Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 15:32-38

"And Jesus called unto him his disciples, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat: and I would not send them away fasting, lest haply they faint on the way. And the disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so many loaves in a desert place as to fill so great a multitude? And Jesus said unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few small fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves and the fishes; and he gave thanks and brake, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full. And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides women and children." — Matthew 15:32-38 (ASV)

St. Jerome: Christ first took away the infirmities of the sick and afterward supplied food to those who had been healed. He also calls His disciples to tell them what He is about to do: “Then Jesus called his disciples to him, and said, ‘I have compassion on the multitude.’” He does this to give masters an example of sharing their counsel with the young and their disciples, or so that through this dialogue they might come to understand the greatness of the miracle.

St. John Chrysostom: For when the multitude came to be healed, they had not dared to ask for food. But He who loves mankind and has care for all creatures gives it to them without their asking, which is why He says, “I have compassion on the multitude.”¹

So that no one could say they had brought provisions with them for the journey, He says, “Because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat.” For even if they had food when they arrived, it was now gone. For this reason, He did not perform the miracle on the first or second day, but on the third, when everything they might have brought with them was consumed. In this way, having first been placed in a state of need, they would receive the food that was provided with a keener appetite.

He shows that they had come from far away and had nothing left when He says, “And I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint on the way.”

Yet He does not immediately proceed to work the miracle. He does this to rouse the disciples' attention by questioning them, so that they might show their faith by saying to Him, “Create loaves.” And although Christ had done many things during the previous miracle so that they would remember it—making them distribute the loaves and divide the baskets among themselves—they were still not fully prepared, as what follows reveals: “And his disciples say to him, ‘From where could we get so much bread in the wilderness as to feed so great a multitude?’”

They spoke this way from the weakness of their own thoughts, yet in doing so, they made the miracle that followed beyond suspicion. For so that no one might suspect the loaves had been brought from a nearby village, this miracle was performed in the wilderness, far from any villages.

Then, to arouse His disciples' thoughts, He asks them a question that might call the previous miracle to their minds: “And Jesus says to them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ They said to him, ‘Seven, and a few little fish.’”

But they do not add, “But what are they among so many?” as they had said before, for they had advanced somewhat, even though they did not yet comprehend the whole situation. Admire the Apostles' love of truth; though they are the writers, they do not conceal their own great faults. It is no small self-accusation to have forgotten such a great miracle so soon.

Observe their wisdom in another respect as well: they had so overcome their appetite and taken so little care for their own meals that after three days in the desert, they had only seven loaves with them. He also does some other things similar to what had been done before. He makes them sit down on the ground, and the bread multiplies in the hands of the disciples, as it follows: “And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.”

St. Jerome: Since we have spoken of this above, it would be tedious to repeat what has already been said. We will therefore only dwell on the particulars in which this miracle differs from the previous one.²

St. John Chrysostom: The outcome of the two miracles is different: “And they took up what was left of the broken pieces, seven baskets full. Now those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children.”

Why are there fewer fragments in this miracle than in the former one, even though not as many people ate? It is either because the basketⁱ in this miracle has a larger capacity than the basketⁱ in the former, or so that by this point of difference they might remember the two separate miracles. For this reason, He previously made the number of baskets equal to the number of the disciples, but now makes it equal to the number of the loaves.

Remigius of Auxerre: In this Gospel reading, we must consider in Christ the work of both His humanity and His divinity. In having compassion on the multitudes, He shows that He has the feelings of human frailty; in the multiplication of the loaves and the feeding of the multitudes, the working of His divinity is shown. Thus, the error of Eutychesⁱ, who said that in Christ there was only one nature, is overthrown here.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Surely it is not out of place to suggest, concerning this miracle, that if any of the Evangelists who had not recorded the miracle of the five loaves had related this one of the seven, he would have been thought to have contradicted the others. But because those who related the one also related the other, no one is puzzled; it is understood at once that they were two separate miracles.³

We have said this so that wherever anything is found that was done by the Lord, in which the accounts of any two Evangelists seem irreconcilable, we may understand them as two distinct occurrences, with one related by one Evangelist and the other by another.

Glossa Ordinaria: It should be noted that the Lord first removes their sicknesses and after that feeds them. This is because sin must first be wiped away, and then the soul can be fed with the words of God.⁴

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Just as that first multitude He fed corresponds to the believing people among the Jews, so this one is compared to the people of the Gentiles, with the number four thousand denoting an innumerable number of people from the four corners of the earth.

St. Jerome: For there are not five thousand, but four thousand. The number four is always used in a good sense; a four-sided stone is firm and does not rock, and for this reason the Gospels were also sacredly given in this number.

Also, in the previous miracle, because the people were neighbors to the five sensesⁱ, it is the disciples, and not the Lord, who calls their condition to mind. But here the Lord Himself says that He has compassion on them, “because they continue now three days with Him”; that is, they believed in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, they spend the whole time of the Lord's passion with the Lord. This is either because when they would come to baptism, they would confess their belief in His passion and resurrection, or because throughout the entire time of the Lord's passion they are joined to Him by fasting in a kind of union of suffering.

Rabanus Maurus: Or, this is said because in all of time there have been only three periods when grace was given: the first, before the Law; the second, under the Law; and the third, under grace. The fourth period is in heaven, and as we journey toward it, we are refreshed along the way.

Remigius of Auxerre: Or, it is because by correcting through penitence the sins they have committed in thought, word, and deed, they turn to the Lord. The Lord would not send these multitudes away fasting, lest they faint on the way. This is because sinners who are turning in penitence will perish in their passage through this world if they are sent away without the nourishment of sacred teaching.

Glossa Ordinaria: The seven loaves represent the Scripture of the New Testament, in which the grace of the Holy Spirit is revealed and given. These are not like the previous loaves of barley, because it is not with these as it is in the Law, where the nutritious substance is wrapped in types, like a very adhesive husk. Here there are not two fish (as under the Law only two were anointed, the King and the Priest), but a few fish. These represent the saints of the New Testament who, snatched from the waves of the world, sustain us in this tossing sea and by their example refresh us, lest we faint on the way.⁵

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The multitudes sit down on the ground, for previously they had not rested on the works of the Law but had supported themselves on their own sins, like men standing on their feet.

Glossa Ordinaria: Or, in the previous miracle (Matthew 14:19)ⁱ, they sit on the grass so that the desires of the flesh may be controlled; here they sit on the ground, because the earth itself is commanded to be forsaken. The mountain where the Lord refreshes them is the height of Christ. In the first miracle, therefore, there is grass on the ground because the height of Christ is covered with carnal hopes and desires for the sake of the carnal. Here, where all carnal lust is banished, the guests are solidly placed on the foundation of an abiding hope.

In the first miracle, there are five thousand, representing the carnal who are subject to the five senses. Here, there are four thousand, on account of the four virtues by which they are spiritually fortified: temperance, prudence, fortitude, and justice. Of these, the first is the knowledge of things to be sought and avoided; the second is the restraining of desire from things that give pleasure in the world; the third is strength against the pains of life; and the fourth, which is spread over all, is the love of God and our neighbor.

In both miracles, women and children are mentioned separately. This is because in both the Old and New Testaments, none are admitted to the Lord who do not endure to become the “perfect man,” whether due to weakness of strength or fickleness of character.

Both feedings were performed on a mountain, because the Scriptures of both Testaments commend the loftiness of the heavenly commands and rewards, and both preach the height of Christ. The Apostles handle the higher mysteries which the multitudes cannot receive, and they fill seven baskets—that is, the hearts of the perfect, which are enlightened to understand by the grace of the sevenfold Spirit (Isaiah 11:2).ⁱ Baskets are usually woven from rushes or palm leaves. These signify the saints, who fix the root of their hearts in the very fountain of life—like a bulrush in the water, so that they may not wither—and who retain in their hearts the palm branch of their eternal reward.

1. Hom., iii
2. Sup. c. xiv, 15
3. de Cons. Ev., ii, 50
4. ap. Anselm
5. ord.