XXXI.—THE SEA OF GALILEE; OR, A WELLINSTRUCTED SCRIBE. "There is a book, who runs may read, POETS and historians join to praise the beauty of the "blue Galilee." It is about sixteen miles long and six wide. It lies in a deep basin surrounded with lofty hills, excepting only the narrow outlet of the Jordan at each extreme. It is subject to whirlwinds, squalls, and sudden gusts, from the hollow of the mountain. But the most furious gales are succeeded suddenly by a perfect calm. The appearance of the sea from Capernaum is peculiarly grand. To the Christian this lake has its highest interest, from its association with the history of our Lord. His youth was passed, and the toil of his manhood borne, within sight of its beautiful waters. The cities and towns that nestled on its shores were full of the presence and mighty works of the Son of God. Cana of Galilee, where he commenced his miracles by turning the water into wine, was in sight of the waters to be rendered so famous in the early history of the Church; with Chorazin and Bethsaida, where most of his mighty works were done. On the glassy bosom of Tiberias he preached many of his memorable discourses. Here he found Simon and Andrew, James and John, and with these formed the apostolic college, taking them from the fishingboats, and from mending their nets, to be fishers of men. By the side of the sea demons confessed the divinity of Jesus, and, in the herd of swine, were plunged beneath its waters. Turning from the Gentile woman, whose faith wrung a blessing from the Lord, as dogs gather crumbs that fall from their master's table, he came near the sea of Galilee, and healed a great multitude of lame, blind, dumb, and maimed. Obedient to the laws of the land, from the bosom of the sea he drew the tribute-money, rendering to "Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's." When the multitude pressed upon him he left them on the land, while, in a boat, he put off on the sea, and taught them many things. Amid the tempest and the storm he walked on the water, entered the ship, and calmed the fears of his terrified disciples. After his resurrection he showed himself to them at the sea of Tiberias, and bade them cast the net on the right side of the ship. Much of his public ministry was at his home, in Capernaum, a city on the western shore of the sea of Galilee, on the borders of Zebulon and Naphtali. Going out, as he was wont, to preach the Gospel of the kingdom, on one occasion he sat himself by the seaside. A great multitude were gathered together, and he went into a ship, and sat. The whole multitude stood on the shore. In the presence of his disciples, he spake the discourses contained in the seven parables recorded in St. Matthew's Gospel. Having finished the utterance of these parables, he turned to his disciples and said, "Have ye understood all these things?" He added, "Therefore every scribe which is instructed into the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." The minister of the grace of God is a scribe who should be well instructed in the things of the kingdom of heaven. The things which he is to know and to teach are contained, in substance, in these seven parables of our Lord. Such a man is a householder, and, as a steward, he is to bring forth out of his treasure new things and old. To him is committed the great truths embraced in that compendium of doctrine spoken by the Saviour on the sea of Galilee, and called by him "these things." The group of parables alluded to contain the doctrine to be preached to men in the name of Christ, the class of hearers that will listen to the Word, its triumph among men, its power on the soul, the value that men will place upon it, the motives from which they would receive it, and the final disposition of those who, by it, were saved or lost. The first parable is that of the sower. The common, familiar doings of daily life were selected by the Lord to illustrate divine truth. Lifting up his eyes from where he sat, he probably directed the attention of his hearers to a husbandman scattering his seed in the furrows. The relations of the teacher and the taught are set forth by a comparison between the sower and the soil. The design of the parable is to show how truth will be received, and why labor is so often lost. As the sower went forth to sow, so men will go forth to preach. The accidental hearer, or the hearer unprepared for the seed, or the hearer whose heart, like the unbroken glebe or the hard footpath or traveled grove, would not be benefited. The devil catches away that which was sown in his heart, or it is a prey to the birds. Flocks of birds follow the husbandman in the East to gather up, if they can, the seed-corn which he has scattered. The hearer represented by the stony ground is a superficial receiver of truth. His soul is like the soil spread thinly over a rock, without depth, impulsive, warm-hearted, and, for a time, happy. There is always much to try a Christian; tribulation and persecution will come, and the stony-ground Christian will fly from his steadfastness with the first blast of opposition. The hearer whose condition is likened to the seed among thorns, allows the world to strangle the Word. Poor, perhaps, when he heard the Gospel, he permits the cares of life to press, and the riches of the world to choke the seed. He don't apostatize openly, but acquisition is paramount. He has less and less time for God, till business wholly crowds religion out. The good hearer, like the good soil, is broken up in preparation for the seed. He is an honest receiver of the truth, and not a caviler. He receives the Word readily, and receives it with meekness. He stands in the way to get good from the ministry. He labors to understand the Word of God, and to practice it. He will not escape temptation, but tempta-. tion will not overcome him. Persecution will assail him, but adversity can not move him. The waves of tribulation will dash over him, but he will be stead fast, and possess his soul in patience. Cares of the world will surround him, but he will keep them, as thorns and weeds, under his feet. The fascinations of wealth will endanger him, but he will make them subservient to his Christian profession. The second parable is that of the tares. This our Lord himself explains. He is the sower, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom. There is no contradiction between this parable and that of the sower, for the good seed received into the heart constitute the children of the kingdom. Men become the children of God by the reception of truth; by its rejection they become the children of the devil. The field is the world, i. e., the men in the world. The Son of Man goes forth personally, or by his chosen ambassadors, to occupy this field, and make men the children of God. To defeat this purpose is the work of the devil. He can not catch away the Word, but he can corrupt it. He does not do his work openly, but, like a coward, steals stealthily into the field, and, while the tired husbandmen rest at noon, according to custom, he flings in the tares among the wheat, and goes his way. This treacherous custom, this form of malice, was not unknown in the East. Tares resemble wheat, are of rapid growth, and can not be detected till the fruit come. So men will mingle heresies with the seed of the kingdom, and false spirits will appear in the Church. Men will privily bring in damnable heresies, and in the name of Christ preach another Gospel. Sleeping husbandmen often allow this to be done; but, at the last, the great householder will come forth, and separate the tares |
