4 ch. xxv. 32. 49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and • sever the wicked from among the just, 49. "World." " Age," as before, in verses 39, 40. one, and the other party is hid from us, and will be to the day of judgment." (J. H. Newman, Sermon on Contest between Truth and Falsehood in the Church, vol. iii.) Again, this parable sets aside as irrelevant all notions of an invisible Church in this world as distinguished from the visible. There are not two nets, one gathering of every kind, the other gathering only good fish. The figment of an invisible Church, consisting of God's true people only, has been invented to get rid of the teaching of this very parable (along, of course, with those of "the tares" and "the Vine and its branches," John xv.). There is but one Church, which, by its very nature as an organized body, must be visible; but this visible body has invisible privileges, a secret grace of union with Christ which the world sees not, and cannot as the world, take into account. Only some in the Church make due use of its privileges, so as to derive through them grace from the living Head. These are those who have found the Treasure, and esteem it as priceless. These are the wheat, the rest are tares. These are the fruitful branches, the rest are barren or are withered. So, again, to quote the words of Dr. Newman, “It is maintained that bad men cannot be members of the true Church, therefore there is a true Church distinct from the Visible Church. But we shall be nearer the truth if, instead of saying 'bad men cannot be members of the true Church,' we word it bad men cannot be true members of the Church.' "Again, it is said, that the visible Church has not the gifts of grace, because wicked men are members of it, who, of course, cannot have them. What! must the Church be without them herself because she is not able to impart them to wicked men? What reasoning is this, because certain individuals of a body have them not, therefore the body has them not! Surely it is possible that certain members of a body should be debarred, under circumstances, from its privileges, and this we consider to be the case with bad men." .... Such is the parable of the draw-net. What is the net itself? What may we consider to be its meshes? Evidently those things pertaining to it which distinguish it from any mere worldly organization or in P 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. P ver. 42. 51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 50." Wailing," &c. "The wailing," as in verse 42. 51. "Jesus saith unto them." So C., E., F., G., K., L., M., other later Uncials, almost all Cursives, all Syriacs; but omitted by N, B., D., most old Latin, Vulg., Copt., Æth. (A wanting.) stitution, whilst they serve to enclose in it all within its sweep or range. Such, for instance, as Baptism, the profession of Christianity in such wide general formulas as the Creeds, the Apostolic ministry, the celebration of the Eucharist, the public prayers. All these things constitute its unity; they enclose, embrace, and comprehend in one body its various members, without separating or distinguishing them one from another. Each man now at this present does this by himself, by finding the treasure or the pearl, and surrendering all to keep it. Our Lord concludes the parable as He does that of the field sown with wheat and tares, very severely, so that each one may put to himself the wholesome question, "Am I now one of the wheat or one of the tares? If the net were now to be drawn to shore, should I be gathered, or should I be cast away?” 51. "Have ye understood all these things?” the Saviour asks; i.e., Have ye understood their spiritual meaning? They answer readily, and no doubt sincerely, "Yea, Lord;" and yet, doubtless, this knowledge, which they then deemed sufficient, so that they asked Him no more questions, as they had done before, was as nothing to that which they received when, after His Resurrection, He "breathed on them, and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." It was then, and at Pentecost, that they received that enlightening which made their former knowledge seem as nothing. "So it is with us all, when we say that we understand Divine things; we understand them so far as our minds are in a fit condition for understanding; but probably in those things which we think we know best, there are depths into which we do not see, and secret things reserved for a more advanced stage of spiritual enlightenment: for in spiritual matters we are all as children." (Bp. H. Goodwin.) 52. "Therefore, every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of God," &c., "things new and old." Why does our Lord preface this 52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. 4 Cant. vii. 13. 53 And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. , ch. ii. 23. Mark vi. 1. Lake iv. 16, 23. 54 And when he was r come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? 52. "Instructed unto the kingdom of heaven." So E., F., G., L., other later Uncials, most Cursives, &c. ; but N, B., C., K., a few Cursives (1, 13, 33, 124, &c.), read "instructed to the kingdom of heaven." Vulg., omnis scriba doctus in regno cœlorum. The rendering of the last Revision, "Every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven," is simply confusing. It seems to imply that our Lord alludes to a Jewish scribe becoming a Christian convert, whereas His remark applies to every teacher of His Gospel. remark with "Therefore?" I think that in this word He refers to the teaching which He had been adopting. He had, out of the treasures of his infinite wisdom, been illustrating and commending new truths by old illustrations, by the old and yet ever fresh and striking illustrations drawn from the operations of husbandry, from the growth and overshadowing of trees, from the diligent seeking and finding of precious things. He had also been illustrating old truths, truths coeval with the Old Testament (such as the very partial operation of the Word of God among the ancient people of God), by new parables, such as the "draw-net" and the "enemy sowing tares." In this, too, He sets us, if we would be successful teachers, an example, in that we also are to draw lessons of wisdom from all quarters; from all heathen sayings and examples, if they will abide being tested by the purity of the Gospels, from nature, from history, from science, from art, from trade, from daily life; even from warfare, the worst of human evils, a very great teacher, a very well instructed Scribe drew parables of Christian watchfulness and endurance. (Ephes. vi. 11, 18; 2 Tim. ii. 3, 4.) 54. "His own country," i.e., Nazareth. "Whence hath this man this wisdom?" This place is to be remarked as showing that our Lord, during His youth and early manhood, not only did not exercise His Divine Is. xlix. 7. 55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, "James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? Mark vi. 3. John vi. 42. 56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? ch. xii. 46. Whence then hath this man all these things? u Mark xv. 4Q Butch. xi. 6. 57 And they Iwere offended in him. Jesus said unto them, 'A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. Luke iv. 24. John iv. 44. Power in performing miracles, particularly such as are falsely attributed to Him in the Apocryphal Gospels; but that He also veiled His wisdom. The incident of His disputing with the doctors in the Temple shows that from His twelfth year He was quite capable of teaching and preaching publicly, and yet such not being the will of His Father, He kept Himself in retirement. In this He was an example of humility to the vast mass of those whose nature He had assumed. It is their lot to be despised, unnoticed, unknown beyond the circle of some small village or country town, or narrow street, or crowded court. And the Saviour, by the example of the first thirty years of His life, teaches them that they should not be impatient under this, but quietly, humbly, and unobtrusively do their duty in the state of life unto which it hath pleased God to call them. 55. "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon and Judas ?" I shall elsewhere give a short excursus on the brethren of the Lord. There can be little doubt that they were not His own brethren, i.e., his uterine brothers, but His cousins. Some or all of these four must have been believers at the time of His Death, or at least very shortly indeed after His Resurrection. And if so, it is inconceivable that our Lord should have committed His mother to the care of a stranger in blood when it was the duty and privilege of her own children to succour her. 57. "They were offended in him." It is unlikely that this "offence" is the same as that which made the Nazarenes attempt the act of violence recorded in Luke iv. 28, 29. 58. St. Mark says "could not do." Faith seems to put the Almighty power of God into the hands of men, whereas unbelief 58 And he did not many mighty works there because of ■ Mark vi. 5, 6. their unbelief. seems to tie up even the hands of the Almighty. A man, generally speaking, can do but little good among his kinsfolk and relations; because it is difficult for them to look with the eye of faith upon one whom they have been always used to behold only with those of the flesh, and because the real or apparent weaknesses of the minister make more impression on those who see them, than the power of the ministry, and the force of the truths presented make on their heart. (Quesnel.) CHAP. XIV. T that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Α A Jesus. Mark vi. 14. Luke ix. 7. I Or, are wrought by him. Anno Domini 30. b Mark vi. 17. Luke iii. 19, 20. © Lev. xviii. 16. & xx. 21. 2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works || do shew forth themselves in him. 3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 4 For John said unto him, "It is not lawful for thee to have her. d 5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. d ch. xxi. 26. Luke xx. 6. 2. "Mighty works do shew forth themselves in him;" literally, "the powers energize [or work mightily] in him;" virtutes operantur in eo. (Vulg.) 1. "Herod the tetrarch." This was Herod Antipas, son of Herod called "the Great," and Malthacé, by his father's will tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. He had married the daughter of Aretas, styled "King of Arabia," whom he divorced in order to form an adulterous |