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LESSON I.—SABBATH, JULY 1, 1899

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 14, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 24.

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LESSON I.—SABBATH, JULY 1, 1899.

By Editor

FEEDING THE MULTITUDE.

Bethsaida and Capernaum, A.D. 30.
30 "And the apostles gather themselves together unto Jesus; and they told Him all things, whatsoever they had done, and 31 whatsoever they had taught. And He saith unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure 32 so much as to eat. And they went away in the boat to a 33 desert place apart. And the people saw them going, and 34 many knew them, and they ran there together on foot from all the cities, and outwent them. And He came forth and saw a 35 great multitude, and He had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to 36 teach them many things. And when the day was now far 37 spent, His disciples came unto Him, and said, The place is desert, and the day is now far spent; send them away, that they may go into the country and villages round about, and 38 buy themselves somewhat to eat. But 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 39 give them to eat? And He saith unto them, How many loaves 40 have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, 41 and two fishes. And He commanded them that all should sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake the loaves; and He gave to the disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided He among them all."
11 "But the multitudes perceiving it followed Him; and He welcomed them, and spake to them of the kingdom of God, and them that had need of healing He healed."
23 "And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up 24 into the mountain apart to pray; and even when even was come, He was there alone. But the boat was now in the midst of the 25 sea, distressed by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came unto them, 26 walking upon the sea. And when the disciples saw Him 27 walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is an apparition; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake 28 unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid 29 me come unto Thee upon the waters. And He said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the 30 waters, to come to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was 31 afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save 32 me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and 33 took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, 34 wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were gone up 35 into the boat, the wind ceased. And they that were in the 36 boat worshiped Him, saying, Of a truth Thou art the Son of God. And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, unto Gennesaret. And when the men of that place knew Him, they sent into all that region round about, and brought unto Him all that were sick; and they besought Him that they might only touch the border of His garment; and as many as touched were made whole."
26 "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto 27 you, Ye seek Me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled. Work not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you; for Him the Father, even God, hath sealed."
48 "I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat the manna in 49 the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which com- 50 eth down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not 51 die. I am the living Bread which came down out of heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; yea and the bread which I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world."
63 "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life."

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

NOTE.—The texts inclosed in marks of parentheses, while not essential to the lesson study, will be found to throw much light upon the lesson, and are suggested for those who wish to study further.
  1. Upon the apostles returning from their first missionary trip, what did they tell Jesus? Mark 6: 30. (John 15: 5.)
  2. What did the Saviour then suggest? Verse 31.
  3. Where did they go? Verse 32. Note 1. (Luke 9: 10; Matt. 14: 13.)
  4. What did the people do when they heard that the Saviour had thus departed? Luke 9: 11.
  5. How did Jesus feel upon meeting the people there? Mark 6: 34. (John 6: 4.)
  6. As the day closed, what request was made by the disciples? Verses 35, 36. (Matt. 14: 15.)
  7. What conversation then followed between Jesus and some of His disciples? Verses 37, 38. (John 6: 5-9.)
  8. What were the disciples then asked to do? Verses 39, 40.
  9. Before giving the loaves and fishes to be distributed by the disciples, what did Jesus do? Verse 41. (2 Kings 4: 43.)
  10. What lesson in economy did He give? John 6: 12.
  11. After sending away the people, where did Jesus go? and for what purpose? Matt. 14: 23. (Luke 6: 12.)
  12. What experience did the disciples have on the sea? V. 24.
  13. How did Jesus overtake the disciples on the sea? Verse 25. Note 2. (Job 9: 2-8.)
  14. Relate the circumstances which followed. Verses 26-33. (Mark 6: 51, 52.)
  15. Upon Christ and the disciples landing, what did the people do? Verses 34-36. (John 6: 22-25.)
  16. Why did the people seek Jesus? John 6: 26. (Matt. 14: 22.)
  17. What counsel did He give them? Verse 27.
  18. What did He declare concerning Himself? Verses 48-51.
  19. What did He mean by this? Verse 63.
Side Lights.—"Desire of Ages," chapters 38-41. "Spirit of Prophecy," vol. 2, chapters 20-22, 25.

NOTES.

1. In a desert place.—The news of John's death had doubtless to do with suggesting the proposed rest. It was to Christ the warning that His labors in Galilee must also soon terminate through the people's rejection of Him, and the shadow of His own violent death as well. There were many things to communicate to His apostles which could not well be said before the multitude. Besides, they needed a spot for quiet meditation and prayer. The Bethsaida, or Fish-house, here mentioned as the place of retirement, is supposed to have been a place six miles from Capernaum, at the head of the Sea of Galilee, east of Jordan, sometimes called Julias, in honor of Julia, a daughter of Emperor Augustus. It was beyond the territory of Herod Antipas, and in the tetrarchy of Philip, therefore entirely distinct from the place by that name west of the Sea of Galilee. Bethsaida was at one time the home of Andrew and Peter and Philip. It was doomed because of its rejection of light.
2. Fourth watch.—Formerly the Jews had but three watches of the night, enumerated as the first, or "beginning of the watches (Lam. 2: 19), the middle watch (Judges 7: 19), and the morning watch" (Ex. 14: 24; 1 Sam. 11: 11). These were respectively from sunset to 10 P.M., from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M., and from 2 A.M. to sunrise. At this time, however, they had mostly given up their own computation of the night watches, and adopted that of the Romans, namely, four watches, from 6 P.M. to 6 A.M., and known as even, midnight, cock-crowing, and morning. Mark 13: 35. The "fourth" watch must, therefore, have been between 3 and 6 o'clock in the morning.