ome men through the fall of a tower. Leaving untouched
the general doctrine that mankind suffer for sin, he clearly and
emphatically teaches, that particular calamities do not measure or prove
the particular guilt of those who suffer in them. Otherwise, it is
obvious that God's government begins and ends in this life; there is
neither the necessity nor the evidence of a judgment to come. He
indicated to the Jews that the sudden and unexpected destruction of
those sacrificing Galileans, was but an emblem of the sudden and
unexpected destruction that would overtake themselves if they were not
converted in time, and shielded in mercy from the judgment that sin
entailed. To repeat, expand, and enforce this lesson the parable is
spoken: "He spake _also_ this parable,"--the similitude is given in
addition to the more direct instruction which had gone before, and for
the same purpose.

"A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard." This was not a
seedling that had sprung accidentally within the fences of the vineyard,
and through carelessness been permitted to grow: the language is
precise, and indicates that the fig tree had been planted within the
vineyard by a deliberate act of the owner. The husbandman planted the
fig-tree that he might enjoy its fruit; and in order more effectually to
secure his object, he selected for the tree the most favourable
position. It is obvious both from the structure and design of the
parable that the position of the fig-tree was the best that it could
possibly have obtained.

In countries where the vine is cultivated, not by a few wealthy
proprietors with a view to an export trade, but by each family on a
small scale with a view to the food of the household, to plant some
fruit trees of other kinds within the same enclosure is the rule rather
than the exception. The vineyard is not the luxury of the few, but a
common necessity of life with the many. It becomes the most cherished
possession of the permanent rural population. Its aspect is sunward, its
soil is good, its fences are in order. Within this favoured spot the
owner is willing to make room for one or more fig-trees, for the sake of
the fruit which in such favourable circumstances he expects them to
bear.[69]

[69] In the valley of the Rhine where the vine is cultivated as the
material of a great manufacture, and the staple of a foreign trade,
fruit trees of other species are not admitted within the vineyard;
but at