Parallel passages: Matthew 13:1-23; Luke 8:4-18.—
Parabolic teaching.
I. THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.
1. Benefit of acquaintance with Scripture topography. To the right comprehension of Scripture acquaintance with Scripture topography is indispensable. This is easily obtainable at the present day from several books of travels now accessible to all. Much may be gained in this way even by those who have not had any opportunity of visiting Bible lands.
2. Peculiarities in this parable. Here several things are peculiar, and only such as are to be met with in the East. First, the sower went forth ( ἐξῆλθεν) from his homestead, for his fields evidently lay at a considerable distance from his dwelling. In the next place, the different kinds of soil are represented in close proximity. Further, the seed is scattered on the highway as well as on the ordinary and proper ground. The produce likewise in one case appears unusually large. Now, on turning to Stanley's book on 'Palestine,' or to Thomson's 'The Land and the Book,' we get a glimpse at the state of things in the East, which proves all this to be clear, correct, and consistent. From those interesting records of Eastern travel, with their graphic sketches of Eastern scenes, we learn that the sower has to go forth frequently a distance of some miles from his home in order to deposit his seed in the ground. On reaching the corn-land, he finds it devoid of fences, a pathway passing through it, thorn bushes growing in clumps together, with rocks here and there peering through the surface of sparse and scanty soil, while not far off are patches of exceeding fertility; the produce at the same time amounting to the high figure of a hundredfold, but reckoned in the following peculiar fashion:—Of three bushels sown one is lost by the birds, particularly the crows; another third is destroyed by mice and insects, but out of the one remaining bushel one hundred bushels are reaped.
3. Confirmatory facts. Speaking of the verification of the parable with respect to the different kinds of ground, Thomson, in his entertaining manner, proceeds thus: "Now, here we have the whole four within a dozen rods of us. Our horses are actually trampling down some seeds which have fallen by the wayside, and larks and sparrows are busy picking them up. That man, with his mattock, is digging about places where the rock is too near the surface for the plough; and much that is sown there will wither away, because it has no deepness of earth. And not a few seeds have fallen among the bellan, and will be effectually choked by this most tangled of thorn bushes. But a large portion, after all, fails into really good ground, and four months hence will exhibit every variety of crop, up to the richest and heaviest." Stanley's account, though quite independent, is remarkably similar and confirmatory of the foregoing in all the main particulars. The following extract contains the substance of it:—Referring to the plain of Gennesaret, he says, "There was the undulating corn-field descending to the water's edge. There was the trodden pathway running through the midst of it, with no fence or hedge to prevent the seed from falling here and there on either side of it or upon it; itself hard with the constant tramp of horse and mule and human feet. There was the 'good,' rich soil, which distinguishes the whole of that plain and its neighborhood. There was the rocky ground of the hillside protruding here and there through the corn-fields. There were the large bushes of thorn, the 'nabk,' that kind of which tradition says that the crown of thorns was woven, springing up in the very midst of the waving wheat;" while in a note he adds, "I observed that the same mixture of corn-field, pathway, rock, and thorn extended through the whole of this part of the shores of the lake."
4. Naturalness of our Lord's imagery. The comparisons employed by our Lord are every way appropriate, not only suitable to the comprehension and habitudes of the persons addressed, but springing naturally out of the circumstances in which he and they find themselves placed, or the scenery by which they are surrounded. His eye rests on a rich pasture-ground of Southern Palestine, where a flock of many sheep is grazing amid green herbage or reposing by still waters; or perhaps he sees them following the shepherd, with whose kindly voice they are so familiar, as he goes before them, in Oriental fashion, and gently leads them along the hillside or down in the deep valley; or they are returning to the shelter of the fold on the sunny slope, and passing through the wicket gate under the friendly shepherd's care;—immediately and naturally the scene suggests the illustration, "He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, and one shepherd." Again, among the many once vine-clad hills of Judah, he stands beside the steep side of the terraced hill that bears the vine; or he is passing along the street of one of its towns or cities, and he sees the vine climbing up the wall or spreading its branches along the trellis-work beside the door of a dwelling, or standing by itself alone at the house-side;—at once the thought is present to his mind and finds utterance by his lips, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Again, in Northern Palestine he gazes on the fertile plain of Gennesaret, with its luxuriant vegetation, its rich corn-ground carefully tilled if not highly cultivated, and waving in harvest-time with its heavy masses of ripened grain;—and thence he draws his parables of the sower going forth to sow his precious seed and again returning laden, bearing his sheaves and rejoicing by the way; of the tares; and the secret growth of the seed; perhaps also that of the mustard tree. When he surveyed the blue waters of the Sea of Galilee and contemplated its calm expanse, while its waves came gently rippling to the beach or slumbered in silence at his feet; or when the hum of its busy industry sounded in his ears, and his attention was turned to the variety of vessels that ploughed its surface, and its numerous fishing craft;—he thence derived the illustration, which is found embodied in the parable of the draw-net with its great length and extensive reach, gathering within its folds of every kind both bad and good—the valuable and the vile alike. Once more, when he gazed on the city of Capernaum, "his own city," so highly exalted in religious privilege, and the riches of its merchandise, and the resources of its commerce;—the merchantman with his goodly pearls or with his carefully hoarded and cautiously hidden treasures was naturally suggested to his mind.
5. Variety in the independent records. In that chapter of parables, the thirteenth of St. Matthew's Gospel, no fewer than seven parables are recorded; in the parallel passage of St. Mark four are recorded; and by St. Luke in the corresponding section only two. Of the seven parables in St. Matthew's record, two are also recorded by St. Mark, with two additional; of the four in St. Mark's record, two are recorded by St. Luke. But all three relate the parable of the sower contained in this chapter. Accordingly, the seven parables of the chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel referred to are—the sower, the tares, the mustard seed, the leaven, the hidden treasure, the pearl, and the draw-net; of these parables, the first teaches the production or founding of the kingdom; the second and seventh, the persons commingling in it or its mixture; the third and fourth, its progress; and the fifth and sixth, its preciousness. In the corresponding section of St. Mark are the four parables-the sower, the mustard seed, the secret growth of the seed, and the candle set on a candlestick, if we may properly call it a parable; in the corresponding portion of St. Luke we find the parable of the sower and that of the candle on a candlestick.
II. COLLATION OF THE THREE RECORDS.
1. A complete whole. By comparing the three gospel narratives and piecing them together, as it were, we obtain a complete whole. It is often of much importance and always of great interest thus to consolidate the narrative by a comparison, if not a combination, of the text.
2. The seed by the wayside. In the narrative of the seed sown by the wayside, St. Matthew and St. Mark both tell us of the fowls, or winged creatures, of the heaven devouring it; while St. Luke states in addition the fact that it was trodden down. In the interpretation which our Lord gives of this same portion of the parable, all three agree in informing us that the Word that was sown in the hearers' hearts is taken away by the devil, or Satan, or the wicked one, as they severally designate him; while St. Matthew gives us the additional information that this occurs in the case of persons hearing the Word and not understanding it, and that he snatcheth it away; and St. Luke subjoins the object for which it is thus taken away, "lest they should believe and be saved."
3. The seed on stony ground. In the narrative of the seed sown on stony ground, or on the rock according to St. Luke, all three tell us that it withered away; but St. Matthew and St. Mark add that, before withering, it was scorched, after the sun had risen, from want of root, and that owing to lack of soil; while St. Luke states simply that the withering was due to lack of moisture. In the explanation, again, all three tell us that those sown on stony ground receive the word with joy, but that they have no root, and that they endure or believe for a while; St. Matthew and St. Mark further state that when "affliction or persecution ariseth because of the Word, immediately they are offended," or stumble; but St. Luke speaks of such a season more generally as a time of trial, and intimates that they then stand aloof, or apostatize altogether.
4. The seed among thorns. In the narrative of that sown among thorns, all three inform us that the thorns choked it; but St. Luke further informs us that the thorns grew up simultaneously with it; and St. Mark adds, what in these circumstances might be expected, that it yielded no fruit. In the explanation, all three acquaint us with the fact that it is choked and becomes unfruitful; they trace the unfruitfulness to its being choked; St. Luke says, by cares and riches and the pleasures of this life, as men go on their way in it; St. Mark uses a more comprehensive expression than the "pleasures of this life," which St. Matthew altogether omits, namely, "the lusts of other things;" while both St. Matthew and St. Mark qualify riches by an expressive term, addling "the deceitfulness of riches."
5. The seed sown on good ground. In the narrative of the seed sown on good ground, we are informed by all three that it bore fruit, but on a graduated scale—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold, according to St. Matthew; but in reverse order according to St. Mark; while St. Luke merely specifies the maximum at a hundredfold, as if he had in view Genesis 26:12, "Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him." Here again, in the explanation, all three coincide in the matter of fruitfulness. St. Matthew tells that "they understand the Word," St. Mark that "they receive it," St. Luke that "having heard it in an honest and good heart, they keep it, and bring forth fruit with perseverance."
6. A gradation. Thus the seed by the wayside did not even spring up at all; that on the rock did indeed spring up, but withered; that among thorns sprang up and grew, but being choked yielded no fruit; only that on good ground sprang up, grew, and brought forth fruit to perfection.
III. INTERPRETATION OF THE SEED.
1. The seed is the Word of God. The seed is that Word of which, as has been well said, "Truth is the substance, salvation the end, and God the author." The seed is that Scripture all of which "is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." The signature to a will or other document does not need to be rewritten or repeated from time to time; nor does the seal to such an instrument need to be restamped once and again; so with those miracles which were the sign manual of God to the truth of his Word, and the seal affixed to it in attestation of its Divine authorship. Once wrought, as those miracles were, according to the record of the most authentic history in the world—and no facts of history were ever more fully or more clearly testified, or more carefully and critically scrutinized—they remain to the present hour the signature of the Divine Author; and not only that, but his seal to the reality of the Divine origin of Scripture. Thus Heaven has stamped approval on the document with its own seal and signature; while these proofs, authenticated by the most unexceptionable witnesses, remain permanent and powerful as ever.
2. Proof from prophecy. But view Scripture again in the light of prophecy. The Messianic prophecies, for example, were delivered by different persons, in different places, at different times, under different circumstances, and on different occasions; yet these prophecies, when carefully and correctly put together, portray unmistakably Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah—the Christ of God. Suppose a painting executed in a somewhat similar way—the head painted in Berlin, the hands in Boston, the arms in Paris, the trunk in St. Petersburg, the legs in Vienna, and the feet in Rome; suppose these different parts all brought to London and placed together, each in its proper position, and that, when thus put together, they present the exact picture of Christ which is seen in the famous "Descent from the Cross" as painted by Rembrandt, or by Rubens, or even by Jouvenet: what conclusion would we, or should we, come to from such a phenomenon? Would it not be that some great master painter had presided over and prepared the whole, guiding in some way every hand, directing every brush, and inspiring every head so that one of the finest specimens of pictorial art was thus wondrously brought into existence? In like manner, let the Old Testament prophets who foresaw and foretold the sufferings of Christ as well as the glory that should follow—let Moses and Malachi, David and Daniel, Isaiah and Micah, Jeremiah and Zechariah, be brought together round the cross of Calvary, and let their pictures and prophecies meet together there, and they will unite in perfect harmony, and present the exact picture of him whose hands and whose feet were pierced with nails, who "was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," and on whom "the chastisement of our peace was laid," and in whose riven side was opened that cleansing" fountain for sin and for uncleanness." Though the portions contributed, the prophets themselves, the periods at which they lived, the plans they pursued, the predictions they delivered, were all different, yet one Spirit testified in them, one God inspired them, one unseen but almighty hand superintended them all; and the picture, brought together from so many different quarters and composed of so many different parts, is one.
3. Practical proof. But let us take a still plainer and more practical test. See you venerable patriarch whose locks are silvered with years; he resides in a remote hamlet, he dwells in a humble cottage. Observe with what reverence he takes down the ancestral Bible, and with what grace he reads its sacred page at the hour of morning or evening worship. He has never read, perhaps never heard of, any of the great writers on the evidences—Butler, or Paley, or Lardner, or Leslie, or Leland, or Watson; and yet, if you ask him how he knows that volume, which he reads so dutifully and devoutly, to be the Word of God, he will at once and unhesitatingly reply that he knows it must be the Word of God, for he has felt its power to be Divine, bringing, as it has done, pardon to his soul, peace to his conscience, light to his feet and a lamp to his path, joy to his heart, and the "sure and certain hope" of eternal life and immortal glory to his never-dying spirit. Wherever we find a man of that stamp, whether he lives in town or country, in city or village; whether he is the peer that owns a castle or the peasant that is only a tenant in a cottage; whether he be a native of merry England, or broad Scotland, or green Ireland, or gay France, or proud Spain, or the German Fatherland, or classic Italy; whatever be his caste, or calling, or country, or clime, that man, having God's truth in his heart, the grace of God in his soul, and the Spirit of God to guide his feet in the path of peace—that man, whoever he is, or in whatever rank he is found, is a living witness that the seed, of which the Saviour speaks in this parable, is the Word of God and the abiding seed of holiness, for "being born of God he doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."
4. The seed is the Word of the kingdom. The seed is also called, and so explained to be, the Word of the kingdom. The King of the country to which we travel has issued this Word as a Guide-book to every pilgrim who is travelling to the kingdom of glory. It is the Law of him who is anointed to be a King for ever—who is enthroned as King upon the holy hill of Zion, yea, who is seated at the right band of the Majesty on high. It is the Word of that kingdom which at its first beginnings is as a little stone hewn out of the mountain without hands, but which afterwards becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. It is the Law of that King whose kingdom is to be without bounds, and whose reign is to be without end. Of his kingdom it is the Statute-book. From that kingdom it comes and to that kingdom it conducts, translating the sinner out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, out of the kingdom of sin into the kingdom of grace, out of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God. And no sooner has any traveler set his face and turned his feet from the City of Destruction towards the city of the great King, than, like Bunyan's pilgrim, he is observed with this Book in his hand, and at every progressive step in his pilgrimage his eye is on the Book, and thus he reads and walks, and walks and reads, ever reading as he goes. Like David, "his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in that Law he meditates day and night." In reference to this Law it was said of Israel, "What nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Law which I have set before you this day?" We, with Law and Gospel in our hands, are surely bound to be grateful, and to feel—
"How greatly blessed the people are
The joyful sound that know!"
5. Our duty in relation to the Word of the kingdom. The statutes of an earthly kingdom are carefully studied as well as frequently perused. How much more ought the Word of the kingdom, that is, the statutes of the kingdom of heaven, to be daily and diligently read and consulted! If the King of heaven condescends to be at pains to teach us his statutes and his judgments, surely the least that we, who are "of the earth, earthy"—creatures of a day, worms of the dust, should do, is to be at pains to learn those statutes of the Lord that are right, "rejoicing the heart." Again, where the word of a king is there is power, consequently the Word of him who is King of kings and Lord of lords should come home to our hearts, not in word only, "but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." When the word or law of an earthly king is transgressed, such transgression is usually visited with pains and penalties proportionate to the transgression. Can we reasonably expect, then, that the transgressors of Heaven's Law shall escape with impunity? The King who rules in Zion will, we are assured, rule also in the midst of his enemies. If we refuse to touch the scepter of his mercy, or if we reject the Word of his grace, then assuredly we shall be broken with a rod of iron and dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel. The Word of the kingdom is the Word of the King of glory; if we follow its directions they will conduct us on the way to glory. It is the Word of him whose kingdom is not of this world; if we walk according to its instructions, then shall our conversation, or citizenship, even now be in heaven.
6. This seed is absolutely necessary for salvation. It is, as we have seen, the Word of God and the Word of the kingdom, but it is still the seed; and what the seed is in the natural world, the Word of God, or of the kingdom, is in the spiritual world. Without seed there can be no vegetation—neither root nor fruit, neither bud nor blossom, neither leaf nor flower, neither stalk nor plant. The soil may be as rich as that of the primeval forest when it is cleared, or as that of the virgin prairie when it is for the first time opened by the ploughshare; there may be gentle showers and genial sunshine, reviving heat and refreshing dews. The seasons may be most propitious; they may follow each other with successive and suitable blessings—the purifying winds of winter, the freshness of spring, the sultriness of summer, the maturity of autumn; but notwithstanding all this, if the seed be wanting, there cannot be a single stalk of grain nor plant of any kind—neither "grass for the cattle nor herb for the service of man." So spiritually, the Word of God is seed of regenerating power; for are we born again? Then it is "not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Thus the Word of God is seed—the seed of grace in this world, and of glory in the next; the seed of holiness in time, and of heaven through eternity.
7. The seed needs quickening. We have seen that without the seed of God's Word there is neither grace nor glory, neither holiness nor heaven; and therefore as much as justifies the inference that all that is good and gracious, all that is really noble and truly Christian, every grace and every good work,—all spring from the seed of the Word. In the economy of nature, the vigorous stem, and green leafage, and lovely blossom, and abundant fruit are all owing to the seed, and could not possibly exist without it; so in the economy of grace, strong faith, lively hope, and ever-advancing holiness,—all spring out of the seed which is the Word of God. But granting all this, the seed only contains the material of life—it is the means of life; but it is dependent on the quickening, vivifying, life-giving Spirit of God. By his Spirit he fructifies the seed; by his Spirit he vivifies his Word. The Word of God, the Son of God, and the Spirit of God must all go together in the salvation of every human soul. The Son of God brings salvation, the Word of God reveals it, and the Spirit of God applies it.
8. There is vitality in every verse as well as in the whole volume. Even where the Bible is not found collectively and in all its component parts, fragments of it may exist in the shape of single books, or chapters, or verses. And wherever it is thus met with even in dispersed portions, there is seed, there is the germ of life, and, by the blessing of God and the operation of his Spirit, there will in due time be the full development of life and fruitfulness. While it is a blessed privilege to possess the whole of God's Word, and sufficient means of understanding it, and abundant material for its enforcement; still persons not so privileged, but having in possession some small portion of God's Word, are not without the means of safety and salvation. Paragraphs of the Bible, verses of the Bible, sentiments of the Bible, are often blended with the religious compositions of human authors; yet still they retain their vitality, and only want the Spirit of God to quicken them into living power.
IV. THE WAYSIDE HEARERS.
1. Nature of the wayside. By this we may understand a highway, or byway, or bridle-way, or ordinary footpath; but whether the way be broad or narrow, whether it be a well-constructed road or merely a beaten pad, whether it be a public road or pathway, two notions attach to it. We connect with it, first, the idea of a passage, along which people walk, or ride, or drive, or along which traffic is conveyed. But a second idea attached to it, and one which is the consequence of the first, is that of hardness, because of the constant resort along it. Both ideas characterize the hearts of wayside hearers. Just as the highway is that along which people travel on foot, or horseback, or in vehicles of whatever kind, and that too along which their goods are conveyed and their commerce carried on—along which, in fact, their merchandise is transported; so the heart of the wayside hearer is a highway for the passage of worldly thoughts. Such thoughts are constantly passing to and fro along it. Temporal things make it their thoroughfare; unchecked, unhindered, unimpeded, and uninterrupted, they pass and repass. Earthly, or sensual and sinful, objects are constantly found on the highway of that carnal heart. Passion and pride, avarice and ambition, luxury and lust are ever traversing that highway or the byways that diverge from it. Memories of the past, anticipations of the future, present reflections on worldly things, earthly joys or sorrows, worldly cares and anxieties, schemes of wealth and thoughts of indulgence, or hopes of worldly aggrandizement,—all find free passage along the wayside heater's heart. No foot, however unhallowed, is forbidden to enter there. Now, these hearers come to the house of God and seem to hear his Word: "They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not." With this free and constant passage of thousands of earthly, temporal, worldly, and sinful thoughts along the open thoroughfare of the wayside bearer's heart there is small space for thoughts of God. They come "to hear of heaven and learn the way," but their heart is preoccupied, and their thoughts engaged with other objects. Besides, from this constant traffic along it, the heart becomes hard as the wayside, and like the common highway. When thoughts of what is good or gracious do enter, they pass over it, going out as they came in. They never settle on it or sink into it. Any good impressions or gracious influences are merely transient.
2. The wayside hearers understand it not. They hear the Word, but they understand it not. How could they? Understanding requires attention, but worldly thoughts engross the attention that should be given to thoughts of God. Not only so, the heart has become so hard by the constant traffic upon it that such thoughts, when they do enter, cannot penetrate the surface so as to find lodgment in the understanding. What with the crowding together and crushing along of worldly thoughts, and the consequent hardness of heart, the understanding remains untouched. Instead of minds enlightened by the Spirit of God, such hearers come with hearts hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and like a common highway; and so any serious notions that do force an entrance are lost amid the host of other thoughts, and lie on the hard surface. Any truths or facts not duly attended to cannot be properly understood; when only partially, or imperfectly, or perhaps not at all understood, they cannot be retained in the memory. So the wayside hearer neither takes heed to the Word nor keeps hold of it, and therefore gets no benefit from it. But another circumstance increases the culpability of the hearer and claims our notice.
3. It is trodden down. Many a precious seed of gospel truth has been thus treated. Many a time have the truths of God's Word been trodden down. Many an assurance of Christ's ability and readiness "to save to the uttermost" has been trodden down. Many an offer of grace and salvation has been trodden down. Many an "exceeding great and precious promise" by which the hearer might be made partaker of a Divine nature has been trodden down. Many a Scripture picturing the joys of heaven, inviting and even urging us to make those joys our own, has been trodden down. Many a faithful wanning of the sinner to forsake his ways and flee from present wrath and eternal ruin has been trodden down. Thus the Word of God has been despised and despite done to the Spirit of grace. The pure precepts of that Word as well as its precious promises, its earnest entreaties as well as its solemn exhortations, its faithful reproofs as well as its friendly remonstrances, its gracious invitations as well as its many warnings, have all been trodden down, and so treated with carelessness, indifference, and even contempt.
4. Satan snatches it away. "The fowls of the air came and devoured it up." Here again we should notice the verisimilitude of our Lord's representation. "In the countless birds of all kinds—aquatic fowls by the lake-side, partridges and pigeons hovering, as on the Nile-bank, over the rich plain of Gennesaret, we may still see," says Stanley, "the 'birds of the air' which came and devoured the seed by the wayside,' or which took refuge in the spreading branches of the mustard tree.' " Again he observes, "The flocks of birds in the neighborhood of Gennesaret have been already observed. Their number, their beauty, their contrast with the busy stir of sowing and reaping and putting into barns visible in the plains below (whether of Hattin or Gennesaret), must have always courted observation." Never did a bird of the air rush with greater swiftness on its prey than Satan rushes to take away the Word of God as it lies unheeded and despised—trodden down, in fact, on the sinner's heart. Never did the birds that in such multitudes frequent the lake and plain of Gennesaret, whether pigeons, or partridges, or aquatic fowls, hasten with greater eagerness to pick up the seeds let fall by the sower on the pathway running through the corn-land in the plain of Gennesaret, than Satan hurries to take away the seed of truth out of the wayside heater's heart. The wayside was not meant for cultivation nor intended to be sown; so there are hearers who come to hear the Word from custom, or fashion, or from conformity to a respectable observance, or for sake of appearance, or perhaps from a slight twitching of conscience, but not out of a sense of duty, or feeling of privilege, or any earnest desire to get good from it or profit by it. When they do come, their minds detach themselves, as it were, from their bodies and wander miles away; their thoughts wander on the mountains of vanity, or are absorbed in their worldly plans, or prospects, or purposes. Thus the seed lies on the beaten pathway, and is trodden down. Satan is "the prince of the power of the air," and multiplies himself in his emissaries, here represented by fowls, or winged creatures ( πετεινὰ), of the air. He turns away their thoughts from the truth that is being proclaimed and engrosses them with some worldly object; he amuses them, it may be, with some peculiarity of the preacher, or engages their attention with some article of a neighbor's dress; he prejudices their minds against the truth, or preoccupies them with thoughts widely different from those that should be suggested by the subject in hand; he may rob them of the seed by an after-sermon critic, or by the sarcasm of some worthless witling, or the sneer of a sceptically inclined friend. He has thousands of little birds of the air to carry away any thoughts of God, of the soul, of sin, of salvation, of heaven, of hell, of death, of judgment, of eternity, that might lie as seeds of truth on the heart.
5. The immediateness of his arrival. St. Mark draws attention to this point by the word εὐθέως, which occurs so often in his Gospel; but much the same thing is implied by the word which St. Matthew employs to represent Satan's method of taking away the seed. It is not αἴρει, equivalent to "taketh it away," used by both the other evangelists who record the parable; but ἁρπάζει, equivalent to "snatcheth it away" in hot haste, and in the eagerness of his desire to prevent any possibility, however remote, of its growth. This is a very remarkable feature in the narrative. Was it not enough that, from the continuous stream of other thoughts passing through the mind, and the myriad multitude of such, the seed had been neglected? Was it not enough that it was let lie on the surface of a heart that had contracted a sort of highway hardness? Was it not enough at least that it was trodden underfoot, trampled on, and despised? Strange that all this was not sufficient for Satan's purpose! But Satan knows too well the living energy of the Divine Word; and, however neglected or jostled aside, however trodden down or trampled on it may be, however hard and impervious that wayside bearer's heart may be,—Satan, fully alive to the vitality of the seed of Divine truth, apprehends danger from its presence to his own sovereignty over his subjects. If he allowed the seed some time to lie on the heart it might, after all, recover from the trampling and root itself downward, and in the end bear fruit upward. He therefore comes immediately. And though he came immediately, still the seed had been already trodden down; and we therefore infer that the seed had no sooner fallen on the heart than it was instantly trodden down.