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24 And he saith unto them, Take heed whats ye hear: With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you; and unto you that hear shall more be given

25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, frome him shall be taken even that which he hath.

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24 man hath ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you: 25 and more shall be given unto you. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.

a 1 Pet. 2: 2....b Matt. 7: 2....e Luke 8: 18.

24, 25. Thus far the duty of using the truth as light is used has been grounded in the nature of truth and the purpose of the Teacher; now it is grounded in the law of human life itself. The words, And he saith unto them, repeated here, probably indicate, not a new beginning with a change of time and place, but rather the narrator's remembrance of the special emphasis with which all this was spoken, very likely after a solemn pause.-Take heed what ye hear. Luke, "how ye hear." Not, "Be careful what you listen to," as if he would warn against dangerous teachers, but, "Carefully consider what you are hearing; observe how important it is; remember how necessary that you make the right use of it." It is almost, "Take heed to what you hear." The reason assigned for this caution is that, according to the universal law, what one does will return to him. The words that hear are to be omitted, and the omission considerably changes the structure of the sentence: "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you, and added to you."-This saying, With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you, proverbial in form, is applied in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:2) to the retribution that must come upon uncharitableness and self-willed judgment. Here our Lord gives it a quite different application; it is a law of life, and may be applied in many ways. In this case its lesson is, “You will be dealt with, | as to truth, as you deal with others. Hide it, and it will be hidden from you; impart it, and it will be imparted to you." How many souls, in dealing with truth as God has given it to them, have found it even so-that concealment was loss, while giving was gain! If the apostles had kept their truth as a private trust, how their souls would have shrivelled!—Shall more be given is a promise of a return, which shall be not merely as the gift, but greater. So Luke 6:38. (Compare 2 Cor. 9:8-14.)-Verse 25 contains what was evidently more or less a proverbial saying with our Lord. He that hath, to him shall be given, etc. (See Matt. 25:29; Luke 19: 26.) Here it fits the connection far otherwise than as in the passages referred to another illustration of our Lord's various use of single important sayings. Here,

by a very striking turn of thought, he that hath is identified with him who imparts his trust of truth to others, the free giver, the true apostle, messenger of grace and truth; while he that hath not is identified with him who keeps his trust of truth to himself, content to be ever a disciple without becoming an apostle. The giver hath, the miser hath not. How true a description of men, and how true an interpretation of the law of life!-And now it is declared that for these two classes there shall be retribution. He that hath, to him shall be given. So Luke 6: 38—a passage that may serve as a link between this and Matt. 7:2: "Give, and it shall be given unto you." (See also Luke 12: 48.)-And he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath. How is this? He "hath not," and yet he "hath" something that he can lose. Yes; the spiritual miser possesses much in his own esteem ; much truth has been entrusted to him; but if he is not a giver of truth, and so a possessor, his possession shall become no possession: what he hath shall be worthless to him. Such instruction may well have made the apostles careful what use they made of the parables. Partly to this, perhaps, it is due that they were so faithful in putting the lamp on the lampstand, not only by preaching, but also by making record of his words, especially such words as these.

26-29. THE PARABLE OF THEGROWTH OF THE SEED.-Mark's record has no parallel here, he alone having preserved to us this beautiful and suggestive parable. It seems not a little strange that such a parable should find only one out of the four to record it; but the reason why it is so can scarcely be even conjectured.

The key for the interpretation of the parable must be sought in the position which it occupies. It stands, in Mark, immediately after the parable of the Sower-i. e. nothing has intervened except the interpretation and the remarks on the true use of parables. The parable of the Mustard-Seed immediately follows it; but before the parable of the Mustard-Seed comes, in Matthew, that of the Good Seed and the Tares. This parable is thus associated closely with the two in which the work of the Saviour in his kingdom is compared to a sower's work, but its affinities are closer with the former, with which Mark

26¶ And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear; after that, the full corn in the

ear.

29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately hed putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man 27 should cast seed upon the earth; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring 28 up and grow, he knoweth not how. The earth beareth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, 29 then the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, straightway he putteth forth the sickle, because the harvest is come.

a Matt. 13: 24....b Gen. 1: 11, 12....c Eccles. 3: 1, 11; Job 5:26....d Rev. 14: 15.1 Or, yieldeth....2 Or, alloweth....3 Or, sendeth forth

the full corn in the ear, the ripened grain, ready for the garner.-But when the fruit is brought forth-or permits, for such is the best translation of paradoi-immediately he putteth in (or sends forth) the sickle, because the harvest has come. The grain is harvested as soon as it is ready.

In the interpretation we must not suppose it our duty to find in this parable the whole truth concerning the kingdom of Christ. No one parable gives us that; and this shows us one aspect, and only one, of the work of Christ among men. It shows us the kingdom of Christ in its relation to the general operation of God in the world. Nor must we suppose that every part of the comparison is signif

associates it. In that parable (verses 3-8) the seed, which is the word, is sown, and its various destinies are pictured as they occur in the life and experience of individual hearers. In this, nothing is said of individual conduct or destiny, but the method of advance from sowing to harvest in the field as a whole is set forth. The sower is the same sower as in the first parable; the seed is the same seed, though more broadly regarded, perhaps, as including all the powers and influences of the kingdom. The field is the world. Some have preferred to take the parable as the illustration of the work of the gospel in the individual life, the history of personal Christian growth; but the connection with the parable of the Sower is decidedly against this interpretation. It is far more nat-icant and closely to be pressed in the interpreural that the two sowers and the two fields should be the same in the two parables; and after the first picture, so full of warning and so suggestive of possibilities of failure, there surely was place for another, in which the destiny of the good seed should be foretold on a wider scale and with reference to the methods of the world-wide work.

tation. If that principle were adopted, there could never be a parable. Parables proceed upon the principle of resemblance, not of identity. In the present case there are some parts of the parable that are present only as parts of the imagery by which the central idea is set forth.

The kingdom of Christ is set forth in its relation, not to the forces of nature or the natural receptivity of man, but to the general operation of God in the world. As the farmer submits his seed to the operation of the powers of nature, so does the Messiah, whether sowing in person or through the agency of his followers, submit his truth and kingdom to that general operation of God in human history wherein God works in accordance with the nature that he has given to man. Not to nature or to man, but to the world as ruled by God, he commits his gospel. It takes its place among other powers in the world, and among them it does its work. He knoweth not how does not mean that the Messiah knows not how the true seed grows; it is a part of the picture of spontaneous growth in nature.-The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself does not mean that the true seed bears its fruit without divine influences; for even in the parable, as Bengel re

26. As if a man should cast seed into the ground. The definite article is used, "the seed"-i. e. either the seed that he is sowing, "his seed," or "the seed already in mind," the seed that has been mentioned in the foregoing parable. No valid objection appears to the latter purpose in the use of the definite article, and it certainly makes an excellent sense, giving us the second parable as an exposition of the first. When he has cast the seed into the ground he sleeps and rises, night and daysleeps by night and rises when day comes, according to his wont-and while he is doing nothing to make it germinate, the seed springs up and grows, he knows not how.-For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself. The for should be omitted, and the emphasis, as in the original, be marked by commencing with of herself.—And the grades of growth are marked; not in a day do the powers and in-marks, the culture of the soil is not excluded, fluences of the creation mature the grain. First the blade, undistinguishable from grass, yet not grass; then the ear, ready for the grain to form, and yet not filled; after that

neither are the influences of sun and rain. But the gospel is cast into the world as an element in human life, and it does its work, not by startling divine interpositions, but as grain ma

30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?

311 is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:

32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

30 And he said, How shall we liken the kingdom of 31 God? or in what parable shall we set it forth? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds 32 that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, groweth up, and becometh greater than all the herbs, and putteth out great branches; so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof.

a Matt. 13: 31, 32; Luke 13: 18, 19.... Prov. 4: 18; Isa. 11:9; Dan. 2: 44; Mal. 1: 11.—1 Gr. As unto.

tures and seeds grow under the fostering influences of Divine Providence. This is the teaching of the parable, and the best commentary on it is found in the history of Christian truth among men. In exactly this way-silently, as seeds grow-has God's kingdom come thus far, and is it coming still. This is a parable of hope, for in the world in which Christ places his seed there are powers at work that render the harvest certain. The harvest is the gathering of the righteous into the kingdom of their Father (Matt. 13:43); and our Lord says that this shall be done whenever the fruit "permits "i. e. is ripe. All that are ripe for the kingdom shall be brought into the kingdom.

30-32. THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD-SEED. Parallels, Matt. 13:31, 32; Luke 13: 18, 19.-Whereunto (or how) shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison (or parable) shall we compare it? In using the plural, we, our Lord seems to conceive of his disciples as deliberating with him in the choice of a comparison; not that he was in doubt as to how the gospel could be illustrated comparisons thronged upon him-but because he would have them also on the watch for comparisons. The world was full of them, and they, the teachers of men in higher things, must learn, as well as their Master, to find them. Yet possibly he may sometimes, like any one of them, have had to feel after an illustration in nature that was suited to his thought.-A grain of mustardseed. There seems to be no good reason for looking elsewhere than to the ordinary mustard of the East. Thomson (The Land and the Book, 2. 100) has seen it as high as a horse and rider. [See also the beautiful incident in Dr. Hackett's Illustrations of Scripture, p. 124.-A. H.] This is the Sinapis nigra; but some have thought that the Salvadora Persica was more probably the herb that Jesus had in mind. The former, however, meets all the real requirements of the case, and was the more familiar plant to his hearers. "It (the Sinapis nigra) is a small grain producing a large result; the least of the husbandman's seeds, becoming the greatest of the husbandman's herbs. This is the point of the

parable, and gives the only sense in which the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustardseed" (The Bible Educator, 1. 121).—Less than and greater than are not to be pressed to the point of minute precision. There may be smaller seeds in existence without giving us reason to stumble at our Saviour's words. The mustardseed was commonly spoken of as the smallest of seeds, and that is enough. - Becometh greater than all the herbs. Matthew, "is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree”— i. e., of course, a tree in appearance, not botanically. The great branches are such as one

MUSTARD-PLANT.

would think impossible upon an herb that sprang from so small a seed.-The comparison calls for very little explanation, the lessonsmall beginnings and great results-being very plain. Such is the kingdom, begun obscurely, with no human prospect of greatness, no seeming possibility of success. It began among the Jews, a disappointed people chafing under foreign masters; it was the smallest of sects among them; it contradicted their ideas, and was rejected by them; it seemed to be powerless at home, and without opportunities abroad; and its Founder died on the cross. Even after the day of Pentecost it seemed but a feeble sect.

33 And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.

34 But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

33 And with many such parables spake he the word 34 unto them, as they were able to hear it: and without a parable spake he not unto them: but privately to his own disciples he expounded all things. And on that day, when even was come, he saith

35

a John 16: 12.

Yet compare the strong language of Paul in Rom. 16: 26; Col. 1: 23 as to the wide extension of the gospel within the apostolic times. Consider also the power of the name and principles of Jesus in the world to-day, and the ever-widening circle of Christian influence. The kingdom has grown out of all resemblance to its humble beginning. Such is the kingdom; and the same rule is to be observed in its agencies. They are often obscure and yet mighty. A single act of a quiet person often seems possessed of a germinant power of usefulness that brings most unexpected fruit to the glory of God. | Christian history is full of illustrations. Notice that this comparison does not set forth the greatness of the kingdom absolutely, as destined to fill the earth, but only relatively, in contrast with the insignificance of its apparent promise, 33, 34. CONCLUSION OF THIS RECORD OF PARABOLIC TEACHING. Parallel, Matt. 13:34, 35. With many such parables. Mark thus recognizes a larger teaching by parables on that occasion, which he does not report. Matthew places before this point the parables of the Tares and the Leaven, and after it, in the same connection, the exposition of the parable of the Tares, and the parables of the Hidden Treasure, the Costly Pearl, and the Net cast into the Sca. Of this group, Luke records only the Sower, the Mustard-Seed, and the Leaven; Mark, only the Sower, the Growth of the Seed, and the Mustard-Seed. Mark, doubtless, knew that others were spoken, but why he omitted them we cannot affirm.-As they were able to hear it-i. e. not in amount proportioned to their ability to receive and understand it-not as in John 16: 12-but in parables, that being the only form in which the people were spiritually able to hear what he had to say to them. This was the mode which their limited ability to hear and understand forced upon him.-And without a parable spake he not unto them. His public teaching on this occasion was altogether by parables. Not even the expositions were given in the audience of the people. Not improbably, the same practice extended to other occasions at this period of his ministry; so that we have clear indication of a large number of unrecorded parables. Undoubtedly, there must

have been many such, his facility in illustrating from nature and life being enough to render it certain that he was frequently "using simil itudes." For the multitude they were intended to awaken curiosity and thoughtfulness; for "his own disciples," to whom he expounded them in private, they were of the very substance of his message-pictures of fundamental truths of his kingdom. Compare 1 John 2:21: "I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it." Notice that his explanations were not for those who were most dull of apprehension; the explanations were reserved for those who could understand. Here, again, "to him that hath shall be given." The disciples thought they understood this course of parables (Matt. 13: 51), and, in a sense, they did understand them; yet what a "springing and germinant" meaning had these words of Jesus! Not fully interpreted even yet. The understanding of his truth is progressive; men in every age understand it, yet do not understand it; it is revealed, yet it is ever coming to the mind and heart of man; it is known, yet it is so great as almost to seem unknown.—It is Mark that adds, in his own vein, as they were able to hear it, and speaks of the private exposition to his own disciples. Matthew, not less characteristically, has here a quotation from Psalm 78 : 2 as to the utterance of parables and dark sayings. Matthew is the evangelist who constantly connects the new covenant with the old; Mark is the one who constantly views it in itself and pictures the Christ as a peculiar personage, working alone a mighty work among men.

35-41. JESUS STILLS A TEMPEST ON THE LAKE. Parallels, Matt. 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-25.

35, 36. The same day, when the even was come—i. e. the day of the parables. Matthew and Luke differ from Mark and from each other as to the time and connection of this event, but their notes of time are not so definite as Mark's, and his order bears the stronger marks of intentional arrangement; hence, as usual, the only course is to follow him.-Let us pass over unto the other side. The eastern side of the lake, the starting-point being somewhere near Capernaum.—“ Leaving the multitude" is a better sense for aphentes ton ochlon here than

36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship: and there were also with him other little ships.

having sent the multitude away. The purpose was to find rest. How great was the need of it, a backward glance will show. The first words of Matt. 13: 1 distinctly connect the ministry of parables by the lakeside with the coming of his mother and brethren, and with the bitter charge of the scribes from Jerusalem, as all occurring on the same day. Thus, to find the events of the morning, we are carried back to Mark 3:20 or Matt. 12:22. Within the day now ending he had been so thronged at home as to have no time to eat; he had healed a demoniac; he had been accused of being in league

36 unto them, Let us go over unto the other side. And leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even as he was, in the boat. And other boats were

been illustrated before him. The only doubt in this enumeration relates to the explanation of the parables, which may not yet have been reached; they may have brought him their question and received their answer or explanation now, as they were going to the other side. Such a day's work as this could not fail to bring a terrible strain upon him in mind and heart. We must not forget how intensely living his own truth was to him, or how deeply he cared for the destinies of his hearers. And this had been a day of rejection for his truth and of hardening for some, at least, of those who

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with the evil one, and so of being the worst of | demoniacs and the most wicked of men; he had thus met with the most violent rejection of his mission and his goodness; he had been sought by his own kindred as a man beside himself, and had been obliged to repel them, even though his mother was among them; he had changed the method of his teaching, had taken up the use of parables, and had delivered many (verse 33) to a thronging multitude; he had afterward explained these to his disciples, who were eager and yet not swift to understand him; and all the day the parable of the Sower, with its three fruitless classes to one fruitful, had

heard him. Whether he knew then the experience of his servants in depression and despondency-the "Lord, who hath believed our report?"-we cannot say; but that day was enough to give him full sympathy with his servants in the experience of mental weariness. Far deeper and more consoling is this weariness than that of John 4:6, when he was merely "wearied with his journey;" now he was wearied with his work.-They took him, even as he was in the ship (or boat)-peculiar to Mark-i. e., probably, because he was utterly weary and would have them spend no time in preparation. He was "in the boat," as

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