The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 121

.oo.ves, o.nd o. few small fishes." But " they did all eat, and were filled ; " and moreover of the fragments left there were seven hampers. The spyris was larger than the cophinus of the mirncle, It seems to ha.ve been a. loa.d for a porter (seo Acts ix. 25). .A ho.mper of fragments for every loaf. 1 III. THE 0OMPABeION OF JESUS IS DIS0RIMINATING. 1. The circumstances of the miracle are instructive. (1) "He gave thanks." In the former miracle with the five loa.ves "he blessed." It comes to the same. Giving thanks to God is a. proper way to ask the blessing of God. Thanks given before taking food (see Acts xxvii. 35) acknowledges his past bounty, craves his blessing upon the present, anticipates the future. All good comes from God. His blessing makes little go far. (2) He used all the provision he had. God works miracles only, and in so far as there is necessity. So are we to use the means Providence sets before us. When these fail, then trust God. What his ordinary providence denies his miraculous power will supply. All spiritual blessings are immediately from God, so miraculous. (3) The multitude sat down in faith. They saw but little. Yet took advice and prepared themselves for a banquet. So they were all "filled." Those whom Jesus feeds he fills (see Ps. !xv. 4; Isa. lv. 2). Not only was Jesus from Bethlehem; he is Bethlehem himself, the House of bread. (4) He then "sent the multitude away." Though he had twice fed them, they must not expect miracles to give them daily food. Meanwhile he himself entered the boat and came to Magdala. He generally withdrew after working a miracle, lest the people should attempt to raise a sedition_ and make him a King (cf. eh. xiv. 22; John vi. 15). How different from the conduct of a pseudo-Messiah I 2. There are lessons in the service of the disciples. (1) 'l'o them he first expressed his tender sympathy for the 'people. This was a mark of his friendship. The disciples of Christ know most of his ·goodness. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him" ( cf. Gen. xviii. 17- 19; Ps. xxv. 14; Amos iii. 7; John vii. 17; xv. 15). (2) The communication was also intended to quicken their compassions, to teach them generosity, and to strengthen their faith. Their answer showed that they needed the lesson, "Whence should we have so many loaves," etc.? (ver. 33). "They walked in a world of wonders, spiritual e.nd physical, where they felt strange, until the Holy Ghost came and brought to their minds all that Christ had done" (Olshausen, John xiv. 26). Forgetting former experi- ,ence leaves us in present doubt. Here is no niggardliness of to-day in forethought for ,to-morrow. (3) The disciples ha.d the custody of the provisions. To them also is committed the custody of the bread of God's Word. They have bad to shield it from _the vigilance of the anti-Christian destroyer. (4) 'fhey are the dispensers of the Word of grace for the nourishment of the world. In their hands it multiplies both in the dispensing and in the store.--J. A. M. Vers. 1, 2.-The right to reproach otliers. Though the address of these visitors is put in the form of a question, it is not really an inquiry, it is a reproach. Therefore it was properly met, not by an explanation, but by another question, which brought to others' view, if not to their own, their bad mind and intent. These Pharisees could see clearly enough what they thought was a "mote" in the eye of Jesus. They must be made to feel the " beam" that was in their own eye. Who were these men, and what right had they to reproach Jesus? The Sanhedrin a.t Jerusalem rega.rded itself as the supreme ecclesiastical authority in the land, whose a.pproval every teacher should ·secure, and whose inquiries every would-be teacher must look for. Both John Baptist and Jesus acted in perfect independence of this central authority. Both were ,subject to its official inquiries. Of John we are told (John i. 19), "The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?" John answered their inquiries in a very patient fashion. Jesus was sterner in his dealings with them, and denied their right, or their fitness, to make any such inquiries, which were but veiled reproaches. I I. AUTHORITY MAY GIVE A RIGHT TO REPROA0H, ·rhe natural authority of the parent; and the social authority of the master and the king. But the authority must be rightly grounded. It must not rest on mere self-assertion, a.nd it must be duly recognized a.nd accepted. What authority could such a council as the Sanhedrin have over one who was a Prophet, a heaven-sent Messenger? By all Isrnelite principles, lie had the authority, and they shoulll have heeded Mm, 124 ll'HE GOSPEL ACCORDIN"Q- TO ST. :MATTHEW. [M. xv. 1-39.