The miracles of Jesus - Classical Christian Literature by Athleo.net

THE MIRACULOUS FEEDING OF
FIVE THOUSAND
"And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and blessed
and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the
disciples to the multitude ; and they did all eat and were filled ;
and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets
full."—Matthew xiv. 19, 20.
Our Lord did not come to work miracles of this
kind.
If He had gone about every day multiplying
loaves, supplying food gratuitously, converting stones
into bread, and creating wealth for everybody, He
would have had a triumphal and popular march
through life ; and there would have been no crucifixion
scene at the end. And there would also have
been no Saviour of the world. He did not come to
fill hungry mouths, and distribute freely the material
goods of life, and change every waste place into a
fruit-bearing garden. He had a far higher purpose
than that. He knew that if He could only save men
from their sins, the other things would gradually
come right ; and that if He could fill the world with
truth and justice and love, there would be little want
and poverty left, and no fierce struggle for
existence.
And yet four times He wrought a miracle to provide
hungry people with a meal—twice for the disciples
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