12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals : for we are here in a desert place.
13 But he said unto them. Give ye them to eat. And they said. We have no more but five loaves and two fishes ; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.
14 For they were about five thou- Kind men. And he said to his disciples,
Make them sit down by fifties in a company.
lo And they did so, and made them all sit down.
16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to hea- ven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
17 And they did eat, and were all filled : and there was taken up of fragments that remained to inem twelve baskets.
Thb miracle described in these verses is more frequently related in the Gospels than any that our Lord wrought. There is no doubt a meaning in this repetition. It is intended to draw our special attention to the things which it contains.
We see, for one thing, in these verses, a striking ex- ample of our Lord Jems Christ's divine power. He feeds an assembly of five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes. He makes a. scanty supply of victuals, which was barely sufficient for the daily wants of Himself and His disciples, satisf}^ the hunger of a company as large as a Boman legion. There could be no mistake about the reality and greatness of this miracle. It was done pub- licly, and before many witnesses. The same power which