16, this is shown to be its meaning, where it is said that "others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven." Probably the Scribes and Pharisees specified this kind of sign, as one in the production of which Satan could have no power or influence, as he has none in Heaven. for our justification. This great sign was called "the sign of the prophet Jonas," because the remarkable history of that prophet was typical of the death and resurrection of Christ. We may observe, in reflecting upon this verse, that men have no right to demand of God such proofs in support of religion as they may capriciously require. That man compromises the dignity of truth, who suffers the proud and haughty effrontery of infidelity to influence him in his manner of proving it. God, who made the human un 39. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation sceketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jo-derstanding, is the best judge of what amount nas: It may be The expression "adulterous" may be understood in different senses. taken literally, as there is abundance of historical evidence that the Jews, in our Saviour's time, were much addicted to this vice. Or, as the relation of the Jewish people to God was frequently represented under the figure of a marriage-contract, Is. lvii. 3; Hos. iii. 1; Ezek. xvi. 15; so every instance of unfaithfulness and disobedience on their part may be expressively represented as adultery, as it was a proof of their hearts being estranged from him. Or by the words "a wicked and adulterous generation," Christ may have intended to represent them as the spurious and degenerate descendants of Abraham, whose legitimate children they boasted themselves to be, whilst by their wicked conduct they gave evidence that they were unworthy of being called so. This latter explanation is suggested by John viii. 39, in which the Jews are described as saying, "Abraham is our Father;" on which Jesus said unto them "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham." and description of evidence is necessary and sufficient to produce conviction. More than this can do no good; for if men believe not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they believe though one should rise from the dead. The sign which was demanded on this occasion by the Scribes and Pharisees was not for the confirmation of their faith, but as an excuse for their unbelief, and therefore Jesus would not grant it when they sought it. 40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The original expressions here do not necessarily signify a "whale's belly;" they may be rendered "in the cavity of a great fish," Jonah i. 7. The throat of a whale is too small to admit a man, and it is probable that it might have been a fish of the shark species that is here alluded to, as sharks have been often known to have swallowed men entire. The situation of Jonas is here said to have been typical of the state of Christ in The import of the Saviour's answer is the interval between his death and resurrecthis that the sign which they particularly tion, which is represented as a period of referred to was intended, not for that, but "three days and three nights." Strictly for another generation, even for the genera- speaking, this interval consisted of only one tion which should be alive at the time of the whole day and a part of two others, but it is second advent. Jesus was not at that time usual to speak of this length of time in round to manifest himself as coming in the clouds numbers as "three days;" and from the peof Heaven, but had appeared in the flesh to culiar nature of the Hebrew language, the put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and Jews were obliged to use the periphrasis of therefore the proper signs to be then given" three days and three nights" to express were such as afforded evidence of his having what others would speak of by the simple accomplished this great work of mercy. phrase of "three days." Such a sign was exhibited in his death and resurrection. He was put to death on account of our offences, and was raised again The declaration which is here made of Christ being "in the heart of the earth" during the period referred to, is very impor tant. His body, when taken down from the cross, was laid in a sepulchre; but this could not be what is meant by the "heart of the earth." It is clear that by this phrase we must understand some place which was as much in the interior of the earth, as the cavity of the fish was in the interior of the fish, and in which Jesus remained in a state of as conscious existence as Jonah was in during his remarkable confinement. The place, then, which is here referred to, can be no other than that which is elsewhere called HELL OF HADES, which literally denotes an invisible place, and is the allotted mansion for departed spirits to dwell in during the interval between their death and resurrection. This word "Hell" does not necessarily signify a place of suffering, but includes under it both the place of the wicked and of the good, which are separated from each other by a great gulph or chasm between them. That this place is in the interior or cavity of the earth, is clear from many expressions in the Word of God. It is said that men "descend" into Hell, Is. v. 14; they are said to be "brought up again," when they are restored to life, 1 Sam. xxviii. 11-15; and the expressions, "rising again" and being "raised up," are constantly used to denote the restoration of men to a state of existence upon the earth. It was into Hell or Hades that Christ descended after his crucifixion-not into that part of it which was assigned to the wicked, but into that in which the souls of the righteous are in joy and felicity, which is called "Paradise," as is evident from his reply to the thief, recorded in Luke xxiii. 43. This is clearly stated in several passages of Scripture; amongst the most remarkable of which are the following: In Acts ii. 27, we find the Apostle Peter quoting the words of the Psalmist in Psal. xvi. 10, as applicable to the resurrection of Jesus-"Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption," which he plainly expounds in the 31st verse as having a double reference to the soul of Christ, which descended into Hell, and to his body, which was laid in the sepulchre; and applies the word "resurrection" to his soul, as well as to his body; so that it is right to say that his soul was raised up as well as his body, and therefore his soul must have been under the surface of the earth to which he was raised but it was in " Hell," and therefore Hell must be under the surface of the earth. Again, in 1 Pet. iii. 18-20, it is said, that as soon as Christ was put to death in the flesh, he went in the spirit (for so the original may be rendered) and preached to the spirits which were in prison: by which prison we can understand no other place than Hades. And that this occurred after his death and before his ascension, is evident from the position which the statement occupies; for it occurs immediately after the Apostle had made mention of the Saviour's suffering on the cross in verse 18, and immediately before he makes mention of his going into Heaven in verse 22. So that from these and other texts, it follows that Christ was in this point also made like unto his brethren, and that he conformed his humanity to ours during every stage of its being. But Jesus remained for a very short time in Hades, and this is the chief import of his assertion in the text. The sign consisted in this-that he remained in the heart of the earth for no longer a period than Jonas remained in the cavity of the fish, so that this sign included his resurrection from out of the heart of the earth. This was the grand climax of proof, and the consummating evidence which the Saviour afforded in support of his claims; it was this which contained an assurance for all men that God had appointed him to be the Judge of the quick and of the dead. 41. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. This should certainly be rendered, "Men of Nineveh shall rise."" Nineveh was one of the most ancient and distinguished cities in the world, the capital of the Assyrian empire. The wickedness of its inhabitants was so great, that God sent the prophet Jonas to denounce temporal judgments against them unless they repented. Our Saviour here alludes to the success or Jonah's mission, and states that the conduct of the men of Nineveh shall so reflect upon the hardness and impenitency of the Jews, as to place it in the strongest light. The justness of this observation will appear at once by contrasting the ministry of Jonas with that of the Saviour. Jonas was sent to a people brought up in heathenism, and who had no knowledge of the true God: Jesus was sent to the Jews, who regarded themselves as God's peculiar people. Jonas went to a people who had no previous instruction or preparation for his coming: Jesus came to a people who had been forewarned by numerous extraordinary intimations of his advent. Jonas was a total stranger to the Ninevites: whereas Jesus was recognised by the Jews as one of their own nation and country. The message of Jonas referred entirely to judgment and destruction: the message of the Saviour was fraught with mercy, tenderness, and love, and contained repeated invitations and promises to returning and repenting sinners. Jonas performed no miracles, nor did the people of Nineveh demand any sign of him, but repented at his simply preaching: Jesus performed innumerable works of the most surprising nature, sufficient to convince those who would candidly examine them, of the divinity of his mission. Jonas preached only for the short period of forty days: Jesus for about three years. The people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonas: the Jews persecuted, rejected, and at length crucified the Saviour. Well might he say that men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment against the generation of his time, and condemn it, because a greater than Jonas was there. This last sentence might be rendered, "Something more than Jonas is here," even HE of whom Jonas was only the type. There is much delicacy in the use of the neuter gender in this phrase "something more," which shows the humility of Christ when thus speaking of himself. 42. The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. This should be, "a Queen of the South," as there is a parallelism between this phrase and that of " an evil and adulterous generation" in verse 39. The reference is to the Queen of Sheba, who is mentioned in the tenth chapter of the first book of Kings. Sheba or Saba was either in Arabia or Ethiopia, but to the south of Judea. The principle contained in this verse is the same as that which is contained in the preceding, that the goodness of those who have small advantages shall condemn those who have great advantages which they neglect. But the illustration is stronger. The Ninevites did not go to Jonah, but Jonah went to them. On the other hand, Solomon did not go to the Queen of Sheba, but she came to him from "the uttermost parts of the earth." The original of this last phrase is used to indicate a very great distance. The contrast, also, between the conduct of the Jews and that of the Queen of Sheba is necessary to be observed in order to see the force of the Saviour's declaration. She came without invitation on a long journey; the Jews had no journey to take, for Jesus came to them with many invitations that they should put their trust in him. Jesus, also, had displayed more glorious attributes than Solomon. He had repeatedly proved his possession not only of greater wisdom, but of the most unlimited power. We learn from these verses, that the real state of men in a moral and religious point of view shall not be fully seen until the general judgment, and that impenitency and unbelief must ultimately involve men in irretrievable ruin. The event which is referred to here, of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, derives, however, its chief importance from its typical character. It was typical of that homage which shall be paid to Christ hereafter, when he shall take to himself his great power, and reign-when the prophecies recorded in Ps. lxxii. 10, 11, and in Isaiah Ix. 3-6, shall receive their accomplishment,and when all that is noble and all that is ex cellent in our redeemed and renovated world shall be presented as a cheerful and a grateful tribute to the commanding majesty of the with him in glory shall cast their crowns Saviour, and when those who shall reign before him, saying "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." The Queen of Sheba was also a type of the glorified Church of the Redeemer, bending in grateful homage before his throne, in his everlasting kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy. The Parable of the Unclean Spirit. 43. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none: 44. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. This is an extremely difficult and mysterious parable, and one which we, who know so little about spiritual beings and their operations, cannot expect to understand in our present state. Our present senses, organs, and mental faculties, are more adapted for holding converse with visible and material objects, and for contemplating the things of earth rather than those which belong to the invisible and spiritual world. This parable was spoken by one who knew what was in devils as well as what was in man, and who was well acquainted with the nature and operations of spiritual beings. To understand it, therefore, in all its details, we should have such an exposition of it, given by the Lord himself, as he gives in the 13th chapter, of the parable of the Sower: but this it has not pleased him to give; nor have we enough of information afforded to us in Scripture on the subject of satanic agency, to enable us to understand all that is referred to in these verses. We should not therefore be ashamed to confess our ignorance of the full meaning of this parable, and to acknowledge our sense of its difficulty. If man is a mystery to himself, if he cannot even understand how his mind acts through the organs of his brain-how his will exercises a control over the faculties of his understanding, and over the muscles and members of his bodily frame, if he cannot tell how it is that his soul and body are joined together, if the Psalmist, when contemplating another subwonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain ject, could say "Such knowledge is too unto it,"-we need not hesitate to say that we cannot fully understand the mysterious subject of satanic agency. And, indeed, it is well that we meet with difficulties in the scriptures, and with subjects which are beyond the grasp of man's understanding; for in these we have presumptive evidence that the Bible is the production of an intellect superior to our own-as it is in truth the word of the living God, given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. a Yet although we cannot explain all the details of this mysterious parable, we have distinct clue given to us by the Saviour himself at the conclusion of it, by the aid of which we can perceive its immediate scope, and understand the moral of it; for the scope and moral of a parable may be ascertained without our being able to understand all the principles and circumstances that are referred to in it. Indeed, the use of a parable, such as this, for moral instruction, is not much, if at all, interfered with by the fact of its mysteriousness. The bee may extract honey from the flowers of spring, without having the intellect to understand their origin and their structure;- the husbandman may derive aid from the sun, the traveller from the useful light of the mocn, or the sailor from the silent indications of the stars, and yet know nothing of the movements or the mechanism of the heavenly bodies. And it is thus with Scripture: there is much that is mysterious, much that is wonderful, much that is incomprehensible in the word of God, and yet all Scripture is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. There is much, in short, in the Bible, which the head cannot comprehend; but there is nothing which does not, either directly or indirectly, appeal to the heart. We shall therefore consider, in the first place, what is the scope and object of this parable. And in calling it a parable, we should not on that account consider it as fictitious; for a parable is not necessarily, nor always, fictitious. In this case it is the use that is made of the narrative which constitutes it a parable, but the narrative itself is introduced by such language as would naturally be employed in relating truth"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man." Now the scope and object of this pa- | spirit, which had been dwelling in them for rable are to be ascertained from the Saviour's some time, for they had displayed it on a commentary at the end of it" even so shall previous occasion mentioned in chapter ix. it be also unto this wicked generation." These 34,-now went out of them, not in conseconcluding words show that it was intended quence of any exercise of candour or reflecto be a prophetic, symbolical illustration of tion on their part, but because it was driven the moral destiny which awaited the Scribes out by the irresistible force of our Saviour's and Pharisees, and the Jewish people who reasoning; so that they did not again repeat resisted and opposed the Saviour, as if no- the accusation of his being in collusion with thing connected with the obvious and visible the devil, but for some time afterwards afcircumstances of man could afford him an fected a greater moral propriety and decency adequate illustration of this, and that it was of conduct than they had formerly done. necessary to borrow his imagery from the Thus these persons, who were the "house" awful mysteries of the infernal and spiritual in which the unclean spirit dwelt, became world. The comparison employed on this "empty," or vacant, for the unclean spirit occasion was probably suggested by the cir- had gone out of them, and the spirit of God cumstance of the Pharisees having displayed had not entered into them,-" swept," or extheir enmity when Christ had cast out a hibiting an external and superficial, but not devil from a man who had been both blind a thorough reformation, and "garnished" and dumb, though we are not to suppose or embellished, not with the fruits of the that the ultimate situation of this man was spirit, but with an outward and hypocritical represented by the return of the evil spirit affectation of sanctity, so that they resembled with seven others, for there is this difference whited sepulchres, to which Christ compared between the case of the man whom the Sa- them in chapter xxiii. 27. But afterwards viour had just relieved, and the case supposed the unclean spirit returned to them, not in the parable, that in the former the devil indeed suggesting the very same accusations was ejected by the power of Jesus, in the against Christ, but manifesting as much latter he is represented as going out of his malignity as before, and bringing with him own accord. Now, as soon as Jesus had cast many other evil spirits, for the number out the devil from this man, the Scribes and "seven" may probably be used here for an Pharisees demanded a sign from him, by which indefinite number. The number "seven" they meant such a proof and evidence of his is frequently used to express the idea of divine authority as would overpower them completeness, and here, probably, denotes with a commanding and irresistible convic- that as many spirits came with the unclean tion. The Saviour, in reply, told them that spirit as would fully and effectually accomsuch a sign as this should certainly be giv- plish his evil designs. It was, perhaps, at en, but not at that particular time, -a sign the very same time when the devil entered which should consist in his resurrection into Judas Iscariot, that the unclean spirit from the dead, by which an assurance would returned with others into the Scribes and be given to all men that he had been ap- Pharisees, and led them to crucify Jesus. pointed to judge the world in righteousness, And thus the last state of these men was -and a sign which should indeed convince worse than the first; for the spirit that at them, but when it was too late. He then first displayed itself in verbal calumnies, illustrates the equity of their foreseen con- when it had afterwards gathered auxiliaries demnation, by contrasting their conduct with from hell, at length led them to crucify the that of the men of Nineveh and of the Queen holy and merciful Saviour, and thus to conof Sheba, and then delivers the solemn pa- summate their dark depravity by an act of rable before us, in which he traces out the atrocious and deliberate murder, which stands dark outline of their moral history, from the forth on the page of history occupying an time when he was addressing them, to the awful and unparalleled prominency amongst time when their guilt was so fearfully dis- the most desperate records of human crime! played in his crucifixion. Now we think, And, indeed, the moral condition of that that in applying this parable to the Phari- wicked generation was black and dismal, like sees, we are to consider "the unclean spirit" a darkness that could be felt, at that solemn as that which had led them to attribute the crisis of their nation's history! The spirit miracles of Christ to satanic agency. This from which false accusations spring had |