Jesus said to his disciples, "How many loaves have you? Go and see."
Just then another of the disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, came up to Jesus and said, "There is a boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two little fishes; but what use would they be among so many people?"
Jesus said, "Bring them to me."
So they led to Jesus this boy with his lunch basket, in which his mother had placed five large flat biscuits of barley and two small salted fishes.
Jesus said to his disciples, "Go out among the people and tell them to arrange themselves into companies, with fifty or a hundred in each company, and to sit down upon the gra.s.s."
The disciples did as Jesus ordered, and soon all the crowd was divided up into groups of fifty or a hundred people, all seated on the ground.
On the green gra.s.s, arranged in rows and squares with their clothes of different colors, they looked like beds of flowers.
Then, in the sight of all the people, Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes. He waved his hand for silence, and while all were still, looked up to heaven, gave thanks to G.o.d for his gift of food, and blessed it. He broke the loaves which were like large flat crackers or biscuit, and gave to each of his disciples a piece and also a piece of dried fish. The disciples went among the people breaking off pieces of the loaves and fishes and handing them out. As they were broken, the loaves and fishes grew in their hands, until every one in the company had enough to eat.
Then Jesus said, "Go and gather up the pieces of food that are left, so that nothing may be wasted."
Each of the twelve disciples carried a basket among the people, and took from them all that was left. When they came back to Jesus, all the twelve baskets were filled with the pieces left over of the loaves and fishes. There had been in the beginning only five loaves and two fishes.
Of these, five thousand men, besides women and children, had eaten as much as they wanted. And now came back twelve baskets full of bits left over--much more at the end after all had eaten than at the beginning.
When the people saw that here was one who could give them food, all that they wanted, they said to each other, "This is the man that we want for our king! He can give us bread to eat without our working for it. Let us break away from the rule of the Romans and make Jesus our king!"
Jesus knew their thoughts and what they were saying to each other, for he knew all things. He knew, too, that he was a king, but not such a king as they wished. His kingdom was to be in the hearts of those who loved him, not a kingdom won by armies and by swords. Jesus found that his disciples were pleased to find the people so eager at once to crown Jesus as their King, for that would mean high rank and offices for themselves.
Jesus, therefore, began by sending away his disciples. He compelled them, much against their will, to get into the boat, and to row over the lake toward Capernaum. After sending away his disciples, he sent away the mult.i.tudes, who were also unwilling to go, for they could not understand why Jesus should refuse to be made king.
When all were gone away and quiet was around him and the night had come on, Jesus went to the top of a mountain near by, and spent some hours in prayer to his heavenly Father. He needed prayer, for he saw in this attempt to make him king another effort of Satan to bring Jesus under his power, by giving him a worldly kingdom, instead of a heavenly.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A distant view of "The Horns of Hattin," in the hollow of which Christ sat while he preached "The Sermon on the Mount" to the mult.i.tude gathered about him]
[Ill.u.s.tration: As Jesus drew near, Peter cried out, "Lord, if it is really you, command me to come to you on the water."]
How the Sea Became a Floor
CHAPTER 42
ON THE night after the mult.i.tude was fed with the five loaves, while Jesus was praying alone on the mountain, his disciples were rowing over the lake toward Capernaum. It was very dark; and soon after midnight a terrible storm arose, as storms often come very suddenly upon the Sea of Galilee. From his mountain top, through all the darkness and miles away, Jesus could see them struggling with the waves, and in great danger of losing their lives, for he could see all things.
While the disciples were pulling hard with their oars, suddenly they saw someone walking upon the waves and drawing near their boat. They were more alarmed, when they saw this form walking over the waves as though the waters were a solid floor, than they had been at the storm threatening to swallow them up, for they thought that surely this was a spirit from the world of the dead, coming to give warning that death was awaiting them. They cried out in their terror; but soon heard a voice speaking to them above the roaring of the wind and the dashing of the waves; a voice which they knew well. It was the voice of Jesus, saying:
"Be of good cheer! it is I; do not be afraid!"
Then they knew that it was no spirit or ghost from the grave, but their own Lord and Saviour coming to help them. What a load of fear was lifted from them when they heard that voice!
But one of the disciples, one who was always putting himself in the front, thought that if Jesus could walk on the water, he would like to do the same. You would know that this one was Simon Peter, a good man, but very quick in his impulses. He cried out, as Jesus drew near, "Lord, if it is really you, command me to come to you on the water."
And the Lord said, "Come." Then Peter leaped overboard from the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But after a few steps on the sea, he saw how heavy the storm was, and was afraid; and at that moment he began to sink. He shouted out, "Lord, save me!"
Jesus reached out his hand and caught him and kept him from sinking, saying to him:
"How little you trust me! Why did you doubt my word?"
When Jesus, holding Peter"s hand, came with him into the boat, the wind stopped, and the sea became calm. They found that they were close to the land. Then all the men in the boat fell down at the feet of Jesus and said, "Truly you are the Son of G.o.d!"
Soon the daylight came, and they saw that their boat was beside a plain, reaching into the lake, a few miles south of Capernaum, called the land of Gennesaret. They went ash.o.r.e and drew up their boat on the beach. The people of that place knew Jesus, for many of them had heard him in Capernaum. They were glad to have him come to their land; and sent word through all the plain that Jesus, the great teacher and healer, had landed on their sh.o.r.e. From all the country around they brought on their beds those that were sick, and laid them before Jesus, begging him to cure them. Many came near his side, and asked him if they might only touch the border of the mantle which he wore; and all who touched it were made perfectly well, so strong was their faith in Jesus.
The Bread of Life
CHAPTER 43
ON THE morning after the day when Jesus had fed the five thousand people with the five loaves, the crowd came together once more, hoping again to see Jesus; and some of them expecting to have the miracle or wonder-work repeated. On the evening before, they had seen the twelve disciples go out upon the lake in their boat, and had noticed that Jesus did not sail with them. They thought that Jesus must still be there, and looked all around for him, not knowing that in the night he had walked upon the sea to help his disciples in the storm. Failing to find Jesus, they thought that he must have gone back to his home in Capernaum. They found some other boats upon the sh.o.r.e, and in these they crossed the lake to Capernaum.
They found Jesus at the church in Capernaum, and said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"
"I tell you the truth," answered Jesus, "it is not on account of the signs of power which you saw that you are looking for me, but because you ate of the bread which I gave you, and had your fill. You should work, not for the food which does not last, but for that which endures to everlasting life; that bread the Son of Man will give you, for upon him the Father has set his seal of power."
Jesus wished them to understand that the truth which he could give them was more to the soul than food was to the body, for it would give the life of G.o.d, which never pa.s.ses away.
"In what way," they asked him, "can we do the work that G.o.d would have us do?"
"The work that G.o.d would have you do," answered Jesus, "is to believe in him whom G.o.d has sent to you as his message-bearer."
"Well, then," they said to Jesus, "show us the sign that will prove that you have come from G.o.d, then we will believe in you. What is the work that you are doing? Our fathers under Moses in the desert ate the manna that Moses gave them. You remember that it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat.""
You see, the people wanted Jesus to show his power again by repeating the miracle with the loaves, and giving them more bread in the same way.
"In truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "it was not Moses who gave your fathers the bread from heaven; it was my Father, the Lord G.o.d. And my Father does give you now the real bread from heaven. For G.o.d"s bread is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
"Master," they said, "give us that bread always!"
"I am the life-giving bread," answered Jesus. "He who comes to me shall never be hungry, and he who believes in me shall never be thirsty. But, as I told you, you have seen me, and yet you do not believe in me. All those whom the Father gives me will come to me; and no one who comes to me will I ever turn away. For I have come down from heaven not to carry out my own will, but the will of Him who sent me; and his will is this--that I should not lose even one of all those whom He has given me, but shall raise them up to life at the last great day. For it is the will of my Father that every one who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have everlasting life; and I myself will raise him up at the last day."
The Jews who heard Jesus began to find fault with him for saying, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."
"Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother.
How can he say, "I came down from heaven?""
They could not understand his words, and they were angry with him because he would not again work the miracle of giving them bread. Also they now found that Jesus was not willing to be a king such as they wanted, one that would sit on a throne and live in a palace; would raise an army to drive away the Romans and make the Jews a ruling people upon the earth. It was, as we have seen, the time of the Pa.s.sover, and one reason for the great crowds around Jesus was that all were expecting him to lead the people to Jerusalem and take his place as the king of Israel. But this year Jesus did not go, as he usually did, to the feast in Jerusalem, for he had other plans for himself and his disciples.
When the crowd following Jesus found that he would not be a king according to their desires, that he would not do wonders for them to look upon, and that his words were such as they could not understand, nearly all of them turned against Jesus. They went away, leaving the twelve disciples alone with him.
Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you, too, wish to leave me?"