'And Jesus took the loaves; and when He had given thanks, He
distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set
down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.'—JOHN vi. 11.
This narrative of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand is
introduced into John's Gospel with singular abruptness. We read in the
first verse of the chapter: 'After these things Jesus went over the Sea
of Galilee,' _i.e._ from the western to the eastern side. But the
Evangelist does not tell us how or when He got to the western side.
'These things,' which are recorded in the previous chapter, are the
healing of the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda, the consequent
outburst of Jewish hostility, and the profound and solemn discourse of
our Lord, in which He claims filial relationship to the Father. So that
we must insert between the chapters a journey from Jerusalem to
Galilee, and a lapse at all events of some months—or, if the feast
referred to in the previous chapter be, as it may be, the Passover, an
interval of nearly a year. So little care for the mere framework of
events has this fourth Gospel; so entirely would the Evangelist have us
see that his reason for narrating this miracle is mainly its spiritual
lessons and the revelation which it makes of Christ as Himself the
Bread of Life.
Similarly, he has no care to tell us anything about the reasons for our
Lord's retirement with His disciples from Galilee to the eastern bank.
These we have to learn from the other Evangelists. They give us several
concurrent motives—the news of the death of John the Baptist; and of
the desire of the bloody tyrant to see Jesus, which foreboded evil;
also the return of the twelve Apostles from their trial journey, which
involved the necessity of rest for them; and, perhaps, the approach of
the Passover, which our Lord did not purpose to observe in Jerusalem
because of the Jewish hostility, and which, therefore, suggested the
withdrawal to temporary retirement.
All these reasons concurring, He and His disciples would seek for a
brief space of seclusion and repose. But the hope of securing such was
vain. The people followed in crowds so eagerly, so hastily, in such
enormous numbers, that no natural or ordinary provision for their wants
could be thought of. Hence the occasion for the miracle before us.
Now I think that this narrative, with which I wish to deal, falls
mainly into two portions, both of which suggest for us some important
lessons. There is, first, the preparations for the sign; and then there
is the sign itself. Let us look at these two points in succession.