they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord."+ "For thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd."'

That DAVID had now appeared. He was already gathering around himself a flock who should "hear his voice and follow him:" who should know him as "the true shepherd, who giveth his life for the sheep." And he began to teach them many things; that they might no longer "be a prey to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd." According as it had been written; "I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord of hosts. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away.'

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"6

The first mission of the apostles, from which they had now returned, was a pledge that this promise should be fulfilled. Those who had hitherto ruled the people, "blind leaders of the blind," should "feed the flock no longer the flock should be delivered from the chief priests and Pharisees, and brought to him who was meek and lowly of heart:" whose

"

Jer. xxiii. 4.

5 Ezek. xxxiv 10-23.

6 Ib. 10-15.

"yoke was easy and whose burthen light:" and from whom they might find that "rest unto their souls," which only could come from one who " taught them with authority, and not as the scribes."

LECTURE XXXVIII.

FIVE THOUSAND FED IN THE WILDERNESS.

MARK VI. 35-44.

35. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

36. Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.

37. He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

38. He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two

fishes.

39. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

40. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

The history related here is so exact and particular, that the person describing it must have been an

eye-witness to the scene, and have told or written what he remembered. There is no reason to suppose that Mark was an eye-witness. But he is believed to have written under the direction of St. Peter; and the whole circumstances appear to have remained fresh and vivid in his recollection. We seem to hear him relating what took place; and saying, It was late in the evening, and the place in which we were was desert and uninhabited: so we came to the Lord as he was teaching, and reminded him that it was time for the people to disperse, that they might go into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they had nothing to eat, having left their homes with no intention of being so long absent. He told us to supply them. It would have cost far more than we could afford. Two hundred pennyworth of bread would not have satisfied the multitude: and all that we could find amongst our own company, was five loaves and two fishes. However, he directed us to make them all sit down. It happened that though a desert, it was a green and grassy place. And he gave us a lesson of order. If the multitude had sat down in a crowd, as they were standing, there must have been confusion, and some would have been passed over: so he commanded us to arrange them by companies upon the green grass: fifty or a hundred together in a rank; and so they did all eat, and were filled.

It was exactly the sort of scene which was likely to remain impressed upon the mind. Many things which Jesus did, and far more which he said, could never have been remembered and repeated without that assistance which he promised, saying, "The

ן יי

Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. But the Spirit need not dictate what the natural man recollected: and this miracle so impressed those who witnessed it, that it, and it alone, is related by all the Evangelists.

41. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

42. And they did all eat, and were filled.

43. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments, and of the fishes.

44. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

It must be designed that an important inference should be drawn from a narrative which is made so prominent in the gospel history.

And it furnishes which the Lord,

a beautiful example of the way in as a true shepherd, watches over the circumstances of his people, and makes provision for wants which would otherwise distress them. The multitude had followed Jesus to this desert, because they saw his mighty works, and many, perhaps, that they might receive benefit from him. He did not allow those to suffer hunger, who because they had seen his miracles believed in him. Far more surely will he comfort others, who "not having seen, have yet believed." And they who observe the course of his providential dealings with men, often become acquainted with

1 John xiv. 26.

Matt. xiv. 15-21. Luke ix. 12-18. John vi. 5-14.

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cases of supply in need, no less unexpected than the increase here made in the loaves and fishes. The changes and reverses which happen in the world, bring many of the servants of Christ to the state of Elijah, when he arose and went for his life," which was threatened by the revenge of Jezebel.3 "He went a day's journey into the wilderness. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head; and he did eat and drink, and laid him down again." The Lord whom he served, saw that "the journey was too great for him," and sent him refreshment in the hour of need. And these things are written for our example, " on whom the ends of the world are come." There is indeed a difference in the way in which God's people are supplied. An angel came to Elijah's aid. And here in the wilderness five loaves and two fishes were made to feed five thousand persons. But He who can cause that material things should change their nature, that nature which he himself had given them, and having given, can alter as he sees good:-he can no less govern the hearts of men, and divert their charity into the channel which he desires. So to soften the hearts, and overcome the natural selfishness, is as much his work, as to increase the supply of food till it satisfied five thousand men.

Indeed he has ordained a regular provision, by which support more needful than bodily refreshment may be supplied. The communion of his body and 31 Kings xix. 2-8.