The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-03-16
THE. SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR MARCH 20.

Subject: Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand,
Matt. xiv, 1928 - Golden Text, John
vi, 36-Memory Verses, 90, FL Com
mentary on the Days Lesson.
I. The multitude and its great need Tvs:
l3-l5). l3. Heard Of it; The death of
John the Baptist. Departed thence"
Left Capernaum. He crossed to the north
eastern shore of the Lake of Gennesaret.
Across the lake Jesus was out of the do
minion OF the murderer of John, and with
in the tetrarchy Of Herod Philip. The
people" From John 6: 4 we see that the
Passover was just at hand, and there were
thnrongs Of People going up to Jerusalem.
ing of Jesus across the northern end of
the lake, ran around the northern shore
so rapidly that, according to Mark, they
"outwent' the boat and came unto Him"
as He landed. The cities" At this time
the western and northern shorec were pop
ulous with cities and villages. IA. Went
FORTH From the boat; ':Compassion."
Jesus walked among the pepole, teaching
them many. things and healing their sick.
noon, when the day began to wear away
luke 9: l2). The Jews had two even
ings. The first began at 3 o'clock, the sec
ond at o'clock. In this verse the first
evening is meant; in verse %, the second.
Disciples came" By combining the ac-
counts of the evangelists the conversation
may be supposed to have been about as
follows: Jesus said to Philip: Whence
shall we buy bread, that these may eat"t
pennyworth Of bread" would not be suf-
ficient for them John. Then the disci.
Piles urged Him to send the multitude
away" that they might purchase food.
Jesus said, Give ye them to eat" where.
upon the disciples in dismay asked if they
should go and buy this great amount of
bread Mark. Jesus replied, How many
loaves have you? Go and see" (Mark).
They replied that there was lad there
(John) who had, five barley loaves and
two small fishes"
II. The miracle wrought Tvs. l6-2D. l6.
"Need not depart" Christ had fed their
souls and healed their bodies, and now He
proposes to feed their bodies, and thus
show that He is able to provide for all
their necessities. John says that the ques-
tion He asked Philip was for the purpose
of proving or testing him, for Jesus knew
what He would do. Give ye them. Phil
,ip's reply to Christ's question, that 200
.pennyworth (about $S2 WORTH of bread
would not be sufficient, has caused many
to believe, that this amount represented
ciples; and :; would certainly seem unwlse
for them to use their last penny for this,
purpose. .,.. :.
II. I'VE have here" The multitude had
not thought of their temporal necessities
go anxious were they to see and hear
Jesus, and a lad had all that could be
found. "Loaves, fishes" The loaves were
round, fiat cakes like large crackers. Bar
ley was their poorest food. The fish were
small, dried or picked, and were eaten
with bread, like our sardines. Andrew y,
said, But what are they among so many"
Hardly enough; five crackers and two
sardines for 5000 hungry men, besides wo:
men and children" 1S. Bring to Me-"
Here was the secret. Christ was able All
must centre in Him. We may have but
little, but if weiwill give the little we have
to Jesus, He will multiply it a thousand
fo!d and pass it: back to us, and grant US
the privilege of passing it out to the starv-
ing, sin-burdened multitudes..
l9. ITO sit down." In orderly ranks for
the convenient distribution of the food.
Mark says they sat by hundreds and tif-
ties "Grasss The grass gf ths was ready yAng io5
took, etc" Thus, acting like the master
of family among the Jews, who took
the bread into His hands to give thanks
to God befoGe any at the table were per-
1nitted to eat. Jesus had one loaf for 1000
men, besides the women and children.
BLESSED" Jesus thus sets us an example;
we should never eat without first thank
ing God for our food, and asking His
blessing upon it. ITO His disciples
There has been much discussion as to Just
how the miracle was performed. Did the
bread multiply in the hands of Jesus, or
in the hands of the disciples, or, as some
think, did the disciples put a piece of
bread and fish in the hands of those who
sat at the ends of the rank ks. with orders
to give it to their companions? There ls
no doubt but that the food multiplied all
along the line Jesus handed out to His
disciples; it increased in their hands as
they handed out to the multitude.
20. "Were filed" Here is one miracle
of our Lord attested by at least 5000 mem
probably 10000 persons. No one need ever
leave Christ's table hungry. He is able to
satisfy every need of soul and body. He
is the bread of life. Whether we demand
little or much" it is an easy matter for
Christ to fill US. There is fullness in His
mercy and love that only those who par.
take of can understand. fragments"
Broken pieces which remained over. Ac-
cording to John, Jesus directed tnem to
gather up the fragments, that nothing be
lost" Twelve baskets" The word
Translated DaSKeCS inedIlS pOChcte VI
wallets. The twelve baskets were prob
ably the twelve wallets OF the twelve
apostles. which they carried on their jour
neys. Jesus evidently intended that He
and the apostles would eat the pieces as
their needs demanded them. q. Five
thousand men," There must have been
O.OOO to feed. Jesus had arranged them SO
thev could easily be counted.
lit. Events following the miracle Tvs. %,
231. q. Constrained" Commanded. The
disciples seemed unwilling to 60 and leave
Him alone. By the exercise of direct au-
thority He compelled them to embark.
They went toward Capernaum and Beth
saida. while lie sent, etc" The multi
tude would not leave while the disciples
were present. q. Apart to pray" Je,
sus was conscious that solemn and awful
crisis had come He perceived that the
people would take Him by force. and make
Him a king John 6: 49,, and that the
disciples were drinking in the same spirit.
Where else would they find king who
could feed his army without expense or
trouble, who could cure his wounded sol:
,diers by word, who had wisdom and
mower divine? Such king could easily
overcome the Roman power; But Jesus
resisted them and spent. the night IN
prayer Alone Jesus frequently went
alone to pray; If He needed such seasons,
much more do We. He renamed 10 the
mountain, alone with His God, far into the
might. Some time between 3 and o'clock
in the morning He walked on the sea to
His disciples who were hindered by the
wind and the waves in reaching Caper''