5. Jesus therefore, lifting up his eyes, and seeing that
a great multitude came to him, saith to Philip, Whence shall we buy bread,
that those men may eat? 6. (Now he said this, trying him; for he himself
knew what he would do.) 7. Philip answered him, Two hundred denarii of
bread is not sufficient for them, that each of them may take a little.
8. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith to him, 9.
There is here a boy, who hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes;
but what are these among so many? 10. And Jesus said, Make the men sit
down. (Now there was much grass in that place.) The men therefore sat down,
in number about five thousand. 11. And Jesus took the loaves, and, having
given thanks, distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those
who had sat down, and likewise of the fishes, as much as they wished. 12.
And after they were satisfied, he said to his disciples, Gather the fragments
which are left, that nothing may be lost. 13. They therefore gathered,
and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five loaves which were
left by those who had eaten.
5. He saith to Philip. What we here read as having been said
to Philip alone, the other Evangelists tell us, was said to all. But there
is no inconsistency in this; for it is probable that Philip spoke according
to the opinion entertained by all, and, therefore, Christ replies to him
in particular; just as John, immediately afterwards, introduces Andrew
as speaking, where the other Evangelists attribute the discourse to all
alike. Perceiving that they have no conception of an extraordinary remedy,
he then arouses their minds, which may be said to be asleep, so that they
may, at least, have their eyes open to behold what shall be immediately
exhibited to them. The design of all that is alleged by the disciples is,
to persuade Christ not to detain the people; and, perhaps, in this respect
they consult their private advantage, that a part of the inconvenience
may not fall upon themselves. Accordingly, Christ disregards their objections,
and proceeds in his design.
7. Two hundred denarii. As the denarius, according to the computation
of Budaeus, is equal to four times the value of a carolus and two deniers
of Tours, this sum amounts to thirty-five francs, or thereby. If you divide
this sum among five thousand men, each hundred of them will have less than
seventeenpence sterling. If we now add about a thousand of women and children,
it will be found that Philip allots to each person about the sixth part
of an English penny, to buy a little bread. But, as usually happens in
a great crowd, he probably thought that there was a greater number of people
present; and as the disciples were poor and ill supplied with money, Andrew
intended to alarm Christ by the greatness of the sum, meaning that they
were not wealthy enough to entertain so many people.
10. Make the men sit down. That the disciples were not sooner
prepared to cherish the hope which their Master held out, and did not remember
to ascribe to his power all that was proper, was a degree of stupidity
worthy of blame; but no small praise is due to their cheerful obedience
in now complying with his injunction, though they know not what is his
intention, or what advantage they will derive from what they are doing.
The same readiness to obey is manifested by the people; for, while they
are uncertain about the result, they all sit down as soon as a single word
of command has been pronounced. And this is the trial of true faith, when
God commands men to walk, as it were, in darkness. For this purpose let
us learn not to be wise in ourselves, but, amidst great confusion, still
to hope for a prosperous issue, when we follow the guidance of God, who
never disappoints his own people.
11. After having given thanks. Christ has oftener than once instructed
us by his example that, whenever we take food, we ought to begin with prayer.
For those things which God has appointed for our use, being evidences of
his infinite goodness and fatherly love towards us, call on us to offer
praise to Him; and thanksgiving, as Paul informs us, is a kind of solemn
sanctification, by means of which the use of them begins to be pure to
us, (1 Timothy 4:4.) Hence it follows, that they who swallow them down
without thinking of God, are guilty of sacrilege, and of profaning the
gifts of God. And this instruction is the more worthy of attention, because
we daily see a great part of the world feeding themselves like brute beasts.
When Christ determined that the bread given to the disciples should grow
among their hands, we are taught by it that God blesses our labor when
we are serviceable to each other.
Let us now sum up the meaning of the whole miracle. It has this in common
with the other miracles, that Christ displayed in it his Divine power in
union with beneficence, It is also a confirmation to us of that statement
by which he exhorts us to seek the kingdom of God, promising that all other
things shall be added to us, (Matthew 6:33.) For if he took care of those
who were led to him only by a sudden impulse, how would he desert us, if
we seek him with a firm and steady purpose? True, indeed, he will sometimes
allow his own people, as I have said, to suffer hunger; but he will never
deprive them of his aid; and, in the meantime, he has very good reasons
for not assisting us till matters come to an extremity.
Besides, Christ plainly showed that he not only bestows spiritual life
on the world, but that his Father commanded him also to nourish the body.
For abundance of all blessings is committed to his hand, that, as a channel,
he may convey them to us; though I speak incorrectly by calling him a channel,
for he is rather the living fountain flowing from the eternal Father. Accordingly,
Paul prays that all blessings may come to us from God the Father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ, in common, (1 Corinthians 1:3;) and, in another
passage, he shows that
in all things we ought to give thanks to God the Father, through our
Lord Jesus Christ, (Ephesians 5:20.)
And not only does this office belong to his eternal Divinity, but even
in his human nature, and so far as he has taken upon him our flesh, the
Father has appointed him to be the dispenser, that by his hands he may
feed us. Now, though we do not every day see miracles before our eyes,
yet not less bountifully does God display his power in feeding us. And
indeed we do not read that, when he wished to give a supper to his people,
he used any new means; and, therefore, it would be an inconsiderate prayer,
if any one were to ask that meat and drink might be given to him by some
unusual method.
Again, Christ did not provide great delicacies for the people, but they
who saw his amazing power displayed in that supper, were obliged to rest
satisfied with barley-bread and fish without sauce. And though he does
not now satisfy five thousand men with five loaves, still he does not cease
to feed the whole world in a wonderful manner. It sounds to us, no doubt,
like a paradox, that
man liveth not by bread alone, but by the word which proceedeth out
of the mouth of God, (Deuteronomy 8:3.)
For we are so strongly attached to outward means, that nothing is more
difficult than to depend on the providence of God. Hence it arises that
we tremble so much, as soon as we have not bread at hand. And if we consider
every thing aright, we shall be compelled to discern the blessing of God
in all the creatures which serve for our bodily support; but use and frequency
lead us to undervalue the miracles of nature. And yet, in this respect,
it is not so much our stupidity as our malignity that hinders us; for where
is the man to be found who does not choose to wander astray in his mind,
and to encompass heaven and earth a hundred times, rather than look at
God who presents himself to his view?
13. And filled twelve baskets. When four thousand men were fed
by seven loaves, Matthew relates that the number of baskets filled with
fragments was exactly the same with the number of the loaves, (Matthew
15:37.) Since, therefore, a smaller quantity is sufficient for a greater
number of men, and since the quantity left is nearly double, hence we see
more clearly of what value is that blessing of God, against the sight of
which we deliberately shut our eyes. We ought also to observe, in passing,
that though Christ commands them to fill the baskets for illustrating the
miracle, yet he likewise exhorts his disciples to frugality, when he says,
Gather the fragments which are left, that nothing may be lost; for the
increase of the bounty of God ought not to be an excitement to luxury.
Let those, therefore, who have abundance, remember that they will one day
render an account of their immoderate wealth, if they do not carefully
and faithfully apply their superfluity to purposes which are good, and
of which God approves.
John 6:14
14. Those men, therefore, when they saw the miracle which Jesus
had performed, said, This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the
world.
14. Those men, therefore. The miracle appears to have been attended
by some advantage, that they acknowledge the author of it to be the Messiah;
for Christ had no other object in view. But immediately they apply to a
different and improper purpose the knowledge which they have obtained concerning
Christ. And it is a fault extremely common among men, to corrupt and pervert
his truth by their falsehoods, as soon as he has revealed himself to them;
and even when they appear to have entered into the right path, they immediately
fall away.
