And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
All Commentaries on Matthew 14:20 Go To Matthew 14
John Chrysostom
AD 407
And not even here does he hold back on the miracle, but it continues as the loaves become fragments. The broken pieces signify that of those loaves, some remained unreceived. This was in order that those who were absent might also learn what had been done. For this providential purpose, then, Jesus indeed permitted the crowds to get hungry in order that no one might suppose what took place to be as illusion. For this purpose he also caused just twelve baskets to remain over: That Judas, too, might bear one. He wanted all the disciples to know his power. He fed their hunger. In Elijah’s case something similar also took place. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
