November 1924
704
T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
International Series of Sunday School Lessons EXPOSITION OF THE LESSON, BLACKBOARD OUTLINES. - DEVOTIONAL COMMENT, - - COMMENTS FROM THE COMMENTARIES, ELEMENTARY, Frederic W . Farr Fred S. Shepard John A . Hubbard Thomas L. Colwell Mabel L. Merrill
living deeds. A lad gave up his own lunch to Christ. It was the only food available. When the crowds were seated in orderly companies of fifties and hundreds, Christ took the bread and, giving thanks to God for it, asked the Divine blessing upon the meal. It was a popular saying among the Jews that he who enjoyed anything without thanks giving robbed God. After the blessing Jesus broke the bread and the fishes and told His disciples to pass them around among the people. There was only one little cake for a thousand guests and a small fragment of a dried fish. In some mysterious way there was enough to go around and all ate heartily and were satisfied. When the meal was over Christ commanded His disciples to gather the fragments. This was to teach economy as well as to give the palpable evidence of the miracle. When this was done everybody saw that there was more At the end of the meal than there was at the beginning. A notable miracle had been wrought and the saying passed from lip to lip: “ This is indeed that prophet that should come into the world.” Having found One who could solve the bread question, the multitude at once determined to make Him king. When Jesus saw their purpose, He compelled His disciples to take a boat and cross the lake while He went up into a mountain and spent the night in prayer. In our study of this miracle we note that Christ does only that which His disciples aannot do. They cannot mul tiply the loaves and fishes so He does that. They can dis tribute the loaves and fishes among the people so He does not do that. Does man desire a harvest? He ploughs the field and sows the seed. God does not do that. Man cannot give the increase, but God does that when the seed is sown. In the moral realm God does that which we cannot do, but God does not do that which we can do. We note, again, that the use of blessing means the increase of blessing. The bread multiplies while being distributed. Diffusion is the condition of increase. Teaching is the best method of learning. We only keep what we give away. “ He that keepeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life shall keep it unto life eternal.” Fragments are worth saving. “ Fragment moments” well used, amount to more than full days, unused. Hugh Miller was a stone cutter. By a diligent use of spare moments he became a geologist and a man of letters. David was a shepherd. By using fragments of time he became a harpist and the father of church music. A beauti ful window in an old-world cathedral was made by an apprentice out of fragments of glass broken and rejected from his master’s shop. The fragments of a broken dollar after a necessary purchase has been made would go far toward supporting a missionary. Fragments become for tunes when carefully gathered and wisely invested. “ Seeds which mildew in the garner, Scattered, fill with gold the plain:”
NOVEMBER 9, 1924 THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND Golden Text: “ I am the bread of life.” John 6:35. Lesson Text: John 6:1-15. (Read Matt. 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:16-71.) Devotional Reading: Psalm 107:1-9.
THE DIVINE HUMAN CHRIST H e a l s u r t s OF U M A N I T Y “The Great Physician now is near, The Sympathizing Jesus.“
This miracle carries us back to the Old Testament, where God miraculously fed His covenant people in the wilderness and daily spread a table for thousands. Jesus wrought this miracle that men might see that He was one with the God of the Old Testament whom Israel wor- LESSON shiped. It prepared the way for the EXPOSITION words He was about tq speak: “ I and P. W. Parr the Father are one.” It showed that He was greater than the natural forces at work in the fields of grain, because He did in a moment what it takes these forces an entire season to accomplish. Grain fields can yield bread only after months of hard work. Jesus gives bread in an instant of time, as quickly as His will can send forth the creative fiat. This is the only miracle which all the four evangelists record. These four repetitions give it a peculiar value. The Saviour used it as the text of His great discourse in which He offered Himself to the world as the Bread of Life. The other evangelists tell us that Jesus had withdrawn to a desert place to get needed rest for His disciples and Himself. The multitudes followed Him by thousands. It was the time of one of the feasts and people from all parts of the land were on their way to Jerusalem. Jesus was moved with compassion as He saw them. He gave up the idea of resting and took up the task of teaching them. The miracle was probably wrought at the close of the first day. The attitude of the disciples when Jesus proposed to feed the multitude emphasizes the greatness of the miracle. They pronounced it an impossibility. They reckoned how much it would cost to buy food and found that they did not have enough money in their treasury to give a taste to each one present. Even if they had the money, where could they buy the food? The only plan they could think of was to send the people away and let them scatter and buy for themselves. Advice is well enough in its place, but it will not satisfy hunger. The method of Christ is to express compassion in
Made with FlippingBook Online document