"And they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties."--MARK
vi: 40.
The sun was far down in the west, night was coming on, and there were
five thousand people tired, hungry, shelterless. You know how
Washington felt at Valley Forge, when his army was starving and
freezing. You may imagine how any great-hearted general would feel
while his troops were suffering. Imagine, then, how Christ, with His
great heart, must have felt as He saw these five thousand
hunger-bitten people. Yes, I suppose there were ten thousand there,
for the Bible says there were five thousand men, besides women and
children. The case is put in that way, not because the women and
children were of less importance than the men, but because they would
eat less; and the whole force of the miracle turns on the amount of
food required.
How shall this great multitude be supplied? I see a selfish man in
that crowd pulling a luncheon out of his own pocket, and saying: "Let
the people starve. They had no business to come out here in the desert
without any provisions. They are improvident, and the improvident
ought to suffer." There is another man, not quite so heartless, who
says: "Go up into the village and buy bread." What a foolish
proposition! There is not enough food in all the village for this
crowd; besides that, who has the money to pay for it? Xerxes' army,
one million strong, was fed by a private individual of great wealth
for only one day, but it broke him. Who, then, shall feed this
multitude?
I see a man rising in that great crowd and asking: "Is there any one
here who has bread or meat?" A kind of moan goes through the whole
throng. "No bread--no meat." But just at that time a lad steps up. You
know when a great crowd goes off upon an excursion, there are always
men and boys to go along for the purpose of merchandise and to strike
a bargain: and so, I suppose, this boy had gone along for the purpose
of merchandise; but he was nearly all sold out, having only five
loaves and two fishes left. He is a generous boy, and he turns them
over to Christ.
But these loaves would not feed twenty people, how much less ten
thousand! Though the action was so generous on the part of the boy, so
far as satisfying the multitude, it was a dead failure. Then Jesus
comes to the rescue. He is apt to come when there is a dead lift. He
commands the people that they sit down "in ranks, by hundreds and by
fifties," as much as to say: "Order! order! so that none be missed."
It was fortunate that that arrangement was made; otherwise, at the
very first appearance of bread, the strong ones would have clutched
it, while the feeble and the modest would have gone unsupplied.
I suppose it was no easy work to get that crowd seated, for they all
wanted to be in the front row, lest the bread give out before their
turn come. No sooner are they seated than there comes a great hush
over all the people. Jesus stands there, His light complexion and
auburn locks illumined by the setting sun. Every eye is on Him. They
wonder what He will do next. He takes one of the loaves that the boy
furnished and breaks off it a piece, which immediately grows to as
large a size as the original loaf, the original loaf staying as large
as it was before the piece was broken off. And they leaned forward
with intense scrutiny, saying: "Look! look!" When some one, anxious to
see more minutely what is going on, rises in front, they cry: "Sit
down in front! Let us look for ourselves."
And then, when the bread is passed around, they taste of it
skeptically and inquiringly, as much as to say: "Is it bread? Really,
is it bread?" Yes, the best bread that was ever made, for Christ made
it. Bread for the first fifty and second fifty. Bread for the first
hundred and the second hundred. Bread for the first thousand and the
second thousand. Pass it all around the circle: there, where that aged
man sits leaning on his staff, and where that woman sits with the
child in her arms. Pass it all around. Are you all fed? "Ay! ay!"
respond the ten thousand voices; "all fed." One basket would have held
the loaves before the miracle; it takes twelve baskets now. Sound it
through all the ages of earth and heaven, that Christ the Lord comes
to our suffering race with the bread of this life in one hand, and the
bread of eternal life in the other hand.
You have all immediately run out the analogy between that scene and
this. There were thousands there; there are thousands here. They were
in the desert; many of you are in the desert of trouble and sin. No
human power could feed them; no human power can feed you. Christ
appeared to them; Christ appears to you. Bread enough for all in the
desert; bread enough for all who are here. And, as on that occasion,
so in this: we have the people "sit down in ranks by hundreds and by
fifties;" for the fact that many of you stand is no fault of ours, for
we have tried to give you seats. As Christ divided that company into
groups, so I divide this audience into three groups: the pardoned, the
seeking, the careless.