher. Thus the outward rite is a symbol of the inner life. The mark and indication of outward similarity, or also of the internal relationship and connection of things. A counterpart and reappearance of what has the same shape and form, either in the world of matter or of mind. Thus the serpent was an allegory of Satan. (2) The Didactic and Poetic Parables.

(With these the strictly poetical form of parables should be conjoined, if they had a place here.)

a. The Typical Parable. b. The Symbolical Parable. c. The Allegorical Parable. The sacraments of the New Testament as marking the great outlines of the kingdom of heaven. The Church as a type of the kingdom of God. Representation of the state of future perfectness in the first sketch and plan, or when commencing to carry the scheme into execution. The parables of the Lord (the ðáñáâïëÞ ), even philologically akin to the óýìâïëïí . (In some of their phases allegorical; for example, the tares.) Exhibition of spiritual transactions and facts in the description (not fiction) of scenes and events taken from everyday life. Used only in certain aspects, and for the purpose of supplementing the symbolical parables, as in God’s world and in reality evil can only exist in allegorical signs of outward appearance, not in symbolical signs of wicked subsistence. Hence also the Apocalypse deals most largely in allegories. In secular poetry the allegorical element is chiefly embodied in the form of fables. The only expression in the N. T. reminding us of this style of composition, is the allusion of the Saviour to Herod: Tell that fox. (3) The Parabolical Discourses; or, Extended and Applied Similitudes.

(i. e., Figurative discourses, in which parables are conjoined with their interpretation, or application, or with some doctrinal statement; as, for example, in Mat_7:24; Mat_11:16.)

a. Typical Parabolical Discourse. b. Symbolical Parabolical Discourse. c. Allegorical Parabolical Discourse. Figurative anticipation of full development and completion when only the principle of it exists, e. g.: “The blind see,” etc.—“The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,” Joh_5:25.—“Whoso eateth My flesh,” etc., Joh_6:54. The sayings and discourses recorded by John concerning the Israelite without guile, the temple, the new birth, the brazen serpent, the fountain, the manna, the vine, the good shepherd, etc. The sending forth among wolves, the corrupt tree, etc. (4) The Parabolical Expressions; or, Rhetorical and Figurative Allusions.

a. The typical parabolical expression, or Synecdoche; or, used and viewed with reference to form, the Metonymy. The hairs of your head are “numbered.” Bethsaida, Capernaum, the land of Sodom.—“I am the resurrection.” b. The symbolical parabolical expression, or Metaphor.—“What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light.” Preaching upon the house-tops. c. The allegorical parabolical expression, or the simple rhetorical figure, and figurative comparison.—“As a thief in the night.” 2. Object of the Use of Parables.—According to the modern view, our Lord had recourse to parables for the exclusive purpose of presenting the truth in a form adapted to the weak and carnal understanding of a people which otherwise could not have grasped it. Then the parables would be merely a popular mode of teaching. But the explanations of their object furnished by the Lord Himself (Mat_13:13; Mar_4:11; Luk_8:10) go far beyond this pedagogical view of the subject. “Therefore,” He says, “speak I to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” This perhaps might be regarded as indicating that the only object of Christ was to render His doctrine more plain and easily intelligible. But, on the other hand, the reference to Isa_6:9-10, which speaks of the hardening of the people under the preaching of the prophet, and which our Lord declares was being then fulfilled; the declaration of blessedness in regard to the disciples, to whom the Master could interpret these parables; and, lastly, the use of ἵíá in Mark and Luke (that, or in order that, seeing they may not see), instead of the ὅôé of our Gospel,—show that the motive of the Saviour in making use of parables was more deep and solemn than the above theory implies. It was certainly in judgment that He could not set before the Jews the bare and undisguised truth concerning His kingdom. Still, it was not primarily intended as a judicial blinding, but in order to present the truth in a form accessible to the senses, which would at the same time serve both to conceal and to reveal it, according to the state of the hearers; or, in other words, to present the truth in such a coloring as the diseased vision of the people alone could bear. Unbelievers would not so readily elicit the spiritual truth from this symbolic form, and hence not so easily pervert it to their own condemnation. Accordingly, while this mode of teaching was in itself a judgment, it was also combined with mercy, since it averted from them the doom of hardening themselves under the truth. It was impossible, moreover, to found and prefer charges of heresy against His teaching when propounded in that manner, even although hostile hearers might have comprehended its import (see Mat_21:45). On the other hand, those of the people who were susceptible would be enabled more and more clearly to gather the spiritual truth when conveyed in this transparent form. Indeed, Mat_13:35 shows that such was one of the objects which the Saviour had in view; while Mar_4:33 pointedly indicates the fact, that Jesus chose a form adapted to all His hearers, and to both parties, in order to set before them the doctrine concerning the kingdom of heaven. The parables of the Lord were an exhibition of the spiritual history of His kingdom, presented in pictures and figures derived from the things of this world. Even this continual comparing of the kingdom with the things of time and of sense, must have shown the people that the kingdom itself was not of this world. Finally, the parables of the Saviour resemble His miracles, in that, on the one hand, they exhibit the power of the kingdom of heaven in a variegated and striking light, while on the other they present it, as it were, in broken rays and isolated facts and events.

3. The Parables of the Lord in their connection.

(1) The key and introduction to the seven opening parables concerning the progress and development of the kingdom of God in general (Matthew 13), is found in an eighth parable, recorded by Mark (Mark 4:26), which is intended to show the fixed law and regularity of this spiritual development.

(2) The parables concerning the compassion and mercy by which the kingdom of God is founded (as opposed to the prejudices of the Jews).—a. Misunderstanding and misapplication of mercy and compassion leads to judgment. 1. Misunderstanding and misapplication of the blessing of God; or, the folly of the rich man, Luk_12:16. 2. Misunderstanding and misapplication of the long-suffering of God; or, the barren fig tree, Luk_13:6.—b. Pure compassion, divine or human, but especially the compassion of Christ: the good Samaritan.—c. Compassion turning away from the blinded (the guests who had been invited), and turning to the poor and needy: the great supper, Luk_14:15; mercy and judgment as appearing in the figurative narrative of the supper. Accordingly, this parable forms a transition to the exhibition of divine mercy.—d. Saving mercy. It discerns the wretched state of the lost; but at the same time also discovers a value attaching to them, derived from the bestowal of mercy upon them. The lost sheep; the lost piece of money; the lost son, Luke 15. The conditions of mercy. Repentance, humility: the Pharisee and the publican, Luk_18:9-14. The delays and answers of mercy; its demand prayer. The working and wrestling of genuine faith (Luk_18:1-8; comp. Luk_11:5-8 : the call and demand made upon the friend at night). Evidence of the experience of grace. The blessing attaching to mercifulness; or, the unjust steward, Luk_16:1. The judgment pronounced upon unmercifulness,—presented in a negative form (worldly unmercifulness): the rich man, Luk_16:19;—presented in a positive form (spiritual unmercifulness, sanctimonious uncharitableness, harsh judgments): the harsh servant, Mat_18:23.

(3) Retributive justice as directing the administration of the kingdom of God.—The one penny to each of the laborers in the vineyard; or, the reward as of free grace (Mat_20:1). The ten servants and the ten talents; or, the Lord as a trader during His absence from the city, and during its revolt; or, the reward of quiet, persevering faithfulness, as contrasted with the punishment of unfaithfulness during the revolt of the world, on which judgment descends (Luk_19:11). The three servants, and the blessing attaching to the faithful use of the gifts entrusted to us, as contrasted with the curse attaching to the misapplication of gifts and talents (Mat_25:14-30).

(4) The judgments which complete and usher in the kingdom of God.—a. Mercy and judgment. Under the figure of the marriage feast, Mat_22:1. The two sons of the owner of the vineyard, Mat_21:28. The unfaithful husbandmen, Mat_21:33. The foolish and the wise virgins, Mat_25:1-13.—b. Final judgment upon the ministry of the word, or the evil servant, Mat_24:48. c. Final judgment upon the nations. Mercy presiding even on that awful occasion,—presented in the form of a parable, Mat_25:31.

“Here, at the climax of all the parables of the New Testament, we see the bud of the parabolical form of teaching opening up and disclosing the beauteous flower which it had enclosed. The manifestation and appearance of the kingdom of God is now clearly and undisguisedly presented, although the manifold symbolical outlines by which it is surrounded show that this section embodies only the climax of all the parables.” Lange, Leben Jesu.

Another point deserves special mention. The parables of the Lord all pointedly exhibit the contrast between the kingdom of Christ—its fundamental principle and laws—and the carnal notions of the Jews concerning the reign of the Messiah; more especially, the contrast between the free and universal grace of God, and the hierarchical and national conception of the Deity, and a partisan reign; between the apostasy of the Jews, and the faith of publicans and sinners, and even of Gentiles; between the Church and the world; the external and the internal Church; the children of outward forms, and those of the spirit; between the judgment passed by the Master upon spiritual pride, self righteousness, uncharitableness, sanctimonious harshness and rigorism of doctrine, and the gracious salvation accorded to humility, to believing service, to endurance, to love, and to gentleness.

4. The Seven Parables which treat of the development of the Kingdom of God, Matthew 13.—It will readily be perceived that these parables exhibit the entire development of the kingdom of God in its leading outlines, from the commencement to the close of it. The first parable treats of the institution of the kingdom of God, and the last, of its completion on earth by the final judgment; while the five intermediate parables successively mark its progress: the wheat among the tares; the grain of mustard seed among the trees; the leaven leavening the whole lump; the treasure found in the field; the kingdom of heaven as the pearl of great price.

At the same time, each of these parables forms in itself a complete and independent section,—like all the other doctrinal portions of Scripture, and especially the various prophetic sketches in Isaiah and in the Book of Revelation. Still, under every new phase as it emerges in each of these parables, the kingdom and its history are presented from another aspect, and in a new form, marking its onward progress from the commencement to the completion. If parables present the ideal phases in the development of the kingdom of heaven, we shall naturally expect that they also bear reference to the historical succession of the different forms through which the visible Church has passed. Accordingly, we cannot fail to trace in the parable of the sower a picture of the apostolic age; in the parable of the tares, the ancient Catholic Church springing up in the midst of heresies; in the parable of the mustard bush, resorted to by the birds of the air as if it were a tree, and loaded with their nests, a representation of the secular state-Church under Constantine the Great; in the leaven that is mixed among the three measures of meal, the pervading and transforming influence of Christianity in the mediæval Church, among the barbarous races of Europe; in the parable of the treasure in the field, the period of the Reformation; in the parable of the pearl, the contrast between Christianity and the acquisitions of modern secular culture; and in the last parable, a picture of the closing judgment. These parables embody both the bright and the dark aspect of the history of the kingdom of heaven; while the seven beatitudes reflect the light (being primarily a delineation of the ideal progress and advancement of believers), and the letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, mainly the shadows of the final catastrophe, or of the coming judgment (being primarily a delineation of the seven churches of Asia Minor). The subjoined table will serve to give a clearer view of this:

1. The poor in spirit: the kingdom of heaven. 1. The sower: the good field and the fruit. 1. Ephesus. Patience and perseverance in the work of faith. Deficiency in the root of the life of faith. 2. They that mourn: comfort. 2. The wheat among the tares. 2. Smyrna. Rich and flourishing, by the side of the synagogue of Satan. 3. The meek: possession of the earth. 3. The grain of mustard seed grown into a tree. 3. Pergamos. Hath held fast amidst martyrdom. Dwelleth where Satan’s seat is (in the world). Balaamites or Nicolaitanes: combination of Christianity with the lust of the world. 4. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness: being filled. 4. The leaven put among the three measures of meal. 4. Thyatirc. Abundance of works. The woman Jezebel: a fanatical prophetess committing fornication with the world. 5. The merciful: obtaining of mercy. 5. The treasure found in the field. 5. Sardis. Hath a name that it liveth, and is dead. A few names in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, walk with the Lord in white. 6. The pure in heart: vision of God. 6. The pearl of great price: sought and obtained at great sacrifice. 6. Philadelphia. An open door. A little strength. Kept the word. Victorious over many of the synagogue of Satan. 7. The peacemakers: dignity of the children of God. 7. The net drawn out of the sea: separation of the good and the bad fishes. 7. Laodicea. Neither cold nor hot. “I will spue thee out of My mouth. Be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door.” We do not mean to say, however, that the ideal progression in these parables fully reflects the historical succession of the principal phases in the history of the kingdom of God; it only delineates its general outlines.

All the seven parables, then, are intended to represent, in regular succession, the development of the kingdom of heaven in its conflict with and victory over the opposition of the world, and in its hidden character as contrasted with the Jewish notions of the reign of Messiah. Hence in each of the parables the lights and shadows of the kingdom of heaven are brought out. These shadows are, in the first parable, the three varieties of bad soil; in the second, the enemy, the tares, and the indiscriminating zeal of the servants; in the third, the mistake of treating a large garden plant as if it had been a forest tree, and the lodging of the birds in its branches (regarding and treating the kingdom of heaven as if it had been a worldly kingdom); in the fourth, the mixing up and the hiding of the leaven in the meal; in the fifth, the concealment of the treasure; in the sixth, the seeming disappearance of the pearl of great price in the hands of the merchants, and among other pearls; and in the seventh, the mixing up of the good fish with the bad, and with other foul breed of the sea. On the other hand, the bright side of the picture, in the first parable, is the rich field waving with fruit; in the second, the wheat outgrowing the tares; in the third, the wonderful upshooting of the grain of mustard seed; in the fourth, the leaven acting as a stronger power, pervading and affecting by its unseen efficacy the three measures of meal—thus representing the influence of the divine life overcoming and transforming our old nature; in the fifth, the picture of the treasure found, and of the surrender of all other things for its possession; in the sixth, the picture of the pearl of great price, and of the ardent devotedness with which it is sought and procured; in the seventh, the picture of the good fish, and of the net now free from the encumbrance of the bad. In accordance with the structure and symbolical meaning of the number seven, we direct our attention, in the first place, to the first four parables. Here we observe that the first and second parables primarily delineate the immense obstacles which the kingdom of heaven has to encounter—negatively from want of susceptibility (the first parable), and positively from error, heresy, and offences (the second parable). The third and fourth parables form an antithesis to this description, and delineate the wonderful progress of the kingdom of heaven as it sweeps before it these obstacles. Thus the parable of the mustard seed brings out the marvellous growth of the kingdom—how it springs up and forces itself upon the observation of the men of the world, till they even attempt to combine the Church with the world, and take their lodgment in it, just as if this garden plant had been any ordinary tree; while the parable of the leaven refers to the unseen, but all-powerful and all-transforming, efficacy of the gospel among the nations. If the first four parables present mainly the objective aspect of the kingdom of heaven, and the work of the Lord, of His servants and of His Church, the three last parables equally show the subjective bearing of the kingdom, or the action of believers. On this account the divine treasure is now represented as something which is there, but which must be sought and acquired. In the first of these parables the discovery appears as a happy incident, or rather as a free gift of Providence—the treasure being hidden; while in the second it is presented as the result of conscious higher aspirations, which must be regarded as being in themselves, though not consciously, Christian, the treasure being concentrated, as it were, into one pearl of infinite value. The last parable is again prevailingly objective in its bearing. It treats of the judgment, when the kingdom, falsely expected by the Jews in connection with the first coming of the Messiah, comes out in its full light and glory. Finally, if, according to the analogy of the first beatitude in the Sermon on the Mount, we regard the first parable as the basis of all the rest, the other six parables form an antithesis; the first three tracing the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven in the visible Church, and the last three delineating the hidden Christianity of the invisible Church. This invisible aspect of the kingdom of heaven corresponds as we might have expected, with the great element of subjective faith and striving, and with its final triumph (comp. the exegetical notes on Mat_13:44).

Throughout all these parables, however, the progress of the inward form of the kingdom of heaver is also clearly marked. In the first parable, the seed is the direct preaching of the gospel; in the second, it is sound doctrine in opposition to the noxious weeds of heresy; in the third, a Christian confession, and a professing community of Christians; in the fourth, Christianity as the spirit of life, and the power of regeneration; in the fifth, saving truth in its grand, all-comprehensive principle (Christ for us); in the sixth, the spiritual treasure in its highest and clearest concentration—the love and peace of Christ, or Christ in us; and in the seventh, the final result of all history and of the judgment—the heavenly feast.

HOMILETICAL HINTS ON THE WHOLE SECTION

The wisdom of Jesus as a Teacher.—The words of the Lord “like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”—The parables of the Lord are gospel to the poor, even so far as their popular form is concerned.—Object of the parabolical mode of teaching: both judgment and mercy.—The parabolical discourse, a repetition and revisal of the revelation of God, which man had forgotten. 1. At first God revealed Himself to man by the parable of creation., and by special parables connected with it, but after that by the word; 2. man made an idol of the parable itself, and thereby came into opposition with the word; 3. Christ now shows again to man the word in the parables, in order to reclaim him for the spirit of His word.—The truth obliged, in compassion, to disguise itself in the form of parables in the presence of its children.—The gospel a fruit of the tree of life, both as to its kernel, and as to its husk.—The seven parables concerning the development of the kingdom of heaven prefaced by the parable concerning the fixed rule of this development (Mar_4:26).—The seven leading phases of the kingdom of God.—The seven forms of human economy which portray the economy of God: the sower; field-servants; husbandry; the mistress of the house preparing bread; the farmer; the merchantman; the fisherman.—Import of the fact, that in these seven parables the Lord brings out with increasing distinctness the province and activity of man in the kingdom of God.—How the treasure of the kingdom of God is increasingly to assume a more definite form in our minds.—How it is ultimately to be transformed into the pearl of great price.—We ourselves attain value in the sight of God by finding the pearl of great price.

Footnotes:

[Dr. Trench, in the General Introduction to his Notes on the Parables, instead of adding another to the many definitions of the parable already given by the Greek fathers (comp. Suicer: Thesaurus s. v. ðáñáâïëô ), by Jerome, by Bengel, Unger, Teelmann, and other modern writers, prefers to explain its nature by noting the differences of the parable from the fable, the myth, the proverb, and the allegory. Dr. Alford likewise briefly distinguishes the parable from these kindred forms of composition, and then definer the parable, similarly as Unger and Meyer, to be “a serious narration, within the limits of probability, of a course of action pointing to some moral or spiritual Truth.”—P. S.]

[The Edinb. trsl. has here: “what unmercifulness,” from the first edition of Lange: “welche Unbarmherzigkeit,” which is an evident misprint for weltliche, as opposed to the following “geistliche Unbarmherzigkeit.”—P. S.]

[Alford: “The seven parables related in this chapter cannot be regarded as a collection made by the evangelist as relating to one subject, the Kingdom of Heaven and its development; they are clearly indicated by Mat_13:53 to have been all spoken on one and the same occasion, and form indeed a complete and glorious whole in their inner and deeper sense. The first four of these parables appear to have been spoken to the multitude from the ship; the last three, to the disciples in the house.” D. Brown: “These parables are seven in number; and it is not a little remarkable that while this is the sacred number, the first Four of them were spoken to the mixed multitude, while the remaining Three were spoken to the Twelve in private—these divisions, four and three, being themselves notable in the symbolical arithmetic of Scripture. Another thing remarkable in the structure of these parables is that while the first of the seven—that of the Sower—is of the nature of an introduction to the whole, the remaining six consist of three pairs—the second and seventh, the third and fourth, and the fifth and sixth, corresponding to each other; each pair setting forth the same general truths, but with a certain diversity of aspect. All this can hardly be accidental.”—Observe also the natural and easy transition in the order of the seven parables, from the sower and the good seed to the enemy and the tares among the wheat; from the sown field to the mustard seed and mighty tree, from the external growth of the plant to the internal growth and process of penetration and assimilation; then to the treasure in the field, suggested by the seed buried in the ground, from the lucky discoverer to the earnest seeker and finder, from the treasure to the precious pearl, the treasure of the deep; which suggests the sea, the fishermen with their net, the mixed crowd on the beach, the final separation and consummation. Thus from the first sowing of Christianity in the days of Christ and the apostles to the general judgment we have one continued process of growth and development of good and bad. Christ and Anti-Christ (wheat and tares), external and internal (mustard seed and leaven), finding without seeking (their treasure in the field), and seeking and finding (the pearl of great price), and a continuous partial judgment and separation—since the history of the world and the church is a (not the) judgment of both—foreshadowing and ending at last in the final consummation on the banks of eternity (the parable of the net). All these processes go hand in hand and act and react one upon another, each period doing the same work under new aspects, with peculiar gifts, with fresh zeal and energy.—P. S.]