The Cockle and other parables

The cockle and other parables

Strong, sharp, and clear though these first outlines were, they did not sufficiently prefigure the future development of the Church.  And so Jesus cast about for new similitudes.

"Unto what shall We compare the Kingdom of Heaven," He said, " and under what imagery may We describe it?"

In order to depict the persecutions which were in store for it He gave the Parable of the Cockle,1

The enemy sowing tares. J-J Tissot.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a man who has sowed good grain in his field.  Now while his people were sleeping his enemy comes2 and sows cockle through the midst of the wheat, and goes his way.  The blade having sprouted and born its fruit, the cockle also began to appear.
"‘And the servants of the father of the family came to him, saying, ‘My lord, did you not sow good grain in your field?  How comes it that there is cockle also?’
"‘It is mine enemy who has done this,’ he said to them.
"‘Will you have is go and weeded out?’ The servants replied.
"‘No, he answered, for fear lest in gathering up the cockle you might upward are we to the same time.  Let them grow up together until the harvest, and in the time of harvesting I will say to the reapers, First tear up the cockle and bind it in bundles to cast into the fire; but the other the wheat intimate Barnes.’"

Over against this picture of the Church’s sufferings Jesus set forth the scene of its Day of Triumph in even more striking contrast.  He showed how humble its beginnings, how slow its growth, but at the same time how mighty is the seed of life within it; and so He called it a Mustard Seed, the tiniest of all seeds, which becomes a tree in which the birds of heaven find a resting place; or it is the leaven which a woman mixes in three measures3 of meal, and which ferments the whole lump.

"All these things," adds Saint Matthew, "He told to the people in Parables, and He no longer spoke to them save in parables.  Thus was fulfilled what had been said by the Prophet, ‘I will open My mouth in Parables; I will lay bare things hidden from the foundation of the world.’"

Nevertheless the divine Master was careful, amid all this "great number of similitudes," to say nothing "which could not be comprehended" by docile hearts, and "in private He explained everything to His disciples."

To them, indeed was committed the great trust of treasuring up the truths which were denied to incredulous Jews; not that they were always to hoard of this wealth in secrecy, but that they might bring them forth at a fitting hour to be the Light of the Church, to be as a torch, which is not put beneath the couch, but is set within its holder that it made light of all those who enter the house; "for there is nothing hidden" in the Master’s doctrine "which must not be revealed, nothing done in the shadow which shall not be brought to light." This is why Jesus so earnestly beseeches His Apostles to listen to His words.

"Pay heed to what you are hearing.  Whoever has ears to hear let him hear!"

And again this is the reason of His solemn warning that this great gift of wisdom is not bestowed upon them alone, but that it is to be for all; hence He threatened to take it back from such as failed to guard it faithfully, "for it shall be given to him who has," to him who preserves the words of the Master, "but from him who has not, even that which he hath shall be taken away."

Towards evening Jesus dismissed the throngs, and returned to His dwelling.  Thither the disciples accompanied Him, and begged Him to enlighten them as to the Parable of the Cockle.  Thereupon interpreting the allegory word by word, He showed plainly how the Devil is the enemy who sows the cockle; yet at the end of the world the Angels shall gather together all the scandals, together with the evil doers, from out the Church, casting them into the furnace of fire; while the just shall shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father.

To these parables Saint Matthew adds three similes which the Saviour uttered about the same time; and with these He completed the figurative description of what His Church was to become.  For some it is a Treasure buried in a field which the toiling labour turns up with the plough-share; "having found it, the fellow hides it, and in his joy he goes out and sells all he has that he may buy the field." For others it is the Pearl of great price which falls into the hands of a merchant who is seeking rare gems.  For all of us it is a Net which drags the very depths of the sea, letting nothing escape its meshes, bearing mankind from out the fierce waves of the world up to the peaceful shores of eternity.  "As fishers seated on the strand collect together the good fish and cast away the bad, even so shall it be at the end of the world.  The Angels shall come and shall separate the wicked from among the righteous, and shall cast them into the furnace.  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

"Have you understood all these things?" added the divine Master.

"Yes, Lord," the Apostles replied; for now indeed their dazzled eyes were beginning to have glimpses of the truth, despite the surpassing splendour of His speech.  Little by little they were still to descry new and lovelier verities, as the divine Light grew in Glory, until the time should come for all to be made partakers in the heavenly day.  This was to be their Commission; for, unlike those Doctors of the Law who communicated their doctrine only to a handful of disciples, the Apostles of the Glad Tidings were to spread the good news over all the earth.  Just as a bountiful father will plunge his hand deep down in his coffers, bringing to light the hoardings of long ago as well as of today that he may lavish them upon the children of his household, even so the true Scribe, who has knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven, must needs find in the Old Testament as well as in the New treasures of wisdom which shall become in his hands the noble heritage of all mankind.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam