Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 9:10
And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
10-17. The Feeding of the Five Thousand.
10. told him all that they had done ] This brief and meagre record, to which nothing is added by the other Evangelists, contrasts so strongly with the joyous exultation of the Seventy over their success, that we are led to infer that the training of the Twelve was as yet imperfect, and their mission less successful than the subsequent one.
went aside privately ] The reasons beside the natural need of the Twelve and of our Lord for rest were (1) the incessant interruptions from the multitude, which left them no leisure even to eat (Mar 6:31), and (2) (as we see from the context) the news of the murder of John the Baptist and Herod’s enquiries about Jesus. Perhaps we may add (3) the desire to keep in retirement the Paschal Feast which He could not now keep at Jerusalem. This event constitutes another new departure in the ministry of Christ.
into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida ] There are here great variations in the MSS. and the best reading is to a city called Bethsaida. The omission may be due to the fact that there was nothing approaching to “a desert place” corresponding to this description near the only Bethsaida which was well known to the copyists, viz. the little fishing suburb of Capernaum on the west of the lake (Bethsaida of Galilee, Joh 12:21), Mar 6:45. This may also explain the variation of ‘village’ for ‘city.’ It is only in recent times that we have been made familiar with the existence of the other Bethsaida Bethsaida Julias (Mar 8:22), at the north of the lake, another
‘House of Fish’ which had been recently beautified by Herod Philip (Luk 3:1) and named by him after the beautiful but profligate daughter of Augustus, Jos. Antt. xviii. 2, I; B. J. 11. 1. The ruins of this town still exist at Telui (a corruption of Julias), and close by it is the green, narrow, secluded plain of El Batihah, which exactly meets the description of the Evangelists. This important discovery, which explains several serious difficulties of this Gospel, is due to Reland (Palaest. p. 504), and shews us how easily difficulties would be removed if we knew all the facts.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See the Mat 14:13-21 notes, and Mar 6:30-44 notes.
Luk 9:10
Bethsaida – A city on the east bank of the river Jordan, near where the river enters into the Sea of Tiberias. In the neighborhood of that city were extensive wastes or deserts.
Luk 9:12
Day began to wear away – To decline, or as it drew near toward evening.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Luk 9:10
Aside privately
The profit of restful retirement
I had a friend once (he is now in heaven) who was one of those men that give their whole heart to business, and believe in nothing else on week days, while even on Sundays their worship is, never to be still if they are religious men, but to be doing something from daylight to bed-time.
One summer day the feeling came over him that he would wander away, just for once, into the silence, and take one whole day of perfect rest. It was toward an upland he took his way, wandering by some small lakes of an exquisite beauty, and enjoying every moment of his holiday; until away on in the afternoon, when he had drunk deep of the quietness, and was lying on his face in the grass, happening lazily to lift his head all at once, as by a flash, he saw that one of these lakes could be tapped for his mill-dam, and so give him water enough to tide him over the summer dryness and prevent his wheel from stopping, when it ought to go right on. He went home at sunset, blessing himself for his good fortune as well as for the leisure, which was likely to turn out a better days work than he had done for a long time, took a survey of the land next day, and when he told me the story he had made his connection with the new reservoir, and it answered entirely his expectation. I have often thought of my friends adventure since then as an illustration of a lesson we are rather loth to learn in this busy land of ours–how springs and reservoirs of blessing may sometimes be opened to us through a perfect quietness we can never find through incessant toil. We do not believe in rest as devoutly as we believe in work. It does not seem possible we can ever do as good service either for God or man to be still as to be stirring. In this intense life we easily believe that to do nothing one whole day is for that day to be nothing. It is as if we should do nothing in a boat alone among the rapids of the St. Lawrence. The majestic motion and contention of the life about us overcomes us so that the gracious word contemplation in the old, sweet sense, is about as strange to the most of us as Sanscrit. We contemplate the very heavens to remember how many millions of miles the sun travels in an hour. Work while it is day is the watchword of our age, and it is always day. Time means the time to do things. Let us then be up and doing is indeed our psalm of life. We fight the idea of the philosopher that God cannot have rested on the seventh day and hallowed it, and then often illustrate our own belief by filling the seventh day as full of care as the rest. (R. Collyer.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. Told him all] Related distinctly – , from , through, and , I declare: hence the whole of this Gospel, because of its relating every thing so particularly, is termed , Lu 1:1, a particular and circumstantially detailed narration. See Clarke on Mr 6:30.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The evangelists give us but a summary account of things. We read of the mission, or sending out, of the apostles, Luk 9:1. Here we read of their return, and giving their Lord an account of their discharge of the trust he had reposed in them. Being returned, our Saviour goeth with them into a place near Bethsaida, not much inhabited, and therefore called desert. He never wanted followers, nor a heart to receive them, and to take all opportunities to do them good. Many followed him; he receiveth them, and preacheth to them for the good of their souls, and healeth those amongst them that were sick, to teach us to join spiritual with bodily, and bodily with spiritual, alms. Spiritual alms, such as instruction, reproof, counsel, are as much better than those that relieve only bodily wants, as the soul is better than the body. Spiritual alms, without bodily relief, from such as are able to give them, are fittest for spiritual persons; carnal, ignorant people, that have no sense of spiritual things, must, like children, be allured into a good opinion of the things and ways of God by some bodily charity, and so taken by guile, and enticed to the knowledge of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the apostles, when they were returned,…. From the several parts of the land where they had been sent, and had been preaching and working miracles, having gone through their circuit, and finished the service they were sent to do:
told him all they had done; what doctrines they had taught, how they had been received, and what success they met with, what miracles they had wrought, how they had dispossessed devils, and healed all sorts of diseases:
and he took them and went aside privately; by ship, over some part of the sea of Galilee; [See comments on Mr 6:32]
into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida; the city of Andrew and Peter, Joh 1:44, and which, as Josephus r says, was by the lake of Gennesaret, and by Philip called Julias; and this desert place was the desert of Bethsaida, a lonely, wild, uncultivated, and desolate place, not far from it. Hither Christ went with his disciples, that they might be retired and alone, and have some refreshment and rest from their labours, and where they might privately converse together; and he give them some fresh instructions, and directions, and comfort.
r Antiqu. l. 18. c. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Multitude Miraculously Fed. |
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10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. 12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. 13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. 14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
We have here, I. The account which the twelve gave their Master of the success of their ministry. They were not long out; but, when they returned, they told him all that they had done, as became servants who were sent on an errand. They told him what they had done, that, if they had done any thing amiss, they might mend it next time.
II. Their retirement, for a little breathing: He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place, that they might have some relaxation from business and not be always upon the stretch. Note, He that hath appointed our man-servant and maid-servant to rest would have his servants to rest too. Those in the most public stations, and that are most publicly useful, must sometimes go aside privately, both for the repose of their bodies, to recruit them, and for the furnishing of their minds by meditation for further public work.
III. The resort of the people to him, and the kind reception he gave them. They followed him, though it was into a desert place; for that is no desert where Christ is. And, though they hereby disturbed the repose he designed here for himself and his disciples, yet he welcomed them, v. 11. Note, Pious zeal may excuse a little rudeness; it did with Christ, and should with us. Though they came unseasonably, yet Christ gave them what they came for. 1. He spoke unto them of the kingdom of God, the laws of that kingdom with which they must be bound, and the privileges of that kingdom with which they might be blessed. 2. He healed them that had need of healing, and, in a sense of their need, made their application to him. Though the disease was ever so inveterate, and incurable by the physicians, though the patients were ever so poor and mean, yet Christ healed them. There is healing in Christ for all that need it, whether for soul or body. Christ hath still a power over bodily diseases, and heals his people that need healing. Sometimes he sees that we need the sickness for the good of our souls, more than the healing for the ease of our bodies, and then we must be willing for a season, because there is need, to be in heaviness; but, when he sees that we need healing, we shall have it. Death is his servant, to heal the saints of all diseases. He heals spiritual maladies by his graces, by his comforts, and has for each what the case calls for; relief for every exigence.
IV. The plentiful provision Christ made for the multitude that attended him. With five loaves of bread, and two fishes, he fed five thousand men. This narrative we had twice before, and shall meet with it again; it is the only miracle of our Saviour’s that is recorded by all the four evangelists. Let us only observe out of it, 1. Those who diligently attend upon Christ in the way of duty, and therein deny or expose themselves, or are made to forget themselves and their outward conveniences by their zeal for God’s house, are taken under his particular care, and may depend upon Jehovah-jireh–The Lord will provide. He will not see those that fear him, and serve him faithfully, want any good thing. 2. Our Lord Jesus was of a free and generous spirit. His disciples said, Send them away, that they may get victuals; but Christ said, “No, give ye them to eat; let what we have go as far as it will reach, and they are welcome to it.” Thus he has taught both ministers and Christians to use hospitality without grudging, 1 Pet. iv. 9. Those that have but a little, let them do what they can with that little, and that is the way to make it more. There is that scatters, and yet increases. 3. Jesus Christ has not only physic, but food, for all those that by faith apply themselves to him; he not only heals them that need healing, cures the diseases of the soul, but feeds them too that need feeding, supports the spiritual life, relieves the necessities of it, and satisfies the desires of it. Christ has provided not only to save the soul from perishing by its diseases, but to nourish the soul unto life eternal, and strengthen it for all spiritual exercises. 4. All the gifts of Christ are to be received by the church in a regular orderly manner; Make them sit down by fifties in a company, v. 14. Notice is here taken of the number of each company which Christ appointed for the better distribution of the meat and the easier computation of the number of the guests. 5. When we are receiving our creature-comforts, we must look up to heaven. Christ did so, to teach us to do so. We must acknowledge that we receive them from God, and that we are unworthy to receive them,–that we owe them all, and all the comfort we have in them, to the mediation of Christ, by whom the curse is removed, and the covenant of peace settled,–that we depend upon God’s blessing upon them to make them serviceable to us, and desire that blessing. 6. The blessing of Christ will make a little go a great way. The little that the righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked, a dinner of herbs better than a stalled ox. 7. Those whom Christ feeds he fills; to whom he gives, he gives enough; as there is in him enough for all, so there is enough for each. He replenishes every hungry soul, abundantly satisfies it with the goodness of his house. Here were fragments taken up, to assure us that in our Father’s house there is bread enough, and to spare. We are not straitened, or stinted, in him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Declared (). First aorist middle of , to carry a narrative through to the end. Jesus listened to it all.
They had done (). Aorist active indicative, they did.
He took them ( ). Second aorist active participle of . Very common verb.
Bethsaida (). Peculiar to Luke. Bethsaida Julias is the territory of Philip, for it is on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Joh 6:1).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Declared [] . Related everything throughout [] . See on ver. 39; ch. 1 1.
Bethsaida. Peculiar to Luke. It means Fishing – place.
Healed [] them that had need of healing [] . See on ch. Luk 5:15.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
THE APOSTLES RETURN . . 6,000 FED V. 10-17
1) “And the apostles, when they were returned,” (kai hupostrepsantes hoi apostoloi) “And when the twelve apostles returned,” from the gospel-preaching and miracle-working mission to which Jesus sent them forth, Luk 9:1-2; Mar 6:30.
2) “Told him all that they had done.” (diegesanto auto hosa epoiesan) “They related to him what things they did,” all the kind of things that they had done, as they preached to and worked restrictedly among,” the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Mat 10:5-7; Luk 10:17-20.
3) “And he took them, and went aside privately,” (kai paralabon autous hupechoresen kat’ idian) “And he took them and went away privately,” for privacy, with Jesus who had sent them forth, Mar 6:31.
4) “Into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.” (eis polin kaloumenen Bethsaida) “Into a city that is called Bethsaida,” not the city of Andrew and Peter, West of the Lake, but a place called Julias, Joh 1:44, Mat 12:15; Mat 14:13-14. This temporary withdrawal of Jesus with His apostles was to escape the pressure and clamor of the crowds.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
Luk. 9:10. Went aside privately.The reason of this retirement is stated by St. Matthew (Mat. 14:13) to have been Christs hearing of the violent death of John the Baptist. It was a precautionary measure, rendered all the more necessary by Herods desire to see Jesus. St. Mark says that it was for the sake of quiet (Luk. 6:31)as the excitement produced by the teaching of Jesus and His apostles was very great. There is no necessary discrepancy in the narratives: the retirement in question may have taken place for more reasons than one. City called Bethsaida.This is not the Bethsaida near Capernaum on the west of the lake, but Bethsaida Julias on the north, in the tetrarchy of Philip, near which was a desert place.
Luk. 9:11. Followed Him.Jesus went by boat, and the people, seeing the direction in which He sailed, went thither on foot (Mar. 6:33). Received them.I.e. did not dismiss them, though their following Him defeated one of the purposes for which He had sought retirement.
Luk. 9:13. Five loaves.I.e. barley loaves (Joh. 6:9), the food of the poor. The miracle that follows is the only one narrated by all four evangelists.
Luk. 9:14. Five thousand.Men, besides women and children (Mat. 14:21).
Luk. 9:16. Blessed them.Agreeably to the Jewish custom, by which it was usual for the head of the family, at every meal, to pronounce a blessing on the food, previously to partaking of it, commencing with the words, Blessed art thou, O God, who bringest bread out of the earth, etc. (Bloomfield).
Luk. 9:17. Baskets.The word used in all the narratives of this miracle is a wicker-basket, such as the Jews were accustomed to carry their food in when they were on a journey. The word used in the account of the other miracle of the kind (Mat. 15:37; Mar. 8:8) is a large rope-basket, capable of holding a mans body (cf. Act. 9:25). St. Luke omits a long series of events which followed this miracle, and which are related in Mat. 14:1 to Mat. 16:12; Mar. 6:45 to Mar. 8:30; and John 6.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Luk. 9:10-17
Bread from Heaven.The apostles needed rest after their journey. Our Lord suggested a brief retirement, and sought it at the Eastern Bethsaida, a couple of miles up the Jordan from its point of entrance to the lake. The curious crowd following on foot effectually destroyed all hope of retirement. Without a sigh or sign of impatience Jesus welcomed them. He received them patiently, because He was moved with pity (St. Mark), and saw in their rude crowding about Him the token of their lack of guides and teachers. They seemed to Him not merely a mob of intrusive sight-seers, but like a huddled mass of unshepherded sheep. Christs heart felt more lovingly than ours because His eye saw deeper, and His eye saw deeper because His heart felt more lovingly. If we lived nearer Him, we should see, as He did, enough in every man to draw out pity and help, even though he should jostle us and interfere with us. Coming to the miracle itself, we may divide the narrative into three parts: the preliminaries, the miracle, and the abundant overplus.
I. The preliminaries.Our Lord leads up to the miracle by forcing home on the minds of the disciples the extent of the need, and the utter inadequacy of their resources to meet it, and by calling on them and the crowd for an act of obedience, which must have seemed ludicrous to many of them. The strange suggestion that the disciples should feed the crowd must have appeared to them absurd, but it was meant to bring out the clear recognition of the smallness of their supply. Therein lie great lessons. Commands are given and apparent duties laid on us, in order that we may find out how impotent we are to do them. It can never be our duty to do what we cannot do; but it is often our duty to attempt tasks to which we are conspicuously inadequate, in the confidence that He who gives them has laid them on us to drive us to Himself, and there to find sufficiency. The best preparation of His servants for their work in the world is the discovery that their own stores are small. Those who have learned that it is their task to feed the multitude, and who have said We have no more than such and such scanty resources, are prepared to be the distributers of His all-sufficient supply.
II. The miracle.Like that of the draught of fishes, it was not called forth by the cry of suffering, nor was the need which it met one beyond the reach of ordinary means. It was certainly a miracle most plainly meant to strike the popular mind, and the enthusiasm excited by it, according to Johns account, was foreseen by Christ. Why did He evoke enthusiasm which He did not mean to gratify? For the very purpose of bringing the carnal expectations of the crowd to a head, that they might be the more conclusively disappointed. The miracle and its sequel sifted and sent away many disciples, and were meant to do so. He blessed the bread. What He blesses is blessed, for His words are deeds, and communicate the blessing which they speak. The point at which the miraculous multiplication of the food came in is left undetermined. The pieces grew under His touch, and the disciples always found His hands full when they came back with their own empty. The symbolical aspect of the miracle is set forth in the great discourse which follows it in St. Johns Gospel. Jesus is the bread of God which came down from heaven. That bread is broken for us. Not in His incarnation alone, but in His death, is He the food of the world; and we have not only to eat His flesh, but to drink His blood, if we would live. Nor can we lose sight of the symbol of His servants task. They are the distributers of the heaven-sent bread. If they will but take their poor stores to Jesus, with the acknowledgment of their insufficiency, He will turn them into inexhaustible supplies. What Christ blesses is always enough.
III. The abundant overplus.Twelve baskets were filled: that is to say, each apostle, who had helped to feed the hungry, had a basketful to bring off for future wants. The broken pieces were not crumbs that littered the grass, but the portions that came from Christs hands. His provision is more than enough for a hungry world, and they who share it out among their fellows have their own possession of it increased. There is no surer way to receive the full sweetness and blessing of the gospel than to carry it to some hungry soul. These full baskets teach us, too, that in Christs gift of Himself as the bread of life there is ever more than at any given moment we can appropriate. Other food cloys and does not satisfy, and leaves us starving. Christ satisfies and does not cloy, and we have always remaining, yet to be enjoyed, the boundless stores which neither eternity will age nor a universe feeding on them consume.Maclaren.
Make them sit down.
I. The command to make them sit down by fifties in a company was expressive of the authority of Christ over human multitudes whenever He comes into contact with them. There were five thousand men besides women and children present, and, according to three evangelists out of the four, special emphasis is attached to this command, Make them sit down. There was no doubt a growing confusion at this time: the night was at hand, and the multitude, wearied by a day of restlessness under a burning Eastern sky, and largely irritated by discussion, and carried away by the back-wave of the days excitement, had become well-nigh unmanageable. In the presence of that confusion the disciples had readily given their rough and ready solution, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. Christ, on the contrary, said in brief, Nay, make them sit down. He, as the master of assemblies, did not seek to rid Himself of the confusion by ridding Himself of the multitude. In this respect, as well as in a thousand other respects, He towered above all others. He was never excited, and never doubtful as to what should be done; but was always calmly confident amid the seething passions and conflicting voices of human multitudes. Thus, at the very outset, we find this distinctive attribute of Christs ministry. He never lost command, but was ever calm and masterful as the Lord of men.
II. But this command was not only expressive of the unique authority of Jesus Christ; it was also an illustration of His most tender consideration for those who needed it most. John tells us that only the men sat in fifties; and Mark intimates the same. There were women and children there, but, as Matthew too asserts, the five thousand consisted of men apart from women and children. Luke tells us that they sat down by fifties in a company. The words which Mark uses suggest that the multitude looked like a garden of flowers, well arranged in groups of living men, turning their faces as expectant to the Christ as the flowers turn theirs to the sun. But observe that women and children were not in these regular ranks of panting humanity. No one has been in a throng of five thousand men, when there has been rushing movement, discord, irritation, and weariness, without being impressed with the danger for women and children, especially when the overwhelming majority were men. Here we have one of the many beautiful touches of the Gospel narrativethe thoughtfulness of Christ concerning the weak. Order is the first law of heaven, and when Christ would perform this miracle order was the first essential. Thoughtful consideration for the weak who were in danger of being trodden underfoot was the secondMake the men sit downso that in addition to the orderliness of their own ranks there may be opportunity for the women and the children to have their share. Christ never overlooks any section of the community, ignores no small one in the greatest mass of human life.
III. This command awakened new hopes and expectations in the hearts of the assembled multitude. They had walked along the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee into that desert place on the eastern coast, and were wearied by the journey and the fatigue of the day. The length of the journey would make it probable that the women and children were few compared with the men. This is another subtle proof of the accuracy of Gospel records. The few, however, were not overlooked. All were wearyespecially the women and childrenwith the events of the day. Their hopes had to a large extent been satisfied, yet weariness and hunger had taken possession of them. Now Christ awakened new hopes in their hearts. No one awakens within the heart of man such expectations as Jesus Christ. They soon came to the conclusion that the great Teacher was about to feed them. Where all was to come from they did not know, save that it would come from the same source of power and of grace as many other provisions for the need and sorrow of men had come in that unique ministry; and so every one in that vast throng was encouraged to hope for and expect some wonderful miraculous provision.
IV. By this command Christ willingly subjected Himself to a new test of His Divine power and sympathy. There was no necessity for His doing this save the irresistible promptings of His great love. The multitudes might have been dismissed, and yet He would have preserved His character apart from this further manifestation of His divinity. No one expected it; even His own disciples did not. It was not, therefore, done in an emergency; but this command going forth subjected Him willingly and voluntarily to a new test. That is what Christ ever does. Almost every command He gives to men subjects Him to new tests. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is the command; and thou shalt be saved is the promise. He stakes His honour, and stands or falls by every command that He gives us which has a latent promise in its folds.
V. By this command Christ subjected the disciples to a new test. They had to exercise sufficient confidence in Him to go and tell the multitude to sit down and wait for their meal. They had just been arguing with Christ. Two hundred pennyworth of bread would not suffice, according to their calculation. There was a boy present, it was true, who had brought his five loaves and two fishes; but what were they among so many? Now that is just what is taking place every day. Every faithful messenger of Jesus Christ, who goes forth to meet the wants of men and women, knows that, apart from the power of the Christ behind him, his task is one of forlorn hope and sad humiliation. But every mission has its test, and every man of God who has gone forth at the Masters bidding has gone forth with the full assurance that he cannot be disappointed or humiliated.
VI. This command, moreover, came as a test for the multitude. Every one in that great multitude had to obey in anticipation of the feast. Now that was pre-eminently an act of faith. They had confidence that Jesus Christ would not have sent the message to them unless He meant to feed them. And still that is all that is requiredthat men should just do as He tells them, namely, look for the blessing and wait for it. How many there are unprepared to do that, and yet are surprised if they are not fed! There was not a man among the five thousand foolish enough to act in that fashion. Make them sit down by fifties in a company. And they did so.Davies.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk. 9:10-17
Luk. 9:10. A desert place.The two miracles of feeding the multitudes were performed in desert places: this circumstance
(1) brought out most impressively the greatness of Christs power, who could, apart from ordinary means, feed so large a number of people; and
(2) reminded those present of the miraculous way in which God had for forty years sustained their nation in the wilderness.
The Christian Uses of Leisure.
I. Communion with outward nature.
II. Intercourse with fellow-believers.
III. A closer converse with Christ Himself.Ker.
Luk. 9:11. The people followed Him.The unexpected arrival of the people defeats the plan Jesus had formed. But the Lord is deeply touched by the love towards Him manifested by this multitude, which were like sheep without a shepherd (Mar. 6:34): He receives them with tender loving-kindness; and while crowds arrive one after another in the course of the morning (Joh. 6:5), a thought springs up in His heart. What it was St. John tells us (ibid. 4). The Passover season was drawing near. Jesus had not been able to go up to Jerusalem with His disciples, so violent was the rage of His enemies. So then in this unexpected gathering, like that of the people in Jerusalem, He discerns a signal from heaven, and He resolves to hold a feast in the wilderness to take the place of the Passover for those who surround Him.Godet.
Luk. 9:12. Go into the towns.This miracle was not urgently called for by the physical necessities of the multitude, as in the other instance of miraculous feeding (Mar. 8:2-3). The disciples themselves were of the opinion that in the neighbouring villages and country the people might get food. It was a symbolic, didactic, critical miracle. It was meant to teach, and also to test: to supply a text for the subsequent sermon (recorded by St. John), and a touchstone to try the character of those who had followed Jesus with such enthusiasm. It was meant to say, I Jesus am the bread of life. What this bread is to your bodies, I Myself am to your souls (Bruce).
Luk. 9:13-16. Took blessed gave.The significant points in the action of that day were
(1) the provision accepted from the disciples,
(2) the blessing of it by Jesus, and
(3) the distribution of it among the people.Laidlaw.
Luk. 9:13. Give ye.The words are emphatic, for the disciples had been counselling the people to get food for themselves.
Give ye them to eat.Christ wishes His disciples to realise their own utter inability, in order that they might by-and-by realise more intensely the fulness of His ability.
We have no more.Here we may learn, at least, not to be too confident in our reckonings, so long as they are made for plus or minus. How many great counting-houses have forgotten in their books the column for the blessing orthe curse of God!Stier.
Luk. 9:14. By fifties.In which subordinate circumstance we behold His wisdom who is the Lord and Lover of order. Thus all confusion was avoided. There was no danger that the weaker, the women and children, should be passed over, while the stronger and ruder unduly put themselves forward. The apostles were thus able to pass easily up and down among the multitude, and to minister in orderly succession to the needs of every part.Burgon.
Made them all sit down.The apostles caused the people to sit down before they knew what Christ was about to do. They obeyed His command. They were weak and inexperienced, but still they were childlike, and allowed themselves to be led by His hand. This is the true kind of obedience, says Bernhard which does not look at what is commanded, but is content to know that it is commanded by God.
Luk. 9:16. Blessed them.To be thankful for little is the way to obtain more. The action of the Saviour, if we compare the various narratives of this miracle, consisted
(1) of thanksgivingacknowledgment of all the goodness of God, and an anticipation of the coming display of His power and love; and
(2) of blessing the food for the use of the people. To bless means to speak well of. Our Saviour on the present occasion would doubtless speak well of His Father; and, coincidently, He would speak well of the provision, His Fathers gift, which He was about to distribute and increase. He might speak well, too, in reference to the people petitioning for their weal. He would thus coincidently bless the Father, bless the food, and invoke blessing on the people (Morison).
A Like Miracle ever being wrought.He conceals the miracle, and no one sees how the bread multiplies in His hands, any more than one sees the grass growing. The same Divine Person, in a manner less striking, because more gradual and regular, but certainly not less wonderful, ripens all the seeds in all the gardens and orchards and in all the vineyards and meadows of this world, in successive seasons, ever since man dwelt in Paradise, to minister food to His creatures (Wordsworth).
Inexhaustible Provision.The Bible is little in bulk, like the five barley loaves and the two fishes. What thousands upon thousands has it fed, and will it feed, in every age, in every land of Christendom, to the worlds end!
Luk. 9:17. The Teaching of the Miracle.The miracle teaches us
I. That it is our duty to do what we can to supply the bodily wants of others.
II. That those who follow Christ may trust to Him for the necessaries of life.
III. That it is becoming to thank God for His goodness before partaking of food.
IV. That nothing should be lost or wasted.
Fragments.The food Christ gave differed from the manna; for
(1) the manna was only sufficient for him who gathered it, and
(2) could not be kept. The fragments are more in bulk than the original stock: in their being gathered at the command of Christ we have a beautiful picture of Gods bounty in nature, which is at once lavish and careful.
That remained.A sign that there had been abundance. Twelve baskets, because at Christs command the twelve apostles gathered up the fragments. We have thus a visible symbol of that love which exhausts not itself by loving, but after the most prodigal outgoings upon others abides itself far richer than it would else have done; of the multiplying which there ever is in a true dispensing; of the increasing which may go along with a scattering (Pro. 11:24 : cf. 2Ki. 4:1-7) (Trench).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Butlers Comments
SECTION 2
Teaching The Throngs (Luk. 9:10-17)
10 On their return the apostles told him what they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a city called Bethsaida. 11When the crowds learned it, they followed him; and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. 12Now the day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place. 13But he said to them, You give them something to eat. They said, We have no more than five loaves and two fishunless we are to go and buy food for all these people. 14For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each. 15And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
Luk. 9:10-12 Desperation: This is one year before Jesus is to die the horrible death of crucifixion, accused of blasphemy and sedition. The disciples are definitely not prepared for this. Their hopes are centered in an earthly kingdom. So Jesus will spend the next six months (from Passover to Tabernacles) withdrawing from the hostility of His enemies and, at the same time, trying to isolate Himself from the fanatical multitudes. He wants to prepare the Twelve for the crucial climax of His earthly ministry. It is instructive that even Jesus recognized the need for His disciples to take a rest occasionally (see Mar. 6:31; Greek anapausasthe, from which we get the English word, pause).
When we compare all four gospel accounts of this incident (Mat. 14:1-36; Mar. 6:1-56; Luk. 9:1-62; Joh. 6:1-71) we understand that the main reason for Jesus withdrawal with the Twelve was the desperate, clamoring fanatical multitudes. Everywhere Jesus and the Twelve went the multitudes pressed upon them, crying out, demanding miracles be done for them. The poor, hungry, oppressed multitudes of Jesus day, for the most part, had lost all hope in the promises of the prophets. All they could anticipate was continued oppression under the hated Herods, plus theological bigotry and hypocrisy under the Pharisees. They did not know where to turn for truth, compassion and, their deepest need, righteousness. It was at this moment Jesus had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd (Mar. 6:34). When these desperate, hopeless thousands found out where Jesus was taking His Twelve on a retreat (to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee), they ran there on foot (from the cities and villages of Galilee) ahead of Him (cf. Mat. 14:13; Mar. 6:33). Jesus went across the northern tip of the sea in a boat (from Capernaum to Bethsaida, see Mat. 14:13) and the multitude, gathered in Capernaum (Jesus headquarters) from the recent preaching tour of Jesus and the Twelve, ran around the northern tip of the sea (some 23 miles) on foot. This great miracle-worker would not be allowed to get away. These poor down-trodden multitudes had at last been given a glimmer of hope. At last someone had come not to exploit them and oppress them, but to heal and excite them with the promise of the kingdom of God. They had their hearts set on making Him king (Joh. 6:15).
Jesus had compassion on these throngs not only for their economic and political desperation but also because of their spiritual darkness. They were completely obsessed with the idea that the kingdom of God was some humanly-structured organization which would solve all their earthly distress. Johns Gospel specifically states they followed him because they saw the signs which he did. . . . (Joh. 6:2). Why, then, did Jesus welcome this clamoring multitude when He was trying to get away from this very kind of superficiality; and why did He eventually work one of His greatest miracles for the very people who were putting such emphasis upon miracles? The fundamental purpose behind the enigmatic action of Jesus here is plainly seen when one connects the miraculous feeding of these thousands with His great sermon on The Bread of Life a day later in a synagogue at Capernaum (Joh. 6:22-71). The student must study this great sermon, recorded only by John, to understand the miracle of the loaves and fish. It is in this sermon that the compassion of Jesus for their spiritual darkness is really manifested. He pours out His heart in this discourse explaining that the real bread is His word (Joh. 6:63) and unless men eat and drink His word they are not really alive.
Jesus also took this unwanted circumstance (the hungry thousands) to teach the Twelve an important lesson. This multitude (numbering about five thousand men plus thousands of women and children) had probably left Capernaum and other villages early that morning to walk around the shore of the Sea of Galilee to a hillside near Bethsaida Julius. It was now late in the evening, and few of them had foresight to bring enough food with them. Perhaps most of them did not have enough at home to bring any with them. Whatever the case there was nothing to feed this vast multitude out there on the hillside so the Twelve became anxious. Theirs also was a desperation of doubt. They really did not ask Jesus what could be done, they came and gave Him an order to (Gr. apoluson, imperative, Dismiss) send the crowd away into the cities nearby to find food and lodging. They also missed the point that what this multitude needed more than anything else was to realize Who Jesus Is. The Twelve thought the most urgent need of the crowd was earthly bread, and they knew they could not supply it, or did not want to. Perhaps they were also betraying a selfish indifference when they directed Jesus to send the crowd away to find food for themselves. They had retreated to this area specifically to rest.
Luk. 9:14-17 Demonstration: John tells us that Jesus knew what He was going to do about the situation but to test the faith and compassion of the Twelve, He said to them, How are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? (Joh. 6:5). The apostles had no answer except to send the people away to fend for themselves. So Jesus said to the apostles, You give them something to eat! In the Greek His statement reads literally, Give (dote, imperative) to them to eat, you. This is an idiomatic way of putting the emphasis on you. They complained that 200 days wages (denarii) would not buy enough bread for this multitude. Andrew reported that the only vestige of food they had found among this great throng was five loaves and two fish a little boy had with him. Jesus said, Bring them here to me (Mat. 14:18). Then Jesus directed the apostles to have the thousands sit down upon the green grass of the hillside (it was early Spring, around Passover time) in groups of about hundreds or fifties (cf. Mar. 6:39-40). Mark uses the Greek words sumposia sumposia companies upon companies which literally refers to groups of party-goers or picnickers. Mark is describing the festive air about this great event.
Taking the five loaves and two fish Jesus looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and divided the fish, gave to the Twelve and they distributed among the thousands. All the thousands ate and were satisfied and the Twelve gathered up twelve baskets of left-over fragments. All four gospel writers record this astounding fact. Where did the miracle take place? Was it when Jesus broke and dividedor was it when the apostles went among the thousands making distribution? It really isnt indicated in the records, nor does it really matter. The point is it was an empirical demonstration of Jesus supernatural power to create. This miracle and the one immediately following (Jesus walking on the Sea) are two of the most indisputable miracles recorded of Jesus. The feeding of this vast multitude of people had so many witnesses there was no possibility of fraud. Foster points out, A magician can fool a great crowd because his hands can move faster than the eyes of the people who watch. But here was a miracle in which everyone of the thousands present had a part. They all shared the feast. No magician or hypnotist could fool that many thousands of people. When these four gospel writers published their accounts near the middle of the first century A.D. there would have been plenty of people still alive who had attended that great feast on the hillside. If the gospel writers were liars someone would have been quick to publish evidence to discredit them about such an astounding fraud.
Although this miracle did not have much impact on the multitudes in its relationship to Jesus spiritual mission (many of them followed Him no more, Joh. 6:66) it did have tremendous impact on the Twelve. They acknowledged Him as the Holy One of God and the only One to whom they might cling (Joh. 6:68-69). It is worthy of notice that even though Jesus had the power to create as much bread and fish as He wished, He would not tolerate waste. Twelve large (Gr. kophinoi, coffins) basketfuls were gathered up of the leftovers.
Appleburys Comments
Feeding the Five Thousand
Scripture
Luk. 9:10-17 And the apostles, when they were returned, declared unto him what things they had done. And he took them, and withdrew apart to a city called Bethsaida. 11 But the multitudes perceiving it followed him: and he welcomed them, and spake to them of the kingdom of God, and them that had need of healing he cured. 12 And the day began to wear away; and the twelve came, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and country round about, and lodge, and get provisions: for we are here in a desert place. 13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy food for all this people. 14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said unto his disciples, Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each. 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake; and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 And they ate, and were all filled: and there was taken up that which remained over to them of broken pieces, twelve baskets.
Comments
a city called Bethsaida.It is generally agreed that this is Bethsaida Julias, a city located on the east side of the Jordan near the point where it empties into the Sea of Galilee.
According to Mar. 6:45; Mar. 6:53, Jesus sent the disciples back across the lake after feeding the five thousand, and they landed at Genessaret, the west side of the lake. John says that it occurred on the other, that is, east side of the sea of Galilee and that after the miracle the disciples went down to the sea and got into the boat to go over the sea to Capernaum (Joh. 6:1; Joh. 6:17). It was at Capernaum on the next day that the multitudes came to Jesus and asked, Rabbi, when camest thou here? (Joh. 6:24-25). These Scriptures seem to indicate that the miracle took place on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee and that after the miracle the disciples returned to Capernaum which was located on the northwest side of the sea.
But the multitudes perceiving it followed him.By this time the popularity of Jesus was reaching its climax; people were following Him everywhere He went. Even when He tried to get away for a little rest, they followed Him; and He welcomed them and spake to them of the kingdom of God and them that had need of healing he cured.
Send the multitude away.As evening drew on, these practical men realized that something had to be done for the welfare of the people. Send them away to the stores and places of lodging was all they could think to do. They knew that the two hundred shillingsall that they hadwouldnt buy enough to begin to feed them even if there had been a place where they could buy food.
But Jesus said, You give them something to eat. At His suggestion, they took stock and found that they had only five loaves and two fishjust a lunch that belonged to a boy in the crowd (Mar. 6:38; Joh. 6:9). What was that for so many? Were they to go and buy food for them? Apparently it didnt occur to them that Jesus could solve the problem, even though they had seen Him perform many wonders by this time.
Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.Jesus knew what He would do. In that desert place where there was virtually no food, He was the only one who could supply the need. The crowd was to sit down in groups of about fifty so that no one would be overlooked. He would provide the food; but the apostles were to do the rest, for that was within their ability. Organization was necessary to the success of the task.
Jesus took the loaves and the fish and looking up to the heavenly Father He blessed them and broke them and gave them to the disciples to give to the people. Was anyone in the crowd aware that a miracle was taking place? They were slow to grasp the lesson about the Bread of Life which He taught them when they came to Him after the miracle that had fed them physically.
remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets.The miracle had demonstrated that He was the Creator, for all things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made (Joh. 1:3). Gathering the broken pieces conserved the food, but more than that it demonstrated that a genuine miracle had taken place. The people said, This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world (Joh. 6:15). But they didnt see that He was the Bread of Life (Joh. 6:41). Their real selfishness is revealed in their reference to the manna which their fathers had eaten for the forty years in the wilderness; Jesus had fed them just once. And it was not Moses, but the Father who had sent the manna; Christ was the true bread that the Father had sent to those who believe on Him.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(10-17) And the apostles, when they were returned.See Notes on Mat. 14:13-21, and Mar. 6:30-44.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
63. FIVE THOUSAND FED, Luk 9:10-17 .
See notes on Mat 14:13-21; Mar 6:32-44; Joh 6:1-14.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
62. THE TWELVE RETURN, Luk 9:10 .
Mar 6:30-31
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the apostles, when they were returned, declared to him what things they had done. And he took them, and withdrew apart to a city called Bethsaida.’
When the apostles returned from their mission they reported back on what they had done. The statement ‘what things they had done’ is general and should not be analysed. It is a catch-all phrase. They shared everything with Him. Then Jesus took them and moved northwards to Bethsaida Julius in the territory of Herod Philip. Mar 6:31 tells us that it was in order to enable the disciples to recuperate. Luke seems to hint at the fact that it was because of Herod (Luk 9:9 – had He wanted Herod to find Him He would have remained in Galilee. He was probably well informed on what was happening in Herod’s court through Joanna – Luk 8:2).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Feeding of the Five Thousand. The retirement of the apostles:
v. 10. And the apostles, when they were returned, told Him all that they had done. And He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
v. 11. And the people, when they knew it, followed Him; and He received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. When the apostles returned from their first missionary journey, they related to the Lord in detail what they had done and what success they had had. They had labored with all the enthusiasm of beginners; it had been a strenuous experience for them. And therefore Jesus took them along with Him, He withdrew with them alone into the neighborhood of the city Bethsaida Julias, on the northeast coast of the Sea of Galilee, not far from the river Jordan. Note: It is altogether well-pleasing to the Lord if one of His servants, after a period of strenuous activity in the interest of the kingdom of God, withdraws for a time and gains new physical strength for the new demands awaiting him. But the withdrawal of Jesus did not remain undiscovered. The multitudes found out about it, and, some of them having noticed the direction in which He sailed, they followed afoot around the north end of the lake. So the recess of Jesus was of but short duration, since His kind heart would not turn from the people after their long journey to find Him. He willingly received the multitude, and He began speaking to them, and continued for the larger part of the day, on His favorite topic, the kingdom of God, what it means, and how they might enter into it. And all those that were in need of His healing hand He did not disappoint, but ministered unto them with all the compassion and power of His Savior’s heart. Note: Jesus always has time for us; our prayers are never unwelcome to Him; His ear is always inclined to those that put their trust in Him, whether it be in matters concerning this world or that to come.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Luk 9:10. Bethsaida. This place was only a village, till Philip the tetrarch of Iturea adorned it with new buildings, drew a wall round it, and called it Julias, in honour of Julia, the daughter of Augustus. This city, therefore, being under Philip’s jurisdiction, must have stood somewhere to the east of Jordan. Josephus has marked its situation distinctly, by asserting that the river Jordan falls into the lake of Gennesaret, behind the city Julias. All the circumstances mentioned in the gospels, which have any relation to Bethsaida, quadrate exactly with this situation. Bethsaida is indeed called a town of Galilee, Joh 12:21 whereas the city which Philip rebuilt, was in Gaulonitis. But to this it may be answered, that Bethsaida being situated very near the Jordan, which divided Galilee from Gaulonitis, it might be called a town of either country, and belong sometimes to the one, and sometimes to the other. Farther, though when Josephus wrote, Galilee did not extend beyond Jordan, the boundary of Herod’s dominions; yet the scripture gives the name of Galilee to the whole region lying north of the sea.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 9:10-17 . See on Mat 14:13-21 ; Mar 6:30-44 ; Joh 6:1 ff. According to the reading . (see the critical remarks), is to be understood of the direction whither ( versus ), and Luk 9:11 ff. is to be conceived as said of what happened on the way to Bethsaida . The Bethsaida meant at Mar 6:45 , on the western shore of the lake ( . ., Joh 12:21 ; Mat 11:21 ), is not the one intended, but Bethsaida- Julias , on the eastern shore in lower Gaulonitis (see on Mar 8:22 ), as Michaelis, Fischer, Paulus, Robinson, Ebrard, Lange, Ewald, Schegg, and others suppose, on the ground of Mar 6:45 , where from the place of the miraculous feeding the passage is made across to the western Bethsaida. For the denial of this assumption, and for the maintenance of the view that Luke, in variation from the parallel passages, transposed the miraculous feeding to the western shore (Winer, de Wette, Hilgenfeld, Holtzmann, Eichthal, and with some hesitation Bleek), there is no foundation at all in Luke’s text. For although Jesus had returned from Gadara to the western side of the lake (Luk 8:37 ; Luk 8:40 ), yet between this point of time and the miraculous feeding come the sending forth of the Twelve, and the period that elapsed until their return (Luk 9:1-10 ). Where they, on their return, met with Jesus, Luke does not say, and for this meeting the locality may be assumed to have been the eastern side of the lake where Bethsaida- Julias was situated. But if it is supposed, as is certainly more natural, that they met with Him again at the place whence they had been sent forth by Him on the western border of the lake, it is no contradiction of this that Jesus, according to Luke, wished to retire with His disciples by the country road to that Bethsaida which was situated at the north-eastern point of the lake (Bethsaida- Julias ); and it is just this seeking for solitude which can alone be urged in favour of the more remote Bethsaida on the further side. The whole difference therefore comes to this, that, according to Luke, they went to the place of the miraculous feeding by land , but according to Mark (and Matthew), by ship .
Luk 9:11 . .] He did not send them back, although He desired to be alone, but received them.
] Provisions , a word which occurs only in this place in the New Testament, but is often found in the classical writers. Comp. Jdt 2:18 ; Jdt 4:5 .
Luk 9:13 . ] These words do not fit into the construction. See Lobeck, ad Phryn . p. 410; Krger, ad Dion . p. 287; Schoemann, ad Is . p. 444.
. . .] unless, perchance , etc.; this is neither to be regarded as a direct question (Kypke, Rosenmller), nor is the thought: “even therewith we cannot feed them,” to be previously supplied (Beza, Grotius, de Wette, and others). On the contrary, the two parts of the sentence are closely connected: We have not more than unless, perchance, we shall have bought . The tone of the address is not one of irony (Camerarius, Homberg, Kuinoel), as is often expressed by (Khner, II. p. 561; Maetzner, ad Lycurg. in Leocr . p. 317), but of embarrassment at the manifest impossibility of carrying the order into effect ( ). On with a subjunctive , which is to be recognised even in the Attic writers, although rarely, but is of frequent use in the later Greek, see Winer, p. 263 [E. T. 368]; Khner, ad Xen. Mem . ii. 1. 12; Poppo, ad Cyrop . iii. 3. 50; Klotz, ad Devar . p. 500 ff.; Ellendt, Lex. Soph . I. p. 491. Winer is mistaken in regarding the mood in this case as a deliberative subjunctive not dependent on , as Buttmann, p. 191 [E. T. 221], also takes it. See above for the connection; and on the difference of meaning between the subjunctive with and without (condition absolutely, without dependence upon circumstances that may or may not happen), see Hermann, De part . , ii. 7, p. 95; Hartung, Partikell . II. p. 301.
] with emphasis; for previously they had advised to leave the people themselves to procure food.
Luk 9:14 . Observe the numerical relation, five loaves, five thousand, ranks of companies by fifty . To form such companies is, in Luke, said to have been commanded even by Jesus Himself . The tradition is gradually rounded into shape as we advance from Matthew (and John) to Luke.
Luk 9:16 . . ] an intimation of the benediction uttered in prayer, which was effectual in causing the increase. Matthew and Mark have it otherwise.
Luk 9:17 . ] is, in accordance with the opinion of Valckenaer, Lachmann, and Tischendorf, to be regarded as governed by . If, in accordance with the usual view, it had been construed with . ., it would have been . (comp. Mat 14:20 ; Soph. El . 1280: ; Plat. Legg . ix. p. 855 A) or (Joh 6:12 ). Luke reproduces the of Mark. Since, moreover, contains a reference to , Luk 9:16 , it is manifest that the fanciful view of Lange, L. J . II. p. 309 f., is untenable: that Jesus, indeed, miraculously fed the thousands; but that the superfluity arose from the fact that the people, disposed by the love of Jesus to brotherly feeling, had immediately laid open their own stores . Thus the miraculous character of the transaction is combined with the natural explanation of Paulus and Ammon. With what a unanimous untruthfulness must in this case all the four reporters of the history have been silent about the people’s private stores. Just as persistent are they in their silence about the symbolic nature of the feeding behind which the marvellous How of the incident is put out of sight (Weizscker). Schenkel mingles together most discordant elements for explaining away the miracle, not rejecting even provisions brought with them, and in part procured in haste. But what is the meaning of Mar 8:18-20 ? And are all six narratives equally a misunderstanding?
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
c. The Miracle Of The Loaves (Luk 9:10-17)
10And the apostles when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.3 11And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. 12And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him4, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns [villages] and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals; for we are here in a desert place. 13But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but [than] five loaves and two fishes; except we [ourselves, expressed] should go and buymeat [food] for all this people. 14For they were about five thousand men. And hesaid to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15And they did so,and made them all sit down. 16Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17And they did eat, and were all filled [satisfied]: and there was [were] taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Luk 9:10. And the Apostles, when they were returned.In order to get a right conception of the whole connection of the occurrences, we must especially compare Mar 6:30-31. The Saviour receives almost simultaneously the account of the return of the Twelve and of the death of the Baptist. To this is added the rumor that Herod desires to see Him, which occasions Him to pass over from the province of Antipas to that of Philip. He will afford His disciples and Himself a quiet hour, which, however, becomes impossible on account of the thronging of the people. We may here make the general remark, that, above all, a comparison of the different accounts is requisite in order to come to a correct understanding of the miracle of the Loaves. We shall then find confirmed the remark of Lic. S. Rau, in an admirable essay upon John 6 found in the Deutsche Zeitschrift fr christliche Wissenschaft und christliches Leben, 1850, p. Luke 263: That as well by the point of time which the representations of the Synoptics and of John assign to this history, as by the significance which they ascribe to it, they equally place this miraculous act of the Saviour in the clearest light, and, as it were, upon that highest summit of the life of Christ up to which the fateful way to the sacrificial death leads to higher and higher self-unfolding, in order from now on to lead on to the fate necessarily following this self-unfolding, and lurking in the depth. Especially for the examination of the Tbingen views respecting the Gospel of John, does the whole essay deserve to be compared.
.Not the western (Winer, De Wette), but another town of this name on the northeastern shore of the lake, belonging to the province of Philip, who had given it the name Julias, and had considerably embellished it. Built near the shore at the place where the Jordan pours itself into the lake of Tiberias, it was surrounded by a desolate region which now, however, in the spring, was covered with a carpet of grass, large enough to receive a numerous throng. Thither does the Saviour proceed with the disciples, according to Matthew and Mark, in a ship, while Luke does not say that He goes by land (Meyer), but leaves the mode of the journey entirely undetermined. Apparently Capernaum was the place where the Saviour and the Twelve had, after the return of the latter, met one another again.
Luk 9:11. Followed Him.As appears from Matthew and Mark, on foot by the land-way after they had seen Him depart, taking also sick persons with them, who were healed by Jesus. Von Ammon draws from the statement that these sick people also had come on foot, the conclusion that they could not, after all, have been so very sick; as though blind or deaf people, who could travel very well, might not have been among them; and as though the others who were not capable of walking, might not have been carried.
Luk 9:12. And when the day.Here we must insert especially from Mark and John the preceding circumstances and deliberations which Luke, in his more summary account, passes over for the sake of brevity.
That they may go.This demand of the disciples to send the multitude away, does not speak favorably for the view that the people had brought a tolerably large provision of their own with them, to the common distribution of which they were about to be prompted.
Luk 9:13. Give ye.With emphasis, for previously they had counselled to let the people get food for themselves. Meyer.
Should go and buy.It is self-evident that this whole language of the disciples is only the expression of the most pitiable perplexity, which had no other means at command. Whoever can assert in earnest that the disciples now actually did buy food with two hundred denarii, and then distributed it (Von Ammon), appears to expect that men are going to believe his rationalistic triflings at his word, without demanding any further proofs therefor.
Luk 9:14. By fifties.We find no sufficient reason to insert (Lachmann). Numerus commodus propter quinarium panum. Bengel.
Luk 9:16. Blessed, .According to Jewish usage before the beginning of a meal. Here it becomes in the fullest sense of the word a miraculous blessing, whereby the deed of Almighty love is brought to pass. Between Matthew and Mark there exists no actual difference. It is noticeable that all four Evangelists take note of the act of prayer.
The Miracle Itself.The miracle of the Loaves is certainly one of those whose possibility is quite as hard to bring within the sphere of our comprehension as its form within the sphere of our conception. See statement and criticism of the different views in Lange on Mat 14:20. So much the less can we overlook the fact that the external proofs of the reality of the miracle are so unanimous and decisive that concerning them scarcely a doubt is possible. It cannot be denied that the relative diversities of the individual accounts are less essential (Strauss). In the main points all the Evangelists give the same account, and he difficulties of the mythical explanation are here in fact insuperable. Or is perchance the whole historical narration to be taken as a mere symbol of the evangelical idea that Christ is the bread of eternal life? (Von Baur). As if this idea could not have been expressed and stated as well in a fact! How, then, would the enthusiasm of the people be explicable, and the mutual discourse, John 6, which is connected with this miracle, and, moreover, the great schism which in consequence of it took place among the , John 6? No, this very point is the great proof for the reality of the miracle, that it is indispensably necessary in order satisfactorily to explain the decrease then beginning in the following of Jesus. So far something had here taken place similar to that at the Lords resurrection; and this, at least, becomes immediately obvious, that here something must have taken place by which the great revolution in so many minds is sufficiently explained. Up to this day we see the following of Jesus increasing: He stands before us, as it were, on the steps of the throne, Joh 6:15; a few hours later, the enthusiasm has cooled and the throng of His followers noticeably diminished. Only a miracle like this could have roused so intense an expectation, and, when this expectation on the following day was not fulfilled, so great a bitterness as we have account of, especially in the fourth Gospel.
With this, however, we do not mean that we are blind to the difficulties which offer themselves here, even from a believing point of view. We can as little represent to ourselves that the fragments of bread had multiplied themselves in the hands of the people as in those of the disciples; and even if we make the miracle to have taken place immediately by the Saviours own hands, we can as little conceive continually growing loaves as continually reappearing fish; and although one should speak of a quickened process of nature (Olshausen; a representation, moreover, of which there is found an indication even in Luther), yet there is little gained by this, since, indeed, it appears no process of nature, but a process of art, to multiply in a miraculous way baked bread and cooked fish. Here one feels, more than ever, how difficult it is to enter in any way into transaction with the inconceivable, since, after all, everything finally depends upon our conception of God, upon our Christology, and upon the credibility of the evangelical history. Yet, on the other hand, we must not pass over the fact that the Saviour here by no means makes something out of nothing, but out of that already existing makes something more, and does not, therefore, pass the limits which the Incarnate Word has fixed for Himself, and that it could not be for Him too miraculous to raise Himself, if need were, over the artificial processes of preparing bread and fish for human use. We may call to mind, at the same time, that the ethical receptivity for this miracle must have existed in the people in consequence of all which they had this day already seen and heard of the Lord, and by which their faith had been first awakened, or their already awakened faith had been strengthened. And inasmuch as we now believe ourselves obliged to follow the example of the Evangelists, who do not more particularly describe the form of the miracle, we at the same time rejoice that the sublimity and the purpose of this sign are beyond all doubt. But if Christian science believes itself obliged to go a step further, and to venture an attempt to seek a modal, or perhaps a mystic, medium of bringing into effect what here took place, then certainly the profoundly-conceived attempt of Lange, L. J. ii., S. 309, deserves a careful examination. Comp. his remarks upon it in the Gospel of John.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The deep impression which the death of the Baptist produces upon the Saviour, is a striking proof, on the one hand, of His genuine human nature and feeling; on the other hand, of His clear insight into the connection of the martyr-death of the Baptist with His own approaching Passion. He shows at the same time His tender care for the training of His disciples, when He, after some days of unusual exercise of body and soul, considers some hours of rest and solitude as absolutely necessary. Comp. the beautiful essay by A. Vinet: La solitude recommande au pasteur.
2. The miracle of the Loaves is one of the most striking proofs of the truth of the word of the Lord to Philip, Joh 14:9. We admire here in the Saviour a veritably Divine might which speaks and it is done; in virtue of which He, in higher measure and from His own fulness of might, can repeat what in the Old Testament had already, in smaller measure, been brought to pass by prophets and at Divine command. (Comp. the manna-rain of Moses, and the multiplication of food by Elijah and Elisha.) Besides deep wisdom, which helps at the right time and by the simplest means, we see here, at the same time, in Jesus, the image of the God of peace (1Co 14:33), inasmuch as He takes care for the orderly division of the multitude and for the preservation of the fragments remaining. More than all, however, does His compassion attract us, which has at heart the fate of the unfortunate, which, with tenderest attention, chooses even the softest place for couch and table, and with ungrudging wealth bestows not only what is absolutely necessary, but also more than what is necessary. This whole miracle must serve as proof how He, like the Father, can out of little make much, and bless what is of little account. Above all, however, it is an image of the great truth which He the following day so powerfully develops (John 6), that He is the bread of eternal life.
3. The miracle of the Loaves is the faithful miracle of the way in which the Saviour satisfies the spiritual necessities of His own; but at the same time with all that is extraordinary, the concurrence of this miracle with the continuous care of Providence for the bodily support of its human children, is unmistakable. The whole narrative of the miracle is a practical commentary on the declaration, Psa 145:15-16.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The first report in the Gospel of labor accomplished.Mournful accounts shake as little as joyful ones the holy rest of the Lord.The Lord grants His faithful laborers rest.Even unto our places of rest not seldom does earths disquiet follow us.The unwearied Saviour never indisposed to beneficence.Jesus the Physician of body and soul.Human perplexity over against Divine knowledge; human sympathy over against Divine compassion; human counsel over against Divine action; human poverty over against Divine wealth.Jesus refers the hungry multitude to His apostles.Let all things be done with order.Daily bread hallowed by thanksgiving and prayer.That nothing be lost: a fundamental law in the kingdom of God in the use of all that which the Lord has bestowed.The miracle of the Loaves a proof of the truth of Mat 6:33.The Saviour keeps in the wilderness a feast with the poor, while He is awaited with longing at the court of Herod.The Lord makes of little much.The Lord never gives only so much that there is nothing left over.They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.The satisfying of earthly, the type of the satisfying of heavenly, necessities.The conditions under which the Christian even now may expect the satisfying of his earthly necessities: 1. Believing trust; 2. befitting activity; 3. well-regulated order; 4. wise frugality, joined with, 5. thanksgiving and prayer.Open thy mouth wide, that I may fill it. Psa 81:10 b.The Lord permits us to suffer hunger only, in His own time, the more richly to relieve it.He hath filled the hungry with good things.The miracle of the Loaves a revelation of the glory of the Son of God and the Son of Man.He dismisses no one empty but him who came full.
Starke:Nova Bibl. Tub.:Who loves Jesus follows Him even through rough ways.Quesnel:God lets us first recognize our human impotence before He displays His omnipotence.Spiritual shepherds should feed their sheep.By gold one can obtain all perishable goods, but the rich God can throw to us all that we need, even when we have little or no money.It is to the Almighty Saviour all one to help by little or by much. Upon that, faith can venture all. 1Sa 14:6.Nova Bibl. Tub.:No one should imagine himself too good or too high to serve the needy.Brentius:In distress of hunger, the best refuge is to Christ.Gods blessing one must not lavish away at once, but lay up for future need. Pro 11:27.Heubner:To be agents in the distribution of Divine gifts, like the disciples here, is a high honor and grace.The requirement of that which man ought to do, according to Gods will, appears often very surprising, surpassing all capacity, for God has beforehand already taken care for all, and Himself concurs. His is properly the main act.The feeling of compassion in Christ much mightier than the need of rest.Van Oosterzee:Jesus the bread of life. Intimation how He even now: 1. Meets with the same necessity; 2. exhibits the same majesty; 3. prepares the same refreshment; 4. deserves the same homage; 5. provokes the same schism as at the miracle of the Loaves.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
(10) And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. (11) And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. (12) And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. (13) But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. (14) For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. (15) And they did so, and made them all sit down. (16) Then he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. (17) And they did eat, and were all filled; and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
For shortness sake, I would refer the Reader to what hath been already offered, by way of improvement, on this miracle of Christ, Mat 14:14 , etc. and Mar 6:30-46 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I
SEASON OF RETIREMENT
PART I
Harmony, pages 76-89 and Mat 14:13-16:12 ; Mar 6:30-8:26 ; Luk 9:10-17 ; Joh 6:1-7:1 .
We now take up Part V of the Harmony, the general theme of which is “Season of Retirement into Districts Around Galilee.” The time is six months, i.e., from just before the Passover (Joh 6:4 ) to the Feast of Tabernacles. There are four of these retirements, found in sections 57, 61, 62, 63-67, respectively. The occasion of the first was twofold, (1) the hearing of the death of John the Baptist, and (2) the return of the twelve apostles for rest. The place of this retirement was Bethsaida Julias, which is referred to by Luke, as over against the Bethsaida mentioned by Mark, which was near Capernaum. The occasion of the second retirement was also twofold, (1) the fanaticism of the disciples in trying to make him king (Joh 6:15 ), and (2) the hostility of the Jewish rulers (Mat 15:1 ). The place of the second retirement was Phoenicia, about Tyre and Sidon. The occasion of the third retirement was the suspicion of Herod Antipas, who was a very wicked man and had much fear respecting Jesus and his great works. The place of this retirement was Decapolis. The occasion of the fourth retirement was continued Jewish hostilities, and the place was Caesarea Philippi, in the extreme northern part of Palestine on the east side of the Jordan. In every case he avoided Herod’s jurisdiction.
The first outstanding event of these retirements is the feeding of the five thousand, the account of which is prefaced by the report of the twelve apostles, who had just returned from their first missionary tour. This is a glowing account of their work and their teaching. The latter item of this report is unusual in a missionary report. Matthew says that Jesus withdrew to a desert place apart when he heard of the death of John the Baptist. In this desert place the multitudes thronged from the cities, and this excited the tender compassion of Jesus because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Mark says that he taught them many things. His work here continued until the day was far spent, upon which the disciples besought him to send the multitudes away to buy food. Here begins the beautiful story of “Feeding the Five Thousand,” which is told by all four of the evangelists and does not need to be repeated in this expression, but there are certain facts and lessons here that need to be emphasized. First, there is the test of his disciples as to what they were willing to undertake. Second, this furnished the occasion for the great discourse of Joh 6 on the Bread of Life. Third, it was the occasion of sloughing off unworthy disciples. Fourth, it supplied the physical wants of the people. Fifth, there is here a most excellent lesson on order in doing things. Sixth, Christ is presented here as the great wonder-worker in supplying the needs of his people.
Following this miracle is the incident of Jesus walking on the sea. After feeding the five thousand Jesus retired to the mountain to pray and sent the disciples back across the sea in a boat. A storm arose and they were distressed, but on the troubled sea they saw Jesus walking and they were afraid. Out from the storm of their distress came the voice of Jesus: “It is I; be not afraid.” What a lesson for us! Jesus walks on the troubled sea. But Peter, impulsive Peter, must put the matter to a test and he receives the command to try his strength in walking on the sea, but the wind and the waves disturb his faith and he sinks, only to be rescued by the hand divine. Our Lord rebukes his “little faith,” as he does the “little faith” of others in two other instances in this division of the Harmony, (viz., on pp. 88, 95).
This incident made a profound impression on the disciples. Matthew says, “They that were in the boat worshiped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” Mark says, “They were sore amazed in themselves; for they understood not concerning the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” John says, “They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat.” There seems, at first sight, to be some discrepancy here, but these evangelists are speaking from different standpoints. Matthew seems to look at it from the standpoint of the effect in strengthening their faith in his divinity; John, from the standpoint of their scare when they first saw him, and Mark, from the standpoint of the preceding incident of “Feeding the Five Thousand.” Broadus says, “Mark (Mar 6:52 ) censures their astonishment at this miracle, for which the miracle of the loaves would have prepared them if their minds had not been stupid and dull. This language of Mark does not necessarily forbid the supposition that they were now convinced Jesus was divine; but it best falls in with the idea that they were at a lower standpoint.” They straightway landed at Gennesaret, according to Matthew and John, where the people came in great numbers to touch his garment that they might be healed. Mark’s description of this healing work of our Lord is most vivid, closing with the words, “as many as touched him were made whole.”
All this prepared the way for the great discourse of our Lord on the Bread of Life in Joh 6 (Harmony, pp. 81-82). This is a marvelously strong discourse on the spirituality of his kingdom. The introduction (Joh 6:22-25 ) explains the connection of this discourse with the miracle of the loaves and how the multitudes found Jesus after that event in Capernaum. In Joh 6:26-40 we have the first dialogue between them and Jesus in which Jesus reveals their purposes and exhorts them to seek the Bread of Life. Then they ask, “How?” and he explains that it is by accepting him whom the Father sent. Then they demand a sign, referring to the sign of the manna to the Israelites in the wilderness, upon which Jesus showed them the typical and spiritual import of the manna, explaining that it referred to him. In Joh 6:41-51 we have the second dialogue arising from their murmuring at his teaching, that he came down from heaven. Here he announced the great doctrine of God’s drawing in order to salvation, his relation to the Father and the nature of the salvation he brought as eternal, over against the perishable manna which their fathers ate in the wilderness. In Joh 6:52-59 we have the third dialogue arising from their strife among themselves about his teaching, in which Jesus shows them their utter hopelessness apart from him and his sacrifice. In Joh 6:60-65 we have the fourth dialogue, which was between Jesus and his disciples, growing out of their murmuring at his hard doctrine. Here he explains that the words which he had spoken were spiritual and life-giving, and then revealed the fact that one among them was an unbeliever. This he knew, says John, from the beginning. In Joh 6:66-71 we have the final effect of his discourse upon them, driving many of his disciples back, but confirming his immediate disciples in his divine mission as voiced by this first great confession of Peter: “We believe and know that thou art the Holy One of God.” But Jesus let them know that one of them was a devil. Note that this revelation of the betrayer was nearly a year before the revelation of Judas at the Passover supper (Joh 13 ), and shows that Jesus knew all the time that Judas would betray him. Note also that this discourse is progressive. Each dialogue brings a new revelation and the effect of this progress upon his audience is marked, finally driving them away from our Lord to walk with him no more, while the severity of the test brought forth from his disciples their strongest expression of faith in his divinity up to this time.
In section 60 (Mat 15:1-20 ; Mar 7:1-23 ; Joh 7:1 ) we have the account of another issue between Christ and the Pharisees at Capernaum. They sent an embassy to him from Jerusalem and asked why his disciples did not keep the tradition of the elders with regard to the washing of their hands, the full explanation of which is given by Mark and needs only a careful reading to be understood. To this Jesus responded with a charge of hypocrisy and quotes a prophecy of Isaiah which he applies to them. This prophecy has in it a double charge, (1) of emptiness, of heartlessness, in their service and (2) that they taught the doctrines and precepts of men. This applied to all their traditions, what a comment on the whole of the Jewish Talmud! Then he goes further and charges them with transgressing the commandment of God because of their tradition in respect to honoring parents. If they should say that their property was “Corban,” i.e., given to God, that exempted them, according to the Jewish tradition, which made void the word of God. Then he explained the fallacy of their tradition by showing that it was not what goes into a man that defiles him, but that defilement was an issue of the heart. But this offended the Pharisees, to which he replied to his disciples with the parable of the blind guides, which the disciples did not understand, as it applied to the matter under consideration. This called for a more elaborate explanation, that the heart and stomach of a man were vastly different and that sin issuing from the heart was the only true defilement of the man. Mark gives thirteen items in his list of sins coming out of the heart, and Matthew seven, but these are but illustrations of the principle that all sin issues from the heart.
Immediately following this issue with the authorities at Jerusalem, Jesus retired to the region of Tyre and Sidon, in the territory of Phoenicia, which is outside of the land of Israel. This retirement, as already explained, was caused by the fanaticism of his disciples in trying to make him king, and the hostility of the Jewish rulers. Phoenicia (see map) was located northwest of Palestine and contained two cities of importance Tyre and Sidon. It was in this territory and while on this retirement that Jesus healed the Syrophoenician, or Canaanitish woman’s daughter. The term “Canaanitish,” as used by Matthew, refers back to the time when the inhabitants of this section were called Canaanites. It is probable that the Jews continued to apply this name to the inhabitants of Phoenicia, though the after inhabitants may have been of later origin. To Matthew’s Jewish readers this word would show that she was a Gentile. (Broadus’ Commentary). But Mark says that she was a Greek, meaning a Gentile, and a Syrophoenician, meaning an inhabitant of the united countries of Syria and Phoenicia, a term used to distinguish this country from Libyphoenicia, or the Carthaginians. To Mark’s Gentile readers this name also would mean a Gentile. This country of Syria extended from the northern part of Palestine all the way up the Mediterranean coast to the headwaters of the Euphrates, following that river east to the great Syrian Desert, and thence south to the headwaters of the Jordan, including Antioch and Damascus, two cities well known to Bible history. This country has a vital connection with the Greeks. It was conquered by Alexander the Great, allotted to the Seleucids after his death, who built Antioch and ruled this country till it was taken by the Romans. This was in the fourth, third, and second centuries before Christ.
It was in this country Jesus sought retirement and rest for himself and disciples, but this rest was broken by the coming of the Syrophoenician woman to Jesus in behalf of her daughter. Jesus could not be hid because of his fame and his approachableness by those who were in distress. We find that, in every effort which he made at retirement, the people found him. So, this Canaanitish, Greek, Syrophoenician woman found him when he came into those parts. The facts of this case are as follows: This Syrophoenician woman had a little daughter who was grievsouly demonized. She heard of the presence of Jesus in those parts, came and besought him to cast forth the demon out of her. He made no answer. Then the disciples intervened and asked him to send her away, but he answered that he was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The woman personally renews her petition and begs for help, but Jesus tells her that it is not meet to give the children’s bread to the dogs. She answered that she would be satisfied with the crumbs, and this brought forth from the Saviour the highest commendation of her faith.
Now let us look at this picture again and see if we can find in it the lessons intended for us. First, let us look for the proofs of this woman’s faith. There are four of these: (1) Her address in which she calls him the Son of David; (2) she worshiped him; (3) she recognized Jewish priority; (4) her humility and importunity.
This scene was, perhaps, on the road and not in the house, which helps us to understand better some of the points in the story. The seeming indifference of Jesus was only to test and develop her faith. The intervention of the disciples was not to ask that she be dismissed without help, but, rather, to give her the blessing and let her go. Evidently the woman did not hear Christ’s reply to the disciples. Being in advance of the woman on the road, this conversation was not understood by her, which explains the next statement that “she came and worshiped him.” The statement of Jesus to the disciples that he was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel meant that he was unwilling to carry on a general ministry in Phoenicia, because his mission was to the Jews. The “crumb” idea here introduced by the woman and acted upon by Christ does not conflict with this idea of avoiding a general ministry in Phoenicia. This referred to the smaller blessing to a Gentile dog which would not take any of the children’s bread. She seems here to argue that Jesus is now away from the Jews and not feeding them. So a blessing in this isolated case would not interfere with the blessings for the Jews. The dogs here referred to were little dogs. The word in the Greek is diminutive and means the little house dogs allowed to run around in the house and under their master’s table. The woman was willing not only to be called a dog, but to be called a little dog and to have a little dog’s share of food. This incident is also an illustration of the scriptural teaching that we should pray for the salvation of others who are not even interested.
After the incident of the Syrophoenician woman Jesus hastened to return to the land of Israel. Going from the borders of Tyre and Sidon he passed through Sidon, thence across to the east side of the Jordan and down on the east side of the Sea of Galilee through the borders of Decapolis. This was intentional, to avoid the territory of Herod, who was suspicious of Jesus. As soon as he arrived they brought him a deaf and dumb man whom he healed, and charged not to tell it, but he published it the more, which resulted in their bringing the multitudes of the unfortunate to him for a blessing. He healed all of these and then fed four thousand, the circumstances and particulars of which are similar to the feeding of the five thousand.
Then, sending away the multitudes, he crossed over the Sea of Galilee to the borders of Magadan, where he was met again by the Pharisees demanding a sign, but sighing deeply in his spirit he rebuked them and left them, never to return to this part again to teach. This text illustrates the grieving of the Holy Spirit. On leaving here he went across the Sea of Galilee to Bethsaida, where he tarried a short time on his way to Caesarea Philippi. When they arrived at Bethsaida the disciples were reminded by a little parable of Jesus that they had forgotten to take bread with them. This parable referred to the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, which was their doctrine, but the disciples did not understand it and thought that he referred to their forgetting the bread. Then he issued a sharp rebuke to his disciples as follows: (1) for hardness of heart; (2) for dimness of perception; (3) for a torpid memory; (4) for lack of faith. Then they understood that he referred to the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Does teaching, or doctrine, leaven? It seems to have leavened them. Does it make any difference what we believe? Certainly there is a moral quality of belief.
At Bethsaida was brought to him a blind man whom he carried out of the village. He healed him by the use of means; at least apparently, and gradually, thus illustrating the gradual perception of conversion. Then he sent him away and would not even permit him to go into the village. This case is very similar to the case of the deaf and dumb whom he healed in the borders of Decapolis. In each case he took the person out and healed him privately. In each case he also used means, apparently. Why this method in these two cases particularly? On the point of the “why” here we cannot be dogmatic. Perhaps it was to prevent excitement as far as possible by making it appear that he used means; that he was healing more in the natural way and thus avoid the excitement that usually followed his regular method.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the theme of Part V of the Harmony?
2. What was the time and what the time limits of this division?
3. How many retirements in this period and where are they found in the Harmony?
4. What was the occasion and place of each?
5. What was the first outstanding event of this period of retirements and how is it prefaced?
6. What, in order, are the events which led up to the feeding of the five thousand?
7. Tell the story of the feeding of the five thousand.
8. What are the lessons of this incident?
9. Give the story of Jesus walking on the sea and its lessons.
10. How do you harmonize Matthew, Mark, and John on this incident?
11. Where did they land and what incidents there?
12. What was the occasion and nature of the great discourse in Joh 6 ?
13. Give an analysis of this discourse, showing its introduction, its dialogues, the progress of the thought in these parts of the discourse, the progress of its effect on the enemy and its effect on the disciples of Jesus.
14. What issue raised between Christ and the Pharisees at Capernaum and how did Christ meet it?
13. Give an account of the progress of this issue and show the final outcome of it.
16. Bid Jesus ever leave the land of Israel? If so, why?
17. In what country were Tyre and Sidon?
18. State the geographical position of Phoenicia.
19. Explain the terms “Ganaanitiah,” “Greek,” and “Syrophoenician” as applied to the woman who approached Christ in these parts.
20. What is the extent of Syria?
21. What, briefly, was Syria’s connection with the Greeks, and how long since to this incident?
22. Why should Jesus desire to remain incognito here?
23. How was the rest broken?
24. Why could not Jesus be hid?
25. What are the facts of this case in their order?
26. What was the proofs of this woman’s faith?
27. Was this scene in the house or out doors?
28. Why did Jesus so act in this case?
29. Did his disciples ask that she be dismissed without help?
30. Why should Jesus avoid a general ministry in Phoenicia?
31. Explain how “crumbs” did not conflict with this idea.
32. What kind of dogs here referred to and what the import?
33. What is the lesson here on praying for others not interested?
34. Trace on the map the journey of Jesus from Tyre to the neighborhood of the Sea of Galilee. Why this course?
35. What were the events of his stay in this section?
36. Where did he go from there and what were the events at the next place?
37. Where then did he go, and what important lesson did he there teach his disciples and how?
38. What are the items of his rebuke here and what the importance of doctrine as here indicated?
39. Give the incident of the healing of the blind man here and its lessons.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
Ver. 10. See Mat 14:13 ; Mar 6:30 ; Mar 6:32 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
10 17. ] RETURN OF THE APOSTLES. JESUS RETIRES TO BETHSAIDA. FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND. Mat 14:13-21 .Mar 6:30-44Mar 6:30-44 .Joh 6:1-13Joh 6:1-13 . Compare the notes on each of these.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
10. ] He went in a ship (Matt., Mark, John), of which our Evangelist seems not to have been aware; for we should gather from our text that it was by land . A great difficulty also attends the mention of Bethsaida here. At first sight, it would appear to be the well-known Bethsaida, on the western bank of the lake, not far from Capernaum. But (1) our Lord was on this side before , see ch. Luk 8:37 ; and (2) Mark ( Mar 6:45 ) relates that after the miracle of the loaves He caused His disciples to cross over to Bethsaida. But there were two places of this name: another Bethsaida (Julias) lay at the top of the lake, on the Jordan: see Stanley, p. 381, edn. 3: Van de Velde, index, sub voce. Now it is very likely that our Lord may have crossed the lake to this Bethsaida, and St. Luke, finding that the miracle happened near Bethsaida, and not being aware of the crossing of the lake , may have left the name thus without explanation, as being that of the other Bethsaida. Mark gives us the exact account: that the Lord and the disciples, who went by sea , were perceived by the multitude who went by land , , and arrived before Him. How any of these accounts could have been compiled with a knowledge of the others, I cannot imagine.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 9:10-17 . Feeding of the multitude (Mat 14:13-21 , Mar 6:30-44 , Joh 6:1-14 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Luk 9:10 . The Twelve return from their mission and report what they had done ; Mk. adds and taught . , withdrew, here and in Luk 5:16 , only, in N. T. The reason of this retirement does not appear in Lk.’s narrative, nor whether Jesus with His disciples went by land or by sea.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Luke
BREAD FROM HEAVEN
Luk 9:10 – Luk 9:17
The Apostles needed rest after their trial trip as evangelists. John the Baptist’s death had just been told to Christ. The Passover was at hand, and many pilgrims were on the march. Prudence and care for His followers as well as Himself suggested a brief retirement, and our Lord sought it at the Eastern Bethsaida, a couple of miles up the Jordan from its point of entrance to the lake. Matthew and Mark tell us that He went by boat, which Luke does not seem to have known. Mark adds that the curious crowd, which followed on foot, reached the place of landing before Him, and so effectually destroyed all hope of retirement. It was a short walk round the north-western part of the head of the lake, and the boat would be in sight all the way, so that there was no escape for its passengers.
Luke records the self-oblivious cordiality of Christ’s reception of the intrusive crowd. Without a sigh or sign of impatience, He ‘welcomed them’-a difficult thing to do, and one which few of us could have achieved. The motives of most of them can have been nothing higher than what leads vulgar people of all ranks and countries to buzz about distinguished men, utterly regardless of delicacy or considerateness. They want to see the notoriety, no matter what it costs him. But Jesus received them patiently, because, as Mark touchingly tells, He was ‘moved with pity,’ and saw in their rude crowding round Him the token of their lack of guides and teachers. They seemed to Him, not merely a mob of intrusive sight-seers, but like a huddled mass of unshepherded sheep.
Christ’s heart felt more lovingly than ours because His eye saw deeper, and His eye saw deeper because His heart felt more lovingly. If we would live nearer Him, we should see, as He did, enough in every man to draw our pity and help, even though he may jostle and interfere with us.
The short journey to Bethsaida would be in the early morning, and a long day of toil followed instead of the hoped-for quiet. Note that singular expression, ‘Them that had need of healing He healed.’ Why not simply ‘them that were sick’? Probably to bring out the thought that misery made unfailing appeal to Him, and that for Him to see need was to supply it. His swift compassion, His all-sufficient power to heal, and the conditions of receiving His healing, are all wrapped up in the words. Coming to the miracle itself, we may throw the narrative into three parts-the preliminaries, the miracle, and the abundant overplus.
I. Our Lord leads up to the miracle by forcing home on the minds of the disciples the extent of the need and the utter inadequacy of their resources to meet it, and by calling on them and the crowd for an act of obedience which must have seemed to many of them ludicrous.
The strange suggestion that the disciples should feed the crowd must have appeared to them absurd, but it was meant to bring out the clear recognition of the smallness of their supply. Therein lie great lessons. Commands are given and apparent duties laid on us, in order that we may find out how impotent we are to do them. It can never be our duty to do what we cannot do, but it is often our duty to attempt tasks to which we are conspicuously inadequate, in the confidence that He who gives them has laid them on us to drive us to Himself, and there to find sufficiency. The best preparation of His servants for their work in the world is the discovery that their own stores are small. Those who have learned that it is their task to feed the multitude, and who have said ‘We have no more than such and such scanty resources,’ are prepared to be the distributors of His all-sufficient supply.
What a strange scene that must have been as the hundred groups of fifty each arranged themselves on the green grass, in the setting sunlight, waiting for a meal of which there were no signs! It took a good deal of faith to seat the crowd, and some faith for the crowd to sit. How expectant they would be! How they would wonder what was to be done next! How some of them would laugh, and some sneer, and all watch the event! We, too, have to put ourselves in the attitude to receive gifts of which sense sees no sign; and if, in obedience to Christ’s word, we sit down expecting Him to find the food, we shall not be disappointed, though the table be spread in the wilderness, and neither storehouse nor kitchen be in sight.
II. The miracle itself has some singular features.
All the accounts tell of Christ’s ‘blessing.’ Matthew and Mark do not say what He blessed, and perhaps the best supplement is ‘God,’ but Luke says that He blessed the food. What He blesses is blessed; for His words are deeds, and communicate the blessing which they speak. The point at which the miraculous multiplication of the food came in is left undetermined, but perhaps the difference in the tenses of the verbs hints at it. ‘Blessed’ and ‘brake’ are in the tense which describes a single act; ‘gave’ is in that which describes a continuous repeated action. The pieces grew under His touch, and the disciples always found His hands full when they came back with their own empty. But wherever the miraculous element appeared, creative power was exercised by Jesus; and none the less was it creative, because there was the ‘substratum’ of the loaves and fishes. Too much stress has been laid on their being used, and some commentators have spoken as if without them the miracle could not have been wrought. But surely the distinction between pure creation and multiplication of a thing already existing vanishes when a loaf is ‘multiplied’ so as to feed a thousand men.
The symbolical aspect of the miracle is set forth in the great discourse which follows it in John’s Gospel. Jesus is the ‘Bread of God which came down from heaven.’ That Bread is broken for us. Not in His Incarnation alone, but in His Death, is He the food of the world; and we have not only to ‘eat His flesh,’ but to ‘drink His blood,’ if we would live. Nor can we lose sight of the symbol of His servants’ task. They are the distributors of the heaven-sent bread. If they will but take their poor stores to Jesus, with the acknowledgment of their insufficiency, He will turn them into inexhaustible supplies, and they will find that ‘there is that scattereth, and yet increaseth.’ What Christ blesses is always enough.
III. The abundance left over is significant.
His provision is more than enough for a hungry world, and they who share it out among their fellows have their own possession of it increased. There is no surer way to receive the full sweetness and blessing of the Gospel than to carry it to some hungry soul. These full baskets teach us, too, that In Christ’s gift of Himself as the Bread of Life there is ever more than at any given moment we can appropriate. The Christian’s spiritual experiences have ever an element of infinity in them; and we feel that if we were able to take in more, there would be more for us to take. Other food cloys and does not satisfy, and leaves us starving. Christ satisfies and does not cloy, and we have always remaining, yet to be enjoyed, the boundless stores which neither eternity will age nor a universe feeding on them consume. The Christian’s capacity of partaking of Christ grows with what it feeds on, and he alone is safe in believing that ‘To-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 9:10-11
10When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. Taking them with Him, He withdrew by Himself to a city called Bethsaida. 11But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.
Luk 9:10 “When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done” Jesus tried to provide a time ofdebriefing, rest, and recuperation, but from Luk 9:11, it is obvious that a crowd followed Him. It is amazing how Jesus always had time for common people (welcoming, speaking about the Kingdom, and curing those in need). But He needed time alone with the Twelve. See Robert Coleman, Master Plan of Discipleship.
“to a city” There are several textual variants.
1. “a city” MSS P75, cf8 i1, B, L, X (UBS4 gives it a B rating)
2. “a town” MS D
3. “a desert place of a city” MSS A, C, W
4. “a desert place” MSS cf8 i*,2 (similar to Mat 14:13; Mar 6:32)
Again the variants do not affect the meaning of the text.
“Bethsaida” This is a city on the north side of the Sea of Tiberias (cf. Joh 6:1, Sea of Galilee). The name means “house of hunting.” This was the home of Peter, Andrew, and Philip (cf. Joh 1:44; Joh 12:21). Philip the tetrarch had enlarged this village into a city and renamed it Julias, after Augustus Caesar’s daughter (cf. Josephus Antiq. 18.2.1).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
apostles. See the Twelve, Luk 9:1.
Bethsaida. Peculiar to Luke. See App-169. Aramaean. App-94.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
10-17.] RETURN OF THE APOSTLES. JESUS RETIRES TO BETHSAIDA. FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND. Mat 14:13-21. Mar 6:30-44. Joh 6:1-13. Compare the notes on each of these.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 9:10-17
22. THE FIVE THOUSAND FED
Luk 9:10-17
10 And the apostles, when they were returned,-The twelve returned in twos, as they went out, and told Jesus what they had done. They gave a faithful report of what was done, but neither of the writers of the gospels tells us what their report was or what they did. Some think that their success was small compared with that of the seventy. If it had been great, and had excited their wonder, it would have been natural for some of the writers to have recorded that fact. Jesus took them away from the multitude and went to “a city called Bethsaida.” Here Luke speaks of the twelve as “apostles”; the word means “persons sent forth.” Jesus gave this title (Luk 6:13) to the twelve when he selected them from among ‘his disciples. Mark appropriately applies this title now to the twelve just returning from their mission. “Bethsaida” means “house of fish”; it was the native place of Andrew, Peter, and Philip. (Joh 1:44; Joh 12:21.) It was on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus and his disciples had gone there for rest, but the multitude would not let them have time to rest.
11 But the multitudes perceiving it followed him:-This miracle of feeding the five thousand is recorded by all four of the writers of the gospels. Compare Mat 14:13-21; Mar 6:30-44; Joh 6:1-14 with Luke’s record. Jesus had withdrawn with his disciples from the people without making known the place where he would go. Matthew and Mark state that the people followed him on foot, which was easy enough to do if Jesus went by boat across the lake. The popularity of Jesus among the common people and their eagerness to hear his teaching and witness his miraculous power are here very briefly presented. Jesus welcomed them instead of being displeased that they should encroach upon his retirement. Matthew and Mark state that he was moved with compassion at the sight of the multitude; instead of dismissing them that he and his disciples might enjoy quiet, he spoke unto them concerning the kingdom of God. The idea of the original is that he continued the work of “teaching” and “healing” till the day was far spent.
12 And the day began to wear away;-The fact that it was near the close of the day suggested to the twelve that Jesus should dismiss the multitude that they might go and find food and lodging in some of the villages not very far away. This implies that there were villages and places not far away sufficient to provide for a crowd of five thousand men with their women and children. The disciples reminded Jesus that they were “in a desert place.” This means that they were away from villages and thoroughfares where lodging and food could be obtained.
13-15 But he said unto them,-Jesus commanded his disciples to give the multitude something to eat, declaring that there was no necessity for sending them away. (Mat 14:16.) This was done to excite their expectation and to strengthen their faith. Philip was addressed in order to try his faith; he was asked where food could be obtained; he answered that two hundred pennyworth, or about thirty dollars, would not be sufficient. (Joh 6:5-7.) The twelve apostles then asked if they should go and buy that amount. (Mar 6:37.) They had discovered that there were five loaves and two fishes, but they observed that this was a very small amount to feed such a multitude. However, Jesus commanded that the five thousand men be seated in companies of about fifty in each company. The disciples followed his instruction and the multitude was seated. Luke gives only the number of men present; Mat 14:21 records that there were five thousand men “besides women and children.” Some have estimated that there were probably seven or eight thousand in all. It will be observed that Jesus commands order even in feeding the multitude. The plain where they were seated was covered with grass.
16 And he took the five loaves and the two fishes,-Jesus took the loaves and fishes and implored the blessings of God on them. Joh 6:11 says that he gave thanks. The giving of thanks is included in blessing. The word translated “bless” is used in praising God for favors (Luk 1:64);also in invoking God’s blessing (Luk 2:34); also in God’s conferring favors (Heb 6:14; Act 3:26). These three senses really met in Jesus. He praised God and implored his blessing. The same diversity is seen in the account of the Lord’s Supper. Matthew (Mat 26:26) and Mark (Mar 14:22) have “blessed”; Luke (Luk 22:19) and Paul (1Co 11:24) have “gave thanks.” The usual way of preparing bread for eating was by breaking it; the scriptures speak of “breaking bread,” but never of “cutting it.”
17 And they ate, and were all filled:-Jesus “blessed” the food, gave it to his disciples, and they distributed it to the multitude. There are three facts stated here that should be noted, namely: (1) “they ate”; (2) “were all filled”; (3) twelve basketfuls were taken up of the broken pieces. Joh 6:12 records the fact that Jesus told them to gather up the fragments so that nothing should be lost. We know the number of baskets was twelve, and that each basket was filled, but we do not know the size of the baskets. There remained of the loaves and fishes much more than was had at the beginning. Probably the baskets were the small provision baskets in which a Jew commonly carried his food to avoid pollution when going abroad, or among other people. In the miracle of the four thousand soon after, the basket was the larger rope basket. In the larger basket Paul was let down from the wall at Damascus and escaped from the fury of his enemies. (Act 9:25.)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the apostles: Luk 10:17, Zec 1:10, Mar 6:30, Heb 13:17
he took: Mat 14:13, Mar 2:7, Mar 6:31, Mar 6:32
Bethsaida: Mat 11:21, Mar 6:45, Joh 1:44
Reciprocal: Mat 10:2 – apostles Mar 8:22 – Bethsaida Luk 10:13 – which Luk 14:21 – and showed Joh 6:1 – these
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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There were times when Jesus wished for private consultation with his apostles. Bethsaida was a city on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 9:10-17. THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND. See on Mat 14:13-21; Mar 6:30-44; Joh 6:1-13. Lukes account presents no new details, except the mention of the locality: to a city called Bethsaida. The words translated: a desert place belonging to, are not genuine; and were probably inserted to make the various accounts correspond. There need be no difficulty here. The Bethsaida spoken of was Bethsaida Julias, on the eastern side of the lake. The other Evangelists expressly state that our Lord and His disciples went in a boat thither; Luke omits all reference to this. As the Twelve had been preaching in Galilee, Eastern Bethsaida would be across the lake, and so situated, that the easiest way thither would be by sea, and yet that the multitudes could go on foot (Matthew, Mark) round the head of the lake. (It is doubtful whether there was another Bethsaida.) Comp, on Mat 14:22; Mar 6:45.
Welcomed them. This hints at what is more fully stated by Mark (Mar 6:34.) The account of the miracle itself presents no new details; but it is significant that Luke, who says nothing of the second feeding of the four thousand, uses the word for baskets (Luk 9:17), which all three Evangelists employ in telling of this miracle, and not the one which Matthew and Mark each uses twice in speaking of the other miracle. This is the more remarkable, as we have four accounts of the one miracle, two of the other, and two allusions to both. In all this distinction is preserved. This miracle, so profound in its meaning, the only one mentioned by all the Evangelists, is the rock on which all destructive criticism makes shipwreck. Where God would give bread, such critics find a stone, a stone of stumbling.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
St. Luke here gives a short account of several material passages, as,
1. Concerning the apostles’ return to Christ after their mission and sending forth; they acquaint their Master how they had executed their office, and discharged the trust he had reposed in them.
2. He withdraws privately into a desert place from the multitude, that he might enjoy himself and his disciples, but there the people find him out, and flock after him; and Christ, whose meat it was by day, and sleep by night, to do good, embraces the opportunity, bestowing upon their souls instruction, reproof and counsel: upon their bodies, health and healing: teaching us by the example to mix spiritual alms with bodily relief. We must be in fee with the body sometimes, that we may come at the soul.
Happy is that Christian whom God has made both able and willing to intermix spiritual alms with corporeal, and knows how to feed two at once, soul and body both! This is the duty of all, but especially of spiritual persons. The Lord gives us wisdom and grace to manage it to advantage!
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Luk 9:10-17. And the apostles being returned, told him all that they had done See notes on Mat 14:13-21; and Mar 6:30-44, where this whole paragraph is largely explained.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. The Multiplication of the Loaves: Luk 9:10-17.
This narrative is the only one in the entire Galilean ministry which is common to the four evangelists (Mat 14:13 et seq.; Mar 6:30 et seq.; John 6). It forms, therefore, an important mark of connection between the synoptical narrative and John’s. This miracle is placed, in all four Gospels alike, at the apogee of the Galilean ministry. Immediately after it, in the Syn., Jesus begins to disclose to His apostles the mystery of His approaching sufferings (Luk 9:18-27; Mat 16:13-28; Mar 8:27-38); in John this miracle leads to an important crisis in the work of Jesus in Galilee, and the discourse which follows alludes to the approaching violent death of the Lord (Joh 6:53-56).
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
LXIII.
FIRST WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD’S TERRITORY AND RETURN.
(Spring, A. D. 29.)
Subdivision A.
RETURN OF THE TWELVE AND RETIREMENT
TO THE EAST SHORE OF GALILEE.
aMATT. XIV. 13; bMARK VI. 30-32; cLUKE IX. 10; dJOHN VI. 1.
b30 And the apostles gather themselves together unto Jesus; cwhen they were returned, band they told {cdeclared unto} bhim all things, whatsoever they had done, and whatsoever they had taught. [They had fulfilled the mission on which Jesus had sent them, and on returning each pair made to him a full report of their work.] 31 And he saith unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place [an uninhabited place], and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. [Need of rest was one reason for retiring to the thinly settled shores east of the lake. Matthew proceeds to give us another reason for his retiring.] a13 Now d1 After these things awhen Jesus heard it [Heard about John’s death. The excitement caused by this event, and the efforts to use Jesus as a leader in revolt, as indicated at the close of the last section, constituted another reason why Jesus should withdraw from the multitude], che took them [the apostles], and withdrew athence capart b32 And they went away in the {aa} boat, dto the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. cto a city called Bethsaida. bto a desert place apart. [They sailed to the northeastern shore of the lake to a plain lying near the city of Bethsaida Julius.] [374]
[FFG 374]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
CHAPTER 32
FEEDING THE MULTITUDES
Mat 14:13-21; Mar 6:32-44; Luk 9:10-17; & Joh 6:1-14. Mark: And they departed, into an uninhabited place apart, in a ship. And the multitudes saw them going, and many recognized Him; and they continued to run on foot from all the cities, and come before them, and come together to Him. They sailed from the city of Capernaum, on the northern coast of the Galilean Sea, and, as Luke says, they went into an uninhabited region of the city of Bethsaida; i.e., into a portion of country belonging to that city. Bethsaida is on the northwest coast, and Tiberias on the west coast. This uninhabited region i.e., a natural parkway off the coast, and perhaps about midway between these two cities. N.B. The Galilean Sea at that time was literally fenced in with cities, dotting the coast seventy-five miles in compass. Now, when He proceeds with the Twelve to embark for a rest in that desert place, the people in the cities round on the coast have a full view of them, and seeing the direction they are running, multitudes run around overland, actually arriving in the park before they do, while others come on in thronging multitudes. I saw all of this situation, and actually sailed over the route here specified, visiting all of the cities here mentioned. So you see how the eager multitudes defeated the plan of taking a rest, giving them an audience of about ten thousand instead of the solitude amid trees and rocks.
Joh 6:3 : And Jesus came into the mountain, and was sitting there with His disciples. The sea of Galilee, being depressed before the oceanic level seven hundred feet, as a natural consequence is surrounded on all sides by highlands, some of them (e.g., Mt. Hattin, on which Saladin, the Moslem general, defeated the Crusaders, thus putting an end to Christian rule in Galilee, A. D. 1187; and the Mount of Beatitudes, north of Capernaum) rising to great eminence. I saw the region off the coast on the mountain slope between Bethsaida and Tiberias, where this immense gathering took place. And the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was nigh. N.B. Our Lord began His ministry at the Passover by purifying the temple driving out all of the buyers and sellers. Having preached two or three weeks in Judea, He then came to Galilee, passing through and preaching in Samaria. Remaining in Galilee to the close of the year, He again attends the Passover at Jerusalem, immediately after which He returns to Galilee, where He remains, making, in all, three circuits throughout the country, and finally sending out His twelve apostles, heading six evangelistic bands. Now we see another year of our Lords ministry has gone by, and this great multitude, generally estimated at five thousand, but in all probability at least twice that number, as Matthew says there were five thousand, besides women and children, who, as a rule, constitute the larger half of an audience. The Jews were accustomed to go up to Jerusalem to their great solemnities by whole families, on foot, with a few donkeys and camels along to carry luggage, feeble old people, and babies, and frequently driving along sacrificial animals; thus going in great crowds for company and security against robbers and marauders. As we see here they were right on the eve of the Passover, doubtless this multitude had assembled in view of going on to Jerusalem, and attending their greatest national festival, which commemorated the birth of their nation.
Mar 6:34 : And Jesus, going out, looked on the vast multitude, and was moved with compassion in their behalf, because they were as sheep having no shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. We again find this frequently repeated affirmation of our Lord, Sheep having no shepherd. N.B. These were not heathens, nor outsiders, but the bona fide members of the Jewish Church, with their regular pastors, officers, and Church services. Still you see that in the Divine estimation they had no shepherds; i.e., no competent spiritual guides. How exceedingly pertinent does that alarming statement apply to the fallen Churches and worldly clergy of the present day! And it already being a late hour, His disciples, coming to Him, say, That this is a desert place, and already the hour is late; send them away, that having gone into the surrounding country and villages, they may purchase for themselves bread; for they have nothing which they may eat. And responding, He said to them, You give them to eat. And they say to Him, Having gone away, must we buy two hundred pennies worth of bread and give them to eat? Evidently having only two hundred pennies in the apostolical treasury. And He says to them, How much bread have you? Go and see. And having ascertained, they say, Five loaves and two fishes. He commanded them all to sit down by companies on the green grass. And they sat by hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples that they may distribute to them; and He divided out the two fishes to all.
Joh 6:12 : And when they were filled, He says to His disciples, Gather ye up the remaining fragments, in order that nothing may be lost. Then they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments from the five barley loaves which remained to those who had eaten.
Mat 14:21 : And those eating were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Evidently, as you see, at least ten thousand people, fed bountifully with the five barley loaves and two fishes, about enough for five persons, as the loaves in that country are generally small. That country is notorious for baskets, and generally very large, holding several bushels. A common sight at Jerusalem is a woman coming in, sitting on her little donkey, with one of these great baskets on either side filled with market stuff i.e., vegetables and fruits and a baby in her arms, and no bridle on the animal; sitting astride, apparently very comfortable, and frequently singing, as I supposed, for the entertainment of the baby. Hence, one basket would hold, in all probability, ten times the original amount of the whole supply with which they began to eat. Now ten thousand have eaten, and twelve baskets full of fragments were taken up. What a wonderful flood of spiritual truth pours in from this transcendent miracle! You go into an utterly destitute place like this to hold a revival-meeting. You can hardly rake and scrape fire enough on the old smoldering chunks to kindle into a flame. When once you get it started, it rolls a deluge over the neighborhood, running the devil out, and bringing heaven down. A hundred red-hot evangelists rise up from that meeting, and carry away fire enough to start a hundred new revivals. Spiritualities are the very opposite of materialities, as Gods ways are different from mans. In temporal things, the more we use, the less we have. In spiritual, precisely the reverse is true: the more we use and give away, the more we have. You may hardly have religion enough to keep Satan from taking you, and go out and get some poor fellow gloriously converted, and, to your surprise, you will find that you have at least ten times as much as you had before you began this good work.
Joh 6:14 : Therefore the people, seeing the miracle which Jesus performed, continued to say, That this is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world; i.e., the Christ, the Messiah of God, the Redeemer of Israel, the Shiloh, the Savior for whom Israel has waited four thousand years; thus arousing and electrifying the multitude with the most thrilling enthusiasm, as the Jews have been listening to His preaching and diagnosing His miracles these two whole years, wondering if He is really the Messiah of prophecy, and at the same time ready to rally and crown Him King, as they all distinctly understand that the Christ is to be their King, break the Roman yoke, set them free, and even transcend the glory of David and Solomon, and reign over them forever; thus infelicitously mixing up the prophecies appertaining to His first and second coming, and running into a bewilderment, which, maneuvered by Satan, conduced awfully to blind their eyes and defeat their diagnosis of Messiahship in Jesus.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 9:10-17. The Feeding of the Multitude (Mar 6:31-44*, Mat 14:13-21*).Lk., like Mt., abbreviates Mk He fixes the scene at Bethsaida; in Mk. Jesus crosses the lake to that town afterwards, but perhaps Mk. is wrong and means Capernaum.
Lk. omits the walking of Jesus on the water, and other material found in Mar 6:45 to Mar 8:26, e.g. (a) the feeding of the 4000, (b) the debate on the washing of hands and the traditions of the elders, and (c) the healing of the Greek womans daughter. He may have deemed (a) needless repetition, (b) uninteresting to Gentile readers, (c) offensive to the same circle, or at any rate because it was distinctly an exceptional case for Jesus. A few small pieces of this Marcan block are used later. It is possible, of course, that Lk. did not deliberately omit all this material; it may have been accidentally omitted by him, or it may not have been contained in the copy of Mk. used by him. See Oxford Studies in the Synoptic Problem, pp. 61ff., 389ff.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
9:10 {3} And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a {c} desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
(3) They that follow Christ will lack nothing, not even in the wilderness.
(c) The word signifies a desert: note, this was not in the town Bethsaida, but part of the fields belonging to the town.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The feeding of the 5,000 9:10-17 (cf. Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; John 6:1-13)
This is the only miracle that all four Gospel evangelists recorded. It is important because it is the climax of Jesus’ miracles that authenticated His person as divine (cf. Psa 146:7). [Note: Edersheim, 1:677.] It was perhaps the most forceful demonstration of Jesus’ deity to the disciples. Jesus performed this miracle primarily for their benefit though also out of compassion for the people. Luke recorded no crowd reaction to it. His account contrasts the inadequacy of the disciples with Jesus’ ability to help the crowd. Jesus’ compassion for the people also contrasts with the disciples’ unconcern.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
This transitional verse marks the end of the special mission of the Twelve (Luk 9:1-6). Luke now called them "apostles" (missionaries) again (cf. Luk 6:13) probably in anticipation of their ministry in Acts as Jesus’ authorized representatives. They reported to Jesus as their authority (cf. Act 14:26-28). Jesus then took them privately to the region of Bethsaida Julius for rest (Mar 6:31) and further instruction. This town stood near the northeast shore of Lake Galilee, just east of the Jordan River.
"As the popular speaker Vance Havner used to say, ’If we don’t come apart and rest, we’ll just come apart.’" [Note: Wiersbe, 1:205.]