Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

40. — [And ye will not come to me..Jife.] The connection between this verse and the preceding one is not very clear. It is one of those abrupt elliptical transitions which occur frequently in St,

John's writings. I conjecture tlie link must be soraeth.^og of this kind: " Tlie Scriptures testify plainly of Me. A7-cd yet in the face of this testimony ye have no will or inchnatioa to come to Ma by faith, that ye may have eternal hfe through Me."

This verse evidently begins the third part of our Lord's address to the Jews. He had declared the relation between Himself and God the Father, He had brought forward the evidence of His own Divine commission, and His claim to be received as tho Messiah, And now He concludes by a most heart-piercing appeal to the consciences of His enemies, in which He exposes the true state of their hearts, and the real reasons why they did not believe in Him. If ever men were plainly dealt with, and received home- thrusts as to their own spiritual condition, it was on this occasion. In reading the conclusion of this chapter, one cannot but feel that a miraculous restraint must have been put on our Lord's enemies. Otherwise it is difficult to understand how they could have allowed Him to bring such cutting and truthful charges against them. If ministers desire a warrant for dealing plainly with their hearers, and addressing them directly and personally about their sins, they have only to look at their Divine blaster's words in this passage.

The opening charge that our Lord makes, " Ye will not come to me," misses much of its force in the English language. It is not the future tense of " come " that is used in the G-reek. Two distinct verbs are employed. The right meaning is, " Ye do not will to come," — " Ye have no heart, desire, or inclination to come to Me."

Let it be noted here that (1.) we are all by nature dead in sins; — that (2.) spiritual life is laid up for sinners in Christ alone; He is the fountain of life; — that (3.) in order to receive benefit from Christ men must come to him by faith, and believe: believing is coming; — and, finally, (4.) that the real reasons why men do not come to Christ, and consequently die in their sins, is their want of will to come.

Let it be carefully noted, that both here and elsewhere the loss of man's soul is always attributed in Scripture to man's own want of will to be saved. It is not any decree of God. It is not Grod's unwilhngness to receive. It is not any limitation of Christ's redeeming work and atonement. It is not any want of wid^, broad, fiee, full invitations to repent and beheve. It is simply and entirely man's own fault. — his want of will. For ever let us cleave to this doctrine. Man's salvation, if saved, is entirely of God. Man's ruin, if lost, is entirely of himself. He " loves darkness rather than hght." He will have his own way.

We should observe in this concluding part of our Lord's address, Ihat He charges the Jews with four distinct sins: (1.)

want of real w:Il to come to Him, (2.) want of real love to God, (3.) undue desire of man's praise, (4.) want of real faith in Moses' writings.

4.1. — [/ receive not honour from men.] The connection between these words and the preceding verse is again not very clear. I conjecture that it must be as follows: — " I do not say these things, as if I desired the praise and honour of man. I do not complain of your not coming to Me, as if I only came into the world to seek man's praise. It is not on My own account that I mention your unbelief, but on yours, because it shows the state of your hearts. Do not suppose that I stand in need of followers, and am covetous of man's favour."

42. — [But I know you...not the love of God, c&c] The sense and connection here appear to be as follows: — " But the plain truth is, that I know and have long known the state of your hearts, and I know that you have no real love of God in you. You profess to worship the one true God, and to give Him honour. But you show by your conduct, that with all your profession you do not really love God."

To a Jewish hearer this tremendous charge must have been peculiarly galling. It was a charge that none but our Lord could make with equal decision, because He read men's hearts, and knew what was in them.

The word " I know " is literally " I have known." Alford paraphrases the sentence, — " By long trial and bearing with your manners these many generations, and personally also, I have known, and do know you."

In another place we find our Lord naming this sin as one of the special sins of the Pharisees. "Woe unto you, Pharisees I for ye tithe mint and rue, and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God." (Luke xi. 42.)

Ferus remarks that the increduhty of the Jews did not arise from want of evidence, but want of love towards God.

43. — [7 am cono^ in my Father's name... receive me not] This sentence contains a proof of the assertion made in the preceding verse. " You show that you have no real love for God, by your not receiving Me who have come in my Father's name, and desire nothing so much as His honour. If you really loved and honoured God as you professed to clo, you would gladly receive and honour His Son."

[Tf another...in his own name, him ye will receive^ In this sentence our Lord supposes a case, to show the corrupt and carnal state of the Jews' hearts. " If another pubHc teacher shall appear, giving himself out to be some great one, not seeking God's lionour, and doing all in God's name, but aiming to exalt himself, and g<it honour to himself, you will receive and believe him. You reject Me the true Son of God. You are ready to receive any false pretender who comes among you, though he may give no honour to the God whom you profess to worship. It is true then that you have no real love of God in you."

I beheve decidedly that our Lord spoke these words prophetically. He had in view the many false Christs and false Messiahs who arose within the first hundred years after His desith, and by whom?o many of the Jews were invariably deluded. According to Stier no less than sixty-four false Messiahs appeared to them, and were more or less believed.

The readiness with which they believed these impostors is a remarkable historical fact, and a striking fulfilment of the words before us. They proved as forward to believe these pretenders to a Divine mission who came in their own names, as they had been backward to believe our Lord.

I may add, however, that I am one of those who doubt whether the words of our Lord have even yet received their complete fulfilment. I think it highly probable that the world may yet see a personal Antichrist arise, who will succeed in obtaining credence from a vast portion of the Jewish nation. Then, and not till then, when Antichrist has appeared, this verse will be completely accomphshed. Chrysostom, Cyril, Theophylact, Euthymius, Alcuin, Heinsius, take this view.

Stier remarks, *' He of whom the Lord here prophecies, is finally Antichrist, with his-open and avowed denial of God and of Christ; with his most daring 'I,' before which all the proud will humbly bow down, because they will find themselves in him, and will honour him as their true God. As the Father reveals Himself in Christ, so will Satan manifest himself in Antichrist, and give him all his work and witness, and his own honour as the prince of this world; and the wicked will yield themselves to him, because through unbehef they have already fallen into his nature, and fitly belong to him."

Wordsworth remarks, " The Fathers were generally of opinion, grounded on this passage, that Antichrist would be received by the Jews."

44. — [How can ye helieve, etc., etc.] This verse contains a very important principle. The substance of the meaning seems to be as follows: — Our Lord tells the Jews that they were not likely to believe, so long as they cared more for the praise of man than the praise of God. The true cause of their unbelief was a want of honesty and godly sincerity. With all their professed zeal for God, they did not really care so much for pleasing Him as for pleasing man. In this state of mind they were never Hkely to have faith, or to come to the knowledge of the truth. " How can ye believe, receiving and seeking honour from one another as ye do now?" It is not possible that you can believe, until you cease from your present earthly-mindedness, and honestly desire God's praise more than man's.

The great principle contained in the verse is the close connection between the state of a man's heart and his possessing the gift of faith. Believing or not believing, to have faith or not to have faith, is not a thing that depends only on a man's head being satisfied, and his intellect convinced. It depends far more on the state of a man's heart. If a man is not tlioroughly honest in his professed desire to find out the truth in religion, — if he secretly cherishes any idol which he is resolved not to give up, — if he privately cares for anything more than God's praise,: — he wiU go on to the end of his days doubting, perplexed, dissatisfied, and restless, and will never find the way to peace. His insincerity of heart is an insuperable barrier in the way of his believing. There is a mine of wisdom in the expression, "An honest and good heart." (Luke viii. 15.) For want of it many a one complains that he cannot get comfort in religion, and cannot see his way towards heaven, when the truth is that his own dishonesty of heart is the cause. There is something he loves more than God. The consequence is that he never feels an honest will to believe.

The ''can" in this verse should be compared with the "will" in the fortieth verse. " Ye cannot because ye will not."

[From God only.] This expression would be more literally rendered, " from the only God," — the one true God, whom the Jews boasted that they alone knew and worshipped.

Doddridge remarks that the whole verse " has much more spirit in it, if we consider it as applied to the members of the Sanhedrim, who had such distinguished titles of honour, than if we only take it as spoken to a mixed multitude." If, as many suppose, our Lord was making a formal defence of Himself and His divine mission before the great Ecclesiastical Assembly of the Jews, His words in this verse would come home to His hearers with stinging power.

ib. — [Bo not think that J will accuse, etc.] We must not suppose that our Lord literally meant that there was any real likelihood of Moses or Himself standing up to make a formal accusation ngainst the Jews. What He did mean was, that not to believe Him was not to believe Moses. There was no need for Him to accuse them of unbelief Moses himself, for whom they professed such respect, might be thoir accuser, and prove them guilty.

"Even now," He says, "Moses accuseth you. His writing's, daily read in your synagogue, are a constant witness of your unbelief." There may also, it is highly probable, be a reference here to the Song of Moses, where he predicts the unbelief of the people, and deshes the book of the law to be " put in the side of the ark, that it may be there for a witness against thee.' (Deut. xxxii. 26.)

Chemnitius remarks, ''What the Lord says to the Jews, la exactly as if I were to say to the Papists, It is not I, but the very Fathers whose authority ye allege in favour of your superstition, who will accuse you of impiety. Or as if we were to say to the Pope, It is not we who accuse and condemn tliee, but C.irist himself, whose vicar thou callest thyself; and Petir whose successor thou wilt have thyself: and Paul whose sw( rd thou pretendest to bear: they it is who will accuse thee." Btza

makes much the same remark, and observes, that none will be more opposed to the Roman Catholics in the judgment-day than the Virgin Mary and the saints in whom they profess to trust!

The notion of some Romanists that the expression "Moses in whom ye trust," justifies the invocation of saints, and putting confidence in them as mediators, is, as Chemnitius observes, too weak and groundless to need refutation.

an amplification of the idea in the preceding verse. If the Jews had really believed Moses, they could not have helped believing Christ. The witness of Moses to Christ, was so distinct, express, and unmistakeable, that true belief in his writings must mevitably have led them to belief in Christ.

[He wrote of me.] These words are very remarkable. In what sense our Lord used them, we cannot exactly know. At the very least we may conclude He meant that throughout the five books of Mo^es, by direct prophecy, by typical peisons, by typical ceremonies, in many ways, and in divers manner-, Mo.-ehi had written of Him, There is probably a depth of meaning in the Pentateuch that has never yet been fully fathomed. We shall probably find at the last day that Christ was in many a chapter and many a verse, and yet we knew it not. There is a fulness in all Scripture far beyond our conception.

Let us note carefully that our Lord distinctly speaks of Moses as a real person who, as a matter of history, lived and wrote books, and of his writings as true genuine writings deserving of all credit, and of undeniable authority. In the face of such an expression as this, it is a mournful fact that nny man called a Christian can throw doubt on the existence of Moses, or on the authority of the books attributed to him.

dating Himself to the conventional language of the times, and that He did not really mean to assert His own belief either in the existence of Moses, or the autiiority of his writings, is to charge Him with downright dishonesty. It represents Him as One aiding and countenancing the dissemination of a he 1

To say, as some have done, that our Lord, born of a Jewish woman, and brought up among Jews, was not above the ignorant prejudices of the Jews, ai:d did not really know that Moses ever existed, and that his writings are full of mistakes, is to talk downright blasphemy and nonsense. Fancy the eternal Son of God at any time talking ignorantly I Fancy above all that any trace of Jewish ignorance would be likely to be found in this chapter of St. John's gospel, in which, above all other chapters perhaps, our Lord's divine knowledge is most strikingly brought out!

47 — \If y& believe not his writings^ etc.] This verse is an extension of the thought contained in the preceding one, and a solemn and mournful conclusion of the whole address. There is evidently an intentional contrast between "writings" and 'Svords," as if our Lord would remind the Jews that " writings" are generally more relied upon than "sayings." — "If you do not really believe what your own honoured lawgiver Moses wrote, — and it is plain that you do not, — it is not likely that you will believe what I SAY. If you have no real faith in the things written in your Scriptures by that very Moses, for whom you profess such reverence, your favourite teacher and lawgiver, it is not to be wondered at that you have no faith in what I say, and that I speak to you in vain."

The Greek word used here for "writings" is very remarkable. It is generally translated "letters," as Luke xxiii. 38. In 2 Tim. iii. 15, it is rendered " Scriptures." To my mind it is a strong indirect evidence in favour of the verbal inspiration of Scripture.

There is a sense in which these words should ring painfully in the ears of all the moiern assailants of the Mosaic writings. It is just as true now, I firmly believe, as it was eighteen hundred years ago. They cannot divide Moses and Christ. If they do not believe the one, they will find sooner or later that they do not believe the other. If they begin with casting oflf Moses and not believing his writings, they will find in the end that to be consistent they must cast off Christ. If they will not have the Old Testament, they will discover at last that they cannot have the New, The two are so linked together that they cannot be separated. "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder."

like to know how this marvellous address was received by those who heard it. But here we meet with one of the peculiar " silences " of Scripture. Not one word is written to tell us what the Jews of Jerusalem thought of our Lord's argument, or what effect it had upon them. Our own duty is clear. Let us take heed that it has some effect on ourselves.

The amazing fulness of our Lord's teaching appears most strikingly in the address contained in this chapter. Within the short span of twenty-nine verses, we find no less than eleven mighty subjects brought forward: (L) The intimate relation of the Father and the Son (2.) The divine commission and dignity of the Son. (3.) The privileges of the man who believes. (4.) The quickening of the spiritually dead. (5.) The judgment. (6.) The resurrection of the body. (7.) The value of miracles. (8.) The Scriptures. (9.) The corruption of man's will the secret of man's ruin. (10.) The love of man's praise the cause of unbelief. (11.) The importance of the writings of Moses.

1 After these things Jesus went ovei' the sea of G-alilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

2 And a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh,

5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

6 And this ho said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not Butficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. New there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, G-ather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

14 Then those men when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

These verses describe one of our Lord's most remarkabia miracles. Of all the great works that He did, none was done so publicly as this, and before so many witnesses. Of all the miracles related in the Gospels, this is the only one which all the four Gospel-writers alike record. This fact alone (like the four times repeated account of the crucifixion and resurrection) is enough to show that it is a miracle demanding special attention.

We have, for one thing, in this miracle, a lesson about Chrisfs almighty power. We see our Lord feeding five thousand men with "five barley loaves and two small fishes." We see clear proof that a miraculous event took place in the "twelve baskets of fragments" that remained after all had eaten. Creative power was manifestly exercised. Food was called into existence that did not exist before. In healing the sick, and raising the dead, something was amended or restored that had already existed. In feeding five thousand men with five loaves, something must have been created which before had no existence.

Such a history as this ought to be specially instructive and encouraging to all who endeavour to do good to souls. It shows us the Lord Jesus " able to save to the uttermost." He is One who has all power over dead hearts, Kot only can He mend that which is broken, — build up that which is ruined, — heal that which is sick, — strengthen that which is weak. He can do even greater things than these. He can call into being that which was not before, and call it out of nothing. We must never despair of any one being sayed. So long as there is life there is hope. Beason and sense may say that some poor sinner is too hardened, or too old to be converted. Faith will reply, — *' Our Master can create as well as renew. With a Saviour who, by His Spirit, can create a new hearty nothing is i^apossible."

We have, for another thing, in this miracle, a lesson about the office of ■mi?iisters. We see the apostles receiving the bread from our Lord's hands, after He had blessed it, and distributing it to the multitude. It was not their hands that made it increase and multiply, but their Master's. It was His almighty power that provided an unfailing supply. It was their work to receive humbly, and dis tribute faithfully.

Now here is a lively emblem of the work which a true minister of the New Testament is meant to do. He is not a mediator between God and man. He has no power to put away sin, or impart grace. His whole business is to receive the br-ead of life Avhich his Master provides, and t« distribute it among the souls among whom he labours. He cannot make men value the bread, or receive it. He cannot make it soul-saving, or life-giving, to any one. This is not his work. For this he is not responsible. His whole business is to be a faithful distributor of the food which his Divine Master has provided; and that done, his office is discharged.

We have, lastly, in this miracle, a lesson about the sufficiency of the Gospel for the wants of all mankind. We see the Lord Jesus supplying the hunger of a huge multitude of five thousand men. The provision seemed, at first sight, utterly inadequate for the occasion. To satisfy so many craving mouths with such scanty fare, in such a wilderness, seemed impossible. But the event showed that there was enough and to spare. There was not one who could complain that he was not filled.

There can be no doubt that this was meant to teach the adequacy of Christ's Gospel to supply the necessities of the wliole world. Weak, and feeble, and foolish as it may seem to man, the simple story of the Cross is enough for all the children of Adam in every part of the globe. The tidings of Christ's death for sinners, and the atonement made by that death, is able to meet the hearts and satisfy the consciences of all nations, and peoples, and kindreds, and tongues. Carried by faithful messengers, it feeds and supplies all ranks and classes. " The preaching of tlie cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor. i. 18.) Five barley loaves and two small fishes seemed scanty provision for a hungry crowd. But blessed by Christ, and distributed by His disciples, they were more than sufficient.

Let us never doubt for a moment, that the preaching of Christ crucified, — the old story of His blood, and righteousness, and substitution, — is enough for all the spiritual necessities of all mankind. It is not worn out. It is not obsolete. It has not lost its power. We want nothing new, — nothing more broad and kind, — nothing more intellectual, — nothing more efficacious. We want nothing but the true bread of life which Christ bestows, distributed faithfully among starving souls. Let men sneer or ridicule as they will, Nothing else can do good in this sinful world. No other teaching can fill hungry consciences, and give them peace. We are all in a wilderness. We must feed on Christ crucified, and the atonement made by His death, or we shall die in our sins.

applies here. The expression denotes an interval of time having elapsed between the end of the fifth chapter and the beginning of the sixth. John pa?ses over all the events which happened at the conclusion of our Lord's defence of Himself at Jerusalem. In fact, if the feast spoken of at the beginning of the fifth chapter was really the passover, almost an entire year of our Lord's ministry is unnoticed by John.

The events in this chapter, we should remark, are the only events in our Lord's ministry in G-aliTee described by St, John, excepting the miracle of turning the water into wine at Cana, and the heaUng of the ruler's son. (Chapter ii. and iv.)

According to Thomson, one of the most recent and accurate travellers in the Holy Land, it is about fourteen miles long, and nine wide, at the widest part. It lies no less than six hundred feet below the level of the sea, and is often agitated by sudden and violent storms.

Tiberias was a town on the west side of the lake, built by Herod about the time of our Lord's birth, and comparatively a modern place in our Lord's time. In the days of Josephus, forty years after our Lord's crucifixion, Tiberias had become an important city. It was spared by the Romans, when Vespasian's army destroyed almost every other city in Galilee, for its adherence to the Roman cause, and was made capital of the province.

John is the only Gospel-writer who calls the lake the " sea of Tiberias." His doing so is an incidental confirmation of the opinion that he wrote much later than Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and after the taking of Jerusalem. He naturally used the name by which the lake was best known when he wrote, and most familiar to the Gentile readers whom he had especially in view.

The reason of our Lord going over the sea would appear to be His desire to withdraw Himself from public notice (Mark vi. 31), and perhaps from the persecution of Herod's party, after the death of John the Baptist. Comparing John's account with that of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it seems most hkely that he " went over the sea " from the west coast, and landed on the north-east side of the lake, not far from Bethsaida. Luke tells us distinctly that the miracle which John here records, was wrought in " a desert place, belonging to the city, called Bethsaida." (Luke ix. 10.) Add to this the fact that no less than three of our Lord's disciples were inhabitants of Bethsaida, viz., Philip, Andrew, and Peter, and our Lord's retirement to this neighbourhood seems natural and reasonable. — The notion held by many that there were two Bethsaidas, one in Galilee, where Andrew, Peter, and Philip lived, and one in Gaulanitis, where this miracle of feeding the multitude was wrought, seems both groundless and needless. Bethsaida was at the head of the lake, in GaUIee, near the point where the river Jordan entered the lake, and the district belonging to it extended most probably beyond the river into Gaulanitis. Thomson shows this satisfactorily.

— [A great multitude followed....diseased.] There seems no reason to suppose that this multitude followed our Lord for any but low motives. They "saw His miracles:" that was all. Some few, perhaps, were in doubt and suspense, wondering whether He who wrought such miracles could possibly be the Messiah. The great majority probably " followed " from that vague, idle curiosity and love of excitement, which are the principles that gather nearly every crowd in the world.

St. Mark says that " the people saw them departing, and many knew him: and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him." (Mark vi. 33.) This they might easily do by going round the head of the lake, to the point where Bethsaida was.

3. — [Jesus went up into a mountain.'] The Greek here would be more correctly rendered " into the mountain." Whether there is any special reason for this we cannot tell. — It may be the one mountain which stood there, in contradistinction to the more level ground composing the district. Thomson, the American traveller, expressly says that there is a "bold headland" here, with "a smooth grassy spot " at the base, " capable of seating many thousand people." — It may possibly be " that particular hill " to which our Lord was in the habit of going when He visited the district near Bethsaida. — It may be the " hill country " generally, or mountainous district near Bethsaida.

[His disciples.] This expression includes not only the twelve who had been chosen and set apart by our Lord by this time, but many others who professed themselves His disciples. Many of them, it would appear from this very chapter (verse 66), were not really believers, and in course of time fell away. If Christ Himself had many such disciples and followers, ministers nowa-days (even the very best) must not be surprised to find the same state of things among their people.

L'—[The passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.] John's habit of explainmg Jewish customs for the benefit of Gentile readers, should here be noticed.

The approach of the passover feast is no doubt specially mentioned in order to show the suitableness of our Lord's discourse in this chapter to the season of the year. The minds of His haarers would doubtless be thinking of the passover lamb, and its flesh about to be eaten and blood about to be sprinkled. Our Lord takes occasion to speak of that "flesh and blood" which must be eaten and drunk by all who would not perish in sin. It is an instance of that divine wisdom with which our Master spoke " words in season," and turned everything to account.

Let it be noted that our Lord did not keep this passover in Jerusalem to all appearance, but remained in Galilee. Yet He generally observed all the ordinances of the law of Moses most strictly, and "fulfilled all righteousness." The reason evidently is, as llollock remarks, that the enmity and persecution of the leading Jews at Jerusalem made it impossible for Him to go there. It would have cut short His ministry and brought on His death befcre the time. May we not also learn here that the use of outward orlinances and ceremonies is not so absolutely necessary that they can never be dispensed with? Grace, and repentance, and faith are absolutely needful to salvation. Sacraments and ordinances are not.

The near approach of the passover may possibly account in part for the crowds who were assembled on this occasion. Not a few of the people perhaps were on their way to Jerusalem, to keep the passover feast, and were drawn out of their road by hearing of our Lord's miracles.

5. — [ TT'^en Jesus then lifted up His eyes and saw a great company!] "We must not conclude from these expressions, that our Lord was suddenly surprised by the appearance of a great crowd. On the contrary, Matthew and Mark both tell us that before He wrought the miracle which we are about to read of, He had felt compassion for the multitude, because they were " as sheep not having a shepherd," and had " taught them m-any things." (Mark vi. 34.) — When this teaching was over, He seems to have taken a survey of the crowd before Him, and seeing how large it was, proceeded to show His tender concern for the wants of men's bodies as well as of their souls. A great crowd is always an impressive and solemn sight. It is an interesting thought that the same eyes which looked compassionately on the crowd here, are still looking at every crowd, and especially at every crowd of persons assembled in Grod's name.

\He saWi unto Philip, whence.... huy.... eat] Our Lord's reason for asking this question is given in the next verse. But it is worth notice that there was a certain propriety in asking Phihp this question, because Philip "was of Bethsaida," the very town near which they were all assembled. (John i. 44.) Our Lord tl \erefore might reasonably appeal to Philip, as one most likely and able to answer His question, whether it were possible to buy bread for such a multitude. He would of course know the capabilities of the neighbourhood. The idea, maintained by Chrysostom, Burgon, and others, that Philip was a disciple peculiarly slow to recognize Christ's Godhead, and therefore requiring special appeals, seems to me a far less satisfactory solution.

G. — [77iis He said to prove him.] "We find the s3me kind of procedure on other occasions. When our Lord appeared to the two disciples at Emmaus, we read that after His discourse "with them, "He made as though He would have gone further." (Luke xxi. 28.) This was " to prove" whether they really wished for more of His company. — When on another occasion He came to the disciples walking on the sea, St. Mark says, " He would have passed by them." (Mark vi. 48.) When in this very chapter He would draw forth an expression of faith from His dii- cifles, He says, "Will ye also go away?" (John vi. 67.) Our Lord kuows the sluggishness and coldness of our hearts, and He sees it good to stir our spiritual senses, and draw forth our spiritual desires by such a mode of dealing with us.

Explanatory observations like this, made by the Gospel-writer himself, are more frequent in St. John's Gospel than in any of the other three.

[He himself knew... would do.] This would be rendered more hterally " what He was about to do." Our Lord's foreknowledge of the miracle He was about to do should be noted. The words He used in the last chapter should be remembered. They were not works which were done by chance and accidentally, in consequence of unforeseen circumstances, but- foreseen and predetermined. They were "the works which the Father had given him to finish." (John v. 36.)

7. — [Philip answered Him, Two hundred penny worth, etc.] What quantity of bread this sum would have procured we have no accurate means of knowing. But we may remember that the Roman " denarius," or penny, represented a very much larger sum than a penny does among ourselves. We must remember also that bread was much cheaper then than it is now. The quantity Philip named was probably much larger than we suppose.

Burgon thinks that the sum named by Philip was the whole " store of money contained in their common purse," — viz., about six or seven pounds. But this cannot be proved.

8. — [One of Ms disciples, Andrew, etc.] Let it be noted here that Andrew, as well as Philip, was a native of the district of Bethsaida, where all these things happened. There is a propriety therefore in his speaking and giving information on the present occasion.

9. — [There is a lad...five barley loaves and two small fishes.] We should note in this verse how small were the provisions which our Lord miraculously multiplied. The fact that one " httle boy" (for this is the meaning of the word we render "lad") could carry all the supply that Andrew mentions, is a plain proof that the " loaves " could not have been large, nor the " fish " of great size.

The " fishes " were probably small dried fish, such as are not uncommonly used as food now in hot countries, and near the sea of Galilee would be of course common.

Bailey was regarded, according to the Talmud, as a coarse food, only fit for horses and asses.

is purposely reported, no doubt, in. order to show how strong was the conviction of our Lord's disciples that they had not sufficient provision to feed the multitude, and then to bring out into clearer light the greatness of the miracie which our Lord wrought. It also helps to prove that the wonderful feehng of the multitude was not a preconcerted and prepared thing, arranged by our Lord and His disciples. Even His own immediate followers were taken by surprise.

10. — [Jesus said, make the men sit down.] This arrangement prevented confusion and preserved order, points of vast importance when any large assembly of people is gathered together. Moreover, it made it less easy to practise any imposition or deceit in the feeding of the multitude. When every man was sitting steadily in his appointed place, no one could be passed over in the distribution of food, without it being observed. St. Mark tells us that they "sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties." (Mark vi. 40.)

[There was much grass in the place.] The time of the year when these things happened would be the very time when there was most " grass." It was in the spring-time, just before the passover, when the winter was gone, and the parching heat of summer had not begun, Thomson, the American traveller, reports that at this very day there is an open space of green gras3 at the foot of a hill, at the very place where in all probabihty this miracle took place.

Let us note our Lord's consideration for the bodily comfort of His followers. He chooses a place where there was " much grass" to sit down on.

[So the men sat down...Jive thousand.] The word " men " here is probably emphatic, in contradistinction to the "women and children," whom Matthew expressly mentions as having been present beside the five thousand men. In the Greek the word is not the same as that rendered "men" in the first clause of this verse.

II. — [Jesus took the loave8...given thanks.] The expression here seems rather to imply a solemn action of prayer and blessing, as well as of giving thanks, as the first preliminary to the mighty miracle about to follow. In fact St. Luke says, " He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven He blessed them, and brake, and gave," etc. (Luke ix. IQ.) This also seems implied in St. John's subsequent reference to this miracle, where He speaks of " the place where they did eat bread after that the Lord had given thanks." (John vi.23.) The Greek word here used is precisely the same that is used in the account of the institution of the Lord's Supper given by St. Matthew St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul. St. Matthew and

St. Mark say that our Lord " gave thanks " when He took " the cup." St. Luke and St. Paul say that He also did it when He took "the bread." So here we can hardly doubt that blessing and giving thanks went together. The Greek word is the ono which we have borrowed and transferred to our own language in the expression " Eucharist."

[He distributed to the disciples^ etc.] I think there can be no doubt that this was the point at which the mighty miracle her© wrought by our Lord came in. As fast as He broke the loaves and the disciples carried them away to distribute them, so fast did the loaves multiply under His hands. It was in the act of breaking and distributing to the disciples that the miraculous multiplication took place. In fact there was a continual act of creation going on. Bread was continually called into existence which did not exist before. The greatness of this miracle is perhaps not sufficiently realized. One loaf and less than half a fish to every thousand men! It is evident there could not have been more than a small morsel for each one without a miraculous increase of the food.

Bishop Hall remarks, " He could as well have multiplied the loaves whole; why would He rather do it in the breaking?

Was it not to teach us that in the distribution of our goods we

^should expect His blessing, not in their entireness and reserva-

* tion? There is that scattereth and yet increaseth."

12. — [When they were filled.] That expression deserves notice. It is one of the strongest proofs of the reality of the miracle we are reading. It would be impossible to convince five thousand hungry men in a wilderness that they were really filled, if they were not. A few enthusiasts and fanatics might possibly have been found who might have fancied they had eaten when they had not. But it is absurd to suppose that so strong a bodily sensation as hunger could possibly be relieved in five thousand men, if there had not been a real supply of food, and real eating of it.

[He said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments, etc.] In this little circumstance again we have a proof that real food waa supphed, and in sufficient quantity for all. There was not merely a morsel for each man, but an abundant supply, enough and to spare. Our Lord's care for little things, and dislike of waste and extravagance, appear strongly in this sentence. It would be well if the principle contained in the words was more remembered by Christians, — ^'Let nothing be lost." It is a deep principle of v^ry wide application. Time, money, and opportunities of showing kindness and doing good are specially to be remembered in applying the principle.

the breaii on this occasion, and afterwards gathered the fragment?, did not include other helpers beside the twelve apostles. The time necessary for the distribution of bread among five thousand people, if only twelve pairs of hands were employed, would prove on calculation to be very great.

13. — {TJierefore they gathered....filled twelve baskets^ etc.] This simple fa jt is enough to prove that a mighty miracle had been wrought. Our common sense can tell us that five loaves and two fishes alone could not have filled a single basket. Now if the fragments left after the meal were enough to fill "twelve baskets," there must evidently have been a miraculous multiplication of the food at some stage of the proceedings. The fragments alone were probably fifty times more bulky than the original supply of food with which the meal began. The identity between the number of the baskets filled, and the number of the apostles, will of course strike any reader. One might think that each apostle had a basket.

St. Mark mentions that there were fragments of "nshes " put into the baskets as well as loaves, so that the fishes also were miraculously multiplied as well as the bread.

Some early writers, not without justice, call this the greatest miracle that our Lord ever wrought. Perhaps we are poor judges of such points, and little able to make comparisons. But it is certain that on no other occasion did our Lord manifest so clearly His creative power. No doubt it was as easy to Him to cause bread to be, as to say " let there be light," or to make the earth bring forth herbs and corn at the creation of the world. But the miracle was clearly intended to be one which Christians should hold in special remembrance. It is at any rate noteworthy that this is the only passage in Christ's hfe which all the four Gospel-writers aUke record. In this respect the miracle stands alone.

The attempts of Neologians to explain away this miracle are simply contemptible and ridiculous. It requires more faith to believe their explanations than to believe the miracle and take it as we find it. None but a person determined to disbelieve all miracles, and cast them out of the Sacred narrative, would ever try to make out (as some actually have tried) that the four times repeated story of the miraculous feeding which we have considered, only meant that the multitude brought out the hidden stores, of provisions which they had carried with them, and shared them with one another I

14. — [^Then those men.] This probably means the whole crowd and multitude which had been fed on this occasion.

pected to accompany the appearance of any prophet or messenger from God. Here was a mighty miracle, and at once tha minds of all who saw it were excited.

\This is of a truth that prophet, etc.] This meant that " prophet like unto Moses," whom all welj-instructed Jews expected to appear, and for whose speedy appearing the ministry of John the Baptist had prepared the minds of all the dwellers in Palestine.

" Of a truth " would be more Hterally rendered " truly," — ». e., really and indeed.

15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,

17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.

19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship; and they were afraid.

20 But he saith unto them. It is I; be not afraid.

21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

We should notice, in these verses, our Lord Jesus ChrlsPs humility. We are told that, after feeding the multitude, He "perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king." At once He departed, and left them. He wanted no such honours as these. He had come, " not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matt. xx. 28.)

We see the same spirit and frame of mind all througli our Lord's earthly ministry. From His cradle to His grave He was " clothed with humility." (1 Pet. v. 5.) He was born of a poor woman, and spent the first thirty years of His life in a carpenter's house at Nazareth. He was followed by poor companions, — many of them no belter than fishermen. He was poor in his manner of living: "The foxes had holes, and the birds of the air their nests: but the Son of man had not where to lay his head.'* (Matt. viii. 20.) When He went on the Sea of Galilee, it was in a borrowed boat. When He rode into Jerusalem, it was on a borrowed ass. When He was buried, it was in a borrowed tomb. " Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor." (2 Cor. viii. 9.)

The example is one which ought to be far more remembered than it is. How common are pride, and ambition, and high-mindedness! How rare are humility and lowly-mindedness! How few ever refuse greatness when offered to them! How many are continually seeking great things for themselves, and forgetting the injunction, — " Seek them not! " (Jer. xlv. 5.) Surely it was not for nothing that our Lord, after washing the disciples' feet, said, — " I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done." (John xiii. 15.) There is little, it may be feared, of that feet-washing spirit among Christians. But whether men will hear or forbear, humility is the queen of the graces. " Tell me," it has been said, " how much humility a man has, and I will tell you how much religion he has." Humility is the first step toward heaven, and the true way to honour. " He that humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Luke xviii. 14.)

We should notice, secondly, in these verses, the trials through which Chrisfs disciples had to pass. We are told that they were sent over the lake by themselves, while their Master tarried behind. And then we see them alone in a dark night, tossed about by a great wind on stormy waters, and, worst of all, Christ not with them. It was a strange transition. From witnessing a mighty miracle, and helping it instrumentally, amidst an admiring crowd, to solitude, darkness, winds, waves, storm, anxiety, and danger, the change was very great! But Christ knew it, and Christ appointed it, and it was working for their good.

Trial, we must distinctly understand, is part of the diet which all true Christians must expect. It is one of the means by which their grace is proved, and by which they find out what there is in themselves. Winter as well as summer, — cold as well as heat, — clouds as well as sunshine,— are all necessary to bring the fruit of the Spirit to ripeness and maturity. We do not naturally like this. We would rather cross the lake with calm weather and favourable winds, with Christ always by our side, and the sun shining down on our faces. But it may not be. It i? not in this way that God's children are made "partakers of His holiness." (Heb. xii. 10.) Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses, and David, and Job were all men of many trials. Let us be content to walk in their footsteps, and to drink of their cup. In our darkest hours we may seem to be left, — but we are never really alone.

Let us notice, in the last place, our Lord Jesus Chrisfa power over the waves of the sea. He came to His disciples as they were rowing on the stormy lake, " walking on " the waters. He walked on them as easily as we walk on dry land. They bore Him as firmly as the pavement of the Temple, or the hills around Nazareth. That which is contrary to all natural reason was perfectly possible to

The Lord Jesus, we must remember, is not only the Lord, but the Maker of all creation. "All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." (John i. 3.) It was just as easy for Him to walk on the sea as to form the sea at the beginning, — just as easy to suspend the common laws of nature, as they are called, as to injpose those laws at the first. Learned men talk solemn nonsense sometimes about the eternal fixity of the " laws of nature," as if they were above God Himself, and could never be suspended. It is well to be reminded sometimes by such miracles as that before us, that these so-called " laws of nature " are neither immutable nor eternal. They had a beginning, and will one day have an end.

Let all true Christians take comfort in the thought that their Saviour is Lord of waves and winds, of storms and tempests, and can come to them in the darkest hour, *' walking upon the sea." There are waves of trouble far heavier than any on the Lake of Galilee. There are days of darkness which try the faith of the holiest Christian. But let us never despair if Christ is our Friend. He can come to our aid in an hour when we think not, and m ways that we did not expect. And when He comes, all will be calm.

15. — [ When Jesus therefore perceived.] This would be more literally rendered, " Jesus knowing-, or having known." It seems to imply Divine knowledge of the multitude's secret intentions. Jesus knew men's hearts and thoughts.

[That they ivould come.] This would be more literally, " that they are about to come."

[TaJce him by force to make Mm a king.] The intention or wish was probably to place Him at their head, and proclaim Him their king, with or without His consent, and then to hurry Him away to Jerusalem, so as to arrive there at the passover feast, and announce Him as a Deliverer to the crowd assembled at that time. — The idea evidently in their mind was, that one who could work such a mighty mirade must be a mighty temporal Redeemer, raised up, like the Judges of old, to break the bonds of the Romish government, and restore the old independence and kingdom to Israel. There is no reason to suppose that there was any more spiritual feeling in the minds of the multitude. Of sense of spiritual need, and of faith in our Lord as a Saviour from sin, there is n© trace. Popularity and the good opinion of excited crowds are both worthless and temporary things.

tyranny and dominion of the Eomans, while they did not feel the far greater tyranny and dominion of sin. lie points out that we who are expecting the second advent of Chi st in the present day should take care that we increasingly feel the burden and yoke of sin, from which Christ's second advent will deliver the creation. Otherwise Christ's second advent will do us no more good than his first advent did to the Jews.

[He departed again into a mountain....alone.] This would be more literally rendered, " the mountain," as at verse 3.

St. Matthew and St. Mark both mention another reason why our Lord withdrew to the mountain, beside His desire to avoid the intention of the multitude. Tliey tell us that He " sent the multitude away and departed to pray." (Matt. xiv. 23; Mark ix. 46.)

Some think that a miracle must have been wrought when our Lord withdrew Himself from the multitude, and that He must have passed through them invisibly, as after the miracle at Bethesda, and at Nazareth. Yet it seems hardly necessary to suppose this.

It is worth noticing that after St. Luke's account of this miracle, he immediately relates that our Lord asked the disciples, "Whom say the people that I am?" (Luke ix. 18.) It does not however follow that He asked immediatel}^, but after an interval of some days. But the wish of the multitude here related may have occasioned the question.

16. — Whe7i even....disciples^ went down unto the sea.] St. Matthew and St. Mark both say that our Lord " constrained " them to embark in the ship and depart. He " obhged " or " compelled " them. He probably saw that in their ignorance of the spiritual nature of His kingdom they were ready to fall in with the wishes of the multitude, and to proclaim Him a king.

17, — [Entered into a ship.] This would be more literally " the ship." It seems to mean that particular vessel or fishing-boat which our Lord and His disciples always used on the lake of Galilee, and which probably was lent for His use by the relatives of those of His disciples who were fishermen, if not by the four themselves, — viz., James, John, Andrew, and Peter. There is no necessity for supposing that when they left their calling to become disciples they gave up their boats so entirely as to have no more use of them when they wished. The last chapter of this very Gospel seems to prove the contrary. When Peter said, *' I go a fishing," there was " the boat" ready for them at once, (John xxi. 3.)

[ Went over the sea.... Capernaum.] This would be more literally "were going," "were in the act of going." Capernaum lay on the norfh-west shore of the lake of Galilee, and the point where the disciples embarked was on the noith-east shore. To reach Capernaum they would pass the point where the Jordan ran into che lake, and leave that point and the town of Bethsaida on their fight hand. The place where the miracle was wrought was not at Bethsaida itself, we must remember, but in the desert country and district lying to the east of Bethsaida. St. Luke specially mentions this (Luke ix. 10), and unless we keep it in mind we shall not understand St. Mark's words, that our Lord made His disciples " go to the other side before unto Bethsaida." To go to Capernaum they must need go "in the direction of" Bethsaida, though they would leave it on the right as they passed. Thomson, in the " Land and the Book," maintains this view, and Rollock, 250 years ago, held the same opinion.

I repeat the opinion that I see no necessity for the theory of Alford and other commentators that there were two Bethsaidas.

Capernaum was the city where our Lord passed more time, and probably worked more miracles, than He did in any other place during His ministry. This is probably the reason why our Lord speaks of it as " exalted unto heaven." (Matt. xi. 23.) No city had such privileges and saw so much of the Son of God while He was manifest in the flesh.

[/i{ was now darJCj and Jesus was not come.] The Greek word for " dark " is always rendered " darkness " in other places, except John XX. 1. The simple circumstance of the disciples being alone in the boat, on the sea, and in darkness, has been felt in every age to be an instructive emblem of the position of the Church of Christ between the first and second advents. Like them, the Church is on a sea of trouble, and separate from its Head. In estimating, however, the position and feelings of the disciples, we must not forget that four of them at least were fishermen, and familiar from their youth with the management of boat;?, and all the dangers of the lake. We nmst not therefore think of them as inexperienced landsmen, or as little children unable to take care of themselves.

"We learn to know the value of Christ's company, when we have it, by the discomfort we experience when we have it not.

18. — [And the sea arose....great wind that blew.] The Greek word rendered " arose " would be more literally rendered " was being raised or stirred."

A.t first sight it may seem surprising that the waters of an inland lake, like the sea of Gahlee, could be so much agitated. But it is remarkable that the testimony of travellers in modem times is distinct, ihat this lake is peculiarly liable to be visited by vi jlent squalls of wind, and to become very rough while they

in this region enabled me to sympathize with the disciples in their long night's contest with the wind. — I have seen the face of the lake like a huge boiling caldron. The wind howled down the valleys from the north-east and east with such fury that no efforts of rowers could have brought a boat to shore at any point along that coast. — To understand the causes of these sudden and violent tempests we must remember the lake lies low, — six hundred feet lower than the ocean, — that water-courses have cut out profound ravines and wild gorges, converging to the head of the lake, and that these act like gigantic funnels to draw down the cold winds from the mountains. On the occasion referred to w«^ pitclied our tents on the shore, and remained for three days and nights exposed to this tremendous wind. We had to double-pin all the tent-ropes, and frequently were obliged to hang with our whole weight upon them, to keep the quivering tabernacle from being carried up bodily into the air. No wonder the disciples toiled and rowed hard all that night." In another place he says, — " Small as the lake is, and placid in general as a molten mirror, I have repeatedly seen it quiver, and leap, and boil like a caldron, when driven by fierce winds." — Thomson's " Land and the Book."

Burkitt remirks that the position of the disciples, immediately tempest-tossed after witnessing and partaking in a mighty miracle, IS an instructive type of the common experience of believers. After seasons of peculiar privileges there often come sharp trials of faith and patience.

Tliis sudden trial of faith by danger was no doubt intended to be a lesson to the disciples as to what they must expect in the exercise of their ministry. Affliction and crosses are the grindstones on which God is constantly sharpening those instruments which He uses most.

19. — [So when...rowed about Jive and twenty or thirty furlongs i] We might gather from the disciples " rowing," and not sailing, that the wind was again t them, and we are expressly told, both by St. Mattliew and St. Mark, that " the wind was contrary." From the distance they had rowed, and the known width of the lake, at tliat particular part of it, they were probably now about the middle of their passage. St. Matthew says, — they were '' in the midst of the sea." (Matt. xiv. 24.) This M'ould make them at lea t two or three miles from shore, a fact which should be caref\illy noted with re'^erence to what follows.

Let the expression " twenty-five or thirty'' be noted. It is not necessary to define to a hair's breadth distances and quantities in narrating an event. Even an inspired writer does not. He uses the cc mmon language of men, and such language as those present on the occasion would have used. In a dark niofht they could not possibly have spoken with precise accuracy. John waa there himself, and knew that excessive accuracy is sometiiies suspicious, and looks like a made-up story. John ii, 6 is a similar expression.

Bengel says, " The Holy Spirit knew, and oould have told John precisely how many furlongs there were. But in Scripture he imitates popular modes of expression."

^ [They see Jesus walking on the sea, etc., etc.] This was undoubtedly as great a miracle as any that our Lord wrought.

" Moses," says Theophylact, " as a servant, by the power of God divided the sea. But Christ, the Lord of all, by His own power walked on the sea."

For a sohd body to walk on the face of the water as on dry land, is an entire suspension of what are called the laws of nature. It was, of course, as easy for Him by whom the waters were first created to walk upon them as to create them. But the whole proceeding was so entirely supernatural, that we can thoroughly understand the disciples being " afraid." Nothing is found to alarm human nature so much as being suddenly brought into contact with anything apparently supernatural and belonging to another world, and especially in the night. The feelings called forth on such occasions, even in ungodly and irreligious men, are one of the strongest indirect proofs, that all men's consciences recognize an unseen world.

That a mighty miracle really was wrought upon this occasion is the only reasonable account that can be given of the fact that we are told. St. Mark adds to St. John's account, that when Jesus came near the ship, " He would have passed by them." (Mark vi. 48.) St. Matthew adds another fact of even greater importance. He tells us that Peter said, " Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the wa^er. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesas." (Matt. xiv. 28, 29.) Such a fict as this cannot possibly be explained away. Not only did our Lord walk on the water Himself, but He also gave one of His twelve apostles power to do the same.

To say in the face of such facts as these, that there was in reality no miracle, — that the disciples were mistaken, — that our Lord was only walking on the shore near the vessel, — that tha superstitious fear of the disciples made them fancy that He was walking on the sea, — that they finally put to shore, and took Him on board, — to say such things as these pleases some persons who profess not to believe any miracles at all! But such views cannot possibly be reconciled with the account of what really happened, given by two witnesses, Matthew and John, who were actually present on the occasion, and by another writer, — viz., Mark, who was intimate with that very Peter who walked on the water himself.

If tlie disciples were " in the midst of the sea," and two or three miles from shore, how could they possibly have seen our Lord walking on the shore?

If it Avas " dark " when these things happened, it stands to reason that they could not distinguish anyone on shore, even supposing that they were not two miles oflf.

If there was a heavy gale blowing, and the waves were rough, it is absurd to suppose that they could hold a conversation with anyone walking on shore.

The plain truth is that it requires far more faith to accept such improbable and preposterous explanations as these, than to take the whole account simply as we find it, and to believe that a real mighty miracle was wrought. — Unless men are prepared to say that Matthew, Mark, and John, wrote accounts of the events of this night, which are incorrect, and not trustworthy, it is impossible for any honest and unprejudiced person to avoid the conclusion, that a miracle took place. — Of course, if Matthew, Mark, and John give incorrect accounts, and are not to be trusted here, they are not to be trusted anywhere, and all their records of our Lord's doings and sayings become utterly worthless. This unhappily is the very result to which many would be glad to lead us. From denying all miracles to downright infidehty is nothing but a regular succession of steps. If a man begins with throwing overboard the miracles, he cannot stop logically till he has given up the Bible and Christianity.

20. — [But he saith, It is I; he not afraid.'] Our Lord's tenderness for His disciples' feelings appears beautifully here. No sooner does He see lear than He proceeds to calm it. He assures them that the figure they see walking on the deep is no spirit or ghost, — no enemy or object of dread. It is their own beloved Master. His voice, well-known as it must have been, would, of course, help to calm their fears. Yet even that was not enough tiU Peter had said, " If it be thou, bid me come to thee."

The practical remark has often been made, that many of the things which now frighten Chrislians and fill them with anxiety, would cease to frighten them if they would endeavour to see the Lord Jesus in all, ordering every providence, and overruling everything, so that not a hair falls to the giound without Him. They are happy who can hear His voice through the thickest clouds and darkness, and above the loudest winds and storms, saying, " It is I; be not afraid."

It has been thought by some that the words, " It is I," might be more literally rendered, "I am," and that they are intended to refer to the name of God, so familiar to Jews, " I am." But I doubt the correctness of the idea. It is a pious thought, but hardly in keeping with the context and the circumstances of the occurrence. Our Lord desired first to relieve the fears of His disciples by showing them who it was that they feared; and tha Greek words for " It is I," are the only words that He could well have used.

It may be noted here that there seems to be no feehng or passion to which Christians are so liable as "fear." There is none, certainly, against which our Lord so ofcen exhorts His disciples. "Fear not: — be not afraid: — let not your heart be troubled:" are very common sayings of His.

21. — [Then they willingly received... ship.] This would be rendered more literally: " Then they were willing," " they were glad, and wished." — It evidently imphes, that at first the disciples were afraid of our Lord. But as soon as they recognized Him, their fears departed; and so far from wishing to be rid of the figure they had seen walking on the sea, their great desire now was to receive Him on board.

[Immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.] This sentence either means that shortly after our Lord joined the disciples in the boat they reached their destination, or that immediately, by miraculous agency, they arrived at the shore. There is, perhaps, no occasion to suppose any other miracle. Both Matthew and Mark distinctly say that " the wind ceased," as soon as our Lord entered the boat. The storm, according to the custom of storms on the lake, suddenly ceased, and the disciples consequently had no trouble in rowing to the shore. The wind was no longer against them; and the sea, in so small a compass as the Lake of Galilee, would naturally soon go down.

The old practical lesson still remains to be remembered. Christ's Church is now a tossed ship, in the midst of a stormy sea. The great Master has gone up into heaven to intercede for His people, left alone for awhile, and to return. When Jesus returns again to His tossed and afflicted Church, at the second advent, their troubles will soon be over. They will soon be in harbour. His voice, which will fill the wicked with terror, will fill His people with joy.

The place where they landed was evidently Capernaum, or close to it. The disccurse which follows was at any rate finii^hed (wherever it may have begun) in "the synagogue at Capernaum," and folic ws in unbrok(m succession after the events we have now been considering. The statement of St. Matthew and St. Mark, tljat our Lord and His disciples reached the shore in ' the land of Genesaret," is quite reconcileable with St. John's account. The " land of Genesaret" was a plain, on the north-west coast of the Lake of Galilee, extending from Magdala at the south, to Capernaum at the north.

In leaving this passage, I call the reader's attention to tho very marked and peculiar position which the two miracles recorded by St. John in this chapter occupy. They immediately precede that wonderful discourse in the synagogue of Capernaum, in which our Lord proclaims Himself to be " the living bread which came down from heaven and giveth life to the world," and declares that " except we eat His flesh and drink His blood we have no life in us." — I believe that the two miracles were intended to prepare the minds of the disciples to receive the mighty truths which the discourse contained. Did they stumble at the announcement that He was the ''bread of God," and " gave life to the world "? It would surely help their weak faith to remember that the very day before they liad seen Him suddenly supply the wants of a mighty multitude with five loaves and two fishes. — Did they stumble at the doctrine, that " His flesh was meat indeed and his blood drink indeed "? It would surely assist their feeble spiritual apprehension to remember that the very night before they had seen that body walking on the face of the sea. They had had ocular proof that there was a deep mystery about our Lord's human nature, and that although He was real and true man, there was at the same time something about Him far above man. These things I believe are worth noticing. The connection between our Lord's miracles and His teaching is often far closer than at first sight appears.

22 The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereiuto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;

23 (Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:)

24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.

25 And when they had found him on the other side of tho sea, they said unto him. Rabbi, w)»ca earnest thou hither?

2G Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and wcfe filled.

2 7 Labou r not for the meat which perieheth, but for that meat which eiidureth unto everlastinoc Ufe,

which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath (xod the Father sealed.

We should mark first, in this passage, icJiat Jcjiowledge of niaji's heart our Lord Jesus Christ possesses. We see Him exposing the fiilse motives of those who followed Him for the sake of the loaves and fishes. They had followed Him across the Lake of Galilee. They seemed at first sight ready to believe in Him, and do Him honour. But He knew the inward springs of their conduct, and was not deceived. " Ye seek me," He said, " not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled."

The Lord Jesus, we should never forget, is still the same. He never changes. He reads the secret motives of all who profess and call themselves Christians. He knows exactly why they do all they do in their religion. The reasons why they go to Church, and why they receive the sacrament, — why they attend family prayers, and why they keep Sunday holy, — all are naked and opened to the eyes of the great Head of the Church. By Him actions are weighed as well as seen. " Man looketh on the out ward appearance, but the Lord looketh at the heart." (1 Sam. xvi. 7.)

Let us be real, true, and sincere in our religion, whatever else we are. The sinfulness of hypocrisy is very great, but its folly is greater still It is not hard to deceive ministers, relatives, and friends.. A little decent outward profession will often go a long way. But it is impossible to deceive Christ. " His eyes are as a flame of fire." (Rev. i. 14.) He sees us through and through. Happy are those who can say,—" Thou, Lord, who knowest all things, knowest that we love thee." (John xxi. 17.)

We should mark, secondly, in this passage, lohat Christ forbids. He told the crowds who followed Him so dili gently for the loaves and fishes, " not to labour for the meat that perisheth." It was a remarkable sayhig, and demands explanation.

Our Lord, we may be sure, did not mean to encourage idleness. It would be a great mistake to suppose this Labour was the appointed lot of Adam in Paradise. Labour was ordained to be man's occupation after the fall. Labour is honourable in all men. No one need be ashamed of belonging to *' the working classes." Our Lord himself worked in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. St. Paul wrought as a tent-maker with his own hands.

What our Lord did mean to rebuke was, that excessive attention to labour for the body, while the soul is neglected, which prevails everywhere in the world. What He reproved was, the common habit of labouring only for the things of time, and letting alone the things of eternity — of minding only the life that now is, and disregarding the life to come. Against this habit He delivers a solemn warning.

Surely, we must all feel our Lord did not say the words before us without good cause. They are a startling caution which should ring in the ears of many in these latter days. How many in every rank of life are doing the very thing against which Jesus warns us! They are labouring night and day for " the meat that perisheth," and doing nothing for their immortal souls. Happy are those who learn betimes the respective value of soul and body, and give the first and best place in their thoughts to salvation. One thing is needful. He that seeks first the kingdom of God, will never fail to find *' all other things added to him." (Matt. vi. 33.)

We should mark, thirdly, in this passage, what Christ advises. He tells us to " labour for the meat that endureth to everlasting life." He would have us take pains to find food and satisfaction for our souls. That food is provided in rich abundance in Him. But he that would have it must diligently seek it.

How are we to labour? There is but one answer. We must labour in the use of all appointed means. "We must read our Bibles, like men digging for hidden treasure. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life. We must take our whole heart to the house of God, and worship and hear like those who listen to the reading of a will. We must fight daily against sin, the world, and the devil, like those who fight for liberty, and must conquer, or be slaves. These are the ways we must walk in if we would find Christ, and be found of Him. This is "labouring.".This is the secret of getting on about our souls.

Labour like this no doubt is very uncommon. In carrying it on we shall have little encouragement from man, and shall often be told that we are " extreme," and go too far. Strange and absurd as it is, the natural man is always fancying that we may take too much thought about religion, and refusing to see that we are far more likely to take too much thought about the world. But whatever man may say, the soul will never get spiritual food without labour. We must "strive," we must "run," we must "fight," we must throw our whole heart into our soul's affairs. It is " the violent" who take the kingdom. (Matt, xi. 12.)

We should mark, lastly, in this passage, ichat a promise Christ holds out. He tells us that He himself will give eternal food to all who seek it: " The Son of man shall give you the meat that endureth unto everlasting life."

How gracious and enconyaging these words are! Whatever we need for the relief of our hungering souls, Christ is ready and willing to bestow. Whatever mercy, grace, peace, strength we require, the Son of man will give freely, immediiately^ ajbu^dantly, and eternally. He is " sealed,"

and api^ointed, and commissioned by God tlie Father for this very purpose. Like Joseph in the Egyptian famine, it is His office to be the Friend, and Almoner, and Reliever of a sinful world. He is far more willing to give than man is to receive. The more sinners apply to Him, the better ]Ie is pleased.

And now, as we leave this rich passage, let us ask ourselves, what use we make of it? For what are we labouring ourselves? What do we know of lasting food and satisfaction for our inward man? Never let us rest till we have eaten of the meat which Christ alone can give. They that are content with any other spiritual food will sooner or later "lie down in sorrow." (Isa. 1. 11.)

22. — {The day following, etc^ In this, and the three following verses, we have an instance of the extreme minuteness with whicli St. John describes all the particulars connected with any of the miracles of our Lord which he records, — Here, for example, he tells us that our Lord's remaining behind, and not accompanying His disciples when they went into the boat, was observed by the multitude; and that nevertheless they could not find our Lord the next morning, and were puzzled to account for His being found at Capernaum when they got there. — All these little things help to prove that the circumstances of our Lord's joining the disciples was something miraculous, and c nnot be explained away, as some rationalists pretend to say. In particular^ the question, " When camest thou hither? " (ver. 25) is plain evidence that the multitude did not think it possible for our Lord to have walked along the shore, as some modern writers suggest, and did not understand how He got to Capernaum except in a boat.

In each of the seven great miracles recorded by St. John, this fulness and minuteness is very noticeable. Had he been inspired to relate as many miracles as we find in Matthew and Mark, his Gospel would have been fifty chapters, instead of twenty-one. Writing long after the other Gospel writers, and at a time when many who witnessed our Lord's miracles were dead, there was a fitness and wisdom in his supplying the abundant particulars which characterize his descriptions.

means the multitude, or some of them, whom Jesus had fed on tlie north-east shore of the lake, and whom the disciples had L ft standing near the banks when they embarked, belore our Lord sent them away. Matthew and Mark both mention that our Lord first made the disciples embark, and then sent the multitude away, and retired to the mountain to pray.

20. — [Howheit there came other boats, etc.] This verse either means that other boats came froai Tiberias the morning after the miracle of feeding the multitude, which were not there the evening that the disciples embarked; or else it means that there were other boats from Tiberias not far from the place where the minicle was worked, though there were none actually at the spot where the disciples embarked, except their one boat. The verse is carefully inserted parenthetically, in order to account for the multitude following our Lord to Capernaum. Had it not been inserted, the infidel would have asked us triumphantly, to exp'ain how the people could have followed our Lord, when they had no boats! We need not doubt that every apparent discrepancy and difficulty in the Gospel narrative would equally admit of explanation, if we only knew how to fill up the

[After that the Lord had given thanks.] This is purposely inserted to remind us that it was no common eating of bread that had taken place, but an eating of food miraculously multiplied after our Lord had blessed it.

24. — [ When the people.] There is no occasion to suppose that this expression means the whole five thousand, whom our Lord had fed. Eor one thing, we are distinctly told that our Lord *' sent them away," and the greater part probably dispeised, and went their way to their homes, or to Jerusalem to the passover. For another thing, it is absurd to suppose that so large a multitude could find boats enough to convey them across the lake. It evidently means the remaining portion of the multitude, and probably included many who followed our Lord about from place to place wherever He went in Gralilee, without any spiritual feehng, from a vague love of excitement, and in the hope of ultimately getting something by it.

[They also took shipping.] This means that they embarked in the boats which came from Tiberias, and cros-ed over the lake, 211. — [And when they found Him on the other side of the sea.] The place where they found our Lord was on the north-west side of the lake of Galilee, on the opposite side from that where the miracle of feeding the multitude was wrought. The precise spot however where they found Him is a point which it is not very easy to decide.— Of course if we read the discourse which follows as one unbroken discourse, all spoken at one time without breaks or pauses, except such as arise from the remarks of the people who heard our Lord, there can be no doubt where our Lord was. The fiflj-ninth verse settles the question. '' These things said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum.'' — But if we suppose a break at the foriieth verse, where the Jews begin " to murmur," and a short interval before the d'scourse was resumed, it seems highly probable that the crowd found our Lord at the landing-place at Capernaum, or just outside the city, — that the discourse began there and continued up to the fortieth verse, — and that then after a short pause it was resumed " in the synagogue of Capernaum." It certainly does seem rather abrupt and unnatural to suppose the crowd landing at Capernaum, going up to the synagoi^ue, and there beginning tlie conversation with the question, " When camest thou hither? "

[When camest thou hither f] The question evidently implies surprise at finding our Lord, and inability to understand how He could possibly have got to Capernaum, if He did not go in the boat with His disciples. It is a question, be it remarked, to which our Lord returned no answer. He knew the state of mind of those who asked it, and knew that it would be of no use to tell them when He had come, or how.

Wordsworth's idea that there is a mystical reference in this question to the manner and time of Christ's presence in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, appears to me very fanciful and far-fetched.

2G. — [Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say.] This solemn expression, as usual in St. John's Gospel, introduces a series of sayings of the deepest importance. The very first was a sharp and cutting rebuke of the carnal-mindedness of those whom our Lord addressed.

[Ye seek me...not..miracles...eat... filled.'] This was a severe saying, and one which He, who knew all hearts and read all secret motives, could say with peculiar power. It is a sad exposure of the true reason why many followed our Lord, both 0:1 this occasion and on others. It was not now even desire to see miracle^ performed, as it nad been the day before (see verse 2). These, after a time, when the novelty was passed, would cease to astonisli and attract. It was a lower and more carnal motive still. It was the mere wish to be fed again with loaves and fishes. They wanted to get something more out of our Lord. They had been fed oi.ce, and they would like to be fed again.

The poor, and mean, and carnal mot'' res which induce men to irnke some religious profession, are painfully exhibited here. Perhaps we have but a faint notion how little the reasons of many for coming to public worship or communion would bear sifting and examination. We may be sure that all is not gold that glittei.-J, and that many a professor is rotten at heart. It was so even under our Lord's ministry, and much more now. Augustine remarks how seldom " Jesus is sought for the sake of Jesus."

Our Lord's perfect knowledge of the S3cret springs of men's actions is strikingly exhibited here. We cannot deceive Him even if we deceive man; and our true characters will be exposed in the day of judgment, if they are not found out before we die. Whatever we are in religion, let us be honest and true.

To follow Christ for the sake of a few loaves and fishes seems miserable work. To some who know nothing of poverty, it may appear almost incredible that a crowd of people should have done it. Perhaps those only can thoroughly understand it who have seen much of the poor in pauperized rural parishes. They can understand the immense importance which a poor man attaches to having his belly flllefl, and getting a dinner or a supper. Mosti of our Lord's followers in Galilee were probably very poor.

To deal plainly witli people about their spiritual condition and faithfully expose their false motives, if we know them, is the positive duty of ministers and teachers. It is no kindness or charity to flatter professing Christians, and tell them they are children of God, and going to heaven, if we know that they only make a religious profession for the sake of what they can get.

Wisdom and discrimination in giving temporal relief to the poor are very necessary things in ministers, and indeed in all Christians. Unless we take heed what we do in such matters, we do more harm than good. To be always feeding the poor and giving money to those who make some profession of religion, is the surest way to train up a generation of hypocrites, and to inflict lasting injury on souls.

27. — [Labour not, etc... sealed.] This verse is peculiarly full of instructive lessons. (1.) There is something forbidden. We are not to labour exclusively, or excessively, for the satisfaction of our bodily wants, for that food which only perishes in the using, and only does us a little temporary good. (2.) There is something commanded. We ought to work hard and strive for that spiritual food, — that supply for the wants of our souls, which once obtained is an everlasting possession. (3.) There is something promised. The Son of man, even Jesus Christ, is ready to give to every one who desires to have it, that spiritual food which endures for ever. (4.) There is something declared. The Son of man, Jesus Christ, has been designated and appointed by God the Father for this very purpose, to be the dispenser of thi? spiritual food to all who desire it.

The whole verse is a strong proof that however carnal and wicked men may be, we should never hesitate to offer to them freely and fully the salvation of the Gospel. Bad as the motives of these Jews were, we see our Lord, in the same breath, first exposing their sin, and then showing them their remedy.

The figure of speech used by our Lord, which supplies the key-note to the whole subsequent di^^course, is a beautiful instance of that divine wisdom with which He suited His language to the mental condition of those He spoke to. He saw the crowd coming to Him for food. He seizes the idea, and bids them labour not for bodily but spiritual food. Just so when He saw the rich young man come to Him, He bade him " sell all and give to the poor." — Just so when the Samaritan woman met Him at the well, as she came to draw water. He told her of living water. — Just so when Nicodemus came to Him, proud of hia Jewish birth, He tells him of a new birth which he needed.

When our Lord said, " labour not for the meat that perisheth," we must not for a moment suppose that He meant to encourage idleness, and the neglect of all lawful means in order to get our living. It is a kind of expression which is not uncommon in the Bible, when two things are put in comparison. Thus, when our Lord says " If any man come after me, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children, etc., he cannot be my disciple," we see at a glance that these words cannot be taken literally. They only mean " if any man does not love me more than fxther," etc. (Luke xiv. 26.) So here the simple meaning is that we ought to take far more pains about the supply of the wants of our souls than of our bodies. See also 1 Cor. vii. 29; 2 Cor. iv, 18; 1 Sam. viii. 7; John xii. 44.

When our Lord says, " labour for the meat that eodureth," etc., I think He teaches very plainly that it is the duty of every one to use every means, and endeavour in every way to promote the welfiire of his soul. In the use of prayer, the Bible, and the public preaching of God's Word we are specially to labour. Our responsibility and accountableness, the duty of effort and exertion, appear to me to stand out unmistakeably in the expression. It is like the commands " Strive, Repent, Believe, Be converted, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Awake, Arise, Come, Pray." It is nothing less than wicked to stand still, splitting hairs, raising difficulties, and pretending inability, in the face of such expressions as these. What God commands man must always try to obey. Whatever language Christ uses, ministers and teachers must never shrink from using likewise.

The " meat that endureth to everlasting life," must doubtless mean that satisfaction of the cravings of soul and consciencoj which is the grand want of human nature. Mercy and grace, pardon of sin and a new heart, are the two great gifts which alone can fill the soul, and once given are never taken away, but endure for ever. Both here and in many other places, we must always remember, that " meat ' did n^t mean exclusively " flesh" in the days when the Bible was translated, as it does now. The Greek word rendered " meat " here means simply " food " of any kind.

When our Lord says, " The Son of man shall give you the meat that endureth to everlasting life," He appears to me to make one of the widest and most general offers to unconverted sinners that we have anywhere in the Bible. The men to whom He was speaking were, beyond question, carnal-minded and unconverted men. Yet even to them Jesus says, " The Son of man shall give unto you." To me it seems an unmistakeable statement of Christ's willingness and readiness to give pardon and grace to any sinner. It seems to me to warrant ministers in proclaiming Christ's readiness to save any one, and in offering salvation to any one, if he will only repent and believe the Gospel. The favourite notion of some, that Christ is to be offered only to the elect, — that grace and pardon are to be exhibited but not offered to a congregation, — that we ought not to say broadly and fully to all whom we preach to, Christ is ready and willing to save you, — such notions, I say, appear to me entirely irreconcileable with the language of our Lord. Election, no doubt, is a mighty truth and a precious privilege. Complete and full redemption no doubt is the possession of none but the elect. But how easy it is, in holding these glorious truths, to become more systematic than the Bible, and to spoil the Gospel by cramping and limiting it!

When our Lord says, " Him hath God the Father sealed," He probably refers to the custom of setting apart for any specific purpose, and marking for any peculiar use by a seal. So also deeds and public documents were sealed to testify their execution and validity, and give them authority. So it is said in Esther: " The writing that is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse." (Esther viii. 8.) The expression applied to our Lord in this place certainly stands alone, but I think there can be little doubt as to its meaning. It signifies that in the eternal counsels of God the Father, He has sealed, commissioned, designated, and appointed the Son of mm, the Incarnate Word, to be the Giver of everlasting life to man. It is an ofl&ce for which He has been solemnly set apart by the Father.

Parkhurst thinks that the word means " Him hath God the Father authorized with sufficient evidence, particularly by the voice from heaven;" and he refers the sealing entirely to the testimony which the Father had borne to the Son's MessiaLship. This also is Suicer's view, and Alford's.

Stier remarks, " This seahng is not to be understood merely of miracles, but of the stamp of divinity which was impressed upon His wliole hfe and teaching." This is Poole's view, and Hutcheson's.

It has been thought by some that there is a tacit reference here to the history of Joseph; and that our Lord meant that aa Joseph was appointed to be the great almoner and rehever of the Egyptians by the king of Egypt, so He is appointed by the King of kings to reheve the spiritual famine of mankind. At any rate it is an apt and suitable illustration.

The idea of Hilary and some others that the expression "sealed" refers to our Lord being the "express image of the Father's presence," appears to me far-fetched and without foundation.

The last words of the verse should be rendered more literally, " Him hath the Father sealed, even God." It almost suggests the idea that our Lord desired to prevent His hearers supposing that He referred to Joseph as His Father. It is as if He said, " the Father I mean, remember, is not an earthly father, but God." -^ '

Rollock remarks on this verse, that our Lord does not confine Himself to showing the folly of only seeking " the meat that perisheth," but is careful to show the true food of the soul, and to point out who alone can give it. He observes that this is an example to us in teaching man the Gospel. The remedy must be as plainly taught and hfted up as the disease. He observes truly that none can speak better of the vanity of earthly things and the glory of heaven, than many Papists do. But it is when they come to the feeding of man's soul that they fail. They try to feed him with man's merits, the intercession of saints, purgatory, and the like, and do not show him

It is note-worthy that it was the remembrance of this verse which made Henry Martyn persevere in preaching to poor Hindoos at Dinapore in India. He had found they only came for temporal relief, and cared nothing for his preaching, and he was on the point of giving up in despair. But this verse came across his mind. '• If the Lord Jesus was not ashamed to prear^h to mere bread-seekers," he thought, " who am I, that I should give over in disgust?"

28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that "we might work the works of Grod?

29 Jesus answered and said unto them. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath Bent.

30 They said therefore unto him, "What sign showest thou then, that we may see, and beUeve thee? what dost thou work?

31 Our fathers did eat manna in

the desert; as it is wr.tten, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

32 Then Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he which Cometh down from heaven, and giveth Hfe unto the word.

34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

These verses form the beginning of one of the most remarkable passages in the Gospels. None, perhaps, of our Lord's discourses has occasioned more controversy, and been more misunderstood, than that which we find in the Sixth Chapter of John.

We should observe, for one thing, in these verses, the spiritual ignorance and vnhelief of the natural man. Twice over we see this brought out and exemplified. When our Lord bade his hearers " labour for the meat "which endureth to eternal life," they immediately began to think of works to be done, and a goodness of their own to be established. " What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" Doing, doing, doing, was their only idea of the way to heaven. — Again, when our Lord spoke of Himself as One sent of God, and the need of believing on Him at once, they turn round with the question, — " What sign showest thou? what dost thou work?" Fresh from the mighty miracle of the loaves and fishes, one might have thought they had had a sign sufficient to convince them. Taught by our Lord Jesus Christ himself, one might have expected a greater readiness to believe. But alas! there are no limits to man's dulness, prejudice, and unbelief in spiritual matters. It is a striking fact that the only thing which our Lord is said to have "marvelled"

We shall do well to i emember this, if we ever try to do good to others in the matter of religion. We must not be cast down because our words are not believed, and our efforts seem thrown away. We must not complain of it as a strange thing, and suppose that the people we have to deal with are peculiarly stubborn and hard. We must recollect that this is the very cup of which our Lord had to drink, and like Him we must patiently work on. If even He, so perfect and so plain a Teacher, was not believed, what right have we to wonder if men do not believe us? Happy are the ministers, and missionaries, and teachers who keep these things in mind! It will save them much bitter disappointment. In working for God, it is of first importance to understand what we must expect in man. Few things are so little realized as the extent of human unbelief.

We should observe, for another thing, in these verses, the high honour Christ puts on faith in Himself. The Jews had asked Him, — " What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" In rejDly He says, — " This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." A truly striking and remarkable expression! If any two things are put in strong contrast, in the N'ew Testament, they are faith and works. Not working, but believing, — not of works, but through faith, — are words familiar to all careful Bible-readers. Yet here the great Head of the Church declares that believing on Him is the highest and greatest of all " works! " It is " the work of God."

Doubtless our Lord did not mean that there is anything meritorioLis in believing. Man's faith, at the very best, is feeble and defective. Regarded as a "work," it cannot stand the severity of God's judgment, deserve pardon, or purchase heaven. Bui jOur Lord did mean that faith in Himself, as the onljr.jSayiour, is the first act of the soul which God requires^J^t A sinner's hands. Till a man believes on Jesus, and rests on Je«us as a lost sinner, he is nothing. — Our Lord did mean that faith in Himself is that act of the soul which specially pleases God. When the Father sees a sinner casting aside his own righteousness, and simply trusting in His dear Son, He is well pleased. Without such faith it is impossible to please God. — Our Lord did mean that faith in Himself is the root of all saving religion. There is no life in a man till he believes. — Above all, our Lord did mean that faith in Himself is the hardest of all spiritual acts to the natural man. Did the Jews want something to do in religion? Let them know ihat the greatest thing they had to do was, to cast aside their pride, confess their guilt and need, and humbly believe.

Let all who know anything of true faith thank God and rejoice. Blessed are they that believe! It is an attainment which many of the wise of this world have never yet reached. We may feel ourselves poor, weak sinners. But do we believe? — ^We may fail and come short in many things. But do we believe? — He that has learned to feel his sins, and to trust Christ as a Saviour, has learned the two hardest and greatest lessons in Christianity. He has been in the best of schools. He has been taught by the Holy Ghost.

We shall observe, lastly, in these verses, the far greater privileges of Chrisfs hearers than of those who lived in the times of Moses. Wonderful and miraculous as the manna was which fell from heaven, it was nothing in comparison to the true bread which Christ had to bestow on His disciples. He himself was the bread of God, who had come down from heaven to give life to the world. — The bread which fell in the days of Moses could only feed and satisfy the body. The Son of man:^iad come to feed the soul. — The bread which fell in the (iij^tof Moses was only for the benefit of Israel. The Son of 'man had come to offer eternal life to the world. — ^Those Who ate the manna died and were buried, and many of them were lost for ever. But those who ate the bread which the Son of man provided, would be eternally saved.

And now let us take heed to ourselves, and make sure " that we are among those who eat the bread of God and live. Let us not be content with lazy waiting, but let us actually come to Christ, and eat the bread of life, and believe to the saving of our souls. The Jews could say, — " Evermore give us this bread." But it may be feared they went no further. Let us never rest till, by faith, we have eaten this bread, and can say, " Christ is mine. I have tasted that the Lord is gracious. I know and feel that I am His."

28. — [Then said they unto him.] These words begin one of the most important of our Lord's discourses, and one about which the widest dififerences of opinion prevail. These differences it will be time enough to consider, when we come to the passage out of which they arise. In the mean time let us remember that the speakers before us were men whom our Lord had miraculously fed the day before, and on whom He bad just urged the paramount importance of seeking food and satisfaction for their souls. For anything we can see they were Jews in a state of great spiiitual ignorance and darkness. Yet even with them our Lord patiently condescends to hold a long conversation. Teachers \vho desire to walk in Christ's steps must aim at thia kind of patienc?, and be willing to talk with and teach the darkest and most ignorant men. It needs wisdom, iailh, and patience.

[What shall we do...worhs of God?] This question is the language of men who were someAvhat aroused and impi-essed, but still totally in the dark about the way to heaven. They feel that they are in the wrong road, and that they ought to do some'.hing. But they are utterly ignorant what to do, and their only notion is the old self-righteous one of the natural man, —

"1 must do something, I must perform some works to pler^se God and buy admission to heaven." — This seems to me the leading idea of the question before us. "Your command to labour or work for the meat that endureth pricks our conscience. AVe admit that we ought to do something. Tell us what we must do, and we will try to do it." — It is a case of a conscience partially aroused and put on its defence, groping after light. It is like the rich young man who came running to our Lord and saying, "What good thing shall I do." (Matt. xix. 16.)