ACC ~ John 6 v7 - 9

THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE WILL PROVIDE

ROMANUS MELODUS:

“Master, we can find only five barley loaves;

No one of us brought anything into the desert,

But a child is here who has them.

O Lover of man, no other resource is possible for us.

For an enormous and boundless number of people, O Man of pity,

How can these five loaves be sufficient?

In addition, he has two fishes.

But hurry and nourish them, since Thou art

The heavenly bread of immortality.”

When Christ heard these words of His disciples,

He answered them in this way: “You are mistaken if you do not know

That I am the Creator of the universe; I provide for the world;

I now know clearly what these people need;

I see the desert and that the sun is setting;

Indeed I arranged the setting of the sun;

I understand the distress of the crowd which is here;

I know what I have in mind to do for them.

I myself shall cure their hunger, for I am

The heavenly bread of immortality….

“Even though you consider carefully, can you as mere men secure nourishment,

Or can you, though you are worried, feed the people?

Or, then, if you cannot feed them, have you the power to keep silent?

I, alone, as Creator take thought for all.

I exist as good, God before the centuries.

And I provide every kind of food for all people; [1]

But you, on beholding the multitude, are worried,

And you do not consider the One who provides abundantly,

As I am set before all, offering

The heavenly bread of immortality.

“I know in advance what you are thinking and what you are saying to each other,

As you see the people, the means of provision, and the hour.

You are reasoning, ‘Who will feed the entire crowd in the desert?’

Well, know clearly, friends, who I am.

I fed Israel in the desert; [2]

I gave them bread from Heaven;

In a region without water, I made water to flow from a rock; [3] …

Since I am

The heavenly bread of immortality.

KONTAKION ON THE MULTIPLICATION OF LOAVES 13.12-17. [4]

[1] Ps 136:25 (135:25 LXX).

[2] Ex 16:4.

[3] Ps 78:16; Ex 17:6-7.

[4] KRBM 1:132-33*.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISH

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The five barley loaves signify the five books of Moses, that is, the whole law which gives as it were a coarser type of food…. But the fish signify good food attained through the fishermen, that is, the more delicate books of Christ’s disciples. Within the latter, there are two distinct types, the preaching of the apostles and the proclamation of the evangelists, which shine forth among us. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 3.4. [1]

[1] LF 43:329**.

THE HUSK OF THE PENTATEUCH FULFILLED IN CHRIST THE KERNEL

AUGUSTINE: To provide a brief explanation: the five loaves are understood as the five books of Moses; rightly they are not wheat but barley because they belong to the Old Testament. For you know that barley was created in such a way that one can scarcely get to its kernel. For this kernel is clothed with a covering of husk, and this husk is tenacious and adhering, so that it is stripped off with effort. Such is the letter of the Old Testament, clothed with the coverings of carnal mysteries; but if one gets to its kernel, it feeds and satisfies.

And so a boy was carrying five loaves and two fishes. If we should seek to know who this boy was, perhaps he was the people of Israel, carrying the loaves and fish with a childlike understanding and not eating of them itself. For those things that it was carrying, when kept shut, were a burden, but when opened, were food. Moreover, the two fish seem to us to signify those two sublime personages in the Old Testament who were anointed to make holy and rule the people, the priest and king. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 24.5.1-2. [1]

[1] FC 79:234-35**.