Commentari biblici

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

The same day — Wherein Christ had had a sharp bout and bickering with the scribes and Pharisees in the forenoon, he sat and taught the people (as it may seem) in the afternoon. A precedent of preaching twice a day. Chrysostom’s practice was to preach in the afternoon, and by candle light; as appears by his note on 1 Thessalonians 5:17 , where he fetcheth a similitude from the lamp he was preaching by. Quench not the Spirit, σβεννυσι δε αυτοβιος ακαθαρτος . Chrysostom. Luther likewise preached twice a day; which because one Nicolas White commended him in, he was accused of heresy in the reign of Henry VIII. And this commendable course began to be disgraced and cried down in our days as puritanical and superfluous. A learned bishop (Andrews) was highly extolled in print, for saying that when he was a lecturer in London, he preached in the morning, but prated only in the afternoon. A fair commendation for him.

He sat by the sea side — As waiting an opportunity of doing good to men’s souls; which was no sooner offered, but he readily laid hold on. So St Paul took a text of one of the altars in Athens, and discoursed on it to the superstitious people. A minister must stand ever upon his watch tower, prompt and present, ready and speedy to every good work (as the bee, as soon as ever the sun breaks forth, flies abroad to gather honey and wax), accounting employment a preferment, as our Saviour did,John 17:4; John 17:4 .

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And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

He went into a ship and sat — Thinking, perhaps, there to repose himself, after his hard conflict with the Pharisees. But the sight of a new audience incites him to a new pains of preaching to them. And as he held no time unseasonable, so no place unfit for such a purpose. We find him again teaching not in the temple only and synagogues on the Sabbath day (as he did constantly), but in the mountains, in cities, in private houses, by the sea side, by the wayside, by the well’s side, anywhere, everywhere, no pace came amiss to him, no pulpit displeased him.

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And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And he spake many things to them in parables — A parable, saith Suidas, is διηγημα και ομοιωσις πραγματων , a setting forth of the matter by way of similitude from something else that differs in kind, and yet in some sort resembleth and illustrateth it. Christ, the prince of preachers, varieth his kind of teaching according to the nature and necessity of his audience, speaking as they could hear, as they could bear, saith St Mark. Ministers, in like sort, must turn themselves, as it were, into all shapes and fashions both of spirit and speech, to win people to God.

Behold, a sower went forth — Our Saviour stirs them up to attention by a "Behold." Which, though it might seem not so needful to be said to such as came far, and now looked through him, as it were, for a sermon: yet he, well knowing how dull men are to conceive heavenly mysteries, how weak to remember, hard to believe, and slow to practise, calls for their uttermost attention to his divine doctrine, and gives them a just reason thereof in his ensuing discourse. It fares with the best, while they hear, as with little ones, when they are saying their lesson; if but a bird fly by, they must needs look after it: besides the devil’s malice striving to distract, stupify, or steal away the good seed, that it may come to nothing.

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And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

And when he sowed, some seed, … — The word is a seed of immortality. For, 1. As seeds are small things, yet produce great substances, as an acorn an oak, …, so by the foolishness of preaching souls are saved, like as by blowing of rams’ horns the walls of Jericho were subverted. 2. As the seed must be harrowed into the earth, so must the word be hid in the heart, ere it fructify. 3. As the seedsman cannot make a harvest without the influence of heaven; so, let us, to the wearing of our tongues to the stump (as that martyr expressed it), preach and pray never so much, men will on in their sins, unless God give the blessing: Paul may plant, … Mr Bradford, Serm. of Rep. Meum est docere, vestrum auscultare, Dei perficere. It is for me to teach, you to hear, and God to perform. Cyril. 4. As good seed if not cast into good ground yields no harvest; so the word preached, if not received into good and honest hearts, proves ineffectual. The Pharisees were not a button the better for all those heart piercing sermons of our Saviour, nay, much the worse. 5. As the harvest is potentially in the seed, so is eternal life in the word preached,Romans 1:16; Romans 1:16 . As the rain from heaven hath a fatness with it, and a special influence more than other standing waters, so there is not the like life in other ordinances as in preaching. None to that, as David said of Goliath’s sword.

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Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

Some fell upon stony places, … — Our Saviour, his own best interpreter, explains all this to his disciples, Matthew 13:18-19 . The intent of these various parables seems to have been to confirm that which was said in the former chapter, Matthew 13:50 , that they that do the will of his heavenly Father shall be owned and crowned by him as his dearest relations and alliances. As also to teach the people not to rest in hearing, since three parts of four hear and perish. Which loss is yet sweetly repaired by the fruitfulness of the good hearers, some whereof bring forth a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty, the fertility of one grain making amends for the barrenness of many; so that the sower repents not of his pains. It is well worth while, if but one soul be gained to God by a whole life’s labour.

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And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

See Trapp on " Matthew 13:5 "

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And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

See Trapp on " Matthew 13:5 "

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But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

See Trapp on " Matthew 13:5 "

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