December 1931
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
564 could not have told her. The woman began to believe that Jesus was more than man ; and when He told her that He was indeed
ciples to make the people sit down upon the grass, and although they did not see any reason for this, the disciples obeyed. It is at this point that many a blessing is lost. We do not obey, because we do not see the use of obeying. But it is when we, as well as our small and inadequate re sources, are wholly yielded to Him that He will work. The work of the Lord began when the disciples obeyed, forgetting themselves. As long as the “I” is prominent, there can be no help from the Lord. The disciples, as well as the crowd, were doubtless hungry ; but in ignoring themselves and giving to others that which God had given to them, their own need wàs fully supplied. This is a principle to ‘ remèmber today. The Christian is to share that which the Lord haS given, to him, and in so doing he will find that both his own and his brother’s needs are met. The miracles of Christ have two aspects : There is the element of power, arid there is the element of grace.. He produces bread from the seed, bringing it through the pro cesses of growth and ripening, reaping and grinding, preparing and baking, all of which is doné by the hands of man ; Of He feeds five thousand without any.Of- these processes. The result is the same; the dif ference "is merely one of time. For our mercies, we are apt to thank the instrument rather than the real Giver. Our miracles we are tempted to credit to the laws of na ture,rather than the Ruler of those laws. . The sufficiency of supply is evident. The people ail took “as much as they would,” and “they were all filled.” Philip had thought to give them ‘‘alittlel* (v. 7), but the Lord always gives bountifully. After every one was satisfied, twelve ;basketfuls of fragments remained. These were care fully gathered, for the Lord is not ex travagant and wasteful. Even the frag ments of His blessings may be used again and again. The miracle prefaced one of the greatest discourses that the Lord gave while on earth, the discourse concerning Himself as the Bread of life. Without Him, there can be no life, no maintenance of life, and' no enjoyment of life. i n . T he L ord , the S ource of L ife (48-51). Jesus is the Bread of life (v. 48), and to partake of Him means to receive eter nal life. The manna that the Jews had in the wilderness was given onlÿ for the main tenance of physical life; hernie, evén after partaking of it, the people did not live forever (v. 49). But the Lord is the true Bread of life, sent down from heàven, of which, if a man eat, he shall never die (v. SO). He is the livirig Breàd (v. 51), having life in Himself and imparting life to others. The purpose of this gospel is that we may “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Certainly, therefore, “eating of Him” means believing on Him; and all who be lieve are possessed of eternal life. Lesson Questions Vs. 1-4. In how many gospels is this mir acle recorded? What motives actuated the multitude that followed Jesus? Where were they going ? In their zeal to obey the dictates of the law, did they undervalue the presence of the Fulfillment of the law? Vs. 5-7. What was the twofold purpose
the Son of God, she was ready to believe and to worship' Him. So, you see, Jesus had found another friend.
JANUARY 31, 1932 JESUS FEEDS THE MULTITUDE John 6 :1-71
from those which are advertised extensive ly today: “Healing meeting on Tuesday,” or on Friday, or on some other special day —as though God waited for a particular day before giving His healing blessing to the sick ! The people were on their way to “the passover, a feast of the Jews,” and their following of Jesus was, therefore, a secon dary pursuit. The Passover had begun as a feast of the Lord, but it had degenerated into merely “a feast of the Jews.” To these religious ceremonialists, the feast was of more importance than the presence pf the Lord who instituted. it. IL S upply W ithout S tint (5-13). Thè purpose of the Lord was twofold : to test His own true followers, and then to meet thé needs of the crowd. First of all, Jesus subjected Philip to an examination in order to prove or to test him and to dis cover hów far he had advanced in the knowledge Of the Master. But Philip saw only thè impossibility of feeding so. huge a crowd. Jesus saw the people, He knew (heir need, and He purposed to meet that need. Likewise, His desire today is to bless the ;multitude, and'.iff Him there, is. suffi ciency, to théet every human need—whether of heart, of soul, of spirit, Or o f body. The channel of blessing is found in the disciples near to Jesus. This is always the case. .He will multiply the bread until it meets every requirement, but He desires the cooperation of His own followers. In this instance, Andrew discovers a boy with five loaves and two small fishes. The small ness of the supply and the greatness of the need show the helplessness of the disciples. But, as has so often been pointed out, “man’s extremity is G°d’s opportunity.” In deed, until man comes to the place of ex tremity, thé Lord cannot work. It is the self-sufficiency of map that hinders the Lord’s working in material as well as in spiritual matters. While the visible resources were exceed ingly small, the unseen, supply was wholly adequate. The Lord Jesus Christ, who could build a universe without existing material, eould surely supply food for five thousand men, when some material wàs al ready at hand ! Jesus commanded His dis Have You Received Yours? Mr. B. writes enthusiastically: “I am irt receipt of your folder giving a special rate on Bible cour ses. I’ll be sending in an order soon. Look for-it. The courses are well worth the money and the time it takes to complete them." A folder is ready to be sent to you. See the advertisement on the con tents page of this issue for full par ticulars.
Lesson Text: John 6:1-13, 48-51. Golden Text: “Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). T he lesson last week emphasized the significance of water to the people of Palestine. This lesson deals with the need for bread. These two elements, with the addition of milk, form the principle diet of the poor people of the Holy Land today. The loaves which Jesus used to feed the multitude were barley ioaves. They were T he B read of Life
made of coarse, hard flour, and they were far from palatable. However, they formed the principle article of diet of the poor peo ple of that day. r Since wheat grows so well, people today use wheat bread al most entirely. This
O utline and Exposition This lesson contains the only miracle re ported by all four evangelists. In it, our Lord appears as the source and support of life (cf. Matt. 14:14-21; Mk. 6:35-44; Lk. 9:12-17). I. F ollowing W ithout F aith d -4 ). A great multitude followed Jesus “be cause they saw his miracles which he did.” They followed Him out of curiosity; to them, He was a sort of entertainer. His works of healing amazed and fascinated them. Even today, multitudes are ready to follow the religious leader who shows “signs and wonders.” The multitude followed because of self ishness. They hoped to receive some bodily good. And how different were His healings To most people in America, bread is only an incidental part of the meal. There is us ually another dish which forms the prin ciple part of the meal. But in Palestine, bread is the principle article of diet. Any thing else is purely incidental. Most of the people live on bread and sour milk, with occasionally an egg or two. If they were deprived of their bread, they wouid perish. Bread is their very life. In like manner, Christ is the “bread of life” for every be liever. bread is made from wholewheat flour, with the addition of water and a small quantity o f salt. The most common style of loaf is about twelve to eighteen inches in diameter, and about one-eighth of an inch thick. It is quite pliable, and can be folded or rolled into a small bundle. Whefi the poor people are eating their meal, they tear off a small portion from the loaf of bread and, using it as a spoon, dip up some of the thick, sour miik which they usually eat with it. This constitutes their meal.
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs