25. (Verse 16.) Second, with regard to the multitude of provisions, it is said: But having taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them: in which blessing there was a multiplication of the loaves, according to that passage in Genesis 1: "God blessed them and said: Increase and multiply and fill the earth"; and in Genesis 30, Laban said to Jacob: "I know that the Lord has blessed me on account of you." Moreover, in blessing he looked up to heaven to show that such multiplication was not by earthly power or a power bestowed upon the elements, but by heavenly power, reserved in the primordial causes, concerning which it is said in the Psalm: "Whatever the Lord willed, he did in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths."
And note that it is said: He looked up and he blessed: he looked up indeed out of human humility, and he blessed by divine power; the Psalm: "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains."
26. Third, with regard to the courtesy of those ministering, it is added: And he broke and distributed to his disciples, that they might set before the crowds. For they were the noble ministers and stewards of Christ, and ready to serve, according to that passage in 1 Corinthians 4: "Let a man so regard us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." For it befits a noble lord to have noble ministers, according to that passage in Esther 1: "So the king had appointed, setting over each table one of his princes, so that each might take what he wished." But in the court of Jesus Christ, the more noble serve and minister, as it is said in Luke 22: "He who is greater among you, let him become as the lesser; and he who is the leader, as one who serves"; and afterward: "But I am in your midst as one who serves."
27. (Vers. 17.). Fourth, regarding the satiety of those eating, it is added: And they all ate and were satisfied, so that the word of the Psalm might be verified: "The poor shall eat and shall be satisfied, and they shall praise the Lord who seek him"; and that passage: "They ate and were exceedingly satisfied"; satisfied, I say, with the satiety of justice, concerning which Proverbs thirteen says: "The just man eats and fills his soul"; "for blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied," Matthew five — not with the satiety of avarice, concerning which Ecclesiastes five says: "The satiety of the rich does not permit him to sleep," because he is so sated that he always hungers. — And since divine abundance exceeds our need, therefore it is added: And what was left over was taken up, twelve baskets of fragments: in which the magnitude of superabundance is shown from the capacity of the vessels and their number, because twelve is the first abundant number, according to what arithmetic teaches. And so was fulfilled that whose figure preceded in 4 Kings four. Elisha said concerning a few loaves: "Thus says the Lord: They shall eat, and there shall be left over. And he set it before them, and they ate, and there was left over according to the word of the Lord." But there the measure of such great abundance is not determined, as it is here: and this on account of the greater perfection in the Gospel and its greater abundance, according to that passage in Matthew five: "Unless your justice abounds more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Or on account of the mystery. For these twelve baskets signify the twelve Apostles. Baskets are humble vessels, and these were filled with fragments of five barley loaves, that is, the teaching of the five books of Moses, concerning which 1 Corinthians fourteen says: "I would rather speak five words in the Church with my understanding," etc.
28. From this a pattern is given to preachers, that they should not invent new things from their own hearts, because the Lord did not create new loaves to feed the crowd — but just as the Lord multiplied the five barley loaves by divine blessing, so all abundance of true teaching must be drawn from the foundation of sacred Scripture, to be multiplied through prayer, by which one looks up to heaven, and devotion, by which one blesses, meditation, by which it is broken, and preaching, by which it is distributed and unfolded. — For catholic teaching must first be drawn from sacred Scripture through reading, whose words are loaves ; Matthew four: "It is written: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
But to reading must be joined prayer: Matthew seven: "Seek, and you shall find; ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened to you"; we seek by reading, we ask by praying, we knock by working with our hands.
To prayer must be joined devotion and thanksgiving: whence Colossians 4: "Be instant in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving." Whence Matthew 26: "Lifting up his eyes to heaven, giving thanks, he blessed." - To devotion must be joined meditation and the unfolding of truth, which is nothing other than the breaking of bread: Isaiah 58: "Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and the wandering into your house." - And then it is distributed, when it is ministered according to the capacity of the hearers: Psalm: "Distribute her houses, that you may recount them." And from this the hearers are satisfied: Sirach 15: "She shall feed him with the bread of life and understanding, and give him the water of saving wisdom to drink."
And thus it is clear that the Lord instructed preachers not only by his own familiar example, but also by mystical and figurative example. For the Lord performed this miracle more for the instruction of minds than for the refreshment of bodies, since, as is said in Wisdom 11, he is the supreme lover of souls.
The way of advancing is explained in two ways.
29. And it came to pass, when he was alone etc. After the Evangelist has set forth the form of preaching, in this part he sets forth the way of advancing. For advancement, these two considerations come together, namely the harshness of the way, in which merit consists, and the sweetness of the homeland, in which the reward consists. Therefore, after setting forth the harshness of the way, the Evangelist secondly sets forth the sweetness of glory, at the passage: And it came to pass after these words etc.
The way to the homeland consists chiefly in two things, namely in perfect knowledge of Christ through faith and perfect imitation through the cross. Therefore first it is shown to us how Christ is to be known through faith; and secondly, how he is to be imitated through the cross, at the passage: And he said to all: If anyone etc.
As to the first, it should be noted that perfect knowledge of faith consists in four things, namely in the approbation of divine honor, the reprobation of human error, the confession of Christ the mediator, and the consideration of the mystery of redemption. For perfect faith requires the approbation of religion, the detestation of superstition, open confession, and hidden contemplation.
30. (Verse 18). First, therefore, as to the approbation of divine honor, it says: And it came to pass, when he was alone praying, in order to render due worship and reverence to God the Father and to show that it should be rendered: which is chiefly rendered in prayer, according to that passage in John 4: "The hour comes when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeks such"; whence in the Psalm: "Call upon me in the day of tribulation, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."
Since moreover this reverence ought to be free from all ostentation, therefore it is said that he was praying alone, according to that passage of Matthew 6: "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet," etc. It ought also to be free from all disquiet: therefore he also prayed alone, according to that passage of Lamentations 3: "He shall sit solitary and hold his peace, because he has lifted himself above himself," lest, namely, he be drawn back by some disturbance. And therefore in Matthew 14 it is said that "having dismissed the crowd, he went up into a mountain alone to pray." — But since the disciples were not disturbers of this reverence through disquiet, but approvers through true faith, therefore it is added: The disciples also were with him. Whence by this, that he is said to be alone, he does not exclude the company of the disciples, but the tumult of the crowds. For he admitted the disciples as sons — whence he also said of them that which the Apostle cites in Hebrews 2: "Behold, I and my children, whom God has given me" — but he excluded the crowds as servants, whose figure Abraham bore in Genesis 22, when "he said to his servants: Wait here in the valley with the ass; I and the boy, hastening thither, after we have worshipped, will return to you."
Or this is said because they were not joined at the same time, since he first prayed alone, and afterward immediately the disciples were with him. Nevertheless they are joined together, because, even if the Apostles were absent by local circumscription, yet they were with him by mental affection and the approbation of faith, according to that passage of Paul in Colossians 2: "Though I am absent in body, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order," etc.
31. Second, as regards the reproval of human error, it is added: And he asked them, saying: Whom do the crowds say that I am? He did not ask this in order to learn the truth, which he already knew, according to that passage of John 2: "He did not need that anyone should bear witness to him concerning man. For he himself knew what was in man"; but he asks in order to show the erroneous opinion of worldly men as hostile to true faith. For most often the many contradict the wise, and the crowd has a confused judgment; on account of which, Exodus 23: "Thou shalt not follow the crowd to do evil. Neither shalt thou yield in judgment to the opinion of the many, so as to stray from the truth." And therefore it is no wonder if sensual men did not rightly judge concerning Christ God, because, according to 1 Corinthians 2, "the sensual man does not perceive the things that are of God."
32. (Vers. 19.). For this reason there is subjoined a threefold opinion taken from a threefold excellence. As to the first he says: But they answered and said: John the Baptist: and this, because they saw in him the spirit of sanctification, which was in John, according to that passage above in the first chapter: "He shall be great before the Lord and shall be filled with the Holy Spirit," etc. — But not all agreed on this, therefore he adds: But others: Elijah, namely on account of his zeal of emulation, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus forty-eight: "Elijah the prophet arose like fire, and his word burned like a torch." And this seemed probable, because Elijah was an excellent prophet not only in life but also in power, and because his coming had also been promised, according to that passage in the last chapter of Malachi: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes." — Yet not all agreed on this either, and therefore he adds: Others, that one of the former Prophets has arisen: and this on account of the sense of discernment, which they perceived in him; above in the seventh chapter: "A great Prophet has arisen among us"; and John six: "This is truly the Prophet who is to come." But because they believed him to be a mere man, therefore one of the former prophets: on account of which they erred, because he was not one among the former prophets, but the one on account of whom all the former prophets had come before; concerning whom Deuteronomy eighteen says: "The Lord will raise up a Prophet from your nation; you shall hear him as you hear me."
From such great variety, therefore, it is apparent that the crowds were estranged from the truth and from uniformity of faith; on account of which it is said in Ephesians four: "Let us not be as little children, tossed about, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, unto the circumvention of error."
33. (Vers. 20.). Third, however, as regards the confession of Christ the Mediator it is added: But he said to them: But whom do you say that I am? You, namely, chosen from among others, according to that passage in John six: "I have chosen you twelve"; and fifteen: "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." Or you, friends, according to that passage in John fifteen: "But I have called you friends." Or you, special disciples, according to that passage above in the eighth chapter: "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God." You however, who believe in me, whom do you say that I am? that is, confess, for "with the heart one believes unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation," Romans ten.
Therefore it is added: Simon Peter answering said: The Christ of God: that one responds for all, so that the unity of the Church may be commended in faith, confession, and prelacy; whence Peter, as the one universal prelate of the Church, responds as one for all. On account of which Paul said in First Corinthians one: "I beseech you that you all say the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you."
Whence by the merit of this confession of one on behalf of all, the name of Peter was confirmed, and universal prelacy over the Church was granted, according to what is said in Matthew sixteen: "And I say to you." Whence it appears that not from impulse, but incited by the Holy Spirit, Peter responded first. And this is what is said in the Gloss: "One on behalf of all and before all, because he is the elder and prince of the Apostles."
34. But by confessing him the Christ of God, he confesses at once true God and man. Whence Ambrose in the Gloss: "He has embraced all things, who has expressed both the nature and the name. For in the name of Christ there is the expression of both Divinity and incarnation, and the faith of the passion." For Christ expresses one person in two natures and royal and priestly dignity and the fullness of grace on account of the prerogative of anointing, concerning which it is said in the Psalm: "God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness." Whence in the name of Christ is understood the anointed, the one anointing, and that by which he is anointed: and through this simultaneously the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, according to that passage of Isaiah sixty-one: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me."
There is also understood the nature of the anointed one, the grace by which he is anointed, and the dignity to which he is anointed,
or the office: Daniel nine: "The Holy of Holies shall be anointed, that vision and prophecy may be fulfilled." - There are also understood the royal, prophetic, and priestly dignity, according to his threefold excellence, namely of power, truth, and holiness. As a figure of this matter, in the Old Law these three persons were customarily anointed. - And in this it appears how the three false opinions, just as they had something of motivating reason, so also an obscuring defect. Whence in this it appears that Christ by this word confuted errors and laid the foundation of the entire faith, according to that passage of First Corinthians three: "No one can lay another foundation." Hence it is that Peter was called, and it was granted to him that from his Church the true faith should never fail: below in the twenty-second chapter: "I have prayed for you, Peter, that it may not fail," etc.
35. (Vers. 21. 22.). But fourthly, with respect to the knowledge of the mystery of redemption, it is added: But he, rebuking them, commanded that they tell this to no one: and this because the mystery of redemption was not yet consummated, which by the just judgment of God was to be hidden from the princes of the world. Whence First Corinthians two: "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which is hidden, which none of the princes of this age has known: for if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory."