The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1896-04-02
SUNDAY MEDITATION,

A Study of the international Sunday
School Lesson Appointed for April
II, 1896.
Subject: Parable of the Guests at the Mar
ria-e Feast of the Kings Son. st. Luke,
14:I6-24.
Zone reading these notes should first carefully
| study the paragraph from the Holy Scriptures as
| indicated above.I
| INTRODUCTION.
Hall Caiue declared az think that know
! my Bible as few literary men know it, There
| is no book in the world like it, and the finest
novels ever written fall far short in interest Of
any one of the stories it tels. Whatever strong
situations | have in my books are not OF my
| creation, but taken from the Bible. The
| Deemster' is a story of the prodigal son. The
| Bondman' is the story of Esau and Jacob
though in my version sympathy attaches to
| Esau. The Scapegoat' is the story of Eli and
| his sons but with Samuel as a little girl. The
| Mauxman is the story of David and Uriah.''
He adds that his new work is also based on q
| Bible incident.
Isaak Walton stated as TO his Bible: every
| hour / read you kills SIM"
SUBJECT: CHRIsT's PARABLE OF THE GUESTS
AT THE MARRIAGE FEAST OF THE KINGS
Son.
Data
St. Matt 90 LA; ST. Luke, iT.i;-24. A
discussion exists as to whether these two &C.
counts report the same parable. There are
many differences between them, but there are
also many ikenesses We notice some of the
differences 1t is well to compare the two. Let
NJ. equal st. Matthews account, aud L., st.
Luke's.
a. NJ. has plural hearers ~ u, while L. has
only one listener ". 49,
b. NJ. has dinner ". a.; L., supper (V 49,
C. NJ. has king ". p; L., man (l6), lord
(2ll, master of house {2l).
d. NJ speaks OF the marriage ". q, while l..
makes 10 allusion TO ngptial matters ". 16).
C. NJ. has servants (3); L., servant ". III.
!. NJ. omts LIS g Come. for all things are now
ready"
q. NJ. says, "Tbey made light Of it" (5), but
L. specifies their frivolous excuses $500.
h. NJ. mentions farm !" and merchandise;
L. specifies farm. oxen, wife $500.
l. NJ tells of the illtreatment of the servants;
l. omits.
j. NJ. has highways (9); L.. streets, lanes,
highways. hedges (2l. 23).
L. NJ. has bad aud good; L. has poor,
manned, halt, blind.
l. L. has compel" ". 23).
m. Wedding garment is mentioned by L.
alone.
Notice views and authorities:
First-The parallels not the same, but
similar. So Doddridge. French. Robinson lin
his Harmony. Jameson, Olshausen, Stier,
Mast, Afford, Owen, LANCE, Fred Gardiner lin
Harmony. Greswcll I'm Harmony. Stroud.
Tischondorf. Barnes says they similar.
The Prayer Book of the episcopal Church
appoints ST. Matt, %: LA to be read for the
Gospel on the Goth Sunday after Trinity, and
St. Luke II 10 %, for the second Sunday after
Trinity, showing tho com pliers seemingly con-
sidered the parallels as different. But this is
not conclusive, from the fact we find the Cos
pels for the fourth Sunday in Lent and the 25th
after Trinity St. Johns report of the mira
Gle of the fcedidg OF 5000.
Secondly-Ihe parallels are the same. So
Theophylact, Calvin. MadOnatus, De Wette,
Strauss, Schneckenhureer, Thomson lin Har-
mony). Rev. DR.. K. II. Swope, Rev. E. J. Lion.
Whedun says the parable OF st. Matthew is an
expansion of that by St Luke. But he makes
the delivery TO be at another time, at which J
time Christ used the same parable, but entered
more into detail.
DIR. Adam Clarke contradicts himself In
notes on st. Matthew's report he makes the
two Identical bnt, referring to st. Luke's &C
count, he says they are different.
Tine.
Christ uttered this parable A. d. 90. first
part of March, 34th year oil his life, fourth of
his ministry; l.s67 years ago.
Place
Christ was en- route to Jerusalem ria Perea
and Jericho. He had come from Ephron. lie
spoke the parable in Perea, not far, probably, |
from Bethabara. In "house" of a Pharisee.
st. Luke. 14:1.
Speaker.
Read st. Matt, 22:1.
Usarsys
ST. Matt, %: ], has them" They were the
hearers These were Pharisees. st. Matt. |
81 :45. BY st. Luke's account we find Christ
addressed his remarks specially to a certain
ono Of them that sat at meat" ST. LIKE, |
Ia Is. The parable WAS, however. addressed |
in the hearing of NIL who were at the feast.
Occasion Of the Parable.
See st. Lake. ID Is. 1t was spoken in an
swer to an exclamation of one of his fellow
diners.
Object.
The object of the parable is 10 explain more
fully some Of the pecularities about Christ's |
method Of building up his Kingdom-the
Church. One is reminded Of many Oriental |
customs attending royal wedding. Compare
all the Book of the Caniices: Isa., "a .; 62:5
Hos, 9: 10. 20; St. Malt. %: 5; St. John. 3 :29;
. Cor, IL: 2; Eph. s.: %; Rev., 1877. 9.
Explanations Of Words and Phrases.
NoTE.-The Gospels are referred to by num-
beers ], 3 ;, 4. Thus 81: 3 means 1t. Matt,
5:9. And 3-6:7 means St. Luke, 6:7
]. In 1-22I we have answered and
The original reads, answer
ing, spake-saying" What did Christ an
swer? No question appears in the account.
We get the connection by referring to ST.
Luke's account. See st. Luke, II: IS. Christ's
answer, including the parable, was in reply to
tho exclamation in verse II. Then, Christ
knew the thoughts of mcn-thc questions
and is frequently represented replying to un-
spoken nterrogations.
.. Again. 1-22:1. Reading the chapter
in which st. Luke gives the parable which is
our lesson. the force of the word
again" In that chapter, just before the
parable we study, the parable of the
High aud the Low Places, or Seats at Table.
But if we refer to ST. Matthew's account and
study the context, we also find our lesson pre-
cedcd by a rarahle; TO wit, The Parable of the
Murderous Vinedressers. See st. Matt, 81: 80
49, st. Matthew probably the word
" again" in reference to his own record. We
must remember. too, that "agan" may sug-
gest the fact Christ ab0unded in parallels.
"A gain" may then mean after his manner.
Christ was in the habit of taking PLAIN, adj
mitted things to explain the intricate-ma-
tcrial things to exhibit the spiritual
). Kingdom of Heaven. PA Saliva
ton, the method of rescung men from sin, the
work of thu ChureI tha way whictl Christ |