The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-07-05
INTERNATIONAL S. S. LESSON.
July s, 1900: John VI, aa:4o
jesus The Bread OF life.

L
Jesus the Bread of Life.
| a number OF the mostenthusiastic. Of
the miracuiousiy-fed multitude b!you-
acked on the scene, hoping to find the
Wondcr-worker there when dly+should
break. Disappointed in this, they took
boats lcross the lake, reversing the or
! der OF the day before, and expecting to
outstrip Jesus II he had gone
around the head OF the Gal
las atoot. What was their amaze
ment TO find he had already been
come time in capernaums They sus-
pcct supernatural means, and hias It Ia
their question, Jesus DOS not, how
ever, satisfy their curiosity. That
walking on the sea was one Of the few
esotsric miracles designed to comfort
the apostolic college, on which a'ilercer
storm would soon beat In tn. Masters
absence. Jesus dug the grave
OF his popularity that day. These ard
cnt, Chiliasts had the purple In hiding
for his shoulders. To their fond eyes
the long-expected star had risen out OF
Jacob, ana a mighty scepter hsd b5en
lifted in Israel that should break into
pieces the dynasty of the duncan
usurpcr. a word, a look. a beck. and
the Nazorene would have been declared
king. The choice for Jesus was between
q dlndem and a crown Of thorns. - =
In Single word Jesus revealed the es-
sentially wrong basis of this enthusl-
assn. 1t was utterly. sordid and mater
ialistic; a sensual Illusion, and danger,
Gus In the extreme; dramatically OPP
posed to the spirit OF the kingdom he
had come to set up. He had not come
to crafty their political ambitions, to
distribute offices and emolumcnts
among them, or feed them at the mex
haustIble crib of q golden Solomonic
empire. - He. disclosed the other
worldllness Of his kingdom; pictured
himself as the almoner of that sub
stance upon which an Immortal life
could maintain itself. q steward wear.
ing openly the asilyrlcsible seal OF his
supernatural office. The sum and sub
tance OF It all was. that they should sse
and receive him in his spiritual function
to their souls. "as See the invetcratc
obtuseness of the natural mind. Jesus
had poured miracles like a cascade Of
pearls from the golden urn OF his om--
nipotcnceS yet, as II the past twenty
four months had been blank. With
unparalleled ohliqu!ty they ask now for
sign. They tacitly admit that he had
fed them on the day before. But they
minlfy the feast byl comparison. He
had given them one meal, and that, too,
only OF barley bread, whereas Moses
had fed their fathers forty years on
mama. -. Jesus ayails himself
OF their unmannerly salluslon to outline
the holy mystery of the atonement.
True enough, your fathers had mannh
TO cat; but In spite of that they all
died. There IS Bread whereof. II a
man cat, It Will nourlsh him to lmmor-
tai life. am that Brend-the Fathers
gift to 4 famIshed world; yet, like. the
loaf, too must be broken in the sub
stituted suffering of my cross before
men can take me into themselves,
through faith and with thanksgiving,
as thoroughly as the cater does the
bread he consumes. NJ. The flood.
tide suddenly ebbed. and Jesus. with
the Twelve, was left stranded upon the
shore. The sensually curious, the lus-
! iers after marvelS and loaVcs and
fishes, the iirst-century Fenians. who
hoped to use the Nazarene for the over
throw Of Hcrod and RomG all found
nothing in him to suit their purpose.
and were offended at his, to them. hard
and dark sayings-now became his
open and implocable foes. !, Thare was
a great withdrawal, too, Of those who,
under the spell OF false impressions,
had Joined themselves to the new Rab
bi. That days sermon had broken the
spell. and the secession was immediate
and immense. >. -. The shadow Of
the cross was more plainly than ever
outlined on Jesus pathway that day.
He spoke then. for the first time. OF the
traitor. and the loneliness of his heart
finds vent In his pathetic "Will ye also
SO away?"