John 6:12

John 6:12. And when they were filled, he saith unto his disciples, Gather together the pieces that remain, that nothing be lost. The earlier Gospels relate the act of the disciples, but not the command of Jesus. John, everywhere intent on what his Master did and said, preserves for us this word. The design of the command is to bring out the preciousness of the food which Jesus had given, not to teach a lesson of economy, or to reprove the over-scrupulous calculations of Andrew and Philip. It is usual to understand by ‘pieces' the fragments broken by the multitude during their meal; but it is more probable that they were pieces broken by our Lord, pieces that remained undistributed or unconsumed because of the abundance of the supply.