Jesus moves from their worry to their memory. They had seen Him feed about five thousand men with five loaves, and they had gathered "twelve baskets full" of fragments (Matthew 14:20-21). If they had remembered that, they would not have worried about bread or assumed He was talking about it. Barnes writes, "The miracles had been full proof that he could supply all their wants without such anxiety." The word "yet" shows that Jesus expected more by now. He had already asked them, "Are ye also yet without understanding?" (Matthew 15:16).

Matthew records no answer from the disciples here. Mark, telling the same moment, records that when Jesus asked how many baskets they took up, "They say unto him, Twelve" (Mark 8:19). In Matthew, Jesus goes on to the second feeding (Matthew 16:10) and then explains His meaning (Matthew 16:11). The disciples finally understand that He was warning them about "the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees" (Matthew 16:12).

The word for "baskets" here is kophinous, which Thayer defines as "a basket, wicker basket." In the New Testament it is used only for the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:20; Mark 6:43; Luke 9:17; John 6:13) and in Jesus' reminder of that miracle (Matthew 16:9; Mark 8:19). In the very next question Jesus uses a different word for the baskets of the four thousand (Matthew 16:10). "Understand" translates noeite, to perceive with the mind, and "remember" translates mnēmoneuete.

The disciples did not lack evidence. They lacked reflection. Just before this, the Pharisees and Sadducees had asked for "a sign from heaven," and Jesus refused them (Matthew 16:1-4). His own disciples had seen signs with their own eyes, yet they too struggled to read them.

Jesus does not answer their slowness by performing a new miracle. He asks them to remember the one they already saw, down to the number of baskets. He teaches through memory, and He keeps teaching until they understand (Matthew 16:12).