Why did He not say plainly, Take heed of the doctrine of the Pharisees? Because He would remind them of those things that had been done in the multiplication of the loaves, knowing them to be forgetful. To have given them this charge at once bluntly would have seemed unreasonable; but to find fault with them on occasion banished by themselves prepared the way for the charge; therefore it is that the Evangelist brings forward their thoughts; “But they thought within themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.”
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).