1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



507 



%n^ P0ME?. 



Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of lil'e: he 

 that Cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that 

 believeth on me shall never thirst.— John 6: 35. 



'IIO is there wlio has not at times 

 thought it a little singular that 

 Jesus should so often repeat the 

 substance of the expression in 

 the verse before usV Why should he 

 call himself the bread of life? And I sup- 

 yjose others besides myself have at times 

 thought it a little strange that he didn't 

 choose an illustration a little more elegant 

 in its form. Why should he link together 

 the idea of a loaf of bread ^vith the spiritual 

 needs of the soulV Well, in this point as 

 well as in almost every other in the Scrip- 

 tures, you are most likely to get help in the 

 study of the Scriptures themselves. When 

 you feel like questioning the wisdom of us- 

 ing bread for a symbol, take your Bible and 

 read a chapter or two before the place where 

 this thought comes in, especially in the fore 

 part of the same chapter where this occurs. 

 The people had become wild with excite- 

 ment over the startling miracles Christ had 

 been performing. The craze was not so 

 very much difterent from the way people act 

 nowadays, especially in cities, where a great 

 crowd collects over a comparatively small 

 matter. In their enthusiasm they followed 

 him away off in the country— away from 

 bakers' shops, or any other place where pro- 

 visions were sold ; and with such a crowd as 

 live thousand, even the farmhouses (if they 

 had any such things in those days) would 

 not be likely to supply their wants. The 

 people became hiingiy and weary, and it 

 was a long way to their homes. The 

 tender heart of our Lord was touched 

 by their wants ; and especially was he touch- 

 ed because they had apparently forgotten 

 every thing in their desire to follow him. 

 You know how often he enjoined mankind 

 to leave all and follow him. Well, these 

 people had left all and followed him ; and 

 even though their motive in so doing was 

 not one of a veiy high order, there they 

 were. \''ery likely a great part of them 

 would have been equally ready to follow 

 something else of a different character ; but 

 our Savior does not seem to have considered 

 this ; he only feels they are a part of human- 

 ity—that humanity whom he loved and 

 whom he came to save. He did not feel at a 

 lo.ss what to do under the circumstances, 

 nor did he doubt for an instant that the 

 Father would honor his request by giving 

 him power to provide bread miraculously. 

 Tills is evident from the question to Philip. 

 By the way, there has always been some- 

 thing wonderfully comforting and strength- 

 ening to my faith in these little passages 

 where the Master speaks to his disciples in 

 that pleasant, familiar way. We could 

 hardly call it joking, but it was a little bit 

 of pleasantry when he says in that wonder 

 fully kind and familiar way to Philip, 

 '' Whence shall we l)uy bread that these may 

 eatV" Poor Philip! like all the rest of us 

 he was utterly unable to comprehend for a 

 single instant the resources at the command 



of his Master. Jesus was evidently trying 

 to teach him faith by the question. Wliy 

 didn't Philip reply, "•Lord, thou hast every 

 thing at thy command. We know from 

 what we have witnessed that the whole uni- 

 verse is subject to thee. Speak the word, 

 and they shall be fed'"V Instead of making 

 such a reply as that, Philip simply answers, 

 '' Two hundred pennyworth of bread w^ould 

 not be enough to give every one a little." 

 Two hundred pennyworth woidd be equiva- 

 lent to something like two hundred days' 

 work. Who is there who is going to advance 

 this great sumV Andrew ventured, at this 

 crisis, the information that there was a boy 

 somewhere around with live barley loaves 

 anil two small lishes. This boy had evident- 

 ly had an eye to business, even through all 

 the excitement ; and when they started out 

 he wisely concluded that, before they got 

 back, there would be a chance to sell eatables 

 at a tigure that would afford a good margin 

 of proht. He probably was not in a hurry ; 

 he was going to bide his time, and then get 

 up a corner in the provision market. It 

 seems that Andrew was about as lacking in 

 faith as Philip, for he ventures to suggest, 

 at the close of liis piece of information, that 

 live loaves and two fishes didn't amount to 

 very much when there were live thousand 

 to be fed. No one seems to have had the 

 slightest conception of what was going to 

 happen. Now witness the wonderful beau- 

 ty and simplicity of the manner in which 

 the Savior goes to work. Whatever he did 

 wastobedone decently and in order. No 

 rabbles or greediness was to be the result of 

 any miracle that he performed. Before tell- 

 ing wiiat was to be done, he directed that 

 the vast company be desired to sit down 

 upon the grass. They sat down in groups 

 of fifty, probably with passage-ways be- 

 tween them, so the disciples could wait upon 

 them in an orderly and systematic manner. 

 The whole company obeyed him. Why 

 should they not obey one whom they had 

 seen perform such wonders? 



Years ago, here in our little town of Medi- 

 na it was decided to have a free dinner one 

 Fourth of July. Everybody who came, no 

 matter who, was to have a good dinner, not 

 a penny to pay. The project w'as a kind one, 

 and the good women who had it in hand 

 labored early and late to make it a success. 

 Officers were appointed to keep order. How 

 do yott suppose it turned out? Why, after 

 it had been advertised in the papers, the ig- 

 norant, beer - drinking rabble for miles 

 around got hold of it and rushed in in such 

 a body that the oHicers were powerless to 

 preserve order. The tables were emptied be- 

 fore they were even fully set ; and while re- 

 spectable people held aloof, these greedy 

 ones gorged themselves and tilled their pock- 

 ets, and trampled the rest under foot. So 

 much for a free dinner. How differently 

 the Master managed it! Here was a miracle 

 in good earnest. Five thousand people wit- 

 nessed it. Tiiey had the bread and fish in 

 their hands. Skeptics might, doubtless, 

 claim that it was an optical illusion ; they 

 did not have any bread at all, they only im- 

 agined it. Hut the trouble is, they ate of it 

 and were satislied. It would have to be 



