36. Was neighbour-i.e. acted the part, and performed the duty and offices of, a neighbour.

37. Go, and do thou likewise. These words contain the application of the parable. The design of it is plainly this to point out that the title of neighbour must not be confined to particular friends or acquaintance, far less to kindred or relations; but that it must be extended beyond those who entertain the same religious opinions, or are members of the same civil society. All mankind, nay even the most bitter enemies, have a claim on the sympathy and assistance of their fellow-men. The conduct of the Samaritan, as set forth in the parable, enforces strongly this truth. He was on his journey; he sees before him a fellow-creature in pain and distress; he does not stop to inquire who he may be, but straightway goes to him with the intention, not merely of expressing pity, but of relieving his sad condition. He must at once have seen that the sufferer was a Jew; one of a nation whom he had been taught to hate; between whom and his own people a long series of mutual injuries and insults had placed an almost impassable barrier. The discovery makes no difference in his conduct; humanity was with him stronger than prejudice. He at once takes such measures for the relief of the sufferer as the occasion suggested, and furnishes that relief out of the very stores which he had taken for his own wants. Nor does he stop here; he attends him to a place where he can find rest and refreshment until his strength be restored; he stays with him till

the morning; and at his departure provides for his immediate wants, until he can himself return.

Such is the character here set forth. It teaches that all men, whoever they may be, or wherever they may be found, stand in the relation of neighbour to their brethren. It is no doubt true that kindred and friends possess a stronger claim on sympathy and assistance than an entire stranger can have certainly far stronger than one whom there is reason to consider an enemy. But whenever the occasion presents itself for relieving actual suffering, then all distinc tions between one man and another must be done away at once. It will be no fulfilment of the Christian rule to love our neighbour as ourselves,' if, in such a case, a man sets to work to calculate what amount of sympathy will satisfy the claim which the particular sufferer has against himself; much less, if he estimates the proportion of relief which the sufferer's previous conduct towards himself may entitle him to withhold. The only question is, what are his wants? what is the power of supplying them? Let no man inquire what may fairly be expected of him in this or that case, or what will comply with the ordinary rules of benevolence; but rather what he himself would look for, if he were in the place of the sufferer, and that sufferer did not possess the necessary means of relief. In estimating, however, the amount of assistance which ought to be bestowed in each case, every man is bound to consider other claims which may be made upon him; and so to proportion his

alms that he may, if possible, never be compelled to turn his back upon a suffering brother. But the parable teaches this truth, that in this estimate, not the individual sufferer, but his wants, must be considered; not the relation in which he stands, but the reality of the suffering laid upon him. Such is the spirit of the lesson of this parable. The only return for which any man may look, even where he has assisted his bitterest enemy, is the reward of conscience, and the satisfaction which arises from a practical love shown to others as fellow-members of Christ. The only recompence on which man can reckon is the sure hope that, as he has fulfilled the command of his Saviour to love his neighbour for his sake, so also that Saviour will extend mercy to him, and will, in his own good time, acknowledge him among those who have testified their love to himself by loving their brethren also.

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THE RICH MAN'S GROUND.

LUKE xii. 16-21.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

HIS parable was suggested by the following cir

THIS

He

cumstance, recorded in the narrative of the Evangelist. One of the company interrupted our Lord's address to the people by the request, 'Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.' Our Lord refuses to interfere, or to assume a judicial power to decide a question relating to matters of civil right. Such conduct would have been altogether foreign to his character and mission. takes occasion, however, from this interruption to caution his hearers against the sin of covetousness, and to warn them of the folly and shortsightedness of an immoderate love of riches, however lawfully acquired. A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.' In other words, the true end and object of a man's life, his

preparation for that life which is to be hereafter, is not affected by the abundance of the things which he may happen to possess. In confirmation of this truth our Lord utters the parable, the moral of which will be found in the words with which he concludes his warning.

16. The ground. The estate, or farm.

20. Thou Fool.

Senseless, and void of understanding that thou art. The same word is used in the same way by St. Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 26.

6

Thy soul shall be required of thee. The literal translation of these words is rendered in the margin of our Bibles, This night do they require thy soul.' The original expresses that which in English would be expressed by the passive voice. Luke xvi. 9.

21. So is he, &c. In these words the moral of the parable is set forth. It is to be remarked that no charge is brought against the rich man of having acquired his wealth by unfair means; on the contrary, it had been increased by the spontaneous act of God, who had blessed with increase the fruits of the earth. Nor is any blame attached to him for the possession of these his many goods, nor for building larger storehouses, which were necessary for the increase which God had given him. His sin was that he laid up riches for himself; that he trusted in them, and placed in them all his hopes of comfort and enjoyment. He was not rich toward God. He did not consider the true use and application of that wealth with which he had been entrusted. He seemed to forget that God