The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1904-03-17
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
fer Masoh 70. 10O4--Jesas Feeds
the five ThousaaA.
THE LESSON TEXT.
MAT fl.il-23l

THE LESSON TEXT.
(Matt. I:1S-23)
H. When Jesus heard Of Il, He departed
thence BY ship into desert place apart;
and when the people had heard thereof. |
they followed Him on foot out Of the cities
II. And Jesus went forth, and saw great
multitude. and was moved with compass
non toward then. and He healed their
sick
Is. And when It was evening, His dis
ciplss came to Him. saying, This 10 desert
place. and the time Is now past: send the
multitude away. that they may 20 Into the
villages. and buy themselves vtctuals.
IL. But Jesus said unto them, They need
not depart; give ys them to eat.
~. And they say unto Him. We have here
but Ave loaves and two fishes.
IL. he said, Bring them hither to Me.
10. And He commanded the multitude to
sit down on the grass. and took the Ave
loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up
to Heaven. He blessed. and brake, and
gave the loaves to His disciples. and the
disciples to the multitude.
~. And they did all eat. and were hllsd;
and they took up Of the fragments that
remained twelve baskets full.
2i. And they that had eaten we're about
hve Thousand men, beside women and chill
| dren.
His disciples to get into a ship, and to go
before Him unto the other side. while lie
| sent the multitudes away.
~. And when He had sent the multitudes
away. He went up into the mountain apart
to pray; and when the evening was come,
He was there alone,
GOLDEN TExT.-Jesus said unto
them, I am the bread of life.-John
0.3S.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Feeding Five thousand. ......M Matt. H1S-23
Feeding Five Thousand. Mark 6:SO-46
Feeding Five Thousand. ...... Luke 9:l0-H
Feeding Five Thousand. ...... John 61-15
TlME-April, A. ID. 29 End Of THE
Year OF Public Favor" Very soon after
the last lesson.
PLACE.-Capernaum 90, then a great
grassy plain rising from the northeastern
shore Of the sea Of Galiles; very likely the
plain Of Butaiha. not far from Bethsaida.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Matt. 1A:13, ~. Now when Jesus
heard IT." The story Of John the Bap-
fists death. He withdrew to q
desert place apart" As to the reasons
for this Withdrawing, be sure to read
the accounts Of the other three Gospels.
This 10 the only miracle related by all
four. Gris( over the fate Of the noble
man who was gone made Jesus anxious
to get away from the crowd to think and
pray. The murder of John meant much
to Him In every way-the shadow Of the
cross was beginning to fall across His
own path; within year He was to fol-
low the Baptist. This was His first rea-
son. A second reason, as Mark shows,
was the return of the disciples from
their mission. enthusiastic but weary
They needed His advice and counsel, but
anything like privacy and quiet was i'm
possible at Capernaum; the only thing
to do was to get away. 1t is possible, too,
that the stir the new movement was
making led Jesus to fear that Herod
would mistake 1t for the beginning of a
rebellion The account of Mark adds
many details not In Matthew. The null
titudes followed Him on FOOT" Je-
sus and the disciples went across the
lake: the crowds went by land around
the head Of the lake. 1t was six or
eight-mile walk saw a great multi
tude:" He must have been both glad
and sorry to see them. That they came
at all indicates the excitement that was
abroad in the land.
(Vs 15-2D. "The place is desert: I"
Uninhabited; the nearest town, was a
long way Off THE time is already
past" The time for the evening meal
Send the multitudes away" For their
sakes. that they might get food. The dis
ciples were thinking of their own re-
sources: they had nothing to give the
. people. Jesus was never resourceless.
give ye them to eat" A puzzling COM
mand to the disciples. Obedience
. seemed impossible but Christ never
commanded what we cannot do. When
He commands we may be sure. either
that we can make way, OF He will make
] one for US
Tvs. 20, 23). The first three Gospels
tell us that after the miracle Jesus sent
the disciples away hurriedly to the other
side Of the lake and remained behind
: Himself to dismiss the multitude This
strikes us al once as being strange, and
we ask: Why? John 6:14, Is makes
II all plain; the people thought because
they had been miraculously provided
with food that the golden age foretold
by the prophets was at hand and that
the last Messianic King they had been
expecting was come They were about
, to proclaim Him king. Jesus saw their
purpose, knew that such action would be
disastrous and that He must take In
, stant measures to prevent II; single
unwise move and their enthusiasm m
, would flame up and 1t would be too late
!, He preferred to manage the crowd en-
tirely alone. and then the departure OF
, the disciples-next to Jesus the most i'm
portant persons there-would show the
people that no political move had been
r planned, and would turn their thoughts
from a coronation to the fact that II was
r late and time to be going home. Jesus
, Himself knew that the Messiah they
a hoped for would never come. He could
a not for a moment lower His own concep,
a tion OF His mission to make II agree with
Z the Messianic hopes Of prophets and
people. He put the crown from Him; II
. was not hard now: that had all beer
fought out in the wilderness before Hi
I preaching began. But after It was al
8 over "He went up into the mountain
: apart to pray; and when the evening was
q come He was there alone"
: Grapes from Canaan.