Ver. 1. In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them,2. "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat:3. And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far."4. And His disciples answered Him, "From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness."5. And He asked them, "How many loaves have ye?" And they said, "Seven."6. And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.7. And they had a few small fishes: and He blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.8. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.9. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and He sent them away.
Theophylact: After the Lord had performed the former miracle concerning the multiplication of the loaves, now again, a fitting occasion presents itself, and He takes the opportunity of working a similar miracle.
Wherefore it is said, "In those days, the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat."
For He did not always work miracles concerning the feeding of the multitude, lest they should follow Him for the sake of food; now therefore He would not have performed this miracle, if He had not seen that the multitude was in danger.
Wherefore it goes on: "And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far."
Bede, in Marc., 2, 32: Why they who came from afar hold out for three days, Matthew says more fully: "And He went up into a mountain, and sat down there, and great multitudes came unto Him, having with them many sick persons, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them." [[Matt. 15:29]-30]
Theophylact: The disciples did not yet understand, nor did they believe in His virtue, notwithstanding former miracles; wherefore it continues, "And His disciples said unto Him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?"
But the Lord Himself does not blame them, teaching us that we should not be grievously angry with ignorant men and those who do not understand, but bear with their ignorance.
After this it continues, "And He asked them, How many loaves have ye? and they answered, Seven.
Remigius: Ignorance was not His reason for asking them, but that from their answering, "seven," the miracle might be noised abroad, and become more known in proportion to the smallness of the number. It goes on: "And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground." In the former feeding they lay down on grass, in this one on the ground.
It continues, "And He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake." In giving thanks, He has left us an example, that for all gifts conferred on us from heaven we should return thanks to Him. And it is to be remarked, that our Lord did not give the bread to the people, but to His disciples, and the disciples to the people.
For it goes on, "and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people." And not only the bread, but the fish also He blessed, and ordered to be set before them. For there comes after, "And they had a few small fishes: and He blessed, and commanded to set them also before them."
Bede: In this passage then we should notice, in one and the same, our Redeemer, a distinct operation of Divinity and of Manhood; thus the error of Eutyches [Source note: ed. note: i.e. the Monothelites] , who presumes to lay down the doctrine of one only operation in Christ, is to be cast out far from the Christian pale. For who does not here see that the pity of our Lord for the multitude is the feeling and sympathy of humanity; and that at the same time His satisfying four thousand men with seven loaves and a few fishes, is a work of Divine virtue? It goes on, "And they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets."
Theophylact: The multitudes who ate and were filled did not take with them the remains of the loaves, but the disciples took them up, and they did before the baskets. In which we learn according to the narration, that we should be content with what is sufficient, and not look for any thing beyond. The number of those who ate is put down, when it is said, "And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and He sent them away;" where we may see that Christ sends no one away fasting, for He wishes all to be nourished by His grace.
Bede: The typical difference between this feeding and the other of the five loaves and two fishes, is, that there the letter of the Old Testament, full of spiritual grace, is signified, but here the truth and grace of the New Testament, which is to be ministered to all the faithful, is pointed out.
Now the multitude remains three days, waiting for the Lord to heal their sick, as Matthew relates, when the elect, in the faith of the Holy Trinity, supplicate for sins, with persevering earnestness; or because they turn themselves to the Lord in deed, in word, and in thought.
Theophylact: Or by those who wait for three days, He means the baptized; for baptism is called illumination, and is performed by true immersion.
Greg., Mor. 1, 19: He does not however wish to dismiss them fasting, lest they should faint by the way; for it is necessary that men should find in what is preached the word of consolation, lest hungering through want of the food of truth, they sink under the toil of this life.
Ambrose, in Luc., 6, 73: The good Lord indeed whilst He requires diligence, gives strength; nor will He dismiss them fasting, "lest they faint by the way," that is, either in the course of this life, or before they have reached the fountainhead of life, that is, the Father, and have learnt that Christ is of the Father, lest haply, after receiving that He is born of a virgin, they begin to esteem His virtue not that of God, but of a man.
Therefore the Lord Jesus divides the food, and His will indeed is to give to all, to deny none; He is the Dispenser of all things, but if thou refusest to stretch forth thy hand to receive the food, thou wilt faint by the way; nor canst thou find fault with Him, who pities and divides.
Bede: But they who return to repentance after the crimes of the flesh, after thefts, violence, and murders, come to the Lord from afar; for in proportion as a man has wandered farther in evil working, so he has wandered farther from Almighty God. The believers amongst the Gentiles came from afar to Christ, but the Jews from near, for they had been taught concerning Him by the letter of the law and the prophets. In the former case, however, of the feeding with five loaves, the multitude lay upon the green grass: here, however, upon the ground, because by the writing of the law, we are ordered to keep under the desires of the flesh, but in the New Testament we are ordered to leave even the earth itself and our temporal goods.
Theophylact: Further, the seven loaves are spiritual discourses, for seven is the number, which points out the Holy Ghost, who perfects all things; for our life is perfected in the number of seven days. [Source note: ed. note: The number seven seems to be taken in the Fathers to mean a whole, from the world having been completed in seven days; and St. Ambrose lays it down as a principle of interpretation, in Luc. 7, 95. Theophylact here alludes to the seven ages of man’s life; a very similar passage is found in St. Ambrose’s 44th Letter, where the whole subject is discussed.]
Pseudo-Jerome: Or else, the seven loaves are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the fragments of the loaves are the mystical understanding of the first week.
Bede: For our Lord’s breaking the bread means the opening of mysteries; His giving of thanks shews how great a joy He feels in the salvation of the human race; His giving the loaves to His disciples that they might set them before the people, signifies that He assigns the spiritual gifts of knowledge to the Apostles, and that it was His will that by their ministry the food of life should be distributed to the Church.
Pseudo-Jerome: The small fishes blessed are the books of the New Testament, for our Lord when risen asks for a piece of broiled fish.
Or else, in these little fishes, we receive the saints, seeing that in the Scriptures of the New Testament are contained the faith, life, and sufferings of them who, snatched away from the troubled waves of this world, have given us by their example spiritual refreshment.
Bede: Again, what was over and above, after the multitude was refreshed, the Apostles take up, because the higher precepts of perfection, to which the multitude cannot attain, belong to those whose life transcends that of the generality of the people of God; nevertheless, the multitude is said to have been satisfied, because though they cannot leave all that they possess, nor come up to that which is spoken of virgins, yet by listening to the commands of the law of God, they attain to everlasting life.
Pseudo-Jerome: Again, the seven baskets are the seven Churches. By the four thousand is meant the year of the new dispensation, with its four seasons. Fitly also are there four thousand, that in the number itself it might be taught us that they were filled with the food of the Gospel.
Theophylact: Or there are four thousand, that is, men perfect in the four virtues; and for this reason, as being more advanced, they ate more, and left fewer fragments. For in this miracle, seven baskets full remain, but in the miracle of the five loaves, twelve, for there were five thousand men, which means men enslaved to the five senses, and for this reason they could not eat, but were satisfied with little, and many remains of the fragments were over and above.
Ver. 10. And straightway He entered into a ship with His disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.11. And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him.12. And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, "Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily, I say unto you, there shall be no sign given unto this generation."13. And He left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side.14. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.15. And He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod."16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."17. And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, "Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?18. Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?19. When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?" They say unto Him, "Twelve."20. "And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up?" And they said, "Seven."21. And He said unto them, "How is it that ye do not understand?"
Theophylact: After that our Lord had worked the miracle of the loaves, He immediately retires into another spot, lest on account of the miracle, the multitudes should take Him to make Him a king.
Wherefore it is said, "And straightway He entered into a ship with His disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha."
Augustine, de Con. Evan., 2, 51: Now in Matthew we read that He entered into the parts of Magdala [Source note: ed. note: Magedam] . But we cannot doubt that it is the same place under another name; for several manuscripts even of St. Mark have only Magdala.
It goes on, "And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him."
Bede, in Marc., 2, 33: The Pharisees, then, seek a sign from heaven, that He, Who had for the second time fed many thousands of men with a few loaves of bread, should now, after the example of Moses, refresh the whole nation in the last time with manna sent down from heaven, and dispersed amongst them all.
Theophylact: Or they seek for a sign from heaven, that is, they wish Him to make the sun and moon stand still, to bring down hail, and change the atmosphere; for they thought that He could not perform miracles from heaven, but could only in Beelzebub perform a sign on earth.
Bede: When, as related above, He was about to refresh the believing multitude, He gave thanks, so now, on account of the foolish petition of the Pharisees, He groans; because, bearing about with Him the feelings of human nature, as He rejoices over the salvation of men, so He grieves over their errors.
Wherefore it goes on, "And He groaned in spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? Verily I say unto you, If a sign shall be given to this generation."
That is, no sign shall be given; as it is written in the Psalms, "I have sworn once by my holiness, if I shall fail David," [[Psa 80:36]] that is, I will not fail David.
Augustine: Let no one, however, be perplexed that the answer which Mark says was given to them, when they sought a sign from heaven, is not the same as that which Matthew relates, namely, that concerning Jonah. He says that the Lord’s answer was, that no sign should be given to it; by which we must understand such an one as they asked for, that is, one from heaven; but he has omitted to say, what Matthew has related.
Theophylact: Now, the reason why the Lord did not listen to them was, that the time of signs from heaven had not arrived, that is, the time of the second Advent, when the powers of the heaven shall be shaken, and the moon shall not give her light. But in the time of the first Advent, all things are full of mercy, and such things do not take place.
Bede: For a sign from heaven was not to be given to a generation of men, who tempted the Lord; but to a generation of men seeking the Lord, He shews a sign from heaven, when in the sight of the Apostles He ascended into heaven. It goes on, "And He left them, and entering into a ship again, He departed to the other side."
Theophylact: The Lord indeed quits the Pharisees, as men uncorrected; for where there is a hope of correction, there it is right to remain; but where the evil is incorrigible, we should go away.
There follows: "Now they had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf."
Bede: Some may ask, how they had no bread, when they had filled seven baskets just before they embarked in the ship. But Scripture relates that they had forgotten to take them with them, which is a proof how little care they had for the flesh in other things, since in their eagerness to follow the Lord, even the necessity of refreshing their bodies had escaped from their mind.