and abundant in goodness and truth/' (Exod. xxxiv.6.) He does not deal with men according to their sins, or reward them according to their iniquities. He loads even His enemies with benefits. ]^one will be so excuse- less as those who are found impenitent at last. The Lord's goodness leads them to repentance. (Rom. ii. 4.) In all His dealings with men on earth, He showed him- self one that " delighteth in mercy.'' (Micah vii. 18.) Let us strive to be like Him. "We ought/' says Quesnel, " to have abundance of pity and compassion on diseased souls."
In the last place, this miracle is a lively emblem of the sufficiency of the Gospel to meet the soul-ioants of all man- kind.
There can be little doubt that all our Lord's miracles have a deep figurative meaning, and teach great spiritual truths. But they must be handled reverently and dis- creetly. Care must be taken that we do not, like many of the Fathers, see allegories where the Holy Spirit meant none to be seen. But perhaps, if there is any miracle which has a manifest figurative meaning, in addition to the plain lessons which may be drawn from its surface, it is that which is now before us.
What does this hungry multitude in a desert place represent to us ? It is an emblem of all mankind. The children of men are a large assembly of perishing sinners, famishing in the midst of a wilderness world,^ — helpless, hopeless, and on the way to ruin. We have all gone astray like lost sheep. (Isai. liii. 6.) We are by nature far away from God. Our eyes may not be opened to the full extent of our danger. But in reality we are wretched,