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(Joh_6:1-15, Pericope for Lætare Sunday. Parallels: Matthew 14; Mar_6:14-56; Luk_9:7-17; Joh_6:1-21.)
1.The Miraculous Feeding
16And [But]when even was now come [when evening came], his disciples wentdown unto the sea [or, lake] 17and entered into a ship, and went [having entered a ship, they were going] over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark18[darkness had now come on], and Jesus was not [yet] come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew [And as a strong wind was blowing, 19the sea began to rise]. So when [When therefore] they had rowed [in vain] about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see [behold] Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
21Then they willingly received him [they were willing to take him]into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went [were going].
25And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him,Rabbi, when camest thou hither? 26Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the [omit the] miracles [signs], but because ye did eat [ate] of the loaves, and were filled.
27Labour not [Work not, Busy not yourselves] for the meat [food] which perisheth, but for that meat [the food] which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give [giveth] unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed [for him hath the Father sealed, even God].
28Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might [may] work the works of God? 29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath [omit hath] sent. 30They said therefore unto him, What sign showest [doest] thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? whatdost thou work? 31Our fathers did eat [ate] manna in the desert [wilderness]; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ [Psa_78:24.]
32Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that [the] bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread fromheaven. 33For the bread of God is he [that] which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35AndJesus [therefore] said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me, shall never [not]hunger; and he that believeth on me, shall never thirst.36But I said unto you, That ye also [omit also] have [even] seen me, and believe not. 37All that the Father giveth me, shall [will] come to me; and him that comethto me, I will in no wise cast out. 38For I came down [have, or, am come down, êáôáâÝâçêá ] from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.39And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me [the will of him that sent me],hat of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up 40again at the last day. And [For]this is the will of him that sent me [the will of my Father], that every one which seeth [who looketh on] the Son, and believeth on [in] him, may [should] have everlasting life: and I will [and that I should] raise him up at the last day.
41The Jews then [therefore] murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith [how then doth this man say], I came [have come] down from heaven? 43Jesus therefore answered44and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man [no one] can come to me, except the Father which hath sent [who sent] me draw him: and I will45[shall] raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall be all taught of God’ (Isa_54:13). Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father [or, that heareth from the Father and learneth], cometh unto me. 46Not that any man [one] hath seen the Father, save he which is of God [but he who is from God], he hath seen the Father. 47Verily, verily, I sayunto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48I am that [the] bread of life. 49Your fathers did eat [ate the] manna in the wilderness, and are dead [died].50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof,and not die. 51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man [one] eat of this [of my] bread,he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.—
52The Jews therefore strove [contended] among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except [Unless] ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his 54blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso [He that] eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will [shall] raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is meat indeed [true food, ἀëçèὴò âñῶóéò ],and my blood is drink indeed 58[true drink, ἀëçèὴò ðüóéò ]. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father hath [omit hath] sent me, and I live by [by reason of, or, because of] the Father: [even] so he that eateth me, evenhe shall live by. [by reason of] me. 58This is that [the] bread which came down from heaven: not as your [the] fathers did eat [ate] manna, and are dead [died]: he that eateth of this bread shall [will] live forever.
59These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught [while teaching] in Capernaum.
60Many therefore of his disciples [themselves], when they heard this, said, This is anhard saying [This saying is hard]; who can hear it? 61When Jesus knew [But Jesus knowing] in himself that his disciples murmured at it [were murmuring at this],62he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see [What then if ye should behold] the Son of man ascend up [ascending, ἀíáâáßíïíôá ] where he was before? 63It is the Spirit that quickeneth [giveth life]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak [have spoken, ëåëÜëçêá ] unto you, they [omit they] arespirit, and they [omit they] are life. 64But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who 65[it was, ôßò ἐóôéí , that] should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you [For this cause I have told you], that no man can come unto me except it were [be] given unto him of my Father.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
[The double miracle of the feeding of the multitude, and the stilling of the tempest, is the only miracle which John has in common with all the Synoptists (Luke alone omits the stilling of the tempest). But he relates it chiefly as the occasion and basis of a lengthy discourse of Jesus, which is omitted by the other evangelists, and which brings out the symbolical meaning of the miraculous feeding. He represents Himself here as the Bread of Life, as in the 4th chap. He exhibits Himself as the Water of Life. Thousands upon thousands in all ages and countries of the world have satisfied their spiritual hunger by feeding on Him, and yet He remains to this day, and will remain to the end of time the same inexhaustible source of supply. The miraculous feeding bears also a striking resemblance to the miracle of the change of water into wine in chap. 2. The nearness of the typical paschal feast (Joh_6:4) gives the discourse a bearing on the great paschal sacrifice of the Lamb of God for the life of the world. Chap. 4. develops the national unbelief or false belief in the people of Galilee, as chap. 5 reveals the national unbelief of the leaders in Judea; but both chapters bring out the crisis. Alford says: “In chap. 5 Christ is the Son of God, testified to by the Father, received by faith, rejected by unblief; here He is the Son of Man, the incarnate Life of the World, and the unbelief of the Jews and His own disciples is set in strong contrast with the feeding on Him as the Bread of Life.” But He is this Bread of Life by virtue of His descent from heaven, as the incarnate Son of God, and by sacrificing His flesh and blood, i.e., His whole human life on earth, in holy obedience and atoning suffering for the life of the world. The discourse of the sixth chap. bears the same relation to the Lord’s Supper as the discourse with Nicodemus (chap, 3) does to baptism, i.e., it expresses the general idea which precedes and underlies the sacramental rite as subsequently instituted. See remarks on Joh_6:27 and the Excursus at the close of the Exeg. Notes.—P. S.]
The history of the miracle. The time, place, and essential features are those of the first of the two miraculous feedings which Jesus performed (Mat_14:13; Mar_6:30; Luk_9:10. See the Comm. on Matt.). The historical connection of it in John is not, as Meyer asserts [p. 249], different from that in the synoptical Gospels. In John the miracle is preceded by a voyage over the sea to the eastern side from the vicinity of Tiberias, and followed by the miraculous walking upon the sea. In Matthew also Jesus “departed by ship into a desert place,” because Herod had executed John and was curious to see Jesus; and the feeding is followed by the walking on the sea. In Mark it is further specified that the sending out of the twelve, in other words Christ’s setting out towards Jerusalem (to the feast of Purim), had occurred shortly before, and that the apostles had just gathered themselves together again to Jesus. The order is exactly the same in Luke, though Luke gives not the walking on the sea.—The single external difference, therefore, in regard to the cause of the voyage is, that John gives the attempts to ensnare Jesus in Jerusalem as the cause of His return to Galilee, and the synoptical Evangelists mention the more immediate occasion of His going over the lake, to wit: Herod’s intention to bring Jesus before him. The two motives are manifestly akin, and might easily coexist. See Com. on Matt., chap. 14.
Joh_6:1. After these things Jesus went away over the sea of Galilee.—[ Ìå ôὰôáῦôá , i.e., after the transactions related in chap. 5. Christ probably returned to Galilee soon after the feast of Purim (Joh_5:1), which took place in March, and performed this miracle between the feast of Purim and the next passover, which was celebrated a month later, but which Jesus did not attend for the reason mentioned in Joh_7:1. He continued in Galilee till the feast of Tabernacles, which occurred in October, and which He attended (Joh_7:1-2; Joh_7:10). This gives us seven consecutive months in Galilee during this year, including the last month of the first and six months of the second (or, third, according to the view taken of the ἑïñôÞ in Joh_5:1, see remarks there) of our Lord’s public ministry. John relates in chap. 6 only the most salient events of this period, and takes much for granted and well understood from other sources.—P. S.]
Ἀðῆëèåí is not to be referred, as by Baumgarten and Meyer, to the departure of Jesus from Jerusalem.After the return of Jesus to Galilee, which of course took place very soon after the feast of Purim, since Jesus was no longer safe in Judea, one more circumstance came in, which the synoptical Evangelists record (see Leben Jesu, II. 2, p. 779). Yet Tholuck groundlessly supposes a long intervening ministry in Galilee, because the passover came not long after the feast of Purim, and the passover was now just at hand (Joh_6:4). Meyer disputes the view of Brückner and earlier interpreters, that the ἀðῆëèåí must be referred to some place in Galilee, and the view of Paulus, that the genitive, ôῆò Ôéâåñ ., indicates that He crossed the sea from Tiberias; following Joh_5:1, the phrase must amount to: ἀðïëéðὼí Éåñïóüõìá ἦëèå ðÝñáí . This is undoubtedly right so far as it represents the crossing of the sea as occasioned by the experiences in Jerusalem; and John also calls the sea of Galilee in Joh_21:1, èÜëáóá ôῆò ÔéâåñéÜäïò , after the manner of the Greeks ( ëßìíç Ôéâåñßò , Pausan. v. 7, 3). But in the verse before us the first designation, ôῆò Ôáëëáßáò , certainly was not necessary in addition to the second; for any one would understand the second, though it differed from the expression of the synoptical Evangelists (Mat_4:18). The second designation, therefore, must be taken as an additional specification. Thus large seas often have particular names from particular districts on their coasts; the Bodensee is also the Lake of Constance, and the Vierwaldstätter See, or Lake of the Four Forest Cantons, the Lake of Lucerne. After all is said, the Evangelist of course does not intend to make the Lord embark at Jerusalem. And the interest which Herod Antipas was just now taking in the appearance of Christ, and the Lord’s own rapid escape, as well as the straggling ships from Tiberias mentioned immediately after (Joh_6:23), imply that Christ embarked from the part of the coast about Tiberias. Respecting the lake, see note on Mat_4:18.
We must further consider that if Jesus, returning from Jerusalem, wished to pass as soon as possible over the sea, He must rather sail from the region of Tiberias, than from Capernaum.
Respecting the eastern coast (Matt. chap. 14) comp. von Raumer’s Palästina, p. 60 and 205 sqq. “The ancient Bashan, about the time of Christ, embraced five provinces: Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, Auranitis, Batanæa, and Ituræa. Gaulanitis corresponded nearly to the present Tsholan, and lay between the upper Jordan, the sea of Tiberias, and the lower Mandhur.” The eastern shores of the sea (chalk, interspersed with basalt) rise to a height of from eight hundred to a thousand feet, and spread into a table-land cut up with wadys; the western mountains are about half as high. The eastern coast was an asylum for the Lord on account of its solitude, and on account of its being under the jurisdiction of Philip, a son of Herod the Great, and a mild prince, who after his father’s death had become tetrarch of Batenæa, Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, and Paneas. He died childless at Julias, A. D. 34, and his dominions were attached to the province of Syria (not to be confounded with the Philip whose wife Herodias was married to Herod Antipas; see on Matt. chap. 14.)
Tiberias.—A city in Galilee, and in the most beautiful part of it, on the western shore of the lake, south of the middle, oil a narrow plain (Joseph. Antiq. xix. 8, 1; xviii. 2, 3), a then modern, Herodian city of Palestine, adorned with a royal palace and a race-course, inhabited mostly by heathens, named by Herod Antipas in honor of the emperor Tiberius. Herod seems to have usually resided here; and this, according to Bachiene, was the reason why Jesus never visited this city. From Herod Antipas to the accession of Herod Agrippa II., it was the capital of the province. Fishing and lake transportation were the chief employment of the inhabitants. After the dissolution of the Jewish state, for several centuries, it was the seat of a renowned Jewish school (Lightfoot), and one of the four sacred cities of the Jews. In the vicinity, at the village of Emmaus, were warm baths (sulphur, salt, iron; medicinal). Some, without sufficient reason, identify the place with Cinneroth (Jos_19:35, belonging to the tribe of Naphtali), with Hammath (Ibid.), and with Rakkath (Ibid.). Now Tabaria, with about three thousand inhabitants, Jews. An earthquake in the year 1837. See Von Schubert III, 233, Robinson III, 500. [Boston ed. of 1856, vol. II, 380–394. Robinson describes the present town, called in Arabic Tûbarîyeh, as “the most mean and miserable place” in Palestine, “a picture of disgusting filth and frightful wretchedness.” It suffered much from an earthquake in 1837, when about 700 persons died out of a population of 2500.—P. S.]
Joh_6:2. And a great multitude followed him.—It seems not to be a multitude which has just now gathered ( ἠêïëïýèåé ); it possibly consisted in part of the remnants of the Galilean caravan returning from the feast of Purim, but certainly for the most part of the beginnings of the Passover caravan; without doubt Galileans. Many might have attached themselves to the returning disciples, who also wrought miracles. Yet the text implies that new miracles of the Lord, performed on the western shore, were the particular attraction.
Joh_6:3. Into the mountain.—This standing phrase is accounted for (1) by the character of the Palestinian landscape, affording every where heights on which Christ could withdraw from intercourse with the people in the plain; (2) by the Lord’s habit of retiring upon a mountain; (3) by a symbolical view which has insensibly connected itself with this habit: taking the solitude of a high mountain for the stillness of prayer. The region is more particularly stated by Luke (Joh_9:10); it was near the eastern Bethsaida in Gaulanitis.
Joh_6:4. And the passover, the feast of the Jews, was nigh.—The feast, i.e, the principal feast. The passover of the same year, 782. Lücke groundlessly supposes that Jesus attended this feast. The absence from the principal feasts was nothing inconceivable, as may be inferred from the questions in Joh_7:11; Joh_11:56. (Paulus, contrary to the usage of the language, Joh_2:13; Joh_12:2., etc., renders: not long past.) [The nearness of the passover accounts for the multitude of people ready for a journey to Jerusalem, and suggested in part the subject of the following discourse on the sacrifice of Christ’s life for the life of the world, which was typically foreshadowed in the Jewish passover.—P. S.]
Joh_6:5. A great company come unto him.—Meyer: “It was a new company [pilgrims to the festival], not that of Joh_6:2, which had followed Him on His way to the sea.” The contrary is plainly stated by the synoptical Gospels, Mat_14:13; Mar_6:33; Luk_9:11. According to Lampe, Bruno Bauer, Baur, and Luthardt [Hengstenberg], the subsequent discourse of Jesus concerning the eating of His blood relates to the passover, and reveals the antitype of that type. Meyer disputes this, because the discourse lacks the slightest hint of it. Some hint, however, lies in the very choice of the striking terms and in the subsequent words of institution.
To Philip.—To this disciple the question must have been a peculiar test. See the note on Joh_1:45. It is possible, however, that Philip was the one who first solicited the Lord to send the people away, Mat_14:15.—According to Bengel, Philip had charge of the res alimentaria. Meyer urges against this that Judas was the treasurer [Joh_13:29], which is not a sufficient reason; with better reason he refers also to the individuality of Philip, as exhibited in Joh_14:8, which, however, he calls verstandesmässig [jejune and calculating, and somewhat skeptical, like Thomas. Chrysostom also infers from Joh_19:8, that Philip was weaker in faith or tardier in spiritual apprehension than the rest. Alford takes the circumstance as simple matter of fact, implying perhaps that he was nearest the Lord, at the moment .—P. S.] John’s omission of the circumstance that Jesus had previously been teaching this multitude and healing their sick (see on Matt.), making the Lord ask immediately: “Whence shall we buy bread [ ἀãïñÜóùìåí , conjunct. deliberat.]?” is of course only an abridgment of the history sustained by many examples (see Joh_6:1; Lücke, Neander), not a difference, as Meyer holds, nor a sign of defective testimony, according to Baur. By the circumstance that Andrew had already made the acquaintance of a baker’s errand boy, or bread vender in the caravan, John himself indicates that the scene did not occur abruptly. Also by the aorists. [John represents the Lord as first suggesting the question how to feed the multitude; the Synoptists relate that the disciples came to the Lord and asked Him to dismiss the multitude from this desert place into the villages where they might buy themselves food. John’s narrative is abridged. But in every important point the agreement is complete. See the remarks of Alford in loc.—P. S.]
Joh_6:6. To prove him.—Plainly a test of faith; which Meyer without reason denies, and then himself confirms; Philip must be more ready to experience the power of faith. But it was also a test of love which the disciples stood bitter than the test of faith. [For he himself knew.—Jesus did not need the counsel of Philip.—P. S.]
Joh_6:7. Two hundred denaries’ worth.—A hundred denâries were equivalent to about fourteen dollars and a half. Comp. on Mar_6:37. Grotius supposes, this was the contents of the treasury. John represents it as the prompt calculation of the quick-minded Philip. The representation in Mark is not inconsistent with this; yet seems to imply that the disciples are ready to apply all their fund to the feeding of the people. Yet, according to Philip, even the high estimate of two hundred denâries would not suffice.
Joh_6:8. Andrew … saith unto him.—Here again, as in Joh_12:22, Andrew appears near Philip and in like manner in an act of friendly interest and assistance.—Andrew seems to be a master in mediation and advice, Joh_1:40 sqq., and Joh_12:22. On that other occasion also he supplements Philip. But why is it said: “One of His disciples?” Wassenbergh considers the apparently superfluous and disturbing words to be a gloss. But John intends to mark that it was one of the disciples who first, though with trembling heart, directed his eye to that little store with which Jesus wrought the miracle.
Joh_6:9. There in one here. ÉÉ áéäÜñéïíἕí . One little boy; one young slave; one little apprentice. The last, most likely a bread vender or sutler accompanying the caravan. The sense is: there is only one little trader here, and he has only so much.
Barley-loaves.—The food of the poorer classes. Tr. Pesachim [fol. III. 2]: “Rabbi Johannan said the barley is fine. He was answered: say this to horses and asses [nuntia hoc equis et asinis].” Two small fishes.—O̓ øÜñéïí [Lat. opsonium], a diminutive of ὅøïí [from ὀðôÜù , or ἔøù , to cook, to roast], any thing cooked or roasted, to go as a relish with bread ( ðñïóöÜãéïí ): generally fish [little fish], as here. [Of later Greek usage. In the New Testament ὀøÜñéïí is peculiar to John who employs it five times (Joh_6:9; Joh_6:11; Joh_20:9-10; Joh_20:13). The Synoptists use here the word ἰ÷èýåò .—P. S.]
Joh_6:10. Much grass in the place.—A mark of the eastern spring about the time of the passover. [After the rainy season.]—The men. Constituting, no doubt, according to the idea of the festival caravans, the great mass. They appear here as heads of families, around whom in many cases women and children were grouped. [ ïἱἅíäñåò , a touch of accuracy; the men alone were arranged in companies and numbered, while the women and children were served promiscuously. (See Meyer and Alford in loc.) According to Mark the multitude reclined on the green pasture ground by parties or in groups of hundreds and fifties. They probably formed two semicircles, an outer semicircle of 30 hundreds, and an inner semicircle of 40 fifties. A wise symmetrical arrangement for the easy and just distribution of the food.—P. S.]
Joh_6:11. Given thanks.—Mat_14:19. According to the best authorities, the distribution by the disciples, which is in the Textus Rec. supplied here from Matthew, is left by John to be supposed. See the Textual Note.
[ Åὐ÷áñéóôÞóáò , for which the other Evangelists use åὐëïãåῖí , is in accordance with the blessing or grace of the father of a Jewish family at meals, and has here a special bearing on the miracle. John describes the distribution ( äéÝäùêå ôïῖò ἀíáêåéìÝíïéò ) as being the act of Christ, without, however, excluding the intervention of the disciples as mentioned by Matthew, Mark and Luke. Joh_6:11 is the place for the miracle, but the exact moment and manner of its performance eludes the grasp of the senses. It must have taken place immediately after the prayer of Christ as He distributed the bread through the apostles to the eaters. The evangelists show their good sense in omitting a description of what is indescribable. Augustine’s and Olshausen’s ingenious idea of a divinely hastened process of nature (to which must be added an accelerated process of art, or the combined labors of the reaper, miller and baker, by which wheat or barley is changed into bread) does not help the understanding of the matter, and has only the value of an analogy. We cannot conceive, philosophically, of supernaturally, yet visibly growing loaves, and of supernaturally growing or multiplying fishes. A miracle, like the primitive creation, can only be apprehended by faith, which, is the organ of the supernatural. It is, indeed, not a strictly creative act by which things non-existing are called into existence, for a miracle is always performed on matter already existing, but it is as great and difficult as a creative act, and is produced by the same divine power which, in one case, originates nature, and, in the other, acts from above and beyond nature upon (not against) nature. Comp. my notes on the miracle at Cana, chap. 2, pp. 106 f., 109 f., and the notes on Matthew pp. 267.—P. S.]
Joh_6:12. The gathering of the fragments here appears as directed by the Lord. [A lesson of economy, which is consistent with the greatest liberality. “Make all you can, sate all you can, give all you can.” êëÜóìáá (from êëÜù , to break, as fragments from frango), broken pieces, not crumbs. More fragments were left than the original supply of five loaves, which would not have filled five baskets.—P. S.]
Joh_6:13. Filled twelve baskets with the fragments.—[Probable reference to the twelve apostles, each of whom gathered the fragments and brought his basket full. Basket, the ordinary furniture of a travelling Jew for carrying his food. Some commentators refer the number to the twelve tribes of Israel as the type of the church which is fed by the bread of life to, the end of time.—P. S.] Meyer urges that the twelve baskets were filled only with the fragments of the bread, and adds: Mar_6:43, states otherwise. Yet he would conceive the miracle only as a creative act, which operates here on quantity, as it operated on quality in the changing of the water into wine.
2. In John this miracle gains a peculiar significance from its relation to the miracle of the turning of water into wine. Wine and bread. It receives further light from the history which follows.
[3. The miracle of the miraculous feeding an illustration of the truth that Christ is the bread of eternal life to His people in the “desert place” of this world, on their journey to the “feast” of the heavenly Jerusalem. In this spiritual sense the miracle is continued from day to day. On its relation to the Lord’s Supper, see the Excursus at the close of the Exegesis of this passage.—P. S.]
Jesus hastens from the tribunal of the Jews away beyond the sea into the mountain of God.—So the pious heart has a right to betake itself, from the pain which legalistic jealousy has ready for it in human schools and temples, to the great temple of God. (But to find refuge and elevation in nature is one thing, and to run wild in nature is another.)—Over the sea and upon the mountain: the great, bold course of Christ: In His life; in history; in the leading of His people.—The passover-feast, the passover-journey, and the passover-sermon of Christ before the passover of the Jews; the Lord ever in advance of His people. (The whole chapter.)—The trial of Philip’s faith.—What he saw, and what he did not see.—The character of Philip.—The arithmetic of Philip and the arithmetic of the Lord.—In the reckoning of men there is always a deficit, in the reckoning of Christ there is always a surplus.—How the Lord has led His apostles to interest themselves even in the bodily wants of men.—How He has trained His ministers and messengers to care also for the poor and sick.—The sentiment of Andrew, compared with the sentiment of Philip. (The one would begin with much, the other seems at least inclined to begin with little.)—How in a Christian consultation we gradually come nearer the right.—The little bread vender; Christ founds His great miracle on a small, every day incident.—“Make the men sit (lie) down:” a word of perpetual application.—When once a Christian people sit down together in peace and quietness, then the Lord works His wonders.—So He still works His miracle when the people sit down at His bidding (in the church, at the holy Supper, etc.).—Christ’s giving of thanks, the seal of His confidence.—The wonder-working table-blessing of Christ.—The divine miracles of faith at the supper in the desert.—The miraculous feeding; miraculous 1, in the sitting down of the people at the bidding of Christ; 2, in the thanksgiving of Christ before the feeding; 3, in the distribution and breaking of the bread according to the appetite of all; 4, in the satisfaction of all; 5, in the surplus (more at the end than at the beginning).—Even the superfluity of God we should carefully economize.—The effect of the miraculous feeding on those who were fed: 1. Their true interpretation (that this is that Prophet, i.e., the Messiah); 2, their false application of it (desiring to make Him a king to their mind).—The Lord must withdraw Himself as often from the homage of men, as from their persecution.—Christ escaped to the mountain, and He alone: 1, the humble One, who offers up to the Father His miracle-working blessing; 2, the self-possessed One, whom no fanaticism of men excites; 3, the exalted One, above the ambition of the world; 4, the holy One, who mingles not His affairs with human doings.—“They would make him a king:” in the midst of this temptation, in which nobles fall by thousands, He stands erect, because He is the King.
Starke: Hedinger: God uses all sorts of means, most rarely curiosity, for the conversion of sinners.—The nearer a feast, the more the children of God seek to dress their hearts for Him; they keep the feast in honor of Him.—Jesus is so high that He can overlook all His children, and can know what each one wants.—Cramer: The Lord cares for all, and is kind even to the unthankful.—Nova Bibl. Tub.: It is the weakness of our unbelieving heart, that, in our necessities, we always consider only their greatness and the slenderness of the means of relief, and not the infinite wisdom, power, and goodness of God. If we have possessions, we have heart; but lack of money brings lack of faith.—Quesnel: We sin as well when we think that God will pass by the ordinary means of His providence as when we limit the providence of God to outward means.—Zeisius: Christ can make bread in the desert, and abundance in want.—Canstein: Whenever we eat, we ought to pray and thank God.—Cramer: Every creature, and therefore food, is sanctified by prayer and the word of God, 1Ti_4:5.—Happy are those ministers of the word who receive from the Lord what they deliver to their hearers.—He to whom God in trusts temporal blessings, should not keep them to himself, but share them with others.—To eat and be filled, is the blessing of God; and to eat and not be filled, is His curse, Hag. 1:16.—Osiander: The common mass is unintelligent; now it will exalt one to heaven, and soon after it will thrust the same one down to hell. Let no one intrust himself to the favor of the multitude.—Hedinger: In the beginning of illumination, in the first glow, a man usually falls to extravagant undertakings, not according to the rule of divine prudence.—Zeisius: Flee, according to the example of thy Saviour, from that which the world, with its carnal mind, holds high, and seek that which is above.—Gossner: Jesus purposely caused the bread to pass through the hands of the disciples, that they might grasp it in their hands, who in their unbelief had seen it to be too little.
Braune: The creative power of God which every year makes much grow from little, the harvest from the seed, even to superabundance, here also works. As it wrought in the beginning of the world, and works yearly in secret, here it comes forth openly.—The gathering frugality, which saves at the right time, belongs to the art of beneficence.—Jesus is the Redeemer from the sin which man loves, from the devil in whom man does not believe, from the death of which man does not think, from the hell which man does not fear; therefore He is not a Redeemer for all. Were He but a Redeemer from hunger and from labor for a living (by means of material abundance), then He would be acceptable to all. The people wished to make Him a king; He was to be their work; they wished to have their hand in everything, even where they did not understand, and nothing should have honor which they did not give,—not even Jesus, the Prophet, the Messiah.—Lisco: Philip and Andrew both looked at the visible; the one at the insufficient money, the other at the insufficient food.
Heubner: The power of Jesus to draw men to Himself. The power to do good draws more than the power to punish.—Unbelief everywhere looks at the small means and the feeble power. But God can accomplish much with little.—The purpose and the wonderful help of God are ever revealing themselves to the astonishment and shame of unbelief.—Jesus has regard for order and division, by means of orderly arrangement the multitude was easily viewed. So everywhere in the kingdom of God. Men are divided, every one in his place.—In the hand of Jesus everything becomes blessing.—The disciples were hodmen of Jesus; and so are we.—To cover political plans under the cloak of religion, is scandalous abuse of religion.—The Christian should strive to keep clear of worldly distinction.
Joh_6:1-15, the pericope for Lætare Sunday. How Jesus performs His miracles: 1. With holy design. 2. In love, only to relieve the actual stress of want and suffering. 3. With divine power. 4. With quietness and dignity. 5. With earnest precaution.
Schleiermacher: The Lord even feeds and nourishes those who truly gather round Him.—Draeseke: It is not we that make Him king, but He that makes us kings, because citizens in His kingdom.—Reinhard; Thoughts on the constancy with which Jesus holds to the great end of His life.—Marheineke: The Christian insolitude.—Greiling: We should learn from Jesus to do much with little.—Schultz: On the earthly blessing which God diffuses among men. Schuderoff: The earthly mind always miscalculates.—Lisco: The gospel for the day, a history of the feeding, seems to have been appointed for this Sunday not so much on account of the incidental remark that “the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh,” as because Jesus was called by the people, whom He had miraculously fed, “the Prophet that should come into the world;” for it is plainly the design of the last three Sundays of Lent to hold before us the threefold office of our Mediator, the suffering Jesus, as Christ: Prophet, Priest, and King.—Ibid: In Christ is full satisfaction for us.—The behaviour of Jesus towards weak and insincere friends: 1. He condescended to the necessities of their weakness. 2. He avoided their well-meant, but impure homage.—Bachmann: How urgently the Lenten season invites us take the bread of life.—Ahlfeld: The Lord makes everything come out gloriously: (1) Where man is at his wits’ end, (2) God goes right on.—Kraussold: Our daily bread a guide-board to heaven—Ibid.: How faithfully the Lord cares for His people.—Rautenberg: The eating of the bread from heaven: (1) How it is performed; (2) how much it includes.—Ibid.: Christ’s kingdom is not of this world: This (1) brings Him suffering in this world; (2) draws my heart from this world; (3) remains my comfort, when all things fail—Harless: The need, which receives the blessing of the Lord: 1. The need. 2. The testing. 3. The confirming. 4. The blessing.—Rautenberg: The miracle at the table of the Lord: 1. The love which prepares the table. 2. The food which it offers. 3. The satisfaction which it gives.—Jaspis: Jesus, ever the helper of the poor.—J. J. Rambach: The victory of faith in the exigencies of life.—Ahlfeld: How goes it with the Christian who goes with Christ? 1. He cleaves to his Lord, and forsakes Him not. 2. The Lord may hide from him His face for the time, till 3. He at last breaks to him the bread of grace.—Wiesmann: The miraculous feeding shows us that Christ has for His people: (1) A warm heart; (2) a clear eye; (3) an open hand.—See the next section.
[Hilary: There is no catching by eye or touch the miraculous operation; it only remains for us to believe that God can do all things (consistent with His nature and character).—Augustine [Tract. in Joh. 24; Serm. 130, 1): Christ multiplied in His hands the five loaves, just as He produces harvest out of a few grains: there was a power in His hands; and those five loaves were seeds, not indeed committed to earth, but multiplied by Him who made the earth. (The same idea is revived by Olshausen, but the comparison is only serviceable as a remote analogy. See the Exegesis.)—Trench: Here is a miracle of creative accretion, by which Christ proclaimed Himself the bread of the world, the inexhausted and inexhaustible source of all life for the spiritual needs of hungering souls in all ages.—The twelve baskets, an apt symbol of Divine love which after all its out-goings upon others, abides itself far richer. Comp. 2Ki_4:1-7; Pro_11:24 : “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth.”—Analogies of this miracle: the manna in the wilderness; the multiplying of the widow’s cruse of oil and her barrel of meal by Elijah, 1Ki_17:16; Elisha satisfying a hundred men with twenty loaves of barley, 2Ki_4:42-44.—Ryle: Learn from this miracle: 1) Christ’s almighty power; 2) a lesson about the office of ministers—to receive humbly and to distribute faithfully what Christ provides and blesses; 3) the sufficiency of the gospel for the wants of mankind.—P. S.]
Footnotes:
Joh_6:2.—[Two readings, but the same sense, ἐèåþñïõí and ἑþñùí . john uses ὁñᾶí only in the perfect. See Tischend. and the crit. Note of Meyer.—P.S.]
Joh_6:2.— áὐôïῦ is wanting in the principal MSS.
Joh_6:5.—The subjunctive aorist ἀãïñÜóùìåí [instead of the indicative future of the Recepta, ἀãïñÜóïìåí is established by A. B. D. [Cod. Sin.], etc.
Joh_6:7.—[ äéáêïóßùí äçíáñßùí ἄñôïé . Denarius is a Roman silver coin, at first equal to ten asses (hence the name), afterwards increased to sixteen, and equivalent to the Greek drachm. From the parable of the laborers in the vineyard it would seem that a denarius was then the ordinary pay for a day’s labor, Mat_20:2. Its value was about equal to 7 English pence, or 15 American cents. The E. V. should have retained the Latin term, as the Evangelists did in Greek, or it should have rendered it shilling, rather than penny, which is too far below the value.—P. S.]
Joh_6:7.—[The rec. inserts áὐôῶí after ἕêáóôïò . Omitted by à . A. B. L., and the recent edd.—P. S.]
Joh_6:9.—The ἕí [of the Recepta: a single lad], omitted by B. D. L., might have more easily dropped out [after the preceding ðáéäÜñé — ïí ] than crept in. It is wanting also in the Cod. Sin., thrown cut b4 Tischend., bracketed by Lachm. and Alford.—P. S.]
Joh_6:10.—[The rec. inserts äÝ after åἶðåí , without good authority.—P. S.]
Joh_6:10.—[The verbs ἀíáðßðôù (f. ἀíáðåóïῦìáé , aor. 2. ἀíÝðåóïí ) and ἀíÜêåéìáé signify in the N. T. the ancient custom of reclining at table, upon the couch or triclinium, which was usually higher than the low table. The English equivalent is to sit at table or at meat. In this case they lay upon the ground. Mark and Luke describe the manner. See Mar_6:39-40.—P. S.]
Joh_6:11.—[ ïὖí , therefore, is much better supported than äÝ of the text. rec., and is adopted by Lachm., Tischend., Alf. (Lange, in his version, follows here the text. rec., but usually the readings of Lachm. Probably an oversight.)—P. S.]
Joh_6:11.—The words: “the disciples, and the disciples to” [ ôïῖò ìáèçôáῖò , ïἱ äÝ ìáèçôáß , text. rec]. are wanting in A. B. L. [and in the Cod. Sin.], etc., and in almost all the Versions. They have been supplied from Mat_14:19.
Joh_6:14.—[The text. rec. inserts ὁ Ἰçóïῦò after óçìåῖïí ,—beginning a church lesson, omitted by the critical editors.—P. S.]
Joh_6:15.— ÐÜëéí (omitted by Tischendorf), with reference to Joh_6:3, is sufficiently supported by A. B. D. [In the 8th crit. ed., Tischendorf has restored ðÜëéí , probably influenced by Cod. Sin. He also now reads öåýãåé instead of the usual ἀíå÷þñçóåí with the remark that the latter is a correction from Matthew, and öåýãåé was thrown out as not being consistent with the dignity of Jesus. Certe öåýãåé alienissimum est a correctors.—P. S.]
Joh_6:16.—[Dr. Lange puts a period here, and several editions of the Greek a semicolon, instead of the comma of the Recepta.—E. D. Y.]
Joh_6:17.—The reading ïὔðù , not yet, in B. D. L., etc., and in the Versions and the fathers [and Cod. Sin., instead of the ïὐê of the rec. adopted] by Lachmann [Tischend., Alf.], is hardly an explanatory gloss (Meyer), but was more probably dropped on account of its difficulty. See the Exegesis.
Joh_6:21.—[Cod. Sin. reads ἦëèïí for ἤèåëïí . See the Exeget. Notes.—P. S.]
Joh_6:22.—[This “when” is simply an anticipation of the ὅôå at the beginning of Joh_6:24. It is the English Version’s solution of the grammatical difficulty of the whole sentence, Joh_6:22-24. The Vulgate and Luther avoid the difficulty by following the reading åἶäïí or åἶäåí , instead of the participle ἰäὼí (see below). Lange’s ingenious construction I have not attempted to represent in the text. It will be found in full in the Exegesis. But the substance of it may be carried along in the very words of the English Version, as I have indicated.—E. D. Y.]
Ibid.—Cod. A. [B. L.], Chrysostom, the Versions, Lachmann [Tischend., Alf.] read åἶäïí ; D. [ à .]: åἶäåí . A grammatical conjecture. [Meyer defends the text, rec. ßäþí , and says that the definite tense was inserted to ease the grammatical structure.—P. S.]
Ibid.—The words ἐêåῖíï åἰò ὁ ἐíÝâçóáí ïἱ ìáèçôáὶ áὐôïῦ [text. rec. à .* D.] are wanting in A. B. L., the Vulgate and the Itala, and appear as an elucidation with many variations. [Omitted by Lachm., Tischend., Alf.]
Joh_6:23.—[The parenthesis of this verse in the Text. Rec. is removed by Dr. Lange, or rather is extended to the whole passage from ὁ ἑóôçêþò ðÝñáí ô . è ., Joh_6:22, to the end of Joh_6:23. See his construction in the Exegesis. Meyer entirely obliterates the parenthesis.—E. D. Y.]
Joh_6:24.—The êáὶ before áὐôïß is lacking in the best MSS. [and in Cod. Sin.].
Ibid.—[ Áὐôïὶ ].
Joh_6:27.—[For the future äþóåé Cod. à . D. Syr., Chrys. and Tischend. (ed. 8) read the present äßäùóéí —P. S.].
Joh_6:35.—[Text. rec. inserts ïÝ , and, after åἶðåí , à , D. Tischend. ïὖí . Omitted by B. L. T., Alf.—P. S.]
Joh_6:35.—[The E. V. connects ðþðïôå with ïὐ ìὴ ðåéíÜó&ccedi