And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
They sat down at His command on the green grass in orderly companies in ranks by hundreds and by fifties, and all obeyed and were seated in order in His presence. The seating gave the weary multitude room to sit and rest comfortably and kept them from trampling one another while the food was distributed. It preserved order so the vast assembly could be served in an orderly way by the disciples and all could witness what He was about to do from the small supply of loaves and fishes. Once marshaled they wondered what was to be done, then saw food portioned out to the whole assembly until every appetite was satisfied. The ordering teaches trust in God instead of unbelieving worry, for what seems meager in Christ's hands can become more than enough to satisfy and to share.
Setting and Sequence
The sitting in ranks belongs to the feeding of the five thousand men besides women and children, more than ten thousand in all, who had followed on foot into a desert and wilderness place, a retired grassy plot near the shore of Galilee. There like sheep without a shepherd they received teaching and healing all day till the day was far spent and evening came, growing hungry and faint and weary after listening so long. They had come without invitation or command and had used up their food, leaving them with nothing to eat in a place with no food nigh at hand.
When the disciples urged sending the hungry multitude away into the country and villages to buy bread, Jesus refused and had them count the food. Only five barley loaves and two small fishes could be found among so many. He then commanded the multitude to sit down on the green grass, a beautiful grassy spot and pleasant place, in orderly companies in ranks by hundreds and by fifties, in long lines. The marshaling was fully carried out and all obeyed and were seated in order in his presence.
While they sat a hymn was sung, and then Jesus took the loaves and fishes, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke them into small pieces, gave them to the disciples to set before the people and divided the fishes among them all. All ate until filled and satisfied, the supply increasing each time the distributors returned and continuing as they kept imparting what they received without running out. The disciples also shared the food with Jesus. Twelve baskets of fragments and of fishes were taken up on this occasion and seven on another, showing what Christ can do, and the report drew large numbers back to the shore the next morning.
This miracle was performed three times in different localities so that people in different parts might learn the lessons he taught thereby.
Purpose of Orderly Arrangement
The seating in ranks by hundreds and by fifties made room for the great crowd and gave the weary people a place to sit and rest comfortably and be cared for before they were fed. Sitting down in orderly groups kept the people from trampling one another while the food was being distributed. Seating them in ordered companies of fifty and one hundred preserved order among the vast assembly so that all could be served and the distribution could be carried out in an orderly way by the disciples.
Jesus had them seated in order before feeding them so that all could witness the miracle he was about to do from the small supply of loaves and fishes. The marshaling of the five thousand was fully carried out and they were all seated in order in his presence to preserve order and to behold what he would do. Once thus marshaled and seated, they wondered what was to be done, and then saw food portioned out to the whole assembly from the small store until every appetite was satisfied.
Divine Power and Provision
The feeding displays the same creative power that every day multiplies seed into harvest. God continually feeds people through the produce of the earth, while men cooperate by tending the grain and preparing the bread. Because that human labor can hide divine agency, the wilderness setting directs attention to His power and kindness in supplying food and warns against using His gifts selfishly.
In the wilderness no food was near at hand and apparently no means were at command, yet Jesus was placed there by providence and was one with the people in their need. The five thousand men besides women and children had come without invitation or command and had listened so long that they grew hungry and faint. He depended on His heavenly Father for means to relieve the necessity. This stands as a lesson for all time to depend wholly on God in full confidence when brought into strait places. Wisdom and judgment are to be exercised and trial is not to be entered recklessly, but His directions are to be followed, the means He provides used, and His help sought in every emergency. After following the best knowledge, trust is to rest on Him who has infinite resources to deliver and keep every soul brought into perplexity through trying to keep the way of the Lord.
The miracle reveals omnipotent power and beneficence as part of Christ's mission of compassion and love. Moved with pity for the multitude as sheep without a shepherd, He gave them teaching and healing, attended to their weariness, and met their physical need for food. He can still provide for bodily needs and give knowledge that helps in obtaining food, so that where hungry listeners gather it is felt that were He present He would supply them by divine power. His care made practical effort to keep seekers after salvation from being left weary, hungry, or discouraged.
The small provision of five loaves and two small fishes was blessed and multiplied until sufficient for the multitude and for the work entrusted to His servants. As God had multiplied bread for a hundred men through Elisha, so Christ made the scanty store feed five thousand men besides women and children, leaving twelve baskets of fragments. The event is an object lesson that even when gifts seem inadequate and the need appears hopeless, God can use them to do great things today. What seems meager in Christ's hands becomes more than enough to satisfy and to share with others. To those who follow His direction He still gives tact, skill, and understanding to provide what is needed.
The power that fed the hungry on the shores of Galilee was the same divine power He possessed while living a life of toil in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth to help support His family. He did not use it to lessen His own burdens or lighten His toil. Dwelling in a peasant's home, wearing coarse garments, mingling with the lowly, and toiling with patient hands as a common laborer, He showed that it is man's duty to be industrious and that useful, industrious labor is honorable.
Economy and Sharing
After the crowd had eaten until filled and satisfied, the remaining fragments were ordered to be gathered up so that nothing would be lost or wasted. That gathering teaches order and economy and careful use of what God has given, applying to food and money as well as to spiritual opportunities. It is a duty requiring industry, living within means, faithful stewardship of strength, and owing no one anything in order to place the family above want and dependence. What God has given must be freely imparted to others and not wasted, gambled away, or gotten by robbing another.
The fragments were shared with others, just as those who receive spiritual bread should pass it on to satisfy the spiritual needs of others. Those who pass on what they receive can serve others and share in the blessings provided, and after the crowd had eaten the disciples themselves shared the food. Those who labor together in this work receive grace to give to people in need, and the gift increases in its distribution as it is handed out. The five loaves and two small fish were passed around the seated companies, illustrating the lesson of sharing what one has with those who lack it.
The orderly seating in companies and the gathering of what remained teach that the works continued in the present day by message or helpfulness are to be held as a credit and nothing wasted. The incident is also an example of seating people on the ground and keeping a gathering's meal simple, without the extra cooking and many dishes that make preparation burdensome.
Spiritual and Practical Application
When the disciples anxiously asked that the hungry multitude be sent away into the villages to buy food, the answer was refusal and a command to sit down on the grass in orderly companies of fifties and hundreds, and the people obeyed by seating themselves in long lines. To sit down thus with Christ is for partakers of the divine nature to come out from worldly influences and empty festivities into heart communion with the Redeemer, prepared to receive the bread of life through the disciples from His own hands. It is a lesson in trust in God instead of unbelieving worry. Churches and conferences in need of revival and feeding need not send to Battle Creek for someone to hold meetings for them, nor devise plans and entertainments to draw people, but are to come to Jesus with humble faith and prayer. They are to be educated to receive the truth from their own shepherds, to pray over it and practice it, until souls grow in faith and intelligent knowledge with sufficiency and surplus.
The same Lord who multiplied and blessed the food given to the disciples to feed the five thousand multiplies and blesses gifts of means given with thanksgiving and prayer for soul-saving medical missionary and sanitarium work. When the best use is made of the means available, God enables His workers to feed the multitudes who are starving for the bread of life. Feeding so great a multitude from a very meager supply teaches that small, scattered means placed in missionary work will be multiplied by God as they are imparted to others, so that all may eat and be filled. Faith should lay hold upon God and expect success, and not stop work or measure advance by the means at hand, for that shows very limited faith. As God said to Moses to go forward, His human agents are to go forward and diffuse the gospel over the whole earth, planning and working in faith whether means are large or small and realizing their responsibility for the great work given them.
The ordering and feeding of the crowd is an example of the Lord's methods to be studied in carrying forward food work. It teaches disciples to care compassionately for people seeking salvation, making practical efforts to meet their needs so they are not left weary, hungry or discouraged. Christ led the crowd to a grassy plot and had them seated in order before feeding them from only five loaves and a few small fishes, enough for five thousand men besides women and children, because He was attentive to all who came needing help, acting as their sanctuary and helper and great leading Physician. Those who are softened and subdued and sanctified by His Holy Spirit, who study to work the very works He worked and are dedicated to the Lord God of heaven, will be given His Holy Spirit so they can communicate to those in necessity.
They sat down at His command on the green grass in orderly companies in ranks by hundreds and by fifties, and all obeyed and were seated in order in His presence. The seating gave the weary multitude room to sit and rest comfortably and kept them from trampling one another while the food was distributed. It preserved order so the vast assembly could be served in an orderly way by the disciples and all could witness what He was about to do from the small supply of loaves and fishes. Once marshaled they wondered what was to be done, then saw food portioned out to the whole assembly until every appetite was satisfied. The ordering teaches trust in God instead of unbelieving worry, for what seems meager in Christ's hands can become more than enough to satisfy and to share.
Setting and Sequence
The sitting in ranks belongs to the feeding of the five thousand men besides women and children, more than ten thousand in all, who had followed on foot into a desert and wilderness place, a retired grassy plot near the shore of Galilee. There like sheep without a shepherd they received teaching and healing all day till the day was far spent and evening came, growing hungry and faint and weary after listening so long. They had come without invitation or command and had used up their food, leaving them with nothing to eat in a place with no food nigh at hand.
When the disciples urged sending the hungry multitude away into the country and villages to buy bread, Jesus refused and had them count the food. Only five barley loaves and two small fishes could be found among so many. He then commanded the multitude to sit down on the green grass, a beautiful grassy spot and pleasant place, in orderly companies in ranks by hundreds and by fifties, in long lines. The marshaling was fully carried out and all obeyed and were seated in order in his presence.
While they sat a hymn was sung, and then Jesus took the loaves and fishes, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke them into small pieces, gave them to the disciples to set before the people and divided the fishes among them all. All ate until filled and satisfied, the supply increasing each time the distributors returned and continuing as they kept imparting what they received without running out. The disciples also shared the food with Jesus. Twelve baskets of fragments and of fishes were taken up on this occasion and seven on another, showing what Christ can do, and the report drew large numbers back to the shore the next morning.
This miracle was performed three times in different localities so that people in different parts might learn the lessons he taught thereby.
Purpose of Orderly Arrangement
The seating in ranks by hundreds and by fifties made room for the great crowd and gave the weary people a place to sit and rest comfortably and be cared for before they were fed. Sitting down in orderly groups kept the people from trampling one another while the food was being distributed. Seating them in ordered companies of fifty and one hundred preserved order among the vast assembly so that all could be served and the distribution could be carried out in an orderly way by the disciples.
Jesus had them seated in order before feeding them so that all could witness the miracle he was about to do from the small supply of loaves and fishes. The marshaling of the five thousand was fully carried out and they were all seated in order in his presence to preserve order and to behold what he would do. Once thus marshaled and seated, they wondered what was to be done, and then saw food portioned out to the whole assembly from the small store until every appetite was satisfied.
Divine Power and Provision
The feeding displays the same creative power that every day multiplies seed into harvest. God continually feeds people through the produce of the earth, while men cooperate by tending the grain and preparing the bread. Because that human labor can hide divine agency, the wilderness setting directs attention to His power and kindness in supplying food and warns against using His gifts selfishly.
In the wilderness no food was near at hand and apparently no means were at command, yet Jesus was placed there by providence and was one with the people in their need. The five thousand men besides women and children had come without invitation or command and had listened so long that they grew hungry and faint. He depended on His heavenly Father for means to relieve the necessity. This stands as a lesson for all time to depend wholly on God in full confidence when brought into strait places. Wisdom and judgment are to be exercised and trial is not to be entered recklessly, but His directions are to be followed, the means He provides used, and His help sought in every emergency. After following the best knowledge, trust is to rest on Him who has infinite resources to deliver and keep every soul brought into perplexity through trying to keep the way of the Lord.
The miracle reveals omnipotent power and beneficence as part of Christ's mission of compassion and love. Moved with pity for the multitude as sheep without a shepherd, He gave them teaching and healing, attended to their weariness, and met their physical need for food. He can still provide for bodily needs and give knowledge that helps in obtaining food, so that where hungry listeners gather it is felt that were He present He would supply them by divine power. His care made practical effort to keep seekers after salvation from being left weary, hungry, or discouraged.
The small provision of five loaves and two small fishes was blessed and multiplied until sufficient for the multitude and for the work entrusted to His servants. As God had multiplied bread for a hundred men through Elisha, so Christ made the scanty store feed five thousand men besides women and children, leaving twelve baskets of fragments. The event is an object lesson that even when gifts seem inadequate and the need appears hopeless, God can use them to do great things today. What seems meager in Christ's hands becomes more than enough to satisfy and to share with others. To those who follow His direction He still gives tact, skill, and understanding to provide what is needed.
The power that fed the hungry on the shores of Galilee was the same divine power He possessed while living a life of toil in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth to help support His family. He did not use it to lessen His own burdens or lighten His toil. Dwelling in a peasant's home, wearing coarse garments, mingling with the lowly, and toiling with patient hands as a common laborer, He showed that it is man's duty to be industrious and that useful, industrious labor is honorable.
Economy and Sharing
After the crowd had eaten until filled and satisfied, the remaining fragments were ordered to be gathered up so that nothing would be lost or wasted. That gathering teaches order and economy and careful use of what God has given, applying to food and money as well as to spiritual opportunities. It is a duty requiring industry, living within means, faithful stewardship of strength, and owing no one anything in order to place the family above want and dependence. What God has given must be freely imparted to others and not wasted, gambled away, or gotten by robbing another.
The fragments were shared with others, just as those who receive spiritual bread should pass it on to satisfy the spiritual needs of others. Those who pass on what they receive can serve others and share in the blessings provided, and after the crowd had eaten the disciples themselves shared the food. Those who labor together in this work receive grace to give to people in need, and the gift increases in its distribution as it is handed out. The five loaves and two small fish were passed around the seated companies, illustrating the lesson of sharing what one has with those who lack it.
The orderly seating in companies and the gathering of what remained teach that the works continued in the present day by message or helpfulness are to be held as a credit and nothing wasted. The incident is also an example of seating people on the ground and keeping a gathering's meal simple, without the extra cooking and many dishes that make preparation burdensome.
Spiritual and Practical Application
When the disciples anxiously asked that the hungry multitude be sent away into the villages to buy food, the answer was refusal and a command to sit down on the grass in orderly companies of fifties and hundreds, and the people obeyed by seating themselves in long lines. To sit down thus with Christ is for partakers of the divine nature to come out from worldly influences and empty festivities into heart communion with the Redeemer, prepared to receive the bread of life through the disciples from His own hands. It is a lesson in trust in God instead of unbelieving worry. Churches and conferences in need of revival and feeding need not send to Battle Creek for someone to hold meetings for them, nor devise plans and entertainments to draw people, but are to come to Jesus with humble faith and prayer. They are to be educated to receive the truth from their own shepherds, to pray over it and practice it, until souls grow in faith and intelligent knowledge with sufficiency and surplus.
The same Lord who multiplied and blessed the food given to the disciples to feed the five thousand multiplies and blesses gifts of means given with thanksgiving and prayer for soul-saving medical missionary and sanitarium work. When the best use is made of the means available, God enables His workers to feed the multitudes who are starving for the bread of life. Feeding so great a multitude from a very meager supply teaches that small, scattered means placed in missionary work will be multiplied by God as they are imparted to others, so that all may eat and be filled. Faith should lay hold upon God and expect success, and not stop work or measure advance by the means at hand, for that shows very limited faith. As God said to Moses to go forward, His human agents are to go forward and diffuse the gospel over the whole earth, planning and working in faith whether means are large or small and realizing their responsibility for the great work given them.
The ordering and feeding of the crowd is an example of the Lord's methods to be studied in carrying forward food work. It teaches disciples to care compassionately for people seeking salvation, making practical efforts to meet their needs so they are not left weary, hungry or discouraged. Christ led the crowd to a grassy plot and had them seated in order before feeding them from only five loaves and a few small fishes, enough for five thousand men besides women and children, because He was attentive to all who came needing help, acting as their sanctuary and helper and great leading Physician. Those who are softened and subdued and sanctified by His Holy Spirit, who study to work the very works He worked and are dedicated to the Lord God of heaven, will be given His Holy Spirit so they can communicate to those in necessity.