Commentary on the Gospel of John, Chapter 6:1-15
By St. Bede the Venerable
Image: The Last Chapter by J. Doyle Penrose (c. 1902), showing Bede finishing his translation of the Gospel of John on his deathbed.
Introduction: The Spiritual Significance of Jesus' Journey
"After these things Jesus went away across the Sea of Galilee, etc." (John 6:1)
Jesus went away across the Sea of Galilee, which is distinguished by many names according to the diversity of the surrounding regions. It is called the Sea of Tiberias only in those places where the city of Tiberias, salutary for habitation with its warm waters (as they say), is situated. Indeed, with the Jordan flowing through it, it extends eighteen miles in length and five in width.
Mystically, however, the sea signifies the turbid and swelling volumes of this present age, in which any wicked persons, unjustly delighting, as if devoted to the depths like fish, do not direct their minds to heavenly joys. Whence rightly this same sea is surnamed Galilee, that is, "a turning" or "a wheel," because indeed the love of this fleeting age casts hearts into vertigo, not permitting them to be raised to desires for eternal life. Concerning such persons the Psalmist says: "The wicked walk in a circle" (Ps 11:9 [Vulgate]).
But a very great multitude followed Jesus as he went away across the Sea of Galilee, a multitude which was to receive from him the supreme gifts of heavenly doctrine, healing, and refreshment. The Jewish nation alone followed him according to the dispensation of his incarnation; but when, having crossed the waves of corruptible life, he approached [the Gentiles], immediately a very great multitude of believing nations followed him spiritually, desiring to be instructed, healed, and satisfied by him, and saying with the Psalmist:
"O Lord, to you have I fled; teach me to do your will" (Ps 142:10 [Vulgate 143:10]),
and again:
"Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; heal me, O Lord, for all my bones are troubled" (Ps 6:3 [Vulgate 6:2]),
and again, trusting in receiving from him the nourishments of perpetual life:
"The Lord feeds me, and nothing shall be lacking to me; in a place of pasture he has established me" (Ps 22:1-2 [Vulgate 23:1-2]).
Jn 6:3: Jesus Ascends the Mountain
"Therefore Jesus went up on the mountain and sat there with his disciples."
But when the multitude came to him, he descended and refreshed them in the lower regions—those whom a little before he had healed in the lower regions. Let us by no means believe this was done without purpose, but rather as signifying mystically that the Lord distributes his doctrine and charisms according to the capacity of those receiving them:
To minds still weak, to those little in spirit, he commits simpler admonitions and entrusts more open sacraments;
But to those who are more exalted and more perfect in understanding, he discloses the more secret mysteries of his Majesty, suggests higher paths of devout conduct, and promises higher gifts of heavenly rewards.
Finally, to a certain one asking what he must do to possess eternal life—as to one still placed, as it were, in the lower regions—he bestows the common gifts of his largess, saying:
"You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and your mother" (Matt 19:18-19).
But to the same person afterward seeking greater things and desiring, as it were, to ascend to the mountain of virtues, he says:
"If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (Matt 19:21).
The Lord, teaching in the flesh, exhibited this discretion of moderation not through himself alone, but even now he does not cease to exhibit it through the ministers of his word. Whence he testifies to the same [ministers] under the person of one good servant, that they ought to give to their fellow servants in due season a measure of wheat—that is, opportune and measured portions of the word according to the capacity of the hearers.
Jn 6:4: The Approaching Passover
"Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near."
That the Lord teaches, heals, and refreshes the crowds as the Passover approaches, we can interpret mystically in this way: because our Passover is called a "passing over," and whomever the Lord restores to the eternal sweetness of his gifts, he certainly prepares for a salutary passing over—so that they may transcend carnal concupiscences by the height of the mind, trample underfoot the weak desires of the world as well as adversities by the hope and love of the heavenly kingdom, and if they cannot yet reach the heights in soul or body (because this is certainly promised for the future), nevertheless, whatever carnal persons perceive as lofty to embrace, they may despise as nothing in comparison with eternal things.
Following the example of him who, seeing the wicked super-exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon (Ps 36:35 [Vulgate 37:35]), passed over, contemplating temporal things, and saw him as if already not existing, whom he foresaw would soon be taken away.
Jn 6:5-6: Jesus Tests Philip
"When Jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes and seen that a very great multitude was coming to him..."
That Jesus is reported to have seen the multitude coming to him is an indication of divine piety, because certainly the grace of heavenly mercy is accustomed to meet all who seek to come to him, and lest they be able to err in seeking, to open the light of his Spirit to those running.
That the eyes of Jesus mystically designate the gifts of his Spirit, John testifies in the Apocalypse, speaking figuratively concerning him:
"And I saw a Lamb standing as though slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth" (Rev 5:6).
"He said to Philip: 'Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?'"
Certainly the Lord does this providently, not so that he himself might learn what he did not know, but so that Philip, being tested, might recognize the slowness of his faith—which he did not know while the Master knew—and might chastise it when the miracle was performed. For he ought not to have doubted that, with the Creator of all things present—who "brings forth bread from the earth and wine that gladdens the heart of man" (Ps 103:14-15 [Vulgate 104:14-15])—the bread of a few denarii would suffice for the not-few thousands of the crowds, so that each one might receive sufficiently and depart already satisfied.
Jn 6:9: The Five Loaves and Two Fishes
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish."
The five loaves with which he satisfied the multitude of the people are the five books of Moses, which, when opened by spiritual understanding and multiplied by a more abundant sense, daily refresh the hearts of faithful hearers. They are rightly reported to have been barley loaves, on account of the indeed more austere edicts of the Law and the grosser coverings of the letter, which concealed the inner marrow, as it were, of spiritual sense.
Moreover, the two fishes which he added not inconveniently signify the writings of the Psalmists and Prophets, since by singing and by speaking they narrated to their hearers the future mysteries of Christ and the Church. And they are fittingly figured by aquatic animals, the heralds of that age in which the people of the faithful could by no means live without the waters of baptism.
There are those who think that the two fishes, which gave a sweet savor to the bread, signify the two persons by whom that people was governed, so that through them they might receive the moderation of counsels—namely, the royal and the priestly persons, to whom also that most holy anointing pertained, whose office it was never to be broken or corrupted by the storms and waves of popular tumults, and often to break asunder the violent contradictions of the crowds like opposing waves, sometimes to yield to them while preserving their own integrity—altogether after the manner of fishes, as if in a stormy sea, so to be occupied in the turbulent administration of the people.
Yet those two persons prefigured our Lord. For he alone sustained both, and not figuratively but properly he alone fulfilled them.
The boy who had the five loaves and two fishes, yet did not distribute them to the hungry crowds but offered them to the Lord to be distributed, is the people of the Jews, childish in literal sense, who kept closed within themselves the sayings of the Scriptures. But these the Lord, appearing in the flesh, received and showed what utility and sweetness they had within, and revealed how they overflowed with the manifold grace of the Spirit, though they seemed few and despised. These he extended through his Apostles and the successors of the Apostles to be ministered to all nations.
Whence rightly the other Evangelists report that the Lord gave the loaves and fishes to his disciples, but the disciples ministered them to the crowds (Matt 14:19; Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16). For when the mystery of human salvation had been received to be narrated by the Lord, "it was confirmed to us by those who heard" (Heb 2:3).
Indeed, he broke the five loaves and two fishes and distributed them to the disciples when he opened their understanding that they might understand all things which were written in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning himself (Luke 24:44-45). The disciples served them to the crowds when, having set out, they preached everywhere, "the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed" (Mark 16:20).
Jn 6:10: The Grass and the Sitting Down
"Now there was much grass in the place... Therefore the men sat down."
The grass upon which the crowd, sitting down, is refreshed is understood as carnal concupiscence, which everyone who desires to be satisfied with spiritual aliments ought to trample underfoot and press down. For:
"All flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass" (Isa 40:6).
Therefore, let him sit upon the grass, let him crush the flower of the grass—that is, let him chastise his body and bring it into servitude, let him subdue the pleasures of the flesh, let him restrain the flowing impulses of luxury—whoever desires to be refreshed by the sweetness of the living Bread. Whoever desires to be renewed by the banquets of heavenly grace, let him fail from infirm old age.
The five thousand men who ate signify the refreshment of the life of those who are refreshed by the word. For by the name of "men," the more perfect persons are wont to be figured in the Scriptures, whom no feminine softness corrupts—such as the Apostle wishes those to be to whom he says:
"Watch, stand firm in the faith, act manfully, and be strengthened" (1 Cor 16:13).
Moreover, the millenary number, beyond which no [greater] number of ours increases, is accustomed to indicate the fullness of the matters about which we treat. But by the number five, the five well-known senses of our body are expressed: namely, sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. In each of which, whoever strives to act manfully and be strengthened, living soberly, justly, and piously, that they may merit to be recreated by the sweetness of heavenly wisdom, are certainly figured by the five thousand men whom the Lord satisfied with mystical banquets.
Jn 6:11: Thanksgiving and Distribution
"Therefore Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those sitting down."
Nor is it to be passed over that, about to refresh the multitude, he gave thanks. Indeed, he gave thanks both to teach us always to give thanks for gifts received from heaven, and to intimate how much he himself rejoices in our progress and delights in our spiritual refreshment.
Do you wish to know, brethren, how much our Savior rejoices in our salvation? The Evangelist Luke narrates that he gave to his disciples power to tread upon all the power of the enemy, and indicated that their names were written in heaven, and immediately adds:
"In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said: 'I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to little ones'" (Luke 10:21).
It is clear, therefore, that he congratulates the salvation and life of the faithful, who, giving thanks to the Father, praises him because he has revealed secrets to those humble in spirit which he had hidden from the proud.
Jn 6:12-13: Gathering the Fragments
"But when they were filled, he said to his disciples: 'Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing be lost.' Therefore they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments."
That, the multitude having been satisfied, he ordered the disciples to gather the fragments that remained so that they might not perish, certainly signifies this: that there are very many mysteries of the divine oracles which the sense of the common people does not grasp, and some which the less learned indeed cannot attain by themselves. These, therefore, it is necessary that those who are able, by searching more diligently, gather up and cause to reach, either by word or by writing, for the instruction of those lesser than themselves, lest the aliments of the word perish by their sloth and be taken away from the plebeians. Those who know how to gather these by interpreting, with the Lord granting it...
"They gathered them up," he says, "and filled twelve baskets with fragments."
Because by the number twelve the sum of any perfection whatever is wont to be figured, by the twelve baskets full of fragments the entire chorus of spiritual doctors is expressed, who are ordered both to gather by meditation the obscure passages of the Scriptures which the crowds cannot by themselves, and to preserve them committed to letters for their own use as well as that of the crowds.
The Apostles and Evangelists themselves did this, inserting not a few sayings of the Law and the Prophets into their little works with their interpretation added; their followers, the teachers of the Church throughout the whole world, did this; indeed, some by discussing entire books of both Testaments by more diligent explanation—who, however much they may be despised by men, are nevertheless fertile with the bread of heavenly grace. For servile works are wont to be done with baskets. Whence concerning the people who served in clay and bricks in Egypt, the Psalmist says:
"His hands served in a basket" (Ps 80:6 [Vulgate 81:6]).
Jn 6:14: The People Acclaim Jesus as Prophet
"Therefore those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus had performed, said: 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.'"
Indeed, they spoke rightly, calling the Lord a great Prophet, a herald of great salvation to be [given] to the world. For he himself deigns to call himself a Prophet where he says:
"For it cannot be that a Prophet perish outside Jerusalem" (Luke 13:33).
But they were not yet advancing with full faith, who did not know to call him also God.
Therefore, those men, seeing the sign which Jesus had performed, said: "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world." But we, with a more certain knowledge of truth and faith, seeing the world which Jesus made and the signs with which he filled it, let us say:
"This is truly the Mediator of God and men, who was in the world by his divinity, and the world was made through him; who came in his own [creation] by his humanity, to seek and to save that which had perished, and to recreate the world which he had made; who with his faithful is in the world through the presence of his divinity all days, even to the consummation of the age" (cf. 1 Tim 2:5; John 1:10; Matt 28:20).
Verse 15: Jesus Flees to the Mountain
"Therefore Jesus, when he had known that they were about to come to seize him and make him King, fled again into the mountain, he alone."
Therefore, it is to be understood that when the Lord was sitting on the mountain with his disciples and saw the crowds coming to him, he had descended from the mountain and fed the crowds in the lower regions. For how could it happen that he fled again to that place unless he had first descended from the mountain? Therefore, it signifies something that the Lord descended from on high to feed the crowds, fed [them], and ascended.
But why did he ascend when he had known that they wished to seize him and make him King? For what? Was he not King who feared to be made King? He was altogether King, but not such a King as to be made by men, but such as to give a kingdom to men.
Perhaps here too Jesus signifies something to us, whose deeds are words. Therefore, in this—that they wished to seize him and make him King, and on account of this he fled into the mountain alone—does this deed in him keep silent, say nothing, signify nothing? Or perhaps this was "to seize him": to wish to anticipate the time of his kingdom? For he had come at that time not yet to reign in the manner in which he will reign in that which we say: "Your kingdom come" (Matt 6:10; Luke 11:2).
Indeed, he always reigns with the Father according as he is the Son of God, the Word of God, the Word through whom all things were made. But the Prophets foretold his kingdom also according as he was made man, Christ, and he made his faithful ones Christians. Therefore, there will be a kingdom of Christians, which is now being gathered, which is now being acquired, which is now being purchased by the blood of Christ; there will someday be a manifest kingdom, when there will be an open brightness of his saints, on account of that which he himself said the Son of Man will do concerning judgment.
Concerning which kingdom the Apostle says: "When he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father" (1 Cor 15:24). Whence also he himself says: "Come, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom which was prepared for you from the beginning of the world" (Matt 25:34).
But the disciples and the crowd, believing in him, thought that he had thus come that he might now reign. This is "to wish to seize him and make him King": to wish to anticipate his time, in which he was hiding himself that he might come forth opportunely and declare himself opportunely at the end of the age.
But why is it said "he fled"? For indeed, if he did not wish it, he would not be held; if he did not wish it, he would not be seized—he who, if he did not wish it, would not even be recognized. But this was done significantly.
He fled alone that he might not reign carnally, because he alone ascended into heaven whence he might reign spiritually in his saints.
"He fled into the mountain, he alone"—the firstborn from the dead, ascending above all the heavens and interceding for us (Rom 8:34), whom the priest prefigured, entering once a year into the Holy of Holies not without blood, that he might intercede for the people, placed above, alone on the mountain—the Lamb who entered into the interior of the veil, with the people constituted outside (Col 1:18; Ps 71:19 [Vulgate 72:19]; Rom 8:34; Lev 16; Heb 9).
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