“Give Ye Them to Eat”
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At length the day was far spent. The sun was sinking in the west,
and yet the people lingered. Jesus had labored all day without food
or rest. He was pale from weariness and hunger, and the disciples
besought Him to cease from His toil. But He could not withdraw
Himself from the multitude that pressed upon Him.
The disciples finally came to Him, urging that for their own sake
the people should be sent away. Many had come from far, and had
eaten nothing since morning. In the surrounding towns and villages
they might be able to buy food. But Jesus said, “Give ye them to eat,”
and then, turning to Philip, questioned, “Whence shall we buy bread,
that these may eat?” This He said to test the faith of the disciple. Philip
looked over the sea of heads, and thought how impossible it would
be to provide food to satisfy the wants of such a crowd. He answered
that two hundred pennyworth of bread would not be nearly enough to
divide among them, so that each might have a little. Jesus inquired
how much food could be found among the company. “There is a lad
here,” said Andrew, “which hath five barley loaves, and two small
fishes; but what are they among so many?” Jesus directed that these
be brought to Him. Then He bade the disciples seat the people on the
grass in parties of fifty or a hundred, to preserve order, and that all
might witness what He was about to do. When this was accomplished,
Jesus took the food, “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 filled. And they took up twelve baskets
full of the fragments, and of the fishes.”
He who taught the people the way to secure peace and happiness
was just as thoughtful of their temporal necessities as of their spiritual
need. The people were weary and faint. There were mothers with
babes in their arms, and little children clinging to their skirts. Many
had been standing for hours. They had been so intensely interested
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in Christ’s words that they had not once thought of sitting down, and
the crowd was so great that there was danger of their trampling on one
another. Jesus would give them a chance to rest, and He bade them
sit down. There was much grass in the place, and all could rest in
comfort.
Christ never worked a miracle except to supply a genuine necessity,
and every miracle was of a character to lead the people to the tree of
life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. The simple food
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