14:13
(Verse 13) And they came and told Jesus. When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. They announced to the Savior the death of John the Baptist, and when he heard this, he withdrew to a deserted place. Not, as some think, out of fear of death, but sparing his enemies, lest they join one murder with another. Or deferring his own death to the day of his Passover, on which he was to be sacrificed as the Lamb (Exodus 12), and the doorposts of believers to be sprinkled with blood. Or perhaps He withdrew to give us an example of avoiding unnecessary danger, because not all have the same perseverance in enduring torments as they do in offering themselves to be tortured. For this reason, He also gives the command in another place: 'When they persecute you in this city, flee to another' (Mt. X, 23). The evangelist also elegantly does not say, 'He fled to a deserted place,' but 'He withdrew,' in order to avoid the persecutors rather than fearing them. Another interpretation: After the Jews and the king of the Jews cut off the head of the prophets and silenced the voice and speech of prophecy among them, Jesus moves to the desert, a place that the Church had not had before.
And when the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the cities. It is possible that, for another reason, upon hearing of the death of John, they withdrew to a deserted place to confirm the faith of the believer. Finally, the crowds followed him on foot, not on pack animals, not in various vehicles, but by their own physical effort, to show their fervor of the mind. If we were to explain the reasons behind each word, we would exceed the brevity of the stated task. However, it must be said in passing that after the Lord came into the desert, many crowds followed him. For before he came into the solitude of the nations, he was worshiped by only one people.
14:14
(Verse 14.) And going out, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, and he cured their sick. In the Gospel message, the spirit is always joined with the letters, and whatever seems cold at first glance, if you touch it, it becomes warm. The Lord was in a deserted place; the crowds followed him, leaving their cities, that is, their former ways of life and the varieties of teachings. But Jesus going out signifies that the crowds indeed had the will to go, but they did not have the strength to arrive: therefore, the Savior goes out from his place and goes to meet them, just as he had met the repentant son in another parable (Luke 15). And seeing the crowd, he has pity on them and cares for their illnesses, so that full faith immediately obtains the reward.
14:15
(Verse 15.) And when evening had come, his disciples approached him, saying: This place is deserted, and the hour has already passed. Send away the crowds so that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food. All things are full of mysteries. He departed from Judea and came to a deserted place. The crowds followed him, leaving their cities behind. Jesus went out to them, had compassion on the crowds, and cured their sick. And he did this not in the morning, not as the day was growing, not at noon, but in the evening, when the sun of justice had set.
14:16
(Verse 16.) But Jesus said to them: They have no need to go. They have no need to seek different foods, and buy for themselves unknown breads, when they have heavenly bread with them.
On that day he commanded you to eat. He challenged the apostles to break the bread, so that, in them testifying that he did not have it, the greatness of the sign may become more known.
14:17
(Verse 17) They replied to him: We have here only five loaves and two fish. In another Gospel, we read: There is a certain boy here who has five loaves (John 6:9) ; which seems to me to signify Moses: But two fish, either we understand both Testaments, or because the even number is referred to the Law. Therefore, the apostles before the passion of the Savior and the radiance of the shining Gospel had only five loaves and two little fish, which were moving in salty waters and in the waves of the sea.
14:18
(Verse 18) He said to them: Bring them to me here. Listen, Marcion, listen, Manichaee, Jesus orders five loaves and two fish to be brought to him, so that he may sanctify and multiply them.
14:19
(Verse 19.) And when he had commanded the multitude to recline upon the hay. The sense is clearly evident according to the letter: let us reveal the sacraments of spiritual interpretation. They are commanded to recline upon the hay, and according to another Evangelist (Luke 9), upon the ground, by fifties or hundreds, so that after they have trampled upon their flesh and all its desires, and subjected all the pleasures of this world to themselves like dry hay, then by the number fifty they may ascend through penitence to the summit of perfection represented by the number one hundred.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. He looked up to heaven, teaching that our eyes should be directed there. He took the five loaves and the two fish in his hands, and he broke them and gave them to the disciples. With the Lord breaking them, the food became a source of abundance. For if they had remained whole and not been torn into fragments, nor divided into a plentiful harvest, they would not have been able to feed such a great multitude of crowds, children, and women. Therefore, the law is broken with the prophets, and it is torn into pieces and its mysteries are brought forth in the midst, so that what was whole and permanent in its original state may be divided into parts and nourish the multitude of nations.
14:20
(Verse 20.) However, the disciples gave to the crowds. And all ate, and were satisfied. The crowds received food from the Lord through the apostles.
And they took up the remnants of the twelve baskets full of fragments. Each of the apostles fills his own basket with the remains of the Savior, so that he may either have something to give food to the Gentiles afterwards, or teach from the remnants that the loaves were truly multiplied. And at the same time, consider how in the desert and in such a vast solitude loaves are not found, except only five and two fish, and yet twelve baskets are easily found.
14:21
(Verse 21) Now the number of those who ate was five thousand men, besides women and children. According to the number of five loaves and the multitude of five thousand men who ate, it had not yet reached the seven-fold number according to another account, of whom there are four thousand who eat, close to the number of the Gospels. But those who ate were five thousand men who had grown into full maturity, and they followed him of whom Zacharias says: Behold the man, his name is the Rising Sun. But women and children, being of the weaker sex and younger age, are considered unworthy of being counted. Therefore, in the Book of Numbers, whenever priests, Levites, armies, or fighting crowds are described, slaves, women, children, and the common people are omitted from the count.
14:22
(Verse 22.) And immediately Jesus compelled his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him across the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. He instructed the disciples to cross over and compelled them to get into the boat, which shows by his words that they unwillingly left the Lord, as they did not want to be separated from him even for a moment.
14:23