say unto If then goes on to assure them that they will be heard. "And I you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (xi. 10-13.) To demand a great similarity between the things set in such strong contrast here, is to miss the main point in our Lord's teaching. There is no likeness between bread and a stone. If he ask bread, will you present to him something that he cannot eat? If he ask a fish, will you present to him a creature from which he will turn away with fear? If he ask an egg, will you instead offer to put into his hand the deadly scorpion? All theorizing about white scorpions, and about the oval form of the scorpion's body, is vain. There is not the most distant resemblance between an egg and the black scorpions of Palestine. Had the Saviour wished to associate with this idea regarding the father's willingness to give what is good, the thought of an attempt to deceive on the part of the earthly parent, he could have named the egg of any of the oviparous reptiles, and not the scorpion. The stone, he says, is useless, the serpent dangerous, the scorpion deadly. Earthly parents know this, and knowing the wants of their children whom they love, they will not mock them when they ask for something to nourish their bodies. So with our Father in heaven. He knows that his children have need of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray to him, for we are assured that he "will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Scorpion," Heb. akrāv, Gr. scorpios-see under Deut. viii. 15. The place which the tithing of herbs (ver. 42) holds in the context has been fully indicated above-see Matt. xxiii. 23. Two herbs are mentioned by Luke, one of which is not named by Matthew, namely, rue." "Mint," hēduosmon, the generic term for several of the natural order of plants Labiata, may, as used here, include both the spear-mint (Mentha viridis) and the pepper-mint (M. piperita). Both species are very wide-spread, being found in most parts of the world. Their uses are known to all. The scrupulousness and hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees are specially shown by their making a show of paying VOL. II. 4 D tithe in this herb. The wheat and the barley when offered to the Lord implied self-denial on the part of the offerers. But by tithing their mint they laid claim to having performed the religious obligation, when they were serving the Lord with that which cost them nothing. "Rue," pēgănon, gives its name to the natural order Rutacea or rue family. The species referred to by Luke is the common rue (Ruta graveolens), once much more frequently cultivated on account of its medicinal properties in cottage gardens than it is now. It is to be met with growing wild in most of the countries on both sides of the Mediterranean. It has been found in considerable abundance in Palestine, especially about Carmel and Tabor. Growing readily and without much care, it would form an easy substitute for the weightier matters of the law, which the Pharisees neglected. Rue is an herbaceous plant. Its stems, however, attain to a considerable length, and are often of a half-woody appearance. If we may credit Josephus, it sometimes attains to the rank of a true tree. In his notes on "the city called Macharus," he says, "Now within this place there grew a sort of rue, that claims our admiration on account of its largeness, for it was in no way inferior to any fig-tree whatsoever, either in height or in thickness; and the report is, that it had lasted ever since the time of Herod, and would probably have lasted much longer, had it not been cut down by those Jews who took possession of the place afterwards." ("Wars," vii. 6, § 3.) "Lilies" (xii. 27), Heb. shōshānnīm, Gr. krina, have been noticed under Song ii. 1—which see. The lily (Lilium) belongs to a family of plants (Liliacea) which contains above one hundred and thirty genera, many of them differing very widely from each other, in size, colour, &c. Several species are abundant in the localities in which our Saviour wandered. Dr. Bonar, referring to the heights above Beersheba, says:-"On these heights the lilies abounded, with grass and low shrubs between. I noticed that the camels did not touch the lilies at all; but cropped what lay between. It reminded me of the words 'He feedeth among the lilies' (Cant. ii. 16). We did not here see any flocks feeding, or any 'young harts' leaping; but in other places we had frequent occasion to notice the sheep and lambs. browsing on the like pastures-among but not on the lilies; for while the lily furnishes no acceptable food for flocks and herds, it seems by the shade of its high broad leaves, to retain the moisture, and so to nourish herbage wherever it grows. The place of lilies would thus be the place of the richest pasture, as Solomon evidently indicates when, 'young roes which feed among They grew in almost incredible nothing else flourished, corro again using the figure, he speaks of the the lilies' (Cant. iv. 5, and again vi. 3). numbers and luxuriance, often where borating the prophet's allusion-' he shall grow as the lily' (Hosea xiv. 5). Their tapering leaf is richly green, and hence the 'heap of wheat set about with lilies' (Cant. vii. 2), would form, by the contrast, an object of no common beauty, the pale yellow and the vivid green setting off each other, as the leaf of the primrose does its own yellow blossom. Close by these lilies there grew several of the thorn-shrubs of the desert; but above them rose the lily, spreading out its fresh leaf of green as a contrast to the dingy verdure of these prickly shrubs. 'As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters' (Cant. ii. 2). Whether this be the lily of the valley, I do not know. It grows on hill and valley, all over the region. Nor is it of one species only, but of several, as we could easily see, though only one species was in flower. That which was in flower the Arab's called usweith. It was larger than the others, and shot up its lilac, hyacinth-looking flowers from a tapering stalk, sometimes two feet long." Were we to look for botanical exactness in the words of our Lord, his expression, "lilies of the field," might be limited to one species -the scarlet martagon lily (Lilium chalcedonicum), which grows abundantly in Palestine. But there is little doubt that his words included all the species which came under his eye, when he pointed his hearers to the plants of the field, as illustrative of the divine care, wisdom, and glory. The quiet beauty of the white and the yellow varieties, and the gorgeous hues of the scarlet, would contrast favourably with all the magnificence which man's art could throw into royal robes. Fig. 179. Syrian Lily. "He spake also this parable: A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard: and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he, answering, said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: and if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down" (xiii. 6-9). "Fig-tree," vol. i., p. 134. "The peculiarity of the image that of a fig-tree in a vineyard-however unlike to the European notion of a mass of unbroken vine-clad hills, is natural in Palestine, where fig-trees, thorn-trees, apple-trees, whether in cornfields or vineyards, are allowed to grow freely wherever they can get soil to support them."-(Stanley.) In this parable the object of the Saviour is to communicate a true impression of the progressive development of his kingdom. The points to be specially illustrated, are the smallness of its beginning, the gradual character of its progress, and its great and glorious results. "Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it" (ver. 18, 19). Matthew gives the parable more fully :-"Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustardseed, which a man took and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof" (xiii. 31, 32). In Mark's account, special attention is called to the development of the branches:-"And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard-seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: but when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it" (iv. 30-32). The points of comparison appear on the surface of the parable. If the progress of the gospel among men be taken as the ground of comparison, it is seen, in the babe born at Bethlehem, as the grain of mustard-seed. Its growth is illustrated in the adhesion of the Galilæan fishermen to the testimony of Jesus, in the gradual extension of the kingdom of God in apostolic times, and in its triumph over nations as the generations passed. It grows still, and will continue to grow, until the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth. If the progress be regarded from the point of view of influence on the spiritual nature of each man brought to Christ, it finds its illustration in the gradual subjection of the whole man to the will of God, and in the usefulness which comes to mark every one who has become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. "At the first there were thoughts of Jesus, which many times flashed upon us, clear thoughts, though still overshadowed with doubts. By degrees, however, the doubts became more rare and feeble; convictions on the other hand, built upon the foundation which has already been laid, find their way into our heart. At first there were inclinations to Jesus, which often stirred the heart-pious inclinations, but still intermingled with the love of sin. By degrees, however, we come to crucify the ungodly nature and the lusts of the flesh; attachment, strong and pure, such as he demands, found its way into the heart. At first there were feelings for Jesus, holy feelings, but still alternating with impatience, lust, passion, and a thousand interruptions. By degrees, however, the storm was allayed, a calmness, serene as the clear heaven, the offspring of a peace which is higher than all reason, found its way into our heart." But this peace is not unbroken. The leaf withers on the tree before its season, the branch is liable to disease, the roots are not always equal to a healthy absorbing power. Thus with man in contact with Jesus, and having His life in the soul. There are shadows as well as sunshine in Christian experience. To push the comparison farther would be to pervert the words of the Lord. "The mustard-tree," Gr. sinapi, supplies in this case the figure around which these views of the kingdom are brought out. In attempting to identify this plant, it was very early found that the annual herbaceous species, common mustard (Sinapis nigra), which supplies the well-known spice, would not answer the description of our Lord. Irby and Mangles were the first to direct attention to a plant in all respects like that described here. Between the south end of the Dead Sea and Kerak, they found a tree to which they thus refer:-"There was one curious tree which we observed in great numbers, and which bore a fruit in bunches, resembling in appearance the currant, with the colour of the plum. It has a pleasant though strong aromatic taste, resembling mustard, and if taken in any quantity, produces a similar irritability in the nose and eyes. The leaves of this tree have the same pungent flavour as the fruit, though not so strong. We think it probable that this is the tree our Saviour alluded to in the parable of the mustard-seed, and not the mustard-plant, which is to be found in the north; for although in our journey from Bysan to Adjeloun we met with the mustard-plant growing wild, as high as our horses' heads, still, being an annual, it did not deserve the appellation of a tree; whereas the other is really such, and birds might easily, and actually do, take shelter under its shadow" (chap. vii). The travellers do not name this plant, but fuller inquiry has identified it with one of the |