Chapter 6

Chapter 6. — On the Commissioning of the Apostles. On John and Herod. On the Five Loaves and the Two Fishes. On the Walking Upon the Sea

¹ And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. And when the Sabbath was come, he began to teach in the synagogue; and many hearing him were astonished, saying: Whence has this man these things? And what is the wisdom which is given to him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. He sets foot in his own country, not being ignorant that they will despise him, but that they might not afterward be able to say, If he had come, we should have believed; and at the same time, convicting their envious disposition. For whereas they ought rather to have gloried in the Lord, as adorning their own country both through his teaching and through his miracles, they instead set him at naught on account of the lowliness of his lineage. So great an evil is envy. For it ever casts a shadow over good things, and does not suffer those who envy to see them. And so even now many slander, as low-born, certain men who are otherwise worthy of honour, thinking evil and exceedingly basely.

² And Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and among his own kindred, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. The Lord says universally that all the prophets are without honour in their own countries. For whether they have illustrious kinsmen, these envy them, and on this account dishonour them; or whether they be low-born, again on account of their low birth they are dishonoured. He could not, then, there do mighty works—not that he himself was weak, but that they were unbelieving. For sparing them, that the signs might not be unto their greater condemnation, since not even so would they believe, on this account he does no mighty works there. And besides, in the working of wonders there is need both of the power of him who works, and of the faith of those who receive. There, accordingly, the one being lacking—namely the faith of those to be healed—it was not possible for Jesus to do signs. For thus we ought to understand the He could not, instead of, It was not possible.

³ And he went round about the villages, teaching. And he calls unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits, and charged them that they should take nothing for the way, save a staff only—no scrip, no bread, no money in the belt—but be shod with sandals; and, Put not on two coats. And he said to them: Wheresoever you enter into a house, there abide till you depart thence. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when you depart thence, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony unto them. Truly I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom or Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. Not in cities only did the Lord teach, but also in the villages, that we might learn neither to despise the small, nor ever to seek out the great cities, but to sow the word even in the mean little hamlets. And not only does he himself teach, but he also sends forth the twelve two by two, that they might be the more eager. For if he had sent one, that one would have been without zeal; and again, if more than two, the number of the apostles would not have sufficed for many villages. Two, accordingly, he sends; for Two are better than one, says Ecclesiastes. And he charges them to take nothing—neither scrip, nor money, nor bread—training them by these things in freedom from the love of money, and that those who beheld them might be put to shame by them, who taught freedom from possessions out of the very things wherein they themselves had nothing. For who, seeing the apostle carrying neither scrip nor bread, the most necessary thing, would not have been put to shame, and have stripped himself for the life without possessions? And he bids them remain in one house, that they might not seem, through gluttony, to be unsettled, exchanging one host for another. And from those who receive them not, he bids them shake off the dust, showing that they had walked a long road for their sake, and had profited nothing; or that they had received nothing from them, not even dust, but had shaken off even this, so that this might be for a testimony unto them, that is, for a reproof. For Truly I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom or Gomorrha in the judgment, than for those who received you not. For the Sodomites, having been punished here, shall be punished there more bearably. And besides, neither were apostles sent unto them; whereas those who received not the apostles shall suffer harder things than they.

⁴ And they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. That the apostles anointed with oil, Mark alone recounts—which James also, the Brother of God, says in his catholic Epistle: Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil. The oil, then, is both profitable for toils, and a cause of light, and a procurer of gladness, and signifies the mercy of God and the grace of the Spirit, through which we are both delivered from toils, and receive light and joy and spiritual gladness.

⁵ And king Herod heard of him (for his name was made manifest), and said that John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore the mighty works show forth themselves in him. Others said that it is Elijah; and others said that it is a prophet, as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard, he said: It is John, whom I beheaded; he is risen from the dead. This Herod was the son of the one who slew the infants. And though he was a tetrarch, Mark calls him king, using the name indifferently. He, then, hearing the miracles of the Lord, and knowing that he had slain John in vain, [John] being a righteous man, supposed that he had risen from the dead, and from the resurrection had received in addition the working of wonders. For formerly John did no sign; but from the resurrection Herod supposed that he had received in addition the working of the signs. And others said that it is Elijah; for he reproved the multitudes, as when he said, O faithless generation. But Herod is in dread; so pitiable, then, was he, as to fear the dead man.

⁶ For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold on John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. For John said to Herod: It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him, but she could not. For Herod feared John, knowing him to be a just man and holy, and kept him safe; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, when Herod on his birthday made a supper for his nobles, and the captains, and the chief men of Galilee; and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat at table with him, the king said to the damsel: Ask of me whatsoever you will, and I will give it to you. And he swore to her: Whatsoever you shall ask of me, I will give it to you, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went out and said to her mother: What shall I ask? And she said: The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying: I will that you give me at once on a platter the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet, for the sake of his oaths and of those who sat with him at table, he would not reject her. And straightway the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb. Here Mark inserts the account of the death of the Baptist, having seized the occasion. As for Herodias, some say that Herod tore her away while Philip was yet living, and that on this account he was reproved as transgressing the law, in putting asunder from his living brother his wife; but others [say] that Philip indeed had died, yet [had left] a daughter; and the daughter being alive, Herod ought not to have married his brother’s wife, not even after his death. For the law then commanded the brother to take the wife of his brother, when there was no child; but here the daughter was living, and therefore the marriage was unlawful. And mark how great is the strength of the madness of lust, so that it made even Herod—who had such reverence and fear toward John—to despise him, in order to gratify a single licentiousness. A drinking-bout is got up; and Satan dances by means of the damsel; and an oath is fulfilled, lawless and godless, or rather senseless. And the wicked woman, Give me, says she, at once—that is, immediately, in that very hour. And the senseless and love-stricken Herod is in dread of his oaths, and on this account murders the righteous man. But he ought here to have broken his oath, and not to have wrought so foul an abomination. For not everywhere is the keeping of an oath a good thing. And a speculator is what the executioner-soldier is called, who is appointed for the slaying. And by corpse he means the body; for after the beheading the body, having fallen, is called a corpse.[1] And it is possible to take these things also according to the higher contemplation. For Herod is the leathern people of the Jews; and he married a wife, the false and licentious opinion, whose daughter even now dances; and there is set in motion among the Jews the knowledge of the Scriptures that leads them astray. For they seem to know the Scriptures; but it is not so; for they beheaded John, that is, the prophetic word; for the head of the prophets was Christ, whom they received not; and so, even if they have the prophetic word, yet it is beheaded, without a head, that is, without Christ.

⁷ And the apostles gather themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And he said to them: Come, you yourselves, apart, into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by boat, apart. And the people saw them departing, and many knew him; and ran together there on foot out of all the cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. After the apostles had preached, they gather together unto Jesus; that we too may learn, whenever we are put forward unto any ministry, not to be restive and to exalt ourselves above him who put us forward, but to know him as head, and to turn back to him, and to report to him whatsoever we have either done or taught; for it behooves us not only to teach, but also to do. And Christ gives the disciples rest, that again those who preside may learn to count those who toil in word and teaching worthy of rest, and not ever to strain them with labours. And withdrawing into a desert place because of his freedom from the love of glory, nevertheless not even there does he escape the notice of those who seek him. But so watchful were they, lest he should escape them, that they even outwent him—that is, the multitudes outran the apostles, and went away to the place where Jesus was about to take his rest. So therefore do you also anticipate Jesus, not waiting for him to call you; but running, and rather yourself getting before him.

⁸ And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came to him and say to him: This is a desert place, and now the hour is late; send them away, that they may go into the country and villages round about, and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat. But he answered and said to them: Give them to eat yourselves. And they say to him: Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? But he says to them: How many loaves have you? Go and see. And when they knew, they say: Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties. The Pharisees, being ravening wolves, did not shepherd the people, but devoured them. For this cause [the people] gather together unto Christ, the true shepherd, fleeing those others; whence he gives them food—primarily the more profitable and more precious food, that through the word, and then also the bodily. And mark the disciples, how they advance unto greater love of men. For having had compassion on the multitudes, they come to Christ and make request concerning them. But the Lord, trying them, and proving whether they had recognized his power, that he is able to feed them, says: Give them to eat yourselves. But they even find fault with him, as not knowing how great their want was, and how great also the multitude of the crowd. For being weighed down they say, Shall we buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? Yet at the last he makes all sit down upon the grass in separate groups. For this is the meaning of, By companies, that is, in distinct tables. And this also is the meaning of, They sat down in ranks, that is, in distinct plots and divisions. For garden-beds is the name for the distinct plots in gardens, in which divers things are oftentimes planted.

⁹ And having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed; and he broke the loaves, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes he divided among them all. And they all ate, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that ate of the loaves were five thousand men. He looks up to heaven, at once both teaching us to ask our food from God, and not from the devil—which they do who are nourished out of unjust gains—and at the same time then showing to the multitudes that he is not opposed to God, but calls upon God. And he gives to the disciples, that they might not forget the miracle, as having received the loaves with their own hands. And twelve baskets over and above abound, for this very purpose, that each one, taking up a basket upon his shoulders, might keep the miracle unforgotten. And it was a superabundance of power, not only to feed so many, but also to leave over what was superfluous. For Moses, even though he gave the manna, yet [gave] according to the need of each; for what was over and above bred worms. And Elijah, feeding the widow, supplied what was sufficient. But Jesus, as Master, makes [the food] even to abound. These things, then, according to the history. But according to the anagogical sense: the five loaves are the words of Moses. For five are the books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. And the two fishes are the words of the fishermen, the Apostle and the Gospel. By these, then, are nourished our five senses, for these are the five thousand. Yet we are not able to eat all things, but many things are over and above, which the apostles are able to bear. For the more difficult of the conceptions of the Law and of the Gospel, we who still serve the five senses do not bear, but the apostles do.

¹⁰ And straightway he constrained his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before unto the other side toward Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. And when he had taken leave of them, he departed into the mountain to pray. And when evening was come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary to them. And about the fourth watch of the night he comes to them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it was an apparition, and cried out. For they all saw him, and were troubled. And straightway he talked with them, and says to them: Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And he went up to them into the boat, and the wind ceased. And they were exceedingly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marvelled. For they understood not concerning the loaves; for their heart was hardened. He constrained the disciples. For they did not wish to be torn away from him, but were parted by force, at once both because of their love toward him, and because of their being at a loss how he should come to them, there being no boat. Having dismissed the multitudes, then, he went up to pray apart; for prayer has need of leisure and freedom from disturbance. And he leaves the disciples to be tried, that they might learn to endure. For this cause he does not even straightway stand by them, but suffers them through the whole night to be tossed by the waves, that he might teach them to be patient, and not at the beginning of hardships to hope for relief. And mark another thing also, that whenever he is about to make the terrors cease, then rather he casts them into greater fear. For when they saw him, they cried out, being troubled as at an apparition; and straightway through his voice he heals them, saying: Be not afraid. Then also through his entering into the boat he procures for them a more perfect freedom from disturbance; for straightway the wind ceased. And it is a great miracle to walk upon the sea, and [the work] of God in very truth; but that, there being also a tumult and the wind being contrary, [he walked,] is a heightening of the miracle. And the apostles, not understanding concerning the loaves, understood from this miracle upon the sea. It seems, then, that Christ on this account also suffered them to be tried, that, since they had not recognized him from the loaves, they might recognize him from the sea.

¹¹ And when they had passed over, they came unto the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. And when they had come out of the boat, straightway they recognized him, and ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick, wherever they heard that he was. And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or fields, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment; and as many as touched him were made whole. After an interval of time, as it seems, the Lord sojourned in the place. Wherefore the evangelist also says: Recognizing him, they brought the sick. For they no longer called him into the houses, but rather themselves brought those who were ill, beseeching him that they might touch if it were but the border [of his garment]. For the miracle concerning the woman with the issue of blood had laid hold of the ears of all, and had put greater faith into them.