Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-30

| iStry when He fed the five thousand.
This fact has secured for 1t a place In
the four gospels. Although He per
| formed 81 miracles. the knowledge OF
which has been handed down to us
In the Scriptures, it Is the only one
| recorded In all the gospels. When the
Lord retired with His disciples to the
grassy plain of Butaiha, on the north
eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee,
| He was rapidly approaching the de-
clsiye hour in His public ministry.
Great success had attended His teach
ing and wonder. working deeds of
grace. He had healed the paralytic,
cleansed the lepers. cast out devils.
Gained the waves of the sea and
raised the dead.
Several events compelled the Master
to make a decision in reference to the
rulership that affected all His subse-
quent history. The approach of the
popular feelings of patriotism and re-
| ligion. The recent death of John the
Baptist. whom Herod had beheaded,
filled the masses with popular indig-
nation and made them ready to throw
off their political allegiance to Rome.
The disciples of the Baptists were at
| tracted to the leadership of Jesus.
| The success of the missionary work OF
the apostles filled the minds Of the
| visitors, who were eonverging at
Capernaum with the view of joining
| some caravan en- route to the Passover
| at Jerusalem. with the desire to see
Jesus. The feeding of the five thou
sand at that psychological moment
| crystallized public sentiment into an
eff ort. to force the Lord to accept the
kinship Of His nation. The pressure
Was so strong that the Master was
| compelled to determine whether He
would WELD TO public opinion.
A great multitude followed Him on
foot around the northern end OF The
Sea Of Galilee. when they saw Him
and His apostles withdraw by boa
| ton of Bethsaida. The weary and
WORKOUT apostles were irritated by the
presence OF the multitude. They
would have sent them away. but the
! compa ssionate Christ ministered unto
| them by performing His most strik
| ing and spectacular miracle after He
had spent the day in teaching them
and healing their sick. His reference
1 to the spiritual suggestiveness Of His
| social service miracle brought a di
vision of sentiment among the multi.
tude. that marked the crisis in His
public ministry.
Feeding the Multitude.
Jesus knew what He would do when
| He took advantage of the multitude
! needs to test His disciples faith
They were in the section where Philip
was at home He probably was the
| hest acquainted with its resources.
! He wa g. perplexed by the Masters
request, Where are we to buy bread
| that these may eat%.. His answer.
| which probably was result OF con
| ference among the apostles, reveals
| that the Lords question was misun.
derstood. He, had not asked how
! but where. could they bury. The
proposition of spending 200 denari. or
about $34, would have ba nkrupteh
their treasury. II wouid NOV nav
| supplied their wants. The denarlus
was the average daily wage OF
Iaboring man. 1t had larger pu-
chasing power then than the. salary
man finds his wages will purchase TO-
day. In considering their own re-
! sources before the source OF supply
they acted as we frequently do in our
| day when we consider our limited
| resources before we think OF the uh-
| limited power of the Christ.
! The resourceful Andrew had mace
a survey of the limited supply OF food
that was available. His reference TO
| the scant supply of boy revealed
the dawning of faith that was sym
! nathetic with the Masters desire 10
| feed the multitude. He hesitated TO
| believe that il would be possible 10
| feed such a crowd with five barley
loayes and two dried fish, Jesus oiu
not despise the boys supply. Ihere
| is always hidden possibilities In our
apparently small resources when
thew are dedicated to the Lords serN-
ice If all would willingly cooperate
with Christ in helping Him TO carry
ont His program. there would ne no
want in this world or lack of funds
10 push the work of the Kingdom
Christ fed the 5000 by obeyinG
! Heavens first law. They couio never
be fed without the adoption OF sys'
tematic plan. He ordered them 10 DE
divided into groups and to sit IN rows
of 50 and 100 on the grass. This en-
abled each person present TO see
! what He did and how the apostles
carried out His commands to 1eeu
them from the scant supply Iur
nished by the lad. After He onereo
a PRAYER of thanksgiving over Wnat
would only have been under ordinary
circumstances enough to feed a small
how the multitude saw 1t Literally IN
erease in His hands as Jesus broke
nm the small fish and the bread ne
! fore giving it to the apostles for dis-
| tribution among the people. IheS
! must have looked like mower gar
den when they were seated In groups
with their variegated costumes. Inc
| Masters system suppned the heeuo
| of all lust as God in HIS love pro-
,,ides for the needs of every soul.
Refusing the Crown.
The 5000 whom He fed did not
understa nd the spiritual significance
of the sign. The miracle worked IN
their sight revealed the Master
executive ability and His thoughtful.
| nes. in caring for the weak and
needy. His action IN saving tne
fra gments, which, when gathered up
filled IL baskets with the orohen
fra pments of bread and fish, was In
harmony with Gods law for the con-
| .ervation of the forces of nature:
Thev saw in Jesus the leader needed
nv their nation to unite their FORCES
and free them from the tyrannicai
newer of the Romans, VINO nad
Crushed the Jews beneath their mill
tarv power. They determined to
make the Lord their king by force.
Their action, which had been pre-
cipitated by a combination of events.
camneIied Jesus to fight out again
the temptations of the wilderness.
He dismissed the multitude and HIS
disciples. He had reached the crown
ing point of popular success. our
Inrd felt the need of being alone with
God so that in prayer He could DAN
ish the temptation forever from his
thoughts. He had not come to estab'
fish a political kingdom. but a spirit
nal sovereignty. II He. complied with
their wishes, the way was open Tor
Him to enjoy temporal power that
presented many opportunities for
spiritual service. Its acceptance
Mt the defeat of His mission. He