John 6:1-15.
After this Jesus departed over the sea at the city of Tiberias in Galilee. And great multitudes followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on them that were sick. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and sat there with his disciples. Now Easter, the feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes, and beholding many people coming to him, said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat? (This he said to tempt him, for he knew well what he was about to do). Philip answered him, Two hundred pennies worth of bread is not enough for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Peter's brother Simonis, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what is this among so many? And Jesus said, Make the people lie down. And there was much grass in the place. There encamped about five thousand men. And Jesus took the loaves, and gave thanks, and gave to the disciples; and the disciples to them that were encamped; and to the same also of the fishes, as much as he would. And when they were full, he said unto his disciples, Gather the fragments that remain, that nothing perish. So they gathered, and filled twelve baskets with fragments, of the five barley loaves that remained for those who had been fed. When the people saw the sign that Jesus had done, they said: This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him, that they might make him king, he departed again into the mountain by himself.
1. this gospel also seems to be ordered for the reason that it announces that the miracle happened near the paschal feast; but mainly because in it the hunger and the fasting are indicated, so that Christ was forced to feed them etc. This thought of the ancestors may well be godly enough and not to be scolded.
2. But the thing itself is this: First, that Christ shows how those who follow him will not be rich nor full (for he does not teach about the kingdom of the world), but meager, poor, and hungry (for he teaches about the kingdom of God); therefore he also deals throughout the whole chapter with the eternal food that gives eternal life, saying that all those die who do not eat this eternal food, even those who have eaten the bread of heaven; how much more those who eat food that is perishable.
3) Secondly, Christ shows that men shall not die of hunger (as all Scripture testifies) if they only truly believe in him and follow him; rather, two loaves shall become a thousand, and the Rock must
*) Cf. Erl. A. opp. var. arg. VII, 390 SM- D. Red.
Give water. He wants to feed us at all times and not abandon us.
4 Thirdly (which is most comforting), that God does this, even though they do not all believe or are imperfect; since you see here that many followed him (as he himself says) for the sake of the belly: "because you ate, and were filled," he says. After this, even the apostles are weak and doubt how so many people can be fed. Nevertheless, because they cling to him with a simple heart, he does this good deed for their sake to the whole multitude; perhaps there were also some simple-minded people among the multitude. Thus God performed the greatest miracles under Moses for the sake of the less pious, and subsequently He did the same under the judges, kings and prophets; since He always honors His own, even the weak in faith, that He allows many of the godless to share in it. So even today God preserves the world and does it good for the sake of the elect. We should therefore not despair as long as he is with us, that is, as long as he speaks with us and works among us, as long as we have his word and sacrament pure and clear, even though we are weak, even though many among us are weak.
are the worst for us. The belief in belly maintenance is sufficiently dealt with in the post.
(5) The question is, Why did Christ ask the disciples and tempt them, since he knew what he was going to do? Dear, says he, what do you want to do in such distresses? For you see what a multitude there is, and we ourselves are beggars. And
They answer him well enough according to reason, namely, that one must despair, because even (as Philip speaks according to arithmetical wisdom) two hundred pennies worth of bread is nothing, since they hardly had two pennies. Thus it shall be seen what God wills to do, that is, it shall be invisible what shall soon become visible. From nothing everything shall become. This is what he wanted to show them beforehand with the question, so that they would learn to trust and believe beyond what reason could grasp.