The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-03-02
For March 4 is. Jesus Feeds the
Five Thousand. john 6:1-14
The Claims of the Crowd

as the Christian Scriptures, is the in
escapable question, What are you go
ing to do with the crowds?'' For a
good many millenniums the answer has
been that of snobbishness and ariS-
tocracy, so }. well expressed by the
Pharisees who scorned Jesus and his
following of common people. This
multitude is accursed." The big
crowd have been but material for
kings and supermen to work upon.
thruout most of the long reach of
history. Old philosophers spoke of the
! rabble with contempt. even as do GER
tain supercilious writer's and speak
erS in our own day.
Not SO Jesus, the Great Democrat
He lived and worked with the COM
mon people. He gave of the best of
his teaching to them. The CRIME and
sweat of the toilers were more fami-
liar to him than the exquisite per-
fumes which burdened the air of the
| homes of the rich of his time. All
! that Jesus did and taught looked for
| its fulfillment to the new purposes
that should be established in the
! hearts of the great mass of mankind
/ A Key word, which unlocks the life
and thought of Jesus, is this: See
! ing the multitudes, he had compass
| sion Oh them"
! That is a true miniature portrait
! OF the heart of Jesus Christ He rec
oSnlzed the claims of the crowd. The
commoR people had right to his
pest All that he could command of
the resources of heaven and earth
was at the disposal of the nultitude
! Whlch mad no standing with the aris-
tocracy of his time. Although he
touched life at all levels, and num-
! pered the rich and noble among his
/ irlenos, Jesus undeniatly gave of his
pest to those who had the least u
/ IS MS spirit and his example which
nave established the common peonIe
upon i their new plane. All the surg
ing soclal consciousness of our time.
all the triumphant emergence of de-
mocracy, are owing to the Working
man of Nazareth, who is TODAY az
claimed first of all the worlds teach
ers and leaders
The Struggle for Bread.
OF the many economic Questions in
our own day the high cost of living
t IS sne most absorbing. No other ma
fteriaI issue so closely touches all the
people In all time this has been
| manklnd's first concern. So there is
meaning in the fact that the one
miracle of Jesus which is recorded
by all four gospels. and the one which
was most determinative of the nonu-
lar attitude toward him, is the mira Gle
OF the loaveS and the fishes Next
10 the raising of Lazarus, this was
the Masters greatest Sign" Written
large upon the surface of this lesson
Is the truth that Jesus cares for the
| every day affairs of mankind He
VINO taught US to pray for our daily
bread is still solicitous for the mate
rial well-being of huma nifty. DR. Malt
bic ID. Babcock once wrote a Daily
Bread" poem that relates our every
day subsistence to the eternal pur-
poses of God.
Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, =
Back of the flour the mill:
Back of the mill the field and the shower
The sum- and Our Fathers VIII.
If God is interested in anything
about man, it must necessa ri1y be in
those things which touch the life of
the people most closely. Everybody
has to lean on the staff of life" No
degree of spiritual devotion can free
us from the necessity to partake of
daily food. Most of the problems that
concern humanity are intimately re-
lated to the provision for the needs
of the body. 1t is real comfort to
find that the Saviour took thought
for this commonest of concerns of
life. He not only cared for the
crowds, but he also cared that they
should not go hungry. If he were
alive today, in the midst of our So
cial unrest. he would not merely
preach contentment with ones lot
he would seek to provide the needy
with bread. We are following in the
train of Jesus when we address our
selves to the problems of poverty.
Sought Solitude: Found Crowds
|
pany and seclusion; they shun the
rabble. Jesus lived ever amidst the
multitudeS. He regarded the claims
of the common folk upon Him as
sacred. In the present lesson we find
the Master, deeply moved by the news
of the death of John the Baptist,
seeking seclusion on the eastern shore
of the Lake of Galilee. But He could
, not be hid. With never a shade OF
J annoyance, He gave up His own cher
fG0 ad MIC II -
the needs of the people. People with
wants could command His services at
any hour of the day or night. He
was the Good Physician.
Because it was Passover time the
country was astir with people. Those
! of US who have been in Syria at the
season of the annual MoSlem pilgrim
age to Mecca can understand how
. every center of the land was crowded
with eager folk, alert for every new
thing. All Jewry had by this time
heard of the new Wonder-worker. Sc
the thronss sought Him out wherever
He was And with the hcedlessness
of crowd. they took little though;
of the passage of time. or of the dis
tancer their wanderings had led them
from the food bazaars.
Thus we have the setting of the
story: an Uninhabited bit of country
a multitude of people hanging upon
the words of Christ, and SO interested
in the sermon that they forgot about
their meals-which is rather in con-
trast to the way many a housewife is
| needless of the sermon, from think ns
about the Sunday dinner Now some
| preachers would have been above
| concern about food for that motley
| company. Not so Jesus. We are MOI
| told His sermon, but we are shown
! His solicitude that the people should
be fed
| A BaffIed Business Man
send the multitude away SAID
the disciples, as they saw the prob.
lem that had arisen. That is the
| commonest of all ways to deal with
| difficulties-dodge them. What the
| followers thought was none of theil
| business the Master accepted as hi.
| responsibility Did Jesus smile tc