For when the corn is ripe, the sickle is put in. The "whitewinged" reapers call each one at the inoment when his works are the most ready to be laid before the Lord of the Harvest ; no sooner, no later. And as to those works, however small they may seem, if blest by heaven, they may grow like the mustard seed. Mustard trees of very large size, covered with yellow flowers, are found in the Holy Land; and probably it was to one of them that our Lord pointed to show how small beginnings have immense results, and how the smallest seed of good might grow to an overshadowing blessing; or again, His Church, which numbered only a few Galileans, when He spoke would be like the tiny shoot of the cedar in Ezekiel's prophecy (Ezek. xvii, 22, 23): Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell, LESSON XLV. PARABLES OF THE WORD. MATT. xiii. 33, and 44—53. * Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. * Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind : * The first of the short parables here given is placed by St. Matthew with that of the mustard seed, between that of the tares and its explanation; but as St. Mark gives the mustard seed after the tares, it seemed best not to divide those upon the growth of seed. Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 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. And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. "A COMMENT.-The Kingdom of Heaven, as usual, means the spiritual kingdom of Christ growing up in the heart and on the earth. Leaven, the dough left from the old baking, no sooner is put into fresh dough than it pervades the whole. So the Word of God once received into the heart pervades the whole being of the man. little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (1 Cor. v. 6.) In general the comparison with leaven is in a bad sense, referring to its sourness, but here it is in a high and good sense. When we look at it as meaning the Church, the leaven is the remnant reserved from the Israelite people, the disciples, namely, whom the Church (the woman) should mix into the three great races of men who have peopled the earth, so that their influence has spread through all; and even that outer world, which disdains the true power of Christ, is yet leavened and changed by those thoughts working in them. Again follows a likening of God's Word to hidden treasure. In a country subject to perpetual inroads from foes of all kinds, the people were sure to have their riches chiefly in ornaments and coins, which in time of danger they put into earthen pots and buried. Often, from the death of the hider, or from the destruction of his landmarks, these hoards were lost, and only discovered by some chance finder long after. A man who had reason to believe that such a prize was hid in some field would sell all he had to obtain the ground; and thus the faithful believer is ready to give all he has on earth to win hope in Christ. "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." (Phil. iii.) The pearl is the purest and most unearthly of jewels, formed by the mollusk beneath the waters, and tinted with rainbow hues ; and, moreover, in the heavenly Jerusalem of St. John's vision, "every several gate was of one pearl.” (Rev. xxi. 22.) So that pearl of great price must surely be that which gives an entrance into the celestial city. And verily, the holiness unto the Lord by which alone we can enter there is well worth the surrender of our self and all we have. The last of this course of parables is the net cast into the sea. It is one that is fully read by the assistance of the two miracles, which were parables in themselves. Ezekiel had spoken of many fishers beside the healed waters (xlvii. 10); and our Lord had called His Apostles to be fishers of men. Their net He now shows to be the Church visible on earth, wherein are gathered fishes of all kinds, both bad and good, among the baptized. It was in allusion to this, and also to the Greek word for a fish, Ichthys, combining the initials of our Lord's name in Greek—I, (Jesus), Ch. (Christos), Th. (Theos, God)—that the fish became adopted as an emblem of a Christian in early times, and is often found as the mark of a Christian's tomb in the catacombs. We, later Christians, remember sadly how in the first miracle the net brake, when we see our Church "by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distrest;" but we look to that time when the bad shall be weeded from the good, and the true haven shall be gained for ever! So our Lord closed His wondrous course of parables, nine in number, by asking the disciples if they understood them. Yea, they said. They understood them in a manner. They were but as lambs wading in the waters in which, in time, when they were as elephants for greatness, they would find depth enough to swim in ; but as they did in a measure understand them in an honest and good heart, our Lord commended them, and showed how they, and His ministry after Him, should be entrusted with this store, as "stewards of His mysteries," to bring forth out of the treasury of His living oracle things new and old-old as eternity, yet ever new in their adaptation to the needs of man. LESSON XLVI. THE STORM UPON THE LAKE. A.D. 45.-MARK iv. 35-41. And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 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. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? COMMENT.-On the evening after all the parables had been spoken, our Lord summoned His disciples to cross over the Lake of Gennesareth to the district belonging to Iturea, on the other side. Apparently His nearer followers also embarked in little boats to cross by night, and accompanying Him on His further journey into these partly Gentile regions. Lake storms are particularly perilous from the want of space, especially when the lake lies among mountains, down the ravines of which the gusts of wind rush as if from a funnel, lashing up the waters into the wildest fury, and irresistibly driving any boat on them against the rocky banks, or rapidly filling it with water. Such a storm broke upon the little boat, where our Lord, who knew weariness, hunger, and thirst like any mortal man, lay asleep upon a pillow in the midst of the violent tossings of the boat, until His disciples came with their cry of distress, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" Then was it seen that He stilleth the raging of the sea; and the noise of his waves (Ps. lxv. 7). For at His simple word, “Peace, be still," the storm at once ceased, not by diminishing fury, as in the common course of nature tempests sweep gradually away, but there was an instant calm upon air and water, as they knew their Lord. One gentle rebuke, "How is it that ye are so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" reminded the disciples that if they owned Him as Almighty they might have known that they carried their safety with them. And so He made that little lake the means of storing up comfort, hope, and relief for "those in peril on the sea," on those mighty oceans which He, the eternal Wisdom, had measured in the hollow of His hand, but of which those around Him were profoundly ignorant, and of which even the ablest Roman or Greek only knew as the bound of all the supposed creation. Many a time hath this thought helped to bear up hearts in danger of wreck to sing in joy, afterwards, that Psalm likewise prepared for such times (Ps. cvii. 23-32) : They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men ! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. And if the literal meaning has been of great blessing to many, so has the figurative meaning of this—one of the many miracles which were also parables in action. Doth it not often seem, even when we know Christ is with us in His ark, the Church, while we are roughly tossed by the waves of this troublesome world, and all is night around, that He is asleep. Evil blasts of wrong prevail, and He seems not to heed, as though His arm were shortened and He could not save; and yet when we trust, and cry to Him in steady faith and trust, He will say," Peace, be still," and there shall be a great calm. Yes, calm even now in the heart that knows His peace, and certain calm when we shall have reached "the haven where we would be." The voice of the Lord may speak at times in thunder, but |