27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say

Mark x. 28.

Luke xviii. 28.

7 Deut. xxxiii. 9. ch. iv. 20.

Luke v. 11. unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regenera

tion when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

1 ch. xx. 21. Luke xxii. 28, 29, 30. 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3. Rev. ii. 26.

27. "What shall we have therefore ?" Both in Greek and Vulg. "we" is placed last in this sentence, and so is very emphatic.

27. "Behold, we have left all and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" This question undoubtedly shows that St. Peter had but an imperfect idea of some of the first principles of that kingdom of grace of which he was to be, at the outset, the chief steward or administrator. But the question arises, how was it possible for him to think otherwise before the day of Pentecost? It is to be remembered that, after all the lessons of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, and the great Forty Days, on the very day of the Ascension the Apostles asked the Lord, "Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom unto Israel?" We have a commentator remarking on this question of St. Peter's thus: "They had not in the true sense of the word denied themselves, though they had forsaken the earthly calling and the comforts of their home." But surely we ought to think better of those whom Christ chose to be so close to Himself, and of whom He said such great things. In speaking or writing so of them, do we not, in a measure, blame Him Who chose them? Let commentators speak freely and honestly of Scripture characters, but let them also remember that the words of Christ in this Gospel (ch. vi. ver. 2) may one day be applied to them and their judgment. Our Lord, it is to be remarked, does not blame Peter for the spirit of this question, and yet, no doubt, the parable which is coming was suggested by it.

28. "Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man.... twelve thrones," &c. The meaning of this place, so far as in this state of things we are able to apprehend it, must depend on the meaning of the term "Regeneration." If the Regeneration means the time of the Christian Dispensation, i.e., the

U

29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, a Mark x. 29, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

30. Luke xviii.

29, 30.

b ch. xx. 16. & xxi. 31, 32.

Mark x. 31.

Luke xili, 30.

30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

29. "Wife" omitted by B., D., some old Latin (a, b, e, ff, m, n), but retained by &, C., all later Uncials, almost all Cursives, some old Latin (c, f, g, h, 1, q), Syriacs, Sah., Copt., Arm.

present time, then the Apostles must have now in the unseen world some remarkable place under Christ in directing the Church, or in some unknown way guarding or assisting her. I confess that this appears to me to be natural. If angelic spirits are represented in the Apocalypse as employed upon the concerns of the Church, why not the spirits of Apostles? It is difficult to suppose that St. Paul, for instance, since the time of his martyrdom, has been enjoying for 1800 years mere rest, or has been engaged only in the worship of praise. It seems more natural to suppose that, if the conditions of the intermediate state permit it, he should have been actively employed in furthering, in unknown ways, that work into which, while on earth, he threw his whole heart.

If the Regeneration refers to the final consummation, then this promise means that the Apostles shall sit as assessors with Christ. [1 Cor. vi. 3.]

The difficulty, however, with respect to "judging the twelve tribes of Israel" is very considerable, for even allowing that the distinction between Jew and Gentile will then exist, the greater part of the Apostles did not confine their ministrations to Jews, much less to the so-called Lost Tribes. Tradition represents St. Andrew labouring in Scythia, St. Thomas in India, and so on. The most likely interpretation seems to be that the "twelve tribes of Israel' mean the full and completed number of the Spiritual Israel. 29. "Every one that hath forsaken," &c. . . . . . . . "inherit everlasting life." The words of the Saviour, as reported in St. Matthew, are easy to understand. They simply mean that they who forsake all worldly things for Christ shall not lose their reward even here. They shall have joy and peace, such as no human possessions can afford, and in the world to come the reward will more than com

.......

pensate for any loss, not only of wealth or estate, but of son and daughter and friends. I have read somewhere of a very rich East Indian, who had accumulated an immense fortune, who told the writer that the people he most envied were some missionaries working in his neighbourhood. "I have an immense income," says he, "but have no power to enjoy it, whilst these poor fellows, who have not a spare rupee, are as happy as birds."

The words, as reported in St. Mark, present much greater difficulty, of which, I confess, I have never seen an adequate explanation, but I gladly defer my consideration of them till I come to that Gospel.

FOR

CHAP. XX.

OR the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

The parable of "the labourers in the vineyard" is given by our Lord in illustration of the words with which the last chapter concludes: "Many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first FOR (yap) the kingdom of heaven," &c.

It has been felt in all ages to be a parable of no ordinary difficulty, and I believe that in this very difficulty lies its teaching. Its difficulty is that it makes the Lord of the Vineyard act unfairly in giving the labourers who had worked one hour, and that in the cool of the evening, the same remuneration with those who had worked twelve hours, some of which were passed under the noontide heat; and they were also paid the last. Looked at from a human point of view, nothing can remove this difficulty. It is intended that we should feel it in order to show us that we must leave to God Himself the solution of many things connected with His dealings towards us in the concerns of the world, or of the Church, or of our own souls. We must trust that at the last God will make all clear, but at present He cannot do so, because of His own infinite perfection and our finite and very imperfect nature; so that we must trust that He does, and will do, all things well, though at present

2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a || penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

The Roman penny is the eighth part of an ounce, which after five shillings the ounce is seven pence halfpenny, ch. xvii. 28.

3 And he went out about the third hour, and

saw others standing idle in the market-place,

2. A penny, denarius; but taking into account the greater value of money then, it would be equivalent to at least half-a-crown now.

some of His ways seem unequal, and He gives "no account of His matters." Nothing, I say, can remove the difficulty, for the difficulty is inherent not only in the structure of the parable, but also in all the explanations of it which have been suggested.

Let us take the two principal suggestions.

1st. That the parable relates to the call of individual Christians at different ages of life to serve God. It is an undoubted fact, and no one would think of denying it, that if two men are called by God's effectual calling-by that voice of Christ which makes the dead to live, one at twenty years old, the other at sixty; and both continue faithful till death, they will both receive eternal life, which being eternal, will be to each the same in duration, and in a glorified or spiritual body, and also in some Paradise, or Heaven, or New Jerusalem, or "world to come," or "future state of bliss," into which, though it may have infinite degrees of blessedness, moral and physical evil will never enter. Now this may be taken to be the penny, the day's wages of the parable: and it is clear that it will be in the particular respects above mentioned the same to all who are "saved." And measured by a mere worldly standard, i.e., taking nothing into account but so much time, or so much piecework on the one side, and so much money on the other, it is unfair. But the things of that spiritual world, in which are God and the spirit of man, and all its capacities for good or evil, cannot be so dealt with. To show the infinite difference between the standards it is sufficient to mention that the ground of one soul converted early may produce only thirtyfold, and the ground of some other soul converted later may produce a hundred; and so, on the principles of mere calculation of so much work in so much time, the last may be first. And again, though the penny, equal in each case represents the gift of eternal life, it in no respect represents the enjoyment of that gift; for the enjoyment of eternal life depends not upon the

4 And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.

length of the life, or of the sphere in which it will be passed, but upon the state of the spirit. It stands to reason that the man who loves God more will enjoy the presence of God more than the man who loves Him less, just as in this world the devout man will enjoy the same service of God more than the undevout. It is impossible to imagine that a man like St. Paul will have only the same enjoyment of heaven as some man saved only, as it were, by fire.

Now supposing (which I do not believe) that the calling or hiring in the parable alludes to God calling the soul at different ages of human life, it is clear that the parable forces itself upon everyone who thinks seriously, this question: In what respects can eternal life be presented under the figure of an equal sum of money given to all servants of God, no matter how long their service, and in what respects it assuredly cannot, be so represented? And the due consideration of this leads to the very root of the matter, the answer to St. Peter's question, "we have left all—what shall we have?" Our Lord, in consideration to them, answers the question in this case by the promise of the twelve thrones; but He proceeds to show that such questions cannot be answered, because they depend on considerations known only to God.

But we will now take the less popular, but probaby the truer explanation, viz., that it refers to God's calling the Gentiles at a much later period in the history of the world, and putting them on a footing of perfect equality with His ancient people. This, it is ever to be remembered, was, next to the great facts of Redemption in the Death and Resurrection of Christ, the great event of the new Testament. It was the greatest change in the dealings of God with man that had occurred for 2,000 years. A special Apostle was raised up to carry out thoroughly what it involved. But it was received by the chosen people-those who might be said to have been in the vineyard of God for the twelve hours-with the greatest repugnance. The book of the Acts and the Epistles are full of their one complaint, "Thou hast made them equal unto us." And looked at from a mere human standpoint, judged by the mere feelings and prejudices of the natural man, gauged by the spirit which prompted one of the best of them to ask, "We have forsaken