Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1898-03-10

ave Lessous and Where AZ MAY -
Eound-A Learned and Concise Re-
view Of the Same.
Lesson for March Is.
Golden TEXTILE that soweth the
good seed is the Son of man."-Matt. IL:
81. This lesson. on ''The Wheat and the
Tares," Is found In Matt. 13: 24-3O.
Introductory.
The famous thirteenth chapter OF Mat
thew is n treasure-house OF parallels.
They may all be called parallels Of the
kingdom. for they all describe character
istics either of the kingdom or of its men,
bers. The last five. Of the seven are Of.
simple sort used to bring out one ele-
ment only In the nature of the kingdom,
and the details are neither fully Stated
nor interpreted. These five, the parallels
Of the mustard seed, the leaven, the hid
den treasure, the pearl, and the net are
rather expanded SMILES than fully devel-
oped parallels. But the parallels Of the
sower and of the tares show many points
Of contact between the features of the
story and the spiritual truths illustrated:
and in his Interpretation Of them Jesus
draws comparison that extends to some
Of the details. His example ought to be
followed by us when we attempt to inter-
pref parallels which he left unexplained.
The parallels are not to be left at the mer-
cy OF every fanciful preacher or author
who desires to use them for his own pur-
poses, in order to acquire for his petty
ideas the borrowed dignity of sacred
words. They are to be interpreted ac-
cording to the main lesson which they
were evidently designed to teach; and de-
tails unessential to that lesson are not to
be regarded as more than the literary dra-
perry of the parable. This principle is IA
milar enough to most Bible students, but
the temptation to disregard it Is some
times very strong, when it seems possible
thereby to gain some added vividness or
enforce some truth elsewhere revealed.
Explanatory.
while men slept, his enemy came;"
that is the time enemies are apt to come.
The comment is hardly that men ought
not to Sleep but guard their fields; rath-
er the thought here is that the enemy is
practically certain to come anyway, and
If he does not come at one time he will at
another.
These 'tares" are described as "a kind
Of darnel resembling the American chess
of cheat" which looks very much like
wheat until the grain is headed out. 1t
Is poisonous and destructive, doing it's
best to crowd out the good grain.
'"From whence then hath it taresT A
question echoed by philosophers and poets
and moral teachers from the beginning.
What is the origin OF evil? Notice how
significant, how appropriate. is the re-
ply. Tarcs do not spring up themselves,
though they may seem to. Every weed
has seed. 1t is true, the wind or the
waters may carry some seeds, but some
agency there must be. In the case of the
tares, it was certain that person was re-
sponsible; and that the person must be an
enemy was self-evident, at least to the
owner of the field. Why should we, ex-
cept as a matter Of speculative intellec-
tual interest, concern ourselves about the
origin Of sin beyond this plain truth that
no candid man can ignore: "An enemy
hath done this?" AS matter Of fact,
Jesus does not so deeper into this ques-
ton. With the fact of sin and its rem
edy he is deeply concerned; of its origin
he has but little to say, so far as the Cos
pels show. Paul is the one who went into
this matter more in detail, and left us the
profound doctrine of sin contained in the
Epistle to the Romans. But even that
exposition, though it throws much light
on the relation of sin to the race in its
unity, leaves us nothing more final, more
practical, more applicable to the needs of
a sinful SOUL than this simple statement,
that sin is the work of an enemy, and
therefore is to be fought relentlessly. Je-
sus tells us later that the enemy is the
l.A- v., 9th r1o
are not a sort of by-product in the cul-
ture of wheat. Sin Is not an incidental
stage in tie evolution of righteousness.
1t is fundamental, and to be fought, not
to be educated out of men.
The difficulty was not, il we may trust
the description Of travellers, that the tares
looked too much like the wheat to be dis
tingushed, even after the grain was head
cd out; but rather that their roots and
stems were so intertwined in the thick
growth that to pull up one was to destroy
or injure the other.
The separation will be complete enough
to satisfy anybody when the harvest time
comes. Burning for the tares, preserva-
ton for the Masters use for the wheat.
That the disciples should need an in
depreciation surprises us. But when we
remember their other manifestations Of
spiritual dullness both before and after
this, the wonder is diminished. One or
two details, it is true, might be doubtful
even to- the spiritually discerning-for ex-
ample, the reapers, who are the angels.
Teaching Hints.
Occasionally, in the case of very ia
miliar lesson, it is more neetful to be on
guard not to teach the wrong thing than it
is to teach the well-known moral that lies
on the surface. The parable Of the tares
is frequently perverted, by teachers and
preachers, in two ways, both of which
should be strictly avoided: % 1t is repre-
scented as teaching, as above suggested,
that the tares which the devil sows in
each persons heart are likely to crowd
out the wheat. This in itself is true. but
not taught in the parable. The field IL,
not the heart, but the world. ~ 1t is rep
resented as teaching-this is confined,
however, to members of established
churches or churches very similarly con-
structed-that there must always be bad
men as well as good men in the church,
and that it is not the duty of the church
to exclude them ut once, since the separa-
ton will be made at the judgment. Thus
the parable Is used, e. g., as an argument
against heresy trials within the church.
This also Is pcrversion.
The true teaching can hardly be escaped
by any one who reads verses 37-43 care
fully and impartially.
Next Lesson-"John the Baptist Be-