Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 6:11
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.
11. when he had given thanks ] The usual grace before meat said by the head of the house or the host. ‘He that enjoys aught without thanksgiving, is as though he robbed God.’ Talmud. But it seems clear that this giving of thanks or blessing of the food (Luk 9:16) was the means of the miracle, because (1) all four narratives notice it; (2) it is pointedly, mentioned again Joh 6:23; (3) it is also mentioned in both accounts of the feeding of the 4000 (Mat 15:36; Mar 8:6).
to the disciples, and the disciples ] These words are wanting in authority; the best texts run, He distributed to them that were lying down. It is futile to ask whether the multiplication took place in Christ’s hands only: the manner of the miracle eludes us, as in the turning of the water into wine. That was a change of quality, this of quantity. This is a literal fulfilment of Mat 6:33.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. Jesus took the loaves] See the notes on Mt 14:19-21. As there were five loaves and five thousand people, so there was one loaf to every thousand men, independently of the women and children.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And Jesus took the loaves,…. Into his hands, as also the fishes, in order to feed the multitude with them:
and when he had given thanks; for them, and blessed them, or implored a blessing on them, that they might be nourishing to the bodies of men, as was his usual manner, and which is an example to us;
he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were sat down. The Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, only read, “he distributed to them that were sat down”: but it was not by his own hands, but by the means of the disciples, who received from him, and gave it to them; so that the sense is the same;
and likewise of the fishes, as much as they would; that is, they had as much, both of the bread and of the fishes, distributed to them, and which they took and ate, as they chose: in some printed copies it is read, “as much as he would”, and so the Persic version; that is, as much as Jesus would; but the former is the true reading, and makes the miracle more illustrious.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The loaves ( ). Those of verse 9.
Having given thanks (). The usual grace before meals (De 8:10). The Synoptics use “blessed” (Mark 6:41; Matt 14:19; Luke 9:16).
He distributed (). First aorist active indicative of , old verb to give to several (, between).
To them that were set down ( ). Present middle participle (dative case) of , old verb to recline like in verse 10.
As much as they would ( ). Imperfect active of , “as much as they wished.”
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Given thanks. All the Synoptists relate his looking up to heaven and blessing. Perhaps he used the familiar formula, “Blessed art thou Jehovah our God, King of the world, who causes to come forth bread from the earth.”
To the disciples, and the disciples. The best texts omit. Render, as Rev., He distributed to them that were set down.
Likewise of the fishes. So also Mark.
As much as they would. Peculiar to John.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And Jesus took the loaves,” (elaben oun tous artous ho lesous) “Jesus therefore took the loaves,” when the men had reclined upon the grassy ground, It was the five barley loaves, Joh 6:9 said to be the cheapest kind of bread, eaten by the very poor, Eze 13:19. Our Lord identified Himself with the poor, 2Co 8:9.
2) “And when he had given thanks,” (kai eucharistesas) “And having given thanks,” or after He had then given thanks. This giving thanks was done by the head of every household at the Passover feast. Jesus took the meager amount of bread and in the presence of all, He gave thanks to His Father, as Samuel of old had taught Israel, Mat 26:26, 1Co 10:31, 1Ti 4:4-5.
3) “He distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were set down;” (diedoken tois anakeimenois) “He distributed to those lying down,” or reclining, with the disciples assisting, in the breaking and passing and serving, Mat 14:19; Mr 6 41.
4) “And likewise of the fishes,” (homoios kai ek ton opsarion) “Likewise also out of the fishes,” Luk 9:16. These too were blessed of the Lord, broken in parts, and distributed to those who sat hungry, but orderly upon the grass. This miracle was one in which Jesus suspended natural law, by supernatural power, to meet a natural need, for a supernatural purpose, that men might believe in Him and be saved, Joh 3:2; Joh 20:30-31.
5) “As much as they would.” (hoson ethelon) “As much as they wished,” to have, or until their hunger was fully satisfied, Mat 14:20; Mar 6:42; Luk 9:17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. After having given thanks. Christ has oftener than once instructed us by his example that, whenever we take food, we ought to begin with prayer. For those things which God has appointed for our use, being evidences of his infinite goodness and fatherly love towards us, call on us to offer praise to Him; and thanksgiving, as Paul informs us, is a kind of solemn sanctification, by means of which the use of them begins to be pure to us, (1Ti 4:4.) Hence it follows, that they who swallow them down without thinking of God, are guilty of sacrilege, and of profaning the gifts of God. And this instruction is the more worthy of attention, because we daily see a great part of the world feeding themselves like brute beasts. When Christ determined that the bread given to the disciples should grow among their hands, we are taught by it that God blesses our labor when we are serviceable to each other.
Let us now sum up the meaning of the whole miracle. It has this in common with the other miracles, that Christ displayed in it his Divine power in union with beneficence, It is also a confirmation to us of that statement by which he exhorts us to seek the kingdom of God, promising that all other things shall be added to us, (Mat 6:33.) For if he took care of those who were led to him only by a sudden impulse, how would he desert us, if we seek him with a firm and steady purpose? True, indeed, he will sometimes allow his own people, as I have said, to suffer hunger; but he will never deprive them of his aid; and, in the meantime, he has very good reasons for not assisting us till matters come to an extremity.
Besides, Christ plainly showed that he not only bestows spiritual life on the world, but that his Father commanded him also to nourish the body. For abundance of all blessings is committed to his hand, that, as a channel, he may convey them to us; though I speak incorrectly by calling him a channel, for he is rather the living fountain flowing from the eternal Father. Accordingly, Paul prays that all blessings may come to us from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, in common, (1Co 1:3😉 and, in another passage, he shows that
in all things we ought to give thanks to God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Eph 5:20.)
And not only does this office belong to his eternal Divinity, but even in his human nature, and so far as he has taken upon him our flesh, (122) the Father has appointed him to be the dispenser, that by his hands he may feed us. Now, though we do not every day see miracles before our eyes, yet not less bountifully does God display his power in feeding us. And indeed we do not read that, when he wished to give a supper to his people, he used any new means; and, therefore, it would be an inconsiderate prayer, if any one were to ask that meat and drink might be given to him by some unusual method.
Again, Christ did not provide great delicacies for the people, but they who saw his amazing power displayed in that supper, were obliged to rest satisfied with barley-bread and fish without sauce. (123) And though he does not now satisfy five thousand men with five loaves, still he does not cease to feed the whole world in a wonderful manner. It sounds to us, no doubt, like a paradox, that
man liveth not by bread alone, but by the word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God, (Deu 8:3.)
For we are so strongly attached to outward means, that nothing is more difficult than to depend on the providence of God. Hence it arises that we tremble so much, as soon as we have not bread at hand. And if we consider every thing aright, we shall be compelled to discern the blessing of God in all the creatures which serve for our bodily support; (124) but use and frequency lead us to undervalue the miracles of nature. And yet, in this respect, it is not so much our stupidity as our malignity that hinders us; for where is the man to be found who does not choose to wander astray in his mind, and to encompass heaven and earth a hundred times, rather than look at God who presents himself to his view?
(122) “ Mesme en son humanite, et entant qu’il a pris nostre chair.”
(123) “ De poissons sans sausse.”
(124) “ En toutes creatures qui servent a nostre nouriture.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) The better MSS. omit to the disciples, and the disciples to. It is included in the sense, but is not here expressed in word.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Jesus therefore took the loaves, and having given thanks, he distributed to those who were set down, likewise also of the fishes as much as they would.’
As Jesus handed the bread and fishes to the disciples for distribution there was always more in His hands, until finally everyone was satisfied. The incident is mentioned in all four Gospels. The accounts reveal quite clearly that the disciples saw this as a remarkable miracle, as indeed it was.
It was normal for the head of the feast to give thanks and distribute some of the food to the guests. It was merely a commonplace, and there is no real need to see this as intending to depict the Last Supper. It gains its meaning from the One Who did it, and it rather therefore depicts Jesus’ dependence on and union with His Father. The Last Supper, although wider in meaning, simply helps to illustrate this.
‘As much as they would.’ It is expressly stated that there was enough to satisfy everyone with more to spare. Thus it is being emphasised that both bread and fish were amplified and that it was these that met the needs of the crowd. Any suggestion of a merely ‘symbolic meal’ goes against the narrative. The people were satisfactorily fed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 6:11. And when he had given thanks, St. Matthew and St. Mark say simply that he blessed, , which most commentators refer to the loaves and fishes, because St. Luke says expressly, ; he blessed them. Some, however, put a different sense upon the words. They apprehend, that our Lord’s looking up to heaven, when he blessed, mentioned by St. Luke himself, shews that this blessing was directed to God the Father, and that it imported a thanksgiving for his great goodness. The reader, however, will remember, that the word in dispute has a sense which favours the common interpretation of this passage, Psa 65:10 thou blessest the springing thereof, that is to say, of the corn. It is not to be supposed, that twelve persons could put first a piece of bread, and then a piece of fish into the hands of 5000 men, besides women and children, who were all fed with such expedition, that notwithstanding the thing was not so much as proposed to the disciples till about three, all appears to have been over by five in the afternoon. See on Joh 6:10. Wherefore it is natural to conclude, that in distributing the meat the disciples used the most expeditious method, putting by their Master’s directions, the bread first, and after that the fish, into the hands of those only who sat at the ends of the ranks; with orders to give it to their companions. On this supposition the food must have extended its dimensions, not in our Lord’s hands only, but in the hands of his disciples, and of the multitude likewise; continuing to swell till there was a greater quantity than they who held it, could make use of; so that breaking off what was sufficient for themselves, they gave the remainder to the persons next to them, who in like manner saw the bread and fish swell in their hands, till they also had enough and to spare. See particularly the note on Mar 6:39-40.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
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.
Ver. 11. He distributed to the disciples ] These five loaves (by a strange kind of arithmetic) were multiplied by division, and augmented by subtraction. The Macedonians found, that not getting, but giving, is the way to thrive, 2Co 9:8 . Ex fame quaestum captabat Iosephus; et benignitate sua emit Egyptum: Nos etiam coelum. So in spiritual alms and good offices: God’s gifts grow in the hands of them that employ them, to feed many. Salienti aquarum fonti undas si tollas, nec exhauritur, nec extenuatur, sed dulcescit. Scientia, docendi officio, dulcedinem sentiat, non minutias.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11. ] On the process of the miracle, see notes on Matt. John describes the as being the act of the Lord Himself, and leaves the intervention of the disciples to be understood.
here answers to in the other Gospels. It was the ‘ grace ’ of the father of the family; perhaps the ordinary one in use among the Jews. John seems to connect with it the idea brought out by Luke, . , i.e. : see Joh 6:23 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 6:11 . Facing the vast and hungry crowd Jesus took up and gave thanks for the slender provision, [better ] , the loaves already mentioned, [Phrynichus says , ; and Rutherford says Polybius is the first writer who uses the word in the sense of “give thanks”]. Pagans, by libation, or by throwing a handful on the household altar, gave thanks before a meal; Jews pronounced a blessing, or . (Luk 24:30 , Mat 14:19 , and especially 1Ti 4:4 . See also Grotius’ note on Mat 26:27 .) Having given thanks Jesus . The words added from the Synoptists give a fuller account of what actually happened. But curiosity as to the precise stage at which the multiplication occurred, or whether it could distinctly be seen, is not satisfied. They all received , not the of Philip; and even this did not exhaust the supply; for (Joh 6:12 ) , when no one could eat any more, there were seen to be , pieces broken off but not used. These Jesus directs the disciples to gather , “that nothing be lost”. The Father’s bounty must not be wasted. Infinite resource does not justify waste. Euthymius ingeniously supposes the order to have been given ; but of course those who had eaten already knew that the provision was substantial and real.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
John
THE FOURTH MIRACLE IN JOHN’S GOSPEL
Joh 6:11
This narrative of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand is introduced into John’s Gospel with singular abruptness. We read in the first verse of the chapter: ‘After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee,’ i.e. from the western to the eastern side. But the Evangelist does not tell us how or when He got to the western side. ‘These things,’ which are recorded in the previous chapter, are the healing of the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda, the consequent outburst of Jewish hostility, and the profound and solemn discourse of our Lord, in which He claims filial relationship to the Father. So that we must insert between the chapters a journey from Jerusalem to Galilee, and a lapse at all events of some months-or, if the feast referred to in the previous chapter be, as it may be, the Passover, an interval of nearly a year. So little care for the mere framework of events has this fourth Gospel; so entirely would the Evangelist have us see that his reason for narrating this miracle is mainly its spiritual lessons and the revelation which it makes of Christ as Himself the Bread of Life.
Similarly, he has no care to tell us anything about the reasons for our Lord’s retirement with His disciples from Galilee to the eastern bank. These we have to learn from the other Evangelists. They give us several concurrent motives-the news of the death of John the Baptist; and of the desire of the bloody tyrant to see Jesus, which foreboded evil; also the return of the twelve Apostles from their trial journey, which involved the necessity of rest for them; and, perhaps, the approach of the Passover, which our Lord did not purpose to observe in Jerusalem because of the Jewish hostility, and which, therefore, suggested the withdrawal to temporary retirement.
All these reasons concurring, He and His disciples would seek for a brief space of seclusion and repose. But the hope of securing such was vain. The people followed in crowds so eagerly, so hastily, in such enormous numbers, that no natural or ordinary provision for their wants could be thought of. Hence the occasion for the miracle before us.
Now I think that this narrative, with which I wish to deal, falls mainly into two portions, both of which suggest for us some important lessons. There is, first, the preparations for the sign; and then there is the sign itself. Let us look at these two points in succession.
I. First, then, the preparations for the sign.
Now it is possible that this diversity of time may be the solution of the diversity of the person proposing. That is to say, it is quite legitimate to conclude that John’s account takes up the incident at an earlier period than the other Evangelists do, and that the full order of events was this; that, privately, at the beginning of the day, whilst the people were yet flocking to our Lord, He, to one of the disciples alone, suggests the question, ‘Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?’ and that the answer, ‘Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient that every one of them may take a little,’ explains for us the suggestion of the same amount at a subsequent part of the day, by the Apostles when they asked our Lord the question, ‘Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread that these may eat?’
Be that as it may, we may pause for a moment upon this question of our Lord’s, ‘Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?’
Now notice what a lovely glimpse we get there into the quick-rising sympathy of the Saviour with all forms of human necessity. He had gone away to snatch a brief moment of rest. The rest is denied Him; the hurrying crowds come pressing with their vulgar curiosity-for it was nothing better-after Him. No movement of impatience passes across His mind; no reluctance as He turns away from the vanishing prospect of a quiet afternoon with His friends. He looks upon them, and the first thought is a quick, instinctive movement of a divine and yet most human sympathy. The question rises in His mind of how He was to provide for them; they were not hungry yet; they had not thought where their bread was to come from. But He cared for the careless, and His heart was prophetic of their necessities, and quick to determine ‘what He should do’ to supply them. So is it ever. Before we call, He answers. Thy mercy, O loving Christ! needs no more than the sight of human necessities, or even the anticipation of them, swiftly to bestir itself for their satisfaction and their supply.
But, farther, He selects for the question Philip, a man who seems to have been what is called-as if it were the highest praise-an ‘intensely practical person’; who seems to have had little faith in anything that he could not get hold of by his senses, and who lived upon the low level of ‘common sense.’ He always lays stress upon ‘seeing.’ His answer to Nathanael when he said, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ was, ‘Come and see.’ A very good answer, and yet one that relies only on the external manifestation of Christ to the senses. Then, on another occasion, he breaks in upon the lofty spiritualities of our Lord’s final discourse to His disciples, with the malapropos request, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.’ And so here, to the man who believed in his eyesight, and did not easily apprehend much else, Jesus puts this question, ‘Where is the bread to come from for all these people? This He said to prove him.’ He hoped that the question might have shaped itself in the hearer’s mind into a promise, and that he might have been able to say in answer, ‘Thou canst supply; we need not buy.’
So Christ does still. He puts problems before us, too, to settle; takes us, as it were, into His confidence with interrogations that try us, whether we can rise above the level of the material and visible, or whether all our conceptions of possibilities are bounded by these. And sometimes, even though the question at first sight seems to evoke only such a response as it did here, it works more deeply down below afterwards, and we are helped by the very difficulty to rise to a clear faith.
Philip’s answer is very significant. ‘Two hundred pennyworth of bread are not sufficient.’ He casts his eye over the multitude, he makes a rough, rapid calculation, one does not exactly see the data on which it was based; and he comes to the conclusion, ‘Two hundred pennyworth’ in our English money some L. 7 or L. 8 worth would give them each a morsel. And no doubt he thought himself very practical. He was a man of figures; he believed in what could be put into tables and statistics. Yes; and like a great many other people of his sort, he left out one small element in his calculation, and that was Jesus Christ, and so his answer went creeping along the low levels, dragging itself like a half-wounded snake, when it might have risen on the wings of faith into the empyrean, and soared and sung.
So learn that when we have to deal with Christ’s working-and when have we not to deal with Christ’s working?-perhaps probabilities that can be tabulated are not altogether the best bases upon which to rest our calculations. Learn that the audacity of a faith that expects great things, though there be nothing visible upon which to build, is wiser and more prudent than the creeping common-sense that adheres to facts which are shadows, and forgets that the chief fact is that we have an Almighty Helper and Friend at our sides.
Still further, among these preliminaries, let us point to the exhibition of the inadequate resources which Christ, according to the fuller narrative in the other Evangelists, desired to know. ‘There is a little lad here with five barley loaves’-one per thousand-’and two small fishes’-insufficient in quantity and very, very common in quality, for barley bread was the food of the poorest. ‘But what are they among so many?’ And Christ says, ‘Bring them to Me.’
Christ’s preparation for making our poor resources adequate for anything is to drive home into our hearts the consciousness of their insufficiency. We need, first of all, to be brought to this, ‘All that I have is this wretched little stock; and what is that measured against the work that I have to do, and the claims upon me?’ Only when we are brought to that can His great power pour itself into us and fill us with rejoicing and overcoming strength. The old mystics used to say, and they said truly: ‘You must be emptied of yourself before you can be filled by God.’ And the first thing for any man to learn, in preparation for receiving a mightier power than his own into his opening heart, is to know that all his own strength is utter and absolute weakness. ‘What are they among so many?’ When we have once gone right down into the depths of felt impotence, and when our work has risen before us, as if it were far too great for our poor strengths which are weaknesses, then we are brought, and only then, into the position in which we may begin to hope that power equal to our desire will be poured into our souls.
And so the last of the preparations that I will touch upon is that majestic preparation for blessing by obedience. ‘And Jesus said, Make the men sit down.’ And there they sat themselves, as Mark puts it in his picturesque way, like so many garden plots-the rectangular oblongs in a garden in which pot-herbs are grown-on the green grass, below the blue sky, by the side of the quiet lake. Cannot you fancy how some of them seated themselves with a scoff, and some with a quiet smile of incredulity; and some half sheepishly and reluctantly; and some in mute expectancy; and some in foolish wonder; and yet all of them with a partial obedience? And says John in the true translation: ‘So the men sat down, therefore Jesus took the loaves.’ Sit you down where He bids you, and your mouths will not be long empty. Do the things He tells you, and you will get the food that you need. Our business is to obey and to wait, and His business is, when we are seated, to open His hand and let the mercy drop. So much for the preparations for this great miracle.
II. Now, in the next place, a word as to the sign itself.
As to the first, there is here, I believe, a revelation of the law of the universe, of Christ as being through all the ages the Sustainer of the physical life of men. What was done then once, with the suppression of certain links in the chain, is done always, with the introduction of those links. The miraculous moment in the narrative is not described to us. We do not know where or when there came in the supernatural power which multiplied the loaves-probably as they passed from the hand of the Master. But be that as it may, it was Christ’s will that made the provision which fed all these five thousand. And I believe that the teaching of Scripture is in accordance with the deepest philosophy, that the one cause of all physical phenomena is the will of a present God; howsoever that may usually conform to the ordinary method of working which people generalise and call laws. The reason why anything is, and the reason why all things change, is the energy there and then of the indwelling God who is in all His works, and who is the only Will and Power in the physical world.
And I believe, further, that Scripture teaches us that that continuous will, which is the cause of all phenomena and the underlying subsistence on which all things repose, is all managed and mediated by Him who from of old was named the Word; ‘in whom was life, and without whom was not anything made that was made.’ Our Christ is Creator, our Christ is Sustainer, our Christ moves the stars and feeds the sparrows. He was ‘before all things, and in Him all things consist.’ He opens His hand-and there is the print of a nail in it-and ‘satisfies the desire of every living thing.’
So learn how to think of second causes, and see in this story a transient manifestation, in unusual form, of an eternal and permanent fact. Jesus took the loaves and distributed to them that were set down.
And so, secondly, the miracle is a sign-a symbol of Him as the true Bread and Food of the world. That is the explanation and commentary which He Himself appends to it in the subsequent part of the chapter, in the great discourse which is founded upon this miracle.
‘I am the Bread of Life.’ There is a triple statement by our Lord upon this subject in the remaining portion of the chapter. He says, ‘I am the Bread of Life.’ My personality is that which not only sustains life when it is given, but gives life to them that feed upon it. But more than that, ‘the bread which I will give,’ pointing to some future ‘giving’ beyond the present moment, and therefore something more than His life and example, ‘is My flesh, which’-in some as yet unexplained way-’I give for the life of the world.’ And that there may be no misunderstanding, there is a third, deeper, more mysterious statement still: ‘My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.’ Repulsive and paradoxical, but in its very offensiveness and paradox, proclaiming that it covers a mighty truth, and the truth, brother, is this, the one Food that gives life to will, affections, conscience, understanding, to the whole spirit of a man, is that great Sacrifice of the Incarnate Lord who gave upon the Cross His flesh, and on the Cross shed His blood, for the life of the world that was ‘dead in trespasses and sins.’ Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us, and we feed on the sacrifice. Let your conscience, your heart, your desires, your anticipations, your understanding, your will, your whole being feed on Him. He will be cleansing, He will be love, He will be fruition, He will be hope, He will be truth, He will be righteousness, He will be all. Feed upon Him by that faith which is the true eating of the true Bread, and your souls shall live.
And notice finally here, the result of this miracle as transferred to the region of symbol. ‘They did all eat and were filled’; men, women, children, both sexes, all ages, all classes, found the food that they needed in the bread that came from Christ’s hands. If any man wants dainties that will tickle the palates of Epicureans, let him go somewhere else. But if he wants bread, to keep the life in and to stay his hunger, let him go to this Christ who is ‘human nature’s daily food.’
The world has scoffed for nineteen centuries at the barley bread that the Gospel provides; coarse by the side of its confectionery, but it is enough to give life to all who eat it. It goes straight to the primal necessities of human nature. It does not coddle a class, or pander to unwholesome, diseased, or fastidious appetites. It is the food of the world, and not of a section. All men can relish it, all men need it. It is offered to them all.
And more than that; notice the inexhaustible abundance. ‘They did all eat, and were filled.’ And then they took up-not ‘of the fragments,’ as our Bible gives it, conveying the idea of the crumbs that littered the grass after the repast was over, but of the ‘broken pieces’-the portions that came from Christ’s hands-twelve baskets full, an immensely greater quantity than they had to start with. ‘The gift doth stretch itself as ‘tis received.’ Other goods and other possessions perish with the using, but this increases with use. The more one eats, the more there is for him to eat. And all the world may live upon it for ever, and there will be more at the end than there was at the beginning.
Brethren, why do ye ‘spend your money for that which is not bread’? There is no answer worthy of a rational soul, no answer that will stand either the light of conscience or the clearer light of the Day of Judgment. I come to you now, and although my poor words may be but like the barley bread and the two fishes-nothing amongst all this gathered audience-I come with Christ in my hands, and I say to you, ‘Eat, and your souls shall live.’ He will spread a table for you in the wilderness, and take you to sit at last at His table in His Kingdom.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
to the disciples, and the disciples. Om. by all the texts and Syriac.
and likewise = likewise also, as much as they would. Recorded only in John.
would = wished. App-102.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11.] On the process of the miracle, see notes on Matt. John describes the as being the act of the Lord Himself, and leaves the intervention of the disciples to be understood.
here answers to in the other Gospels. It was the grace of the father of the family; perhaps the ordinary one in use among the Jews. John seems to connect with it the idea brought out by Luke, . , i.e. : see Joh 6:23.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 6:11
Joh 6:11
Jesus therefore took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down; likewise also of the fishes as much as they would.-He gave thanks for all he received, and gave to his disciples, most probably his apostles, and they to the multitude. In the breaking it was increased and multiplied. [It is said that the Jews considered it was stealing from God to eat without first offering thanks. Jesus always offered thanks and so should all Christians.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
when: Joh 6:23, 1Sa 9:13, Luk 24:30, Act 27:35, Rom 14:6, 1Co 10:31, 1Th 5:18, 1Ti 4:4, 1Ti 4:5
Reciprocal: Jos 6:12 – the priests 2Ki 4:4 – and shalt pour 2Ki 4:43 – They shall eat Mat 14:19 – he blessed Mat 14:20 – were Mat 15:36 – and gave thanks Mar 6:41 – blessed Mar 8:6 – gave thanks Mar 8:8 – and were Luk 1:53 – filled Luk 9:16 – he blessed Luk 9:17 – and there
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CO-OPERATION WITH GOD
And Jesus took the loaves.
Joh 6:11
There is great teaching in this. What were five loaves for five thousand persons? Why use them at all? Just as easy to make the whole supply out of nothing by one creative act; and would not the miracle then have been, at least would it not appear, to be greater, and take more effect? A very reasonable thought; yet Jesus took the loaves.
He must have had a reason for that apparently unnecessary act. What was it? That He might show us that men must do what they can. You must give Him what you can. You will not be fed if you do not give those things He requires. It is all His own love and favour, but He requires first the loaves.
I. You have a little grace.It is very little; a mere nothing compared to what is wanting; a mere nothing to what it might have been if you had used well what God had given you. But God has given yon something. You have some good desires; you have some convictions of sin; you have some religious feelings; you have some rays of hope; you do really pray, and you have given up something that is wrong. You have sparkles of love now and then in your breast. Do you want that to become more? Then put what you can in Jesus hands constantly. Simply commit it to the holy keeping, and the transforming and magnifying grace of Jesus; and He will do it; He will multiply it. Give Him what He has already given you. Give Him the five loaves. What you haveit is very little. Give Him the five loaves, and He will do wonders. Then it will go on and on invisiblyby a secret process. The five loaves will increase, they will grow; He will add a thousandfold; He will make it more than you ever conceived.
II. You have some powers which you can now in a solemn way give to Jesus.Consecrate them. Do not say, Oh, I have not got anything worth the giving; it is of no use at all. Do not say that; it is not true. Do not despise the grace that is, at this moment, in your soul. Whatever it be, however poor, however small, just give it to Jesus; simply give it to Jesus. Put that little, that very little that you havethough it seems nothing to youput it into the hands of Christ, and it will come back multiplied, manifolded, wonderfully manifolded. Give Him the little, and He will make it much.
III. And it will not be for yourself only.The five loaves, placed in Jesus hands, they not only benefited the person who gave them, but five thousand people. The fact is wonderful, but true! Who knows, who can calculate, to what extent anything we really give to Christ, may radiate and extend? Have faith in the little! have faith. It needs no more; believe it, and it will be. Have you, at this moment, any one to whom you wish particularly to do good? Have you any weeping heart to comfort? any soul to be saved? any good to be done to any one? Have you a desire for the conversion of the heathen? Do you wish that the whole world should be brought to Christ? Then, then give to Christ what you have now got to give. Give Him, give Him the five loaves. Give it Him in simple confidence, and when you have given to Christ anything that you can give Him, watch, see, look what will become of it. See how wonderful, how effectual He will make it. How wonderful! Beyond all your hope and calculation the result will be.
Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
How many people read the miracle and forget the boy. For
What time the Saviour spread His feast,
For thousands on the mountain side,
it was a boy who carried the loaves. Yet that boy has been famous for nineteen hundred years. The story of what he did has been told all down the ages. He was evidently a poor boyhe had for his dinner five barley cakes and two small dried fishes: it was just what the poor people of those days ate. But he was unselfish, for he gave his own food for the Saviours use. And he was plenteously rewarded.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
1
Jesus gave thanks, which was equivalent to “blessing” the bread.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 6:11. Jesus therefore took the loaves: and when he had given thanks he distributed to them that had sat down; likewise also of the fishes as much as they would. Jesus alone is mentioned, but there is no doubt that He employed the agency of His disciples. In Mar 6:41 we read that Jesus gave the loaves to His disciples to set before the multitude; but, in the very same verse, that the two fishes divided He amongst them all; yet we cannot doubt that the mode of distribution would be the same in both cases. However done, the work of distribution was really His, and the Evangelist would fix our thoughts on Him alone. This miracle, as has often been remarked, is (with the exception of our Lords resurrection) the only one related by all four Evangelists. The differences in the accounts are very slight. It is curious to note that in all the other narratives of it our Lord is said to have blessed before He brake the loaves, whereas in the two accounts of the feeding of the four thousand He gave thanks before breaking the bread: here, however, giving thanks takes the place of blessing. When the miracle is referred to below (Joh 6:23), the Lords giving thanks is brought into prominence. This would seem to show that the word is here used with intentional significance, probably with marked reference to the Paschal meal, at which thanksgiving played so important a part. There is a striking resemblance indeed between the description before us and the accounts of the last supper, especially that given in 1 Corinthians 11.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Ver. 11. Then Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; and likewise of the fishes, as much as they wished.
This was the solemn moment. Jesus takes in the midst of this multitude the position of the father of a family, as in an ordinary supper, and particularly that of the Passover. He gives thanks, as the father surrounded by his family did for the blessings of God in nature and in the covenant. This moment seems to have been especially impressive to the spectators. It is made almost equally prominent in the four accounts; the multitude and the disciples themselves seem to have had the impression that it was this act of thanksgiving which caused omnipotence to act and which produced the miracle. Comp. Joh 6:23. After giving thanks, Jesus distributes the food, as the father did at the Paschal-supper. We have rejected from the text the words: to the disciples and the disciples, which are omitted by the Alexandrian authorities. It is more probable that there is an interpolation here, borrowed from Matthew. The little detail: as much as they wished, forms a contrast to the words of Andrew: But what are these for so many (Joh 6:9).
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Jesus first thanked God for the food in prayer, as pious Jews normally did (cf. Joh 6:23). In this He set a good example. We should give thanks for what we have, and God will make it go farther. Jesus multiplied the food evidently as he broke it apart and distributed it to the people. John stressed the lavishness of Jesus’ supply. The Son of God has always been the perfectly sufficient provider of people’s needs.
John probably did not intend that we make connections with the Lord’s Supper. He omitted references that would have obviously connected the two meals such as the breaking of the bread and the distribution of the pieces. And there is no mention of drink. John omitted referring to the disciples’ role in assisting Jesus by serving the people, probably to keep Jesus central in the narrative. Obviously there is nothing in the text to support the popular liberal interpretation that the miracle consisted of Jesus making the people willing to share their food.