The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1894-12-06
the SUNDAY SCHOOL.

THE sk6fioN includes the whole group Of
pafsbles recorded in Matt l31-sS; Mark al
/ THE New EPocR in the teaching Of Jesus
began with the parable Of to-day's lesson 1t
Is b change In His method Of teaching on ac-
count of change In the circumstances. ~
THE people were somewhat familiar with the
plain statements OF truth, and needed o new
form Of presentation, in order best to awaken
attention (2 There many things they needed
TO know, for which they we're not yet prepared
They could not understand them But the
seed Of these truths must be planted In their
minds and hearts In living, abiding form,
ready to burst from the soil when the right
time came. (3 There were many who did not
wish to know the truth, and the parable would
find entrance when plain statement would
pass unheeded. tD There were bitter enemies.
who would not only reject, but would be sure
to misunderstood and pervert, the truth,
especially the truths that pertained to the COM
ing Of the Kingdom Of God Therefore, these
truths were taught in way least liable to per-
version and misuse.
THE GROUP Of Eight Parallels spoken ut this
time (seven In Matthew and one other In Mark)
were concerning the Kingdom of Heaven in
various aspects, and should be read and
studied as group in order to obtain view Of
the drift and burden OF Jesus teaching at this
time.
NOTE that these parallels are followed by
group OF miracles, as was the Sermon on the
Mount in the record given by Matthew, as II on
purpose to confirm the teachers authority for
the great truths he spoke.
TIME.-Autumn OF A. d. 20, q few weeks after
the last lesson but on the same day as Lesson
VIII. Matt lI:D.
PLAcE.-on the shore Of the sea of Gaiilee.
near Capernaum
LESSON NOTES.
The Circumstances.-V. 4. Q) This
parable together with many others was
spoken in the afternoon of very busy
day, as recorded in lesson VIII, and
followed by voyage across the sea of
Galilee, the same evening, in which
Jesus was SO weary that He slept calm
ly amid a terrible tempest. (2) Much
people were gathered together" from
all the surrounding country to see and
hear the now famous teacher. They
included every variety of charact ter
represented in the parable spoken. (0
There were apparently great expccta-
tions aroused that the Messiah had
come, and would show Himself in the
way they had conceived that He should
come, as great king bringing OUT
ward deliverance to the nation. Their
expectations needed both correction
and encouragement (4) Jesus taught
from fishing boat as His pulpit Matt.
1872. 1t was a short distance from the
land, while the muititudes stood upon
the circular shores of the bay, which
rise up as they recede from the water,
thus forming great anphitheater
crowded with people, of which
Jesus in the fishing boat was
the center. MacGreggor, in his
Rob Roy, once approached this
place, and spoke to those on the
shore. ut was remarkable" he says,
show distinctly every word was heard,
though our voices were not raised,
even at three hundred yards off; and it
was very easy to comprehend how, in
this clear air, a preacher sitting in a
boat could address a vast multitude
standing upon the shore" (1 All the
material for the parable was close at
hand, within view of the people. Grain
fields, unfenced, surrounded the place.
The people had passed through them
In the troddcn paths on their way to
the shore. These and black basaltic
rocks were visible in the fields. "He
spake by parable" The parable of
the sower is the first recorded parable
spoken by Jesus.
A parable is an allegorical relation
or representation of something real in
life or nature, from which moral is
drawn for struction.-Imperial Die
tionary. The term parable (from a
word meaning to place side by side)
denotes form of instruction in which,
by the side of the truth, is placed the
image which represents it.-Godet.
Source of Parabolic Teaching.-This
world, with all its forces and powers,
seems made purposely to express in
visible forms, as In an incarnation, the
invisible facts of the spiritual world.
Earthly things are made after the pat
tern Of the heavenly.
The Instrumentalities. The Sower-
V. s. "a sower went out to SOW" Who
soever soweth the word Of God in the
hearts Of the people is represented by
the sower In the parable. Hence the
sower designates: First, Jesus Christ,
who came to sow the good seed In this
evil world; second, the Apostles who
scattered it over the world; third, all
who go forth to preach or to teach, in
public or in private, the truths of the
word OF God; fourth, all whose holy
example illustrates and impresses those
truths.
The Seed.-Vs 5, 12. ITO sow his
seed" That is, the word of God Uuke
SID, the spiritual truths which God
has revealed to m en- in various ways,
but especially by His Son Jesus Christ.
The Soil.-The soil for the good seed
is the heart Of man, including his mem
ory, mind and will. The seed cannot
grow without soil; but the life is in the
seed, not in the soil. The results de-
pend largely on the kind of soil in
which the seed is sown and the prep
aration made for receiving the seed.
"The illustration cannot touch at all
points. 1t takes no account of the fact
that the condition Of the spiritual soil
may be altered by Divine grace; that
the trampled ground can become soft,
the rocky ground deep and the thorns
h.. Al n