Herod the tetrarch heard of all that [Jesus] had done, and was perplexed: for some said that it was John who had risen from the dead; others that Elijah had appeared, and others that one of the ancient prophets had risen. And Herod said, "I have beheaded John; Who is this of whom I hear such things? And sought to see Him.

This Herod was a small one, the son of the great Herod, who slew the innocents. This one was a king, and this one was a tetrarch. He wondered who Jesus would be. Nevertheless, John," he says, "I have beheaded, and therefore if he has risen from the dead, then when I see him, I will know; and sought an opportunity to see Jesus. Look: the Jews consider the resurrection of the dead in the life of the flesh, in food and drink. They think erroneously, for the resurrection is not in food and drink or in the life of the flesh, but the resurrected live like the angels of God.

The Apostles returned, and told Him what they had done; and he took them with him, and went away to a desolate place, near the city called Bethsaida. But the people, having learned, followed Him; and He, having received them, conversed with them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who required healing. The day began to turn towards evening. And the twelve came to him, and said to him, Let the people go, that they may go to the villages and villages round about for the night, and get food. Because we are here in an empty place. But He said to them, "Give them something to eat." They said, "We have not more than five loaves and two fishes; shall we go and buy food for all these people? For there were about five thousand of them. But he said to his disciples, Sit them in rows of fifty. And they did so, and seated everyone. And he took five loaves and two fishes, and looked up to heaven, and blessed them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples, to distribute to the people. And they ate, and they were all satisfied; and the pieces that remained with them were collected twelve boxes.

Jesus, intending to perform a miracle on the loaves, goes into an empty place, so that no one would think of saying that the loaves were brought from a city near it. "Having received the people, He taught and healed, so that you might know that our chastity is divided into word and deed, and that just as we should not say what is inconvenient to do, so we should not do what is absurd to say. "When the day was turning towards evening, the disciples, who had already begun to be distinguished by their philanthropic and pastoral dispositions, took pity on the people and said: let them go, that is, quickly heal their illnesses, fulfill their petitions. And the Lord says to the disciples: "Give them something to eat." He says this not because He did not know about poverty, but because He wanted to make His disciples themselves tell how many loaves they had, and thus by confessing them, by announcing the number of loaves, to reveal all the greatness of the miracle. Commanding the disciples to seat the people in rows of fifty, he shows that when we receive a stranger, we must calm him down and take every care for him. He Himself gives it to the disciples, and then they give it to the people; this is so that they would not forget about the miracle, but would remember it at the thought that they took the loaves into their own hands. There were twelve boxes of leftovers, so that we might know the power of hospitality and how our wealth increases when we help the poor. "However, this is spoken of at greater length in the explanation of the Gospel of Matthew (see Chapter 14).

At one time, when He was praying in a solitary place, and the disciples were with Him, He asked them, "Whom do the people say that I am?" They answered and said, "For John the Baptist, and some for Elijah; others [say] that one of the ancient prophets was resurrected. And he asked them, "And whom do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "For Christ of God." But He strictly commanded them not to tell anyone about this, saying that the Son of Man must suffer much, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day rise again.

The Lord, asking His disciples, does not ask directly what they themselves say, but first asks about the opinion of the people, and then about the opinion of themselves. He did this in order to show the injustice of the people's rumor about Him and to bring the disciples to the true understanding, which was done. For when the disciples said that some call you John, others Elijah, He asked, "And you, that is, you are different from all, you are chosen, you are separated, whom do you call Me?" Then Peter precedes the others and, having become the mouth of all, confesses Him to be the Christ of God, of Whom it has long been preached. He did not simply call Him the Christ of God, but the Christ of God, who is actually the Christ of God. For many have been anointed, but that Christ (the Anointed One) of God is the One and Only.

And he said to all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and to destroy himself or to injure himself? For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him, when He shall come in His glory, and of the Father, and of the holy angels. But I say to you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.