The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 430

this position without any thought beforehand. The only sufficiently wise person among them W6l! a bit of a lad who hnd five loaves and two small fishes with him. Yet these men must not be hMtily reckoned fools as the world CllUnts fools. It ie ensy to be wi~e after the event. It was the easiest thing in the world for this crowd to get into this helpless state. For: 1. It was a crowd, Not an army, not a dl~oiplinod band; it had no leader. 'l'he men composing this crowd never supposed when thoy started off that fi..,e thonsand of them were going to be in a desert p1aco together. 2. The most Owughtful of people cannot be thoughtful a~out everything. The most thoughtful of people may also be the most thoughtless. Even while this crowd was going blindly ln the track of the great Wonder-worker, m:my of them would have hearts filled with anxiety beciluse of their private affairs. Not all our thinking and pondering, not all Nlr inquiring and superintending, will keep us out of sore perplexities. We may be in the daily habit of weighing and measuring the needs of life, and yet some day, all at once, there may start up a need the possibility of which we were not able to guess. II. A THOUGHTFUL JEsus. Jesus himself seems to have been the first to suggest the impending difficulty and danger. He always sees whither the actions of men are tending, and what complications and difficulties they are all unconsciously bringing about. Jesus himself is thoughtful concerning us, even when we are without thought, and l\ithout fear or suspicion that there is anything to think about. It is the business of Jesus, so to speak, to be thoughtful for every one of us. This world is a sinful world, a suffering world, where thousands are ever on the brink of desperation, forced onwards, as it seems, with no choice but ruin and misery. Happily it is also a world constantly thought of by a higher wisdom and power than are to be found anywhere among us. Jesus knows that sooner or later every child of man will have to accept his ministry. Not a day but many are waking up to a want more pressing and terrible than any the body can feel, and Jesus is ready for the waking up. He thinks concerning all of us all the time. III. A PERPLEXED COMPANION. Jesus will not only be a Benefactor to the hungry multitude, he will also be a Teacher to the disciples. They had to be taught con• cerning difficulties where they themselves could give no effectual help. It belongs to humanity that men should ever and again be driven into a corner where neither can they help themselves, nor can any other help them by the ordinary channels of human endeavour and ability. .AJJ we come face to face with human want and woe, we must be deeply, bumblingly impressed with our natural inability before we can enter into all the stren,,uth of spiritual ability. IV. A PROVIDING JESUS. He knew what he would do. Of course he did. We also can be thouahtful in our way. But, alas I the more we think the less we are able to do; the moi'.'e we see to be done, and the more we see our own inability to do it. It is the glory of Jesus that he is at once the most sympathizing of all who observe human need, and the most able to help it. With him pity and providence go together. He is never tied to our ways of working. He is never taken by surprise. He is never over- taxed by the number of needy ones. He who fed five thousand could just as easily have fed five millions. He can be prompt, and yet neither strain nor hurry. He gives his own calmness and confidence to his servants. They know that his resources are theirs. Note, too, the responsibility that came on every one of these five thousand, because of his share in what was provided.-Y. Vers. 12, 13.-Gathering theJ,-agments. I. THE Pn0OF OF THE ABUNDANCE. There are distributions where the quantity is so limited that each has far short of what he could manage. The point of the miracle lies in this, that each bad not merely some- thing, but enongh. And the proof that each had enongh lies in this, that fragments were all strewn about. II. THE EVIDENCE THAT THIS MODE OF SUPPLY HUST BE ONLY VERY OCCASIONAL, What comes easily is lightly valued. Though the people had got a meal in this mar- velloW! way, they were not very thoughtful abo~t the marvel. They ate on till they had enough and then flung the residue away. :Not every one would be so thoughtless, but a great many mwit have been, else whence the twelve baskets full? Habitual beggars are wasteful and reckless livers. There is great wisdom in the ordinance whereby man has to work so hard for his bread. He learns that he bas to make the very best of OJI, VJ. 1-71.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOIIN. 299