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Feeding of the 5,000

Matt 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–15 · Later ministry in Galilee

Scripture

Matthew 14:13–21

hen Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18He said, Bring them hither to me. 19And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

King James Version · public domain

Mateu 14:13–21

dhe Jisuj, kur dëgjoj, iku andej me lundrë mbë një vënt të-shkretë veçanë; edhe gjindja kur dëgjuanë i vanë prapa mbë këmbë nga qytetetë. 14Edhe kur dolli (Jisuj), pa shumë gjindje, edhe i udhemp për ata, edhe shëroj të-sëmurët’ e tyre. 15Edhe si ungrys, i erthnë përanë nxënësit e ati, e i thanë, se Vëndi ësht’ i-shkretë, edhe koha ndashti ka shkuarë; lësho gjindjenë, që të venë ndëpër krye-fshatrat të blenë të-ngrëna për vetëhen’ e tyre. 16Po Jisuj u tha atyre, Nukë kanë nevojë të venë; ep-u-ni ju atyre të hanë. 17Edhe ata i thon’ ati, Nukë kemi këtu veç pesë bukë edhe dy pishqe. 18Edhe ay tha, Bi-m’i-ni mua ato këtu. 19Edhe urdhëroj gjindjenë të rrijnë përmi barërat, edhe mori të pesë bukët’ e të dy pishqetë, edhe ngriti sytë përpjetë ndë qiejt e bekoj; edhe passi i theu, u’a dha bukëtë nxënësvet, edhe nxënësitë gjindjesë. 20Edhe hëngrrë të-gjithë e unginjnë; edhe ngritnë tepëricën’ e copavet, dy-mbë-dhjetë kofinë plot. 21Edhe ata që hëngrrë ishinë sindonja pesë mijë burra, veç gravet e çunavet.

Kristoforidhi, Dhiata e Re Toskërisht 1879 · zotërim publik

Summary

The Fathers hear the Eucharist throughout this sign: Christ takes, blesses, breaks, and gives, and gives through the hands of the apostles, who distribute what He multiplies and so serve as ministers of His gifts. Chrysostom marks that He gives thanks, not for lack of power, but to confess that He acts in concord with the Father and to teach us thanksgiving at our meals. He works with the little at hand, five loaves and two fish, that we might neither despise small means nor be anxious when our store seems poor.

Chrysostom also draws out the schooling of the disciples: when they say, "send the multitudes away," and He answers, "give ye them to eat," He lifts their faith and shows that the want is His occasion. He seats the people in order upon the grass, then has the fragments gathered, twelve baskets full; the leftovers are deliberate, a proof that the miracle was real and a sign of the inexhaustible abundance of grace. The twelve baskets answer to the twelve apostles, each carrying away the surplus he had handed out.

Cyril reads the wonder Christologically: the One who multiplies the loaves is the Creator who year by year brings a little seed to a great harvest, now working swiftly and openly what He works slowly and unseen in the earth. The desert setting recalls the manna, so the sign shows Christ greater than Moses; in John it opens into the discourse on the Bread of Life, where bread that fills the body becomes a figure of the true Bread that gives life to the world.

Origen adds the spiritual sense beside the literal: the loaves are the nourishing words of Scripture handed down by the disciples, the gathered fragments the deeper meanings that only the trained can take up. So the crowds go away filled, and nothing of the Lord's gift is lost.

In their own words

And I marvel not only at the quantity of loaves created, but besides the quantity, at the exactness of the surplus, that He caused the superabundance to be neither more nor less than just so much as He willed, foreseeing how much they would consume; a thing which marked unspeakable power.

St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily XLII (on John vi. 1ff), section 3; NPNF1 Vol. 14

The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14)

Public-Domain Patristic Commentary

When Christ hears of the death of John the Baptist, He withdraws by ship to a desert place; but the crowds follow Him on foot from the cities, and He is moved with compassion and heals their sick. As evening comes, the disciples ask Him to send the crowds away to buy food, but He answers, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." They have only five loaves and two fishes. He has the people sit on the grass, takes the loaves and fishes, looks up to heaven, blesses, breaks, and gives to the disciples, who give to the multitude. All eat and are filled, twelve baskets of fragments are taken up, and those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. This is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. The texts below are quoted verbatim from public-domain translations. Chrysostom's homily on Matthew is primary; the remaining Fathers are given as preserved in the Catena Aurea (St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841), drawing here on the Catena on Luke. Nothing is paraphrased.

St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407)

Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, Homily 49 (on Matthew 14:13–21) Source: trans. in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 10. Public domain. Full text: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/200149.htm

On the Teacher's skill in saying "Give ye them to eat" rather than "I feed them":

But mark thou, I pray, the Teacher's skill, how distinctly He summons them on towards believing. For He said not at once, "I feed them;" which indeed would not have been easily received; but what? "But Jesus," so it is written, said to them, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." He said not, "I give them," but, "Give ye them;" for as yet their regard to Him was as to a man.

On why He looked up to heaven for this lesser work, though He raised the dead and stilled the sea with authority:

Wherefore did He look up to Heaven, and bless? It was to be believed of Him, both that He is of the Father, and that He is equal to Him... in the lesser things He looks up to Heaven, but in the greater does all with authority... when He forgave sins, and opened paradise, and brought in the thief, and most utterly set aside the old law, and raised innumerable dead, and bridled the sea... we see Him in no instance praying: but when He provided for the loaves to multiply themselves, a far less thing than all these, then He looks up to Heaven.

On why He made the food out of existing loaves rather than from nothing, against Marcion and Manichaeus:

And why does He not make it of things that are not? Stopping the mouth of Marcion, and of Manichæans, who alienate His creation from Him, and teaching by His very works, that even all the things that are seen are His works and creatures, and signifying that it is Himself who gives the fruits, who said at the beginning, "Let the earth put forth the herb of grass," and "Let the waters bring forth things moving with living souls." For this is not at all a less work than the other... it was no greater thing to produce fruits out of the earth, and moving things with life out of the water, than out of five loaves to make so many.

On the self-restraint of the disciples, and the lesson to give from our little:

And another thing too we learn, the self-restraint of the disciples which they practised in necessary things, and how little they accounted of food. For being twelve, they had five loaves only and two fishes... And not even that little did they hold fast, but gave up even it when asked. Whereby we should be taught, that though we have but little, this too we ought to give up to them that are in need.

On why twelve baskets remained over:

For this also He caused just twelve baskets to remain over, that Judas also might bear one. For He was able indeed to have appeased their hunger, but the disciples would not have known His power, since in Elijah's case also this took place.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the various needs that drew the crowds, and on those who loved His teaching:

Some indeed asking to be delivered from evil spirits, but others desiring of Him the removal of their diseases; those also who were delighted with His teaching attended Him diligently.

On the overflowing kindness of Christ, who gives beyond what is asked:

But mark the overflowing kindness of Him who is asked. He not only grants those things which the disciples seek, but to those who follow Him, He supplies the bounty of a munificent hand, commanding food to be set before them.

On giving thanks before we break bread:

This also He did purposely for our sakes, that we may learn that at the commencement of a feast when we are going to break bread, we ought to offer thanks for it to God, and to draw forth the heavenly blessing upon it.

On the twelve baskets as the reward of love to our neighbor:

Nor was this all that the miracle came to ... that this might be a manifest proof that a work of love to our neighbor will claim a rich reward from God.

St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the blessing poured forth from the unspeakable garner of divine power:

For whom neither the heaven rained manna, nor the earth brought forth corn according to its nature, but from the unspeakable garner of divine power the blessing was poured forth. The bread is supplied in the hands of those who serve, it is even increased through the fullness of those who eat. The sea supplied not their wants with the food of fishes, but He who placed in the sea the race of fishes.

Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1050–1107)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On why He chose a desert place for the miracle:

But our Lord went into a desert place because He was about to perform the miracle of the loaves of bread, that no one should say that the bread was brought from the neighboring cities.

On wisdom divided into word and work:

That you may learn that the wisdom which is in us is distributed into word and work, and that it becomes us to speak of what has been done, and to do what we speak of.

On why He asked though He knew the answer:

Now He said not this as ignorant of their answer, but wishing to induce them to tell Him how much bread they had, that so a great miracle might be manifested through their confession, when the quantity of bread was made known.

On hospitality, that we should give our guest every comfort:

Our Lord teaches us, that when we entertain any one, we ought to make him sit down at meat, and partake of every comfort.

St. Isidore of Pelusium (c. 360–c. 450)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On why our Lord departed after the murder of the Baptist:

Our Lord because He hates the men of blood, and those that dwell with them, as long as they depart not from their crimes, after the murder of the Baptist left the murderers and departed.

St. Jerome (c. 347–420)

Commentary on Matthew (on Matthew 14:13–21) As preserved in the Catena Aurea, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.ii.xiv.html

On the breaking of the loaves as a sowing of food:

While the Lord breaks there is a sowing of food; for had the loaves been whole and not broken into fragments, and thus divided into a manifold harvest, they could not have fed so great a multitude.

On the fragments in the apostles' baskets as a witness to the miracle:

Each of the Apostles fills his basket of the fragments left by his Saviour, that these fragments might witness that they were true loaves that were multiplied.

On the mysteries of the hour, and the broken Law made food for the Gentiles:

But all these things are full of mysteries; the Lord does these things not in the morning, nor at noon, but in the evening, when the Sun of righteousness was set... The Law with the Prophets is broken, and in the midst of them are brought forward mysteries, that whereas they partook not of it whole, when broken into pieces it may be food for the multitude of the Gentiles.

Blessed Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the harmony of the Evangelists, and seeking the meaning of the speaker rather than the words:

From which diversity of words, but harmony of things and opinions, it is sufficiently evident that we have this wholesome lesson given us, that we must seek for nothing in words but the meaning of the speaker; and to explain this clearly, ought to be the care of all truth telling authors whenever they relate any thing concerning man, or angel, or God.

St. Ambrose of Milan (c. 339–397)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the manner of the multiplying, seen in the hands of those who distributed:

It is clear that the multitude were filled not by a scanty meal, but by a constant and increasing supply of food. You might see in an incomprehensible manner amid the hands of those who distributed, the particles multiplying which they broke not; the fragments too, touched by the fingers of the breakers, spontaneously mounting up.

On to whom the nourishment of grace is given, namely those who seek Christ in the desert:

After that she who received the type of the Church was cured of the issue of blood ... the nourishment of heavenly grace is imparted. but mark to whom it is imparted. Not to the indolent, not to those in a city, of rank in the synagogue, or in high secular office, but to those who seek Christ in the desert.

On the bread that Jesus broke as the word of God, increased by being divided:

But here the bread which Jesus broke is mystically indeed the word of God, and discourse concerning Christ, which when it is divided is increased. For from these few words, He ministered abundant nourishment to the people. He gave us words like loaves, which while they are tasted by our mouth are doubled.

St. Bede the Venerable (c. 673–735)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On why our Lord withdrew, not from fear of death, but to spare His enemies:

Now Bethsaida is in Galilee, the city of the Apostles Andrew, Peter, and Philip, near the lake of Gennesaret. Our Lord did not this from fear of death, (as some think,) but to spare His enemies, lest they should commit two murders, waiting also for the proper time for His own sufferings.

On why He blessed existing loaves rather than creating new food:

Now our Savior does not create new food for the hungry multitudes, but He took those things which the disciples had and blessed them, since coming in the flesh He preaches nothing else than what had been foretold ... He looks towards heaven, that thither He may teach us to direct the eye of the mind, there to seek the light of knowledge; He breaks and distributes to the disciples to be placed before the multitude, because He revealed to them the Sacraments of the Law and the Prophets that they might preach them to the world.

On the twelve baskets as a figure of the Apostles and their successors:

Or by the twelve baskets the twelve Apostles are figured, and all succeeding teachers, despised indeed by men without, but within loaded with the fragments of saving food.

Note on sources and other Fathers

The Fathers stand together at the two ends of the same miracle, the literal and the mystical. Chrysostom keeps mostly to the event and its lessons in faith: Christ says "give ye them to eat," not "I give them," because the disciples' regard for Him "was as to a man," and He leads them upward step by step. His most pointed argument is doctrinal, that Christ multiplied existing loaves rather than creating from nothing precisely to silence Marcion and Manichaeus, since to make many loaves from five is no less a divine work than to bring fruit from the earth at the word "Let the earth put forth," which shows Him to be Lord of land and sea, the world's Creator and not its enemy. He notices, too, the disciples' frugality (five loaves among twelve, given up at once) and the twelve baskets, one for each apostle, kept back so that "the disciples would not have known His power."

The Catena on Luke gathers the Eastern witness around him. St. Cyril of Alexandria marks the overflowing kindness of Christ, who gives beyond what is asked, and reads the twelve baskets as proof that love to our neighbor "will claim a rich reward from God," teaching also that we should give thanks before we break bread. St. Gregory of Nyssa marvels that the blessing was poured forth "from the unspeakable garner of divine power," the bread increasing in the very hands of those who served and ate. Theophylact of Ohrid notes the desert place chosen so that none could say the bread was brought from the cities, the wisdom that is "distributed into word and work," and the lesson of hospitality. St. Isidore of Pelusium observes that the Lord, hating the men of blood, departed after the murder of the Baptist.

Among the Latin Fathers received in the East, St. Jerome turns to the mysteries: the breaking is a sowing, the fragments in the baskets are witnesses that the loaves were real, and the whole takes place "in the evening, when the Sun of righteousness was set," the Law and Prophets broken open so that, divided into pieces, they might feed the multitude of the Gentiles. Blessed Augustine harmonizes the Evangelists and draws from their "diversity of words, but harmony of things" the rule that we must seek "nothing in words but the meaning of the speaker." St. Ambrose of Milan describes the particles multiplying in the hands of those who distributed, and reads the bread as the word of God, increased by being divided and given to those who seek Christ in the desert. St. Bede the Venerable explains that the Lord withdrew not from fear of death but to spare His enemies, and figures in the twelve baskets the Apostles and all succeeding teachers, "loaded with the fragments of saving food."

The Catena also preserves the Latin compilers, Gloss, Remigius, and Rabanus, whom we have not quoted here. Running through the whole, as Chrysostom's earliest editors noted, is a quiet anticipation of the Eucharist, the loaves taken, blessed, broken, and given through the apostles' hands, a preparation of the Twelve for the bread that He would later make His Body. For verbatim public-domain English, Chrysostom's homily and the Fathers as the Catena preserves them are the principal sources.

Patristic sources

Read the sources: Chrysostom on John (CCEL)