CHAP. VI. A a FTER these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. a Matt. xiv. 15. 35. Mark vi. 10, 12. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because Luke ix. they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 3. "A mountain." Literally, "the mountain "-some well-known hill-perhaps "the hilly country." 1. "After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee," &c. This does not mean that the Lord went direct from Jerusalem, the scene of the last miracle, to the other side of the lake, but it simply expresses that the two miracles about to be recorded, and the discourse which followed on them, took place after what was mentioned in Chapter V., but after how long or how short a time is not indicated in this Gospel, though we learn from the Synoptics that there was a considerable interval of active ministry between the time of the discourse of the last chapter, and the miracle with which this begins. "Which is the sea of Tiberias." Tiberias being a Gentile name would be better known in Ephesus, where this Gospel was probably written. 2. "And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles," &c. This is inserted by the Evangelist to account for the presence of five thousand men in a place where there were no provisions. We need not, then, resort to the supposition that they were on their way to Jerusalem to keep the Passover. 3. "And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples." Perhaps this was for the retirement and refreshment so needed by them [see St. Mark vi. 31]. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. C 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 4." The Passover." There is no difference of reading as regards this word in any Manuscript or Version, but in Westcott and Hort's "Appendix on Select Readings" there is a long and interesting note on the word being a possible interpolation. It ends with the following observation :-" As a considerable body of Patristic evidence points to the absence of the words in at least some ancient texts, and internal evidence is unfavourable to their genuineness, while the chronology of the Gospel History is fundamentally affected by their presence or absence, it seems right to express suspicion and to justify it at some length." 4. "And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh." Why does St. John bring in the Passover here? Most commentators, even many who see no reference to the Christian Passover in this chapter, seem led to suppose that in some way it bears on the interpretation of the following discourse. It seems thrown in by the Evangelist, because he could not but connect together such things as Christ feeding men with bread-then setting Himself forth as the true Bread-then at the last Passover giving Himself as food, and also surrendering Himself as the Passover Victim. Thus one writes, "The notice of the feast is probably designed to give a clue to the understanding of the spiritual lessons of the miracle, which are set forth in the discourse which followed (1 Cor. v. 7);" and another, "The miracle and the discourse alike relate to the true Passover." The two miracles which follow are the only ones common to St. John and the Synoptics. They are introduced by the Evangelist solely because of their bearing on the discourse, for both conjointly give rise to it: for the immediate occasion for the first words (verses 26, 27) is the multitude finding Jesus on the other side of the sea, and wondering how He came there, He having preceded them by the miracle of the "walking on the water," and they followed Him, as He said to them, because "they did eat of the loaves," which He had miraculously multiplied. The more general teaching of these miracles I have deduced elsewhere. I shall now only notice their special bearing on what follows. 5. "When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great com 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. d See Numb. xi. 21, 22. d 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and * 2 Kings iv. two small fishes: but what are they among so 43. many? 6. "To prove him "-" to try him ;" tentans (Vulg.). pany," &c. Here is the mark of an eye-witness. None would have thought of mentioning the Lord as doing this except one who had noticed it. It is not in the Synoptics. There is an apparent discrepancy between St. John's account and that of the Synoptics, which can easily be explained. According to the Synoptics, the disciples first mention the coming need: according to St. John, the Lord takes the initiative. Very probably he addressed the words "Whence shall we buy bread?" &c., to Philip privately, at the outset, when He saw the multitudes trooping to Him, and received Philip's answer; and then, later on in the day, after He had taught them for some time, the Apostles began to be anxious as to how the multitudes were to be fed, and they came to Him that He should dismiss them. Then, in their perplexity, one mentions the lad with the five barley loaves, but, as it were in despair, "What are they among so many ?" The speciality of St. John's account is the notice of the Lord putting this trial question to Philip, though the Evangelist, who knew, even then, the intention of the Lord, said, "He Himself knew what He would do." A similar trial underlies the whole of this discourse. The Lord, in what follows, sets forth Himself as the Bread of Life, as the Living Bread, as feeding men with Himself, the Bread of Life, through His Flesh, He and He only knowing all the time how all this would be brought about; and all this time saying things to "prove," not the multitude, not the Jews only, but His very disciples; applying, at last, the touchstone 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 10. "Make the men. . . . So the men sat down." Facite homines discumbere discubuerunt ergo vir. The first should be translated " people "-the second, "men or "males." 11. "To the disciples, and the disciples " omitted by N, A., B., L., some Cursives, many Old Lat., Vulg., Syriac (Cureton and Peshito), and some versions. which separated those who half believed from those who believed implicitly. I have noticed elsewhere (on Matth. xiv. 19) the significance of the Lord's feeding the multitudes through the hands of the Apostles. It will be necessary to mention here that the consensus of MSS., versions and editors, is against retaining the words, "to the disciples, and the disciples," in verse 11. So that that verse should read, "when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were set down." It is very unlikely that they were originally in St. John's account. The fact, however, remains untouched, that the Lord distributed through means of the Apostles, inasmuch as each Synoptic mentions it. Supposing that the words in question ought to be omitted, we learn that what the Lord did through the Apostles, He did Himself. The Lord Himself gives men His Flesh as the Bread, but being not present Himself in visible personality, He does it through the instrumentality of others, and yet each man who receives, receives it as from Himself. 12. "Gather up the fragments." From St. John alone we learn that the direction to allow no waste came from the Lord. The food which had been produced supernaturally, and so with apparent ease, was not to be held cheap on that account. Every fragment was to be esteemed precious. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that f Gen. xlix. 10. Jesus did, said, This is of a 'truth that prophet that should come into the world. Deut. xviii. 15, 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. 14. "Then those men; rather, "then the people." 14, "Then those men, when they had seen that prophet that should come," &c. This was only natural. They had some of them seen, and all had heard of the miracles done in Jerusalem. They had been witnesses of His works of healing, for which they had followed Him in such numbers; and now this miracle of the loaves crowned their carnal hopes. They exclaimed, “This is of a truth that prophet," but "that prophet " was, according to all their sacred books, to be more than a prophet—He was to be a leader like Moses, and a king like David-and now they thought the time was come when He must put Himself at their head and deliver them. And so, 15. "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would take him he departed again into a mountain," &c. "He departed alone," because, as we read in St. Matthew and St. Mark, he had constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him to the other side. "The task of Jesus at this juncture was by no means an easy one. If He were immediately to depart with His disciples, the commotion, instead of being appeased, was in danger of spreading in Galilee. If He remained together with His disciples, they might be infected by the contagion of that carnal enthusiasm, which would only find too many points of contact in their hearts. It was therefore needful to be on the alert. And, first of all, He was anxious to send away His disciples to the other side of the lake, for the purpose of cutting off all solidarity between them and the multitude. This is the explanation of the singular expression of Matth. xiv. 22, and Mark vi. 45, 'He immediately constrained |