LECTURE VI.

LUKE xvi. 31.

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

IN the preceding Lectures we have taken careful and minute notice of the several important particulars stated in the parable, or account, of which the text is the conclusion. The characters of the two individuals, a rich man and a beggar, we have carefully inquired into; with the circumstances of their life, their death, and their different subsequent destinies, as they are emphatically represented in the passage.

In the course of our investigation, we have several times reminded you that we were not then giving our own opinion of the true meaning and import of this interesting portion of the teachings of our Saviour; but were describing the manner in which it had commonly been treated,-the light in which it had been exhibited, and the application which had been very generally made of it. We have also, all along, stated the objections which appear to us to lie against such a construction and application ;-showing that they necessarily involve conclusions and consequences which are wholly inadmissible, and even absurd; and that therefore the common interpretation cannot be

correct.

As we have shown, I trust satisfactorily, that the passage under consideration is not a literal statement of facts and circumstances, it must therefore be a figurative, or parabolical representation. This you know was the common method of instruction chosen by our Saviour. And it may not be inappropriate, here, to offer a few general remarks relative to our Saviour's parables.

In the first place, it will be observed by the careful reader, that the manner in which they are introduced is various. Sometimes it is expressly stated that "Jesus put forth a parable," or "he spake unto the people in parables, saying," &c. At other times, it is not so declared, but the form of the discourse and the language employed, show that it was intended as such, and so was understood by the hearers. Hence, when

our Saviour, in urging upon the disciples the necessity of watchfulness, employed the simile of servants watching for the return of their absent master, or lord, saying, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants," &c. "Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." Although our Saviour did not notify them that this was a parable, yet it was at once so understood; and Peter immediately asked him," Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?

Again; sometimes parables are put hypothetically, or by way of supposition. As for instance, the parable of the "Lost sheep," which our Saviour introduces thus-"What man of you, having an hundred

sheep,”—that is, suppose a man having a large number of sheep, should lose one of them, doth he not leave the flock, and go and seek after the one that was lost, or gone astray? Again-"What man intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost"? "Or, which of you having an ox or an ass fallen into a pit," &c. These are parables, or figurative representations, predicated upon supposed cases or circumstances.

The kingdom of heaven-that is, the gospel church, or the reign of the Messiah,-is compared or likened to various things; as to a pearl of great price, treasure hid in a field, to a blade of corn, to a mustard seed, to leaven, to a net cast into the sea, &c. These are all parables. Sometimes they are declared to be so; but all such figurative descriptions are not the less truly parables, whether so declared to be or not.

But sometimes, and very frequently, parables are expressed in positive language, which, literally taken, would imply the actual occurrence of the facts and events described; whereas, this was not intended, but merely a statement for the purpose of illustration. Let me give you an instance or two from the Old Testament.

Do you remember the historical account of the cruel and infamous Abimelech-how he was made. king of Israel, after having slain seventy of his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal? Jotham, however, the youngest son of the family, we are told, escaped the massacre, "for he hid himself." And when he was told what was done, "he went and stood in the top of mount Gerozim, and lifted up his voice, and cried and said, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went

forth, on a time, to anoint a king over them."-And he goes on to relate how they applied, first to the olivetree, next to the fig-tree, then to the vine; all of which declining the honor of such promotion,-the bramble was lastly solicited, and accepted the office.

Now, what must we think of such a statement? No one is so credulous, or so simple, as to suppose it to be a relation of facts and circumstances which actually occurred. It is wholly fictitious; it was a figurative representation, and a very ingenious and forcible one, of events which had just taken place, together with a prophetic allusion to the consequences which would follow. Yet the language employed is that of strict historical narrative.

66

Another remarkable instance is the parable of the prophet Nathan, by which he convicted king David of his crime, in the case of Uriah. Nathan came to David and said unto him, There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe-lamb, which he had bought and nourished up; and it grew up together with him, and with his children: it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller unto the rich man; and he spared to take of his own flock, and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the wayfaring man that was come to him."

The story, or parable, was so well arranged, and related with so much address, that David took it for a statement of facts; and his anger was greatly kindled, and he declared that the man that had done that thing

should surely die. Then Nathan applied the parable, and said to David-" Thou art the man."

Now here we may remark that the language employed by the prophet Nathan, is the language of facts just such as he would naturally have used if the circumstances stated had actually occurred; whereas it was only a fictitious representation, for the purpose of giving a forcible illustration of David's very reprehensible conduct in the case above mentioned.

But the New Testament also abounds with instances, in which the language of parables is as positive and circumstantial, as if a description of particular facts and events had been intended. As instances, observe the following declarations made at the commencement of parables." Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a pharisee, the other a publican." "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves," &c. "A certain man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me; and he divided unto them his living," &c. "There was a certain rich man which had a steward," &c. “A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard.” And "a certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time." "A certain man made a great supper," &c., and many other similar ones that might be named: all which are declarations concerning persons and circumstances which might well be supposed to happen, according to the customs of the time and country. But we are not to understand them as descriptive of particular individuals or literal facts, which took place at a definite time. They are supposed cases, presented for the purpose of conveying