And he did not, &c.— We are not to understand these words as if the power of Christ was here disarmed: but only that they brought but few sick people to him for a cure, Mark 6:5. He did not judge it convenient to obtrude his miracles upon them, and so could not honourably and properly perform them. On the same principle it is that faith, in some cases, though not in all, is made the condition of receiving a cure. Compare ch. Matthew 9:29. Mark 9:23 and Acts 14:9. Christ saw proper to make it so here, as he well might, considering what the Nazarenes must undoubtedly have heard of him from other places, and what they had themselves confessed but just before, of mighty works being wrought by his hands; which shews indeed that their unbelief did not so much consist in a doubt of his miraculous power, as of his divine mission, which, to any unprejudiced person's mind, that power so abundantly proved. In this view therefore it is hard to say, how he could, consistently with his character and perfections, have lavished away his favours on so unworthy a people. Dr. Clarke explains this, "He could not do any mighty works there, consistently with his rule and method of acting, or with his present purposes and designs." See vol. 9: serm. 3.; the note on Mark 6:6.; Doddridge; and Olearius. The reason, says one, why many mighty works are not wrought now is, not that the faith is everywhere planted, but that unbelief every where prevails.
Inferences.—We have in this chapter one more prophetic testimony to the divine character and mission of our great Redeemer,—his speaking in parables; and certainly we should think ourselves peculiarly favoured, that while the great truths of the Gospel were veiled in obscurity, and hid from the sight of those who had rendered themselves unworthy of clearer information, we, with the disciples of our Lord, are permitted to know the mysteries of the kingdom, and are indulged with the clearest and fullest intelligence of those great and interesting truths, which many prophets and righteous men have anxiously wished to know, but have not known them.
We should for ever fix it in our minds, that more abundant light and information require a proportionably higher degree of holiness and virtue; to whom much is given, of them much will be required. And as from the parable of the sower we are clearly informed, that increase and improvement depend, under the influence of God's grace, upon ourselves; that the seed and the sower being always the same, the success of that seed, and the fruitfulness of it, arise from the soil; we should be especially careful, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, duly to prepare our hearts, to bring that good and honest, that humble and teachable, that attentive and considerate disposition to the hearing of the Gospel, which will always be abundantly recompensed with a right knowledge, a genuine experience, and the zealous practice of that Gospel.
When we review mankind, and consider the various pursuits in which they are engaged, the idlenesses and the occupations, the business and the pleasures which so totally engross the minds of the generality, we cannot wonder at the little influence which the preaching of the word of Christ has upon them. Cares are thorns to the poor, wealth to the rich, the desire of other things to all. Riches are called deceitful, and with great propriety: for they smile and betray, kiss and smite into perdition; they put out the eyes, harden the heart, steal away the divine life, fill the soul with pride, anger, and love of the world, and make men enemies to the whole cross of Christ; and all the while are eagerly desired, and vehemently pursued even by those who believe there is a God; nay, who profess to believe the Gospel of Christ.
How great is the forbearance and long-suffering of our God! However pernicious the tares, however abandoned the wicked; however they defy his power, defile his gifts, and dishonour his works, he will not suffer them instantly to be rooted up; he will not in terrible vengeance immediately exert the severity of his judgments upon them. And shall our forbearance and lenity be less than God's! When we behold vice triumphant, nay when we suffer beneath its oppressions, or in any respect feel its fatal consequences, let us preserve our souls in patience, and remember that a day is coming, when the great separation will be made; when all things that offend shall be cast out of the kingdom of heaven; and when the faithful righteous shall shine forth, bright and pure as the sun, in that kingdom of the Father. Glorious and triumphant consolation! What more do we want to sustain us, amidst all the evils and difficulties of this state of probation? What more can we want to encourage us to maintain the faith of Christ, and to make ourselves, through grace, of the number of those righteous?
The blessed Jesus renewed his visit to Nazareth, Matthew 13:54 though the people of that place had attempted to murder him on his first preaching among them: So should we never be weary of well-doing, nor refuse to renew our attempts on the most obstinate sinners, where the interests of their immortal souls are concerned. Blind and deaf though they be, while hardened in guilt, to the dreadful danger of their unhappy state; yet we, as having our eyes open by Almighty grace to that danger, should be the more ready to compassionate and relieve them.
But though these Nazarenes were astonished at his wisdom, and could not but allow the mighty works which he had wrought; yet they went on, perverse and ungrateful, to reject him, and in so doing were condemned out of their own mouth. Well would it be if these persons afforded us the only instance of such self-condemnation. Well would it be, if, among those who profess the faith of Christ, who acknowledge his wisdom and mighty works, none were found, who in heart and life rejected him, disavowing by their actions what their lips continually expressed. Formality of profession is ever to be most dreaded by those, who, brought up in a speculative faith, receive their creed by tradition, and without due examination; and therefore we cannot be too carefully guarded against it.
How much did these Nazarenes lose by their obstinate prejudices against Jesus! How many diseased bodies might have been cured, how many lost souls might have been recovered and saved, had they given him a better reception! Their unbelief as it were disarmed Christ himself of his power to do good, and rendered him a savour of death rather than of life to their souls: and still the same destructive principles will work the same destructive consequences: faith seems to have put the Almighty power of God into the hands of men, while unbelief seems even to tie up the hands of Omnipotence. It is a sin pregnant with every other; and with respect to the dispensation of the Gospel, one which discovers no less blindness than disingenuousness in the mind: for what could the Lord have done more for his vineyard than he hath done in it? What more abundant and convincing testimony could he have given in proof of his divine mission, than he has graciously afforded to mankind?—Prophesies clear and continued, miracles mighty and indisputable, wisdom pure and perfect. The Nazarenes allowed his wisdom; and we shall do well to observe, that the very argument which they made use of to support their rejection of this most Divine Prophet, is in itself a strong proof of his divine mission. Whence hath this carpenter's son this wisdom? Born and educated amongst us, without any of the means of improvement in human learning, putting his hand to the nail, and his right hand to the workman's hammer? Whence this wisdom, these mighty works, to a man so mean, so low, so utterly uninstructed, unlettered, unaided? O ye Nazarenes, can ye want an answer? This wisdom is from God! O wisdom of the Son of God! O power of the Father! who canst at the same time discover thyself to the eyes of simple and genuine believers, and conceal thyself from such as are carnal: my faith owns, adores, invokes thee, as the uncreated and incarnate Wisdom, as the light of angels and men, hid under the obscurity of our flesh, veiled in the voluntary meanness of thy humiliation, and debased in the proud conceits of self-sufficient philosophers of this world.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, With indefatigable diligence did the great Prophet labour to inculcate the doctrines of his Gospel. The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea-side, his auditory being too great for a house to contain them; and there, ascending a ship for his pulpit, while the attentive multitude crowded the shore, he spake many things unto them in parables, more, probably, than are here recorded; and he chose this method for reasons given. Note; (1.) In preaching the Gospel, we are called to be instant in season and out of season: no time nor place is unsuitable to speak a word for Christ and for immortal souls. (2.) Where Christ is preached, there should we with delight attend: his presence and blessing on the sea-shore are better than all the magnificence of Solomon's temple without him.
1. The parable with which Christ opens his discourse is that of a sower, sowing his seed, with the various soils on which it fell, and the consequences thereof. By familiar and well-known objects, Christ would thus convey more pleasingly his divine instructions, and teach them to spiritualize their daily labours, and to draw from them profitable meditation. The explication of the parable Christ is pleased himself to give, and we cannot err when following an infallible interpreter. The seed is the word of the kingdom, the Gospel; the sower is the Lord Jesus, with all his divinely appointed ministers; and he also by his Spirit quickens the seed sown, that it may bring forth fruit in the hearts of those who will with simplicity accept his grace. The field is the world in general; and the several sorts of ground here mentioned, on which the seed falls, represent the different tempers of those to whom the Gospel is preached, and the effects thereby produced upon them.
[1.] Some are like the way-side, where the seed, falling on the hard ground, not broken up, is exposed to the birds, and devoured. This represents the case of those who are careless, negligent, and inattentive hearers, on whom the word of God makes no impression: they understand it not, being wilfully under the darkness of their fallen mind, and their hearts hardened. The wicked one, the devil, ever watchful to prevent all good men from entering, no sooner observes such a one in the way of the Gospel, than he seeks to divert him from it, and catches away the word from his heart as it falls, distracting his attention by some objects around him, or suggesting some idle, vain, worldly, or trifling thoughts, so that the word of God is immediately effaced from the memory, and becomes utterly unprofitable.
[2.] Others are like the stony ground, on which whatever is sown springs up quickly, the earth being shallow; but, unable to bear the scorching sun, for want of root, it withers away. Such are they who attend the ministry of the word, and, greatly struck at first with what they hear, give an immediate assent to its truth; but the root of the matter is not in them; they are unfaithful; they are not brought to a deep and humble sense of the sinfulness of their nature; they do not see the utter impotence of their hearts to all good; they are not humbled to an universal renunciation of themselves; nor led to Christ alone for pardon, righteousness, grace, and glory: but while some lively impression or sudden flash of joy succeeds their hearing, they are ready to conclude that the work is done; their hearts continue unhumbled and unholy; they are not influenced by the divine principle of faith which worketh by love; they have never truly counted the cost, and therefore, when they are called to painful self-denial for Christ's sake, to endure reproach, the loss of friends or fortune, or the severer sufferings which invenomed persecutions may inflict, then they shrink from the cross, dishonour their profession, comply with the world, are offended, and walk no more with Jesus. May we never be numbered among such!
[3.] Another sort of hearers are compared to the seed sown among thorns. These go farther than the former: they are attendants on the word and ordinances, and in appearance Christians altogether; but insensibly the cares of the world, a too great anxiety about a provision for themselves or families, an inordinate love of money, and too eager a pursuit after it, these, under many a specious cloak of prudent care and becoming industry, seduce the affections to gold from God, and insensibly, like the thorns, eat out the life and spirit of that godliness which they once possessed; the heart grows cold, eternal things lose their importance, the vanities of time appear more significant; and though the profession of religion and the form of duties may still be carried on, it is mere husk; no substantial fruit of grace remains: the word is choked, and the soul drowned in perdition and destruction. How many thus have fallen! May we be warned of the imminent danger, and fear for ourselves, lest this evil world steal away our hearts from God!
[4.] Though others were unfruitful, one sort of hearers are mentioned, who, like the good ground, repaid the husbandman's toils. Their hearts sincerely yielded to be saved by grace: they received the seed of the Gospel, and, watered by the dews of heavenly influence, it grew, and brought forth fruit abundantly. They are described not merely as hearing the word, but understanding it, the eyes of their mind being enlightened; and they receive the truth not only in the light but in the love of it: in their heart the seed takes root, and brings forth the genuine fruits of righteousness and true holiness: and this variously; for though the quality of the fruit be the same in all, wrought by that one and the self-same spirit, yet in some these fruits are more eminent and abundant than in others. May Jesus give us then the hearing ear and understanding heart, that our profiting may appear; and may we seek to abide and abound in all the fruits of grace, which by Jesus Christ are to the praise and glory of God!
2. Christ resolves the question addressed to him by his disciples, why he spoke to the people by parables? In general, such was the good pleasure of his will. With regard to those who were his disciples, he intended to stir up their inquiries after the explanation of what they heard; they had left all, and followed him; and to them it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom: but to those who refused to listen to the first inspirations of grace, and trod under foot or negligently cast away those divine seeds out of which faith and regeneration might have sprung up in time, it was not given. Where the divine light which he bestows is faithfully improved, there he will continue to work, increasing his gifts of wisdom and grace: but where there is no desire to profit by his word, but a determined obstinacy to reject it, there he will take away the external gifts, the means of grace, or ministry of the Gospel, which such persons before enjoyed, or at least leave them to the blindness they have chosen. And this he assigns as the reason why he spake to them in parables, without expounding them to the multitude, as he did to his own disciples. He designed to leave those, who wilfully had rejected the light of his miracles and doctrines, to the hardness and impenitence of their own hearts. They did not choose to see or understand, and therefore he decrees in just judgment that they shall not. And herein the prophesy of Isaiah was fulfilled. The Jews were now given up to that judicial blindness which he had foretold. In the midst of the glorious light of the Gospel, and in the face of the astonishing miracles wherewith Jesus as the Messiah had confirmed his mission, they obstinately stopped their ears, and closed their eyes, as if they were afraid lest the force of conviction and the strong evidence of truth should over-power them, and necessitate them to submit to the Saviour's doctrine, and yield up their hearts and ways to his government: which they being resolved not to do, his spirit will no longer strive with them, and they are left to the ignorance and impenitence of their hearts. But towards those simple souls that received the truth in the love of it, God had the most gracious designs: he had given them the seeing eye, and the hearing ear, and blessed them with the understanding of those mysteries of his grace which were hidden from the eyes of the others: yea, they enjoyed transcendant favours beyond all the prophets and righteous men who had gone before them; for, earnestly as the pious in ancient days longed for the appearing of the Messiah, and to behold him incarnate, they saw his day but at a distance, and chiefly beheld the great things of his kingdom wrapped up in types and figures; while his present disciples beheld him face to face, saw his miracles, and from his own mouth more distinctly were informed of those truths which the others saw only through a glass darkly. Note; (1.) Many enjoy the means of grace whose hearts only grow more hard and insensible under them. They hate the light, and therefore are justly abandoned to the darkness which they have chosen. (2.) The greatest of all blessings is the knowledge of Jesus; for to know him is everlasting life. (3.) If we be distinguished by peculiar circumstances of the divine regard, the stronger obligation is laid upon us to be thankful, and to walk in the light, as children of the light.
2nd, Our Lord farther continues his discourse to the people in parables, choosing in this manner to wrap up the doctrines that he inculcated, according to the prophesy (Psalms 78:2.); and while he thus opened a door for inquiry to his disciples, to whom he afterwards explained the meaning of the figures that he used, and informed them of the secrets of wisdom couched under these parables, he left the multitude in general, who shewed no solicitude to be informed of their meaning, to their wilful ignorance. Seven parables are delivered after that of the sower, one of which is afterwards particularly explained by our Lord in private to his disciples, who desired to be informed of its design. We have,
1. The parable of the tares, which is the representation of the visible church in particular, as the former related to the world in general.
[1.] The sower of the good seed is the Son of man, who, by himself, and his ministers whom he appoints, sows the seed of divine life in the hearts of believers, and causes it to take root and bring forth fruit: all that is good in man intirely originates with him.
[2.] The field is the world, through which the Gospel is spread; and particularly the visible church where the word is preached, and Christ's servants, under him the great Husbandman, continually labour to break up the fallow ground, and cast in the living seed.
[3.] The good seed are the children of the kingdom; those who by faith embrace the doctrines of the Gospel, and in all holy conversation and godliness adorn it.
[4.] The tares are the children of the wicked one; all hypocrites and careless professors, who, though they have a name to live in the visible church, are really dead in trespasses and sins; under the influence of the devil, resembling him in their spirit and tempers, and a trouble and vexation to the children of God among whom they associate.
[5.] The enemy that sowed them is the devil; that spirit of wickedness whose unwearied labours are employed to corrupt and destroy the souls of men, and who watches day and night to take advantage against the church of Christ: and while we are off our guard, or lulled by outward prosperity into a state of security, he insinuates his pernicious errors in doctrine and practice, seducing unstable souls: and for a while the mischief is not discovered, so artful are his wiles; like the villain who sowed tares, and slipped away unnoticed under the covert of the night. But though at first the secret wickedness which lurked under the cloak of profession is not perceived, in a little while the difference between the wheat and tares becomes very visible. The exercise of grace in the one appears evident in the spirituality of their tempers, the simplicity of their hearts, and the purity of their manners; whilst observation and experience discover the unfaithfulness of the tares; and a day of trial shews their real character. With grief and surprise the faithful ministers and servants of Jesus behold the errors and immoralities among the professors of godliness, and carry their sorrowful inquiries to their Lord; for they who have a zeal for him cannot but be affected with every thing in his church which reflects dishonour upon his holy religion. He informs them whence these tares sprung; he marked his enemy in all his ways. He does not reflect upon his servants, as if negligence were to be charged on them: nor will he grant their request of immediately eradicating these pernicious inmates of the visible church. There would be danger, if it was left to us, lest our undistinguishing eye might class among the hypocrites some who were sincere; or, too rigid or hasty in our judgments, we should count those tares, whom the Lord knew to be genuine believers; for his all-seeing eye alone can discern the true characters of men. They are therefore permitted to grow together; the day of separation will come, when the distinction between tares and wheat will be evident. And hence we should learn, (1.) That as long as Christ has a church, the devil will still be seeking to disturb the peace, or corrupt the purity of the professing members of it, notwithstanding the care of the most vigilant pastors, and the administration of the strictest discipline. (2.) We should be very cautious of pronouncing rash and hasty censures on the characters of others: God only knoweth the heart; and it is better that many criminals should escape, than one righteous person be condemned.
[6.] The harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels; they shall go forth, and make the aweful separation. All that offend and do iniquity, whose pernicious doctrines, or immoral conduct, have been a scandal to the religion they professed, shall be gathered out, and, like tares, bound in bundles for the burning. The distinction between the righteous and the wicked shall then be too evident to admit of a mistake, and the separation between them shall be perfect and everlasting. For,
[7.] They shall cast them, the tares, into a furnace of fire; the fire prepared for the devil and his angels, the place of torment appointed for all the ungodly, where they shall burn, and none shall quench them; their pangs intolerable and eternal, under the wrath of God, which is for ever wrath to come; where every expression of acutest anguish and black despair shall prove how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Lord, gather not my soul with these sinners!
[8.] The wheat shall be gathered into God's barn. The righteous being proved and found faithful, shall be collected in one glorious company, and shine forth as the sun arrayed in robes of spotless purity, and clothed with honour and immortality; admitted into their Father's kingdom, and sitting down on the throne of their Lord, to reign with him for ever and ever. The prospect of such a glorious state before us should deeply engage our attention; he therefore that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
2. The parable of the grain of mustard seed, which, from one of the smallest seeds, grows, in the Eastern countries, into the greatest of herbs; so that, like a spreading tree, the birds find shelter in its branches. And such is,
[1.] The work of God in a faithful soul. The beginnings are often small, and scarcely perceptible; but, watered with divine influences, the seed of eternal life springs up, and, amidst all the stormy blasts of temptation, corruption, persecution, affliction, to which it is exposed, increaseth with the increase of God.
[2.] Such also was the Messiah's kingdom at the first. Christ and his disciples seemed little, mean, and despicable; but their word took deep root; abundant converts were made; the Gospel spread on every side, and filled the face of the world with fruit: and, like the enlarging circle in the water, the church of Christ shall go on increasing, till the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of the Lord; and all the fowls of the air, both Jews and Gentiles, be converted, and flock together into it. Hasten, O Lord, this happy day!
3. The parable of the leaven. As a little of this diffuses itself gradually through the whole mass of meal with which it is mingled; so does the Gospel word, when quickened by Divine grace, powerfully diffuse its energy through all the faculties of the believing soul, and over all the members of the body; sanctifying the whole, communicating throughout a sweet savour of Christ, and working a blessed and universal change into his image and likeness: And spreading far and wide among all nations, the word of truth shall continue its mighty operations, till all nations shall be brought to the obedience of the faith. Note; Where the leaven of truth is hid in the heart, there its influence will infallibly appear; there will be a sweet savour of Christ in all we speak or do.
4. The treasure hid in the field, which is Christ himself, and the great and precious promises that are in him. The field is the Scripture, wherein He is revealed to us, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and from whom the most inestimable riches to a sinner, of pardon, peace, righteousness, and grace, are to be derived. These are hid from us in our state of nature: though we have the Scriptures before us, we cannot look farther than the surface of them, till God imparts the spiritual understanding, and enables us to dig deep in the precious mine. When we have found the treasure, we must hide it in our hearts; and nothing can equal the joy with which a poor sinner discovers the riches of the grace revealed in Jesus Christ: for the sake of this we shall be ready to part with all besides, and count an interest in his love and favour the most invaluable treasure.
5. The parable of the pearl of great price is much of the same import with the foregoing. The merchant is the convinced sinner, seeking after Christ and his salvation, the pearl of great price, an object indeed deserving our most eager pursuit. Shall merchants compass sea and land for one poor jewel; and shall we not be more assiduous in securing an interest in Jesus, and the possession of all the jewels of grace and glory? He finds it, as all who truly seek the Saviour assuredly will; and then with cheerfulness sells all to become possessor of it; content to quit the world, with all its riches, honours, pleasures; and his sins, with all their allurements; that Christ may be to him all and in all.
6. The parable of the net cast into the sea, with the explication annexed. The net is the Gospel preached to every creature; the ministers of Christ are the fishermen, who cast it into the sea, the world: by it a multitude of souls are inclosed, and brought into the visible church. When it is full, in the latter days, and all, both Jews and Gentiles, are gathered into it, then cometh the end, when the net shall be drawn to shore, in the great day of final separation, and the contents of it be examined. The good fish, the just, who in Christ Jesus are justified from all things, and found faithful, shall be gathered into the vessels of glory prepared for their reception; while the angels, the ministers employed in this service, shall separate the bad, the wicked, from among them, and cast them away as vile and reprobate into the everlasting burnings. Note; (1.) Many, who have had a place in the Gospel church, will at the last day be rejected by the great Head of the church, as hypocrites and unfaithful. (2.) They who live in wickedness, have nothing to expect but an eternity of woe. (3.) The consideration of the dreadful end of those who perish should awaken our greater solicitude to make our calling and election sure.
7. The parable of the householder aptly finishes, as the practical improvement of the whole. Our Lord had interrogated them on their proficiency, whether they had understood the meaning of the parables which he had uttered; and as they had replied in the affirmative, he directs them to the proper use of the knowledge which they possessed. They were to be evangelical Scribes to preach the everlasting Gospel, as the Scribes in their days expounded the law: and herein they were to resemble a householder, who, having made a liberal provision for the family under his care, brings forth out of his storehouse things new and old, as each is best suited to their wants. The family under our care is the church of Christ, that particular part of it to which we are ordained to minister. Our treasure is the word of truth, and Christ especially therein revealed, with all experimental knowledge of him in all his offices, of the riches of his salvation, and the obligations to love and serve him thence arising. These we must set before the people, drawn from the sacred storehouses of the Old and New Testament; inculcating anew ancient truths; adding to old experiences, new observations; and providing thus a supply of spiritual food, suited to every state, condition, and circumstance of the people whom we serve. And this wisdom, this ability to minister, no attainments of science, no researches of philosophy, no force of genius can bestow: it is the gift of the great Master of the family, the Lord Jesus; and they who would savingly teach others the doctrines of the kingdom, must be themselves first taught of him.
3rdly, When Jesus had finished this discourse, he returned to his own city Nazareth, where he had before been so contumeliously treated, and where he again met the like contempt.
1. Though they could not help being astonished at the wisdom and authority with which he spoke in their synagogue, and the mighty works that he performed, yet their questions shew the prejudices which they entertained against him. They knew his parentage and education: he had not been brought up under their admired doctors; and his father was of no higher rank than a carpenter: his mother Mary, a woman of no account; and his brethren and sisters mean, low, and illiterate people: and at this they stumbled, despised his person, and slighted his ministry.
2. Christ gently rebukes their unreasonable prejudices, and punishes them for their low thoughts of him. They acted according to vulgar prepossessions, which lead us to pay little reverence and respect to those with whom we have been familiar; and if they rise to superior excellence, and above their former station, they are envied. Therefore, since they despised and rejected him, refused to believe his doctrine, and submit to the evidence of his miracles, he did not many mighty works there; not for want of power, but in just judgment; leaving them to their unbelief and hardness of heart. Note; (1.) Prejudice entertained against ministers is a great obstruction to our profiting by their labours. (2.) We owe it to our unbelief, that we see and experience no more of the mighty works of Jesus.