§ 137. Continuation. —Of his Kingdom.

OBS.-When the Redeemer described the various states and de velopments of his kingdom, he very frequently adopted the parabolic mode of instruction, which was, indeed, suggested by the subject itself; for in the development of the kingdom of God on earth in the main, the same essential laws are observed, which regulate every organic development of terrestrial life. Those who possessed sufficient susceptibility and capacity in general to understand the mysterious course of the kingdom of God, obtained deeper and clearer views of these mysteries from the parable than from abstract lessons: while the same mode of instruction involved these mysteries in deeper obscurity in the presence of an uninitiated and insusceptible mind. Hence Christ replied to the disciples who desired to know his motive when he spoke in parables: "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive, &c." (Mark 4: 9-12.) The Redeemer therefore illustrated in his own conduct the command: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, &c." (Matt. 7 : 6.)

1. The seven parables concerning the kingdom in Matt. ch. 13 describe the development of the kingdom of God with unusual fulness. The first, of the sower and the seed, contemplates, according to the Lord's own exposition of it, the word of the Gospel as the element or principle among men by which they are begotten unto the kingdom of heaven and regenerated, and the hearts of men as the ground in which the seed of the new creature that is born of God, is sown; it shows that the difference in the results proceeds from the different degrees of susceptibility in the ground. The second, of the tares, which is also explained by the Lord himself, exhibits the relation which the kingdom of God sustains to the kingdom of evil, and teaches that the latter likewise must necessarily be unfolded fully and completely, together with the former, in order that it may ripen for its overthrow and judg ment. The third, of the mustard-seed, describes the manner in which the kingdom of heaven, after an unpretending beginning, is gradually unfolded, until it exercises a widely-felt influence. The fourth, of the leaven, also refers to the unpretending begin

ning of the kingdom of heaven, but gives greater prominence to the inward development of the latter, or its divine power, in gradually penetrating into the hearts of all, and effecting an inward change, that is, assimilating them to itself. The fifth, of the hidden treasure, and the sixth, of the pearl, represent the kingdom of God, as the most precious treasure, although it is hidden and neglected by the world, and teaches both that the possession of this treasure is worthy of being sought for with the most costly sacrifices and rigid self-denial, and also that, without these, it cannot be acquired. The seventh, of the net cast into the sea, which bears a close affinity to the second, teaches that, even in the Church, as the institution in which the children of the kingdom are gathered and sanctified, the children of darkness are also found, and will remain, until, on the day of judgment, the latter will be separated from the former and consigned to eternal ruin.

2. The Redeemer presented in different aspects the relation sustained to his kingdom by the obdurate, self-righteous and carnal Pharisaism of the times, which exercised a controlling influence over the Jews. He said openly and plainly: "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matt. 21: 43), and he testified that the last should be first, and the first last (19:30; 20:16). This remarkable fact is abundantly illustrated in history. Judaism, to which the inheritance and the promise belonged, hardened itself more and more unequivocally against the salvation which proceeded from its midst, for "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4: 22). It was therefore rejected, or, at least, Paganism entered before it into the kingdom of God (§ 119). The latter had fallen more deeply, and had departed further from God; but it now returned in sincere repentance, and sought salvation with an earnest desire. These events are described in the clearest manner in many discourses and parables of the Lord. Thus, in the parable of the vineyard (Matt. 21: 33, &c.-a vineyard planted by a householder, carefully secured, &c., and let out to husbandmen) the Lord describes in expressive language Israel's election, degeneracy and rejection. On the occasion on which Christ sought fruit on a fig-tree and found nothing but leaves only, for which

he cursed it, a real occurrence took place, which, even more emphatically than a parable in words, described the Jews; they exhibited, not the fruits of faith, but merely the leaves of selfrighteousness and of merit acquired by outward works (Matt. 21: 18, &c.).

3. There is a special reference (although it may not be directly indicated by the connection) to the introduction of pagans into the kingdom of God, in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11, &c.; § 21. 1), and also in the parable of the two sons (Matt. 21: 28, &c. - two sons are sent by their father into the vineyard; the one refuses to obey, but afterward repents and obeys, the other promises, but disobeys). The parable of the marriage of the king's son (Matt. 22: 1, &c.), and that of the great supper (Luke 14: 16, &c.), which resembles the former, illustrate the manner in which the Jews reject the salvation that is offered to them first, on which account they are rejected themselves. The parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matt. 20: 1, &c.), in which the householder hires laborers at different hours of the day, and gives the same amount of wages to the last as to the first, teaches that the heathen nations which are called at a late period, shall enjoy equal privileges in the kingdom of Christ with the people of the covenant who were first called. It is, however, to be observed with respect to all these parables, that while they refer to whole nations and long periods of time, they admit and require, with equal reason, an interpretation according to which they may refer to individuals in all ages also; for the facts which occur in the process of the education and development of the whole human race are repeated in that of the education and development of the individual.

§ 138. Christ's Miraculous Power in general.

1. The dominion over terrestrial nature which had been assigned to the first man and his race (Gen. 1: 26-28), was lost through sin; this loss disturbed the true relation subsisting between nature and spirit. It was needful that the second Adam, who took the place of the first, should recover this lost dominion, and possess it even in a higher degree; for, while in the case of

the first Adam merely a peaceful, undisturbed and harmonious development was contemplated, it was, besides, necessary, in the case of the second Adam, that all existing hostile powers and circumstances should be overcome. Human nature in its present form, in its total inability and helplessness, could accomplish nothing, and as the human nature of Christ was like our own (§ 126. OBS.), he could not recover that lost dominion, unless he possessed supernatural powers; but he did recover it, inasmuch as all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in his human nature. In this personal union of the creative Word with the second Adam, or the man Jesus, that lost dominion of man is not merely restored, but it is also endowed with power in the highest degree a power that overcomes all obstacles, and renews all that is destroyed. Herein consists the miraculous power of Christ. In the first man the dominion of the spirit over nature, which was originally designed for him, could not have appeared as a miraculous power, for the exercise of it would have been a natural, common and daily occurrence. In Christ, on the contrary, this dominion necessarily assumed the character of a power to work miracles, for human inability had now become a natural and common feature, while the excrcise of the power of dominion assumed the appearance of a supernatural event.

OBS. 1.-Christ's miracles of knowledge proceeded from the same source to which his miracles of action are ascribed. To the former belongs his clear, unerring and decided glance, whether it was directed to a future period, or a remote spot, or the heart of man. "He needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man" (John 2 : 25).

OBS. 2.- The prophets before Christ, and the apostles after his day, performed miracles, some of which resembled his own. The difference between their miracles and his own consisted in the circumstance that miraculous powers were merely communicated to them from a foreign source, and the exercise or possession was only momentary or transitory; but in Christ these powers flowed from his own being, and were uninterrupted and permanent, because they were founded on the personal and permanent union of his divine and his human nature.

OBS. 3.- As Christ himself declared that he did not know all things (Mark 13: 32), it may be also admitted that he could not do

all things, although no instance of the latter inability occurs. But in both cases the reference is naturally to his state of humiliation alone, or the period in which he dwelt on earth; during that time all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily, it is true, but, without appearing in the form of God (that is, the eternal, supermundane form of existence, Phil. 2: 6, 7), it ministered to his human nature. For even as sin and misery came forth from man (the first Adam), so, too, redemption and salvation necessarily came forth from the nature of man (of the second Adam). That nature, however, could not produce such results without being personally united and endowed with the fulness of the Godhead. Now, while the divinity of Christ ministered to his humanity, it ministered only in so far as the latter needed the former in accomplishing the work of the redemption and renewal of man; all that lay beyond these limits, Christ as the Son of God had indeed the power to perform, but, as the Son of man, he had laid aside the exercise of that power, until his whole work should be completed.

2. As the occasional miracles of the prophets of the Old Testament proved that these were messengers of God, so Jesus was declared to be the Messiah and the Son of God by his uninterrupted and permanent miraculous powers, that is, by his whole miraculous appearance. "I have greater witness," said he, "than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me" (John 5: 36; see also 10:37, 38; 14: 11, 12, &c.). It is not, however, when viewed in this aspect exclusively, or even chiefly, that the miracles of Christ acquire the significant character which they possess, or, in other words, Christ did not work miracles simply for the purpose of demonstrating that he was the Messiah, but chiefly because miracles in themselves necessarily belonged to his Messianic work, or his labors in restoring and redeeming the human race. Sin had caused misery, sickness and death to enter into the life of mankind, and occasioned many disturbances in the life of nature; the work assigned to Christ consisted in removing entirely the consequences of sin, and exhibiting the true relation between nature and spirit. It is true that these results in their whole extent and completeness cannot be obtained previous to the actual termination of the present course of this world, when that new life which Christ has im