2. Likewise it is objected, because it is said that Philip says: Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not suffice, etc.; yet in Mark 6 it is said that the disciples said: Let us go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give them to eat.
I respond according to Augustine that the contradiction is resolved from the fact that frequently one Evangelist says what another omits. And it is to be understood that the disciples first went to the Lord, and afterward the Lord looked upon the crowds and addressed Philip; and then Philip responded, and another Evangelist attributed Philip's response to the others, as Mark does, by synecdoche. And then the Lord asked how many loaves they had, and this John omits; and Andrew answered that there were five. And this John says of Andrew specifically; the others attribute it to several, because he was speaking in the person of many.
13. Question II. There is also a question concerning the meaning of the text.
Since Philip was not the steward, but Judas was, it seems that the Lord ought to have asked Judas, not Philip.
Chrysostom responds that that question was for testing and instructing, because Philip was more in need of instruction, as is clear below in the fourteenth chapter, when he asked: Show us the Father: therefore he asked him in particular.
Alternatively it can be said that Philip was a native of that region: whence he was also known to the crowds, and therefore more concerned about them: and therefore it should be believed that he first approached the Lord concerning the crowds, and afterward the Lord asked him.
14. Question III. There is also a question about the truth of the text, because it says here: But this he said testing him.
Against: 1. James 1: God tempts no one: whence in the same place: God cannot be tempted.
2. Likewise, temptation is a path to sin: but God inclines no one to sin.
If you say, that he tempts not by inclining to evil, but by proving, according to that saying of the Psalm: Prove me, O Lord, and try me; against this: It belongs to one who does not know man to prove or take experiment of him: therefore if God knows man, he neither tempts nor proves.
I respond: It must be said that there is a temptation inclining to evil, and this is from the flesh, the world, and the devil, not from God: and there is a temptation that proves, and this can be threefold: either so that it becomes known to the one proving, or so that it becomes known to others, or so that the one proved becomes known to himself.
In the first way God does not tempt, but man does: Sirach 13: Through much speech he will try you. In the second way God tempts the perfect man as an example; Genesis 22: God tempted Abraham. In the third way he tempts the imperfect man for the merit of humility, because a man is humbled when his weakness becomes known to himself: Psalm: Prove me, O Lord, and try me.
15. Jesus therefore says. After the antecedents to the wondrous feeding have been determined, here the concomitants are noted, which are three: first, the seating of those reclining; second, the multiplication of the loaves; third, the collection of the fragments.
(Verse 10.). First therefore the seating of those reclining at Christ's command is noted: whence he says: Jesus therefore says, namely to the disciples: Make the people sit down, that is, to sit in order to eat: for to sit down or to recline properly pertains to those eating: whence Luke 14: "When you are invited to a wedding feast, recline" etc. And the place was suitable for reclining; whence he says: Now there was much grass in the place. And in that suitable place the disciples made them recline: therefore he says: So the men sat down, in number about five thousand: about is said because perhaps someone was lacking or in excess: but because Scripture does not insist upon minute details, others say that it was five thousand: Matthew 14: "And the number of those eating was five thousand men, not counting children and women".
16. (Vers. 11.). Jesus therefore took etc. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the multiplication of the loaves, which was obtained through the giving of thanks and completed in the distribution of the loaves. Therefore he says: Jesus therefore took the loaves, in order to multiply them: for his hand is one of power; whence in Numbers 11 the Lord said to Moses: "Is the hand of the Lord weak? Now you shall see whether my word shall be fulfilled." And when he had given thanks, in order to sanctify; 1 Timothy 4: "Nothing is to be rejected which is received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer." He distributed to those reclining, namely for eating, through the Apostles, so that they might give to different people according to their will: Esther 1: "The king had appointed, setting over each table one of his princes, so that each person might take what he wished." Likewise of the fishes, as much as they wished, that is, unto fullness: Exodus 16: "In the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread."
17. (Vers. 12.). When they were filled. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the collection of the fragments, lest they should perish: on account of which he says: When they were filled, that is, satisfied, he said to his disciples: Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they perish. For since bread was made for the use of men, fragments perish when they are not taken up for the use of men; Psalm: "That bread may strengthen the heart of man." And the disciples of the Lord carry out the command: whence he says:
18. (Vers. 13.). They gathered therefore and filled twelve baskets: behold, a measure and a full measure. Chrysostom: "I admire not only the multiplication of the loaves, but the certainty of that which was left over, and that the baskets were equal in number to the Apostles, signifying that the teaching of the Apostles was to be distributed throughout the whole world from the remnants of the teaching of Christ." They gathered, I say, and filled twelve baskets of fragments from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. He had these remnants collected so that the abundance might be apparent: whence in the Psalm: "In your remnants you shall prepare their countenance."
19. Allegorically. One boy had five barley loaves and two fishes, which were multiplied into twelve baskets of remnants. This boy is Moses, the bearer of the Law, who is called a boy because he was a servant: Hebrews 3: Moses was most faithful in all his house, as a servant.
Bread is the instruction of the word: Deuteronomy 8: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. - The five loaves, therefore, are words, of which the Apostle speaks in First Corinthians 14: I would rather speak five words with my understanding, etc.; Jerome: "The five words are the five books of Moses, of which the Apostle speaks." - These loaves are multiplied when their manifold understanding is opened by the Lord: Luke, last chapter: Beginning from Moses, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things that were about him.
From the multiplication of these there remain twelve baskets of fragments, that is, the teaching of the twelve Apostles, who were dispersed throughout the world, according to that verse of the Psalm: Their sound has gone forth into all the earth; and Mark, last chapter: Going into the whole world, preach the Gospel to every creature.
Questions.
20. Question I. The question is raised concerning the multiplication of the loaves. For if the Lord wished to manifest his power, and it is of greater power to create loaves than to multiply them, because the former is from nothing, the latter from something, and both were equally easy for the Lord: therefore, etc.
I respond: It must be said that both belong to infinite power — both the multiplication from so small a matter into so great a quantity, because this belonged to infinite power, and creation. Nevertheless, he multiplied rather than created, in order to shut the mouths of heretics who say that these visible things belong to the God of darkness, not to the God of light. Therefore, in order to show that he himself was the one who had created all visible things, he willed to multiply what had already been created.
Whether, however, God multiplied the loaves by adding new matter from elsewhere, or by creating it, or by extending it, seems doubtful, and I do not determine this. Without prejudice, however, it must be said that there was multiplication without creation and without extrinsic addition; nor was it merely an extension of matter, as occurs through the power of a natural agent, but there was simultaneously an increase in matter and form through infinite power; and this has no parallel in nature, just as neither does creation.
21. Question II. It is asked here: since the Lord, above in chapter two, made the finest wine, whence is it that he distributed barley bread, lowly bread, to the crowds?