Chapter 14
Matthew 14:1-12
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of
Jesus,
2 And said unto his servants, This is John the
Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth
themselves in him.
3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and
put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.
4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to
have her.
5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared
the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
6 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of
Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her
whatsoever she would ask.
8 And she, being before instructed of her mother,
said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.
9 And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's
sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
11 And his head was brought in a charger, and given to
the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
12 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and
buried it, and went and told Jesus.
About that time, Herod the
tetrarch heard about Jesus. Herod the
tetrarch asked his servants, “Is Jesus the resurrected John the baptist? And, because of that is He able to do
miracles?”
This Herod is the one that
imprisoned and beheaded John the baptist because of the affair with his brother’s
wife.
John told Herod that it was
not lawful for him to be living with his brother’s wife, Herodias. Herod was not happy with John’s admonishment.
Herod would have put John the
baptist to death immediately, but he feared the Jewish population. The Jews of that day considered John the
Baptist to be a prophet.
When Herod celebrated his
birthday, the daughter of Herodias, Herod’s sister-in-law with whom he lived,
danced before the guests. That greatly
pleased Herod. Herod was a dirty old
man.
Because her dance pleased
Herod so much, he promised to give her whatever she asked. Herodias apparently
knew Herod’s perverse sexual appetites and assumed that he would make a fool of
himself over a young girl.
Before she danced, her mother
told her that if Herod made such an offer, she was to ask for John the
baptist's head. The thought of such a
thing today would be repulsive, but in that time, Herod was bound by his
“royal” word to do what he said.
Verse 9 tells us that “the
king was sorry.” Sorrow is not worth
much unless it is accompanied by corrective action. We may be “sorry” we sin, but unless we
repent, being sorry is a useless emotion!
In verse 9 we find the word
“nevertheless.” Herod was sorry, nevertheless
his sorrow did not stop him from ordering the death of John the baptist. Herod had John beheaded and his head brought
to the party on a charger, a platter.
That act has become infamous.
John’s followers went to the
prison that same day, as was Jewish custom, and they took his body to be buried. Following John’s burial, they went to Jesus
to tell him of the events.
Matthew 14:13-21
13 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship
into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed
him on foot out of the cities.
14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude,
and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him,
saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude
away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart;
give ye them to eat.
17 And they say unto him, We have here but five
loaves, and two fishes.
18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the
grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven,
he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples
to the multitude.
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they
took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand
men, beside women and children.
When Jesus heard of John’s
death, he left the area and went to an uninhabited area. When the crowds heard about his move, they
followed him.
When Jesus saw the crowd, he
had compassion for them. Jesus healed
those among them who were sick.
At dusk, Jesus’ Apostles told
him that the crowd should be sent away so they could buy food. But, Jesus told His Apostles that they should
give (Gr. dote-dote/imperative) them food. Considering the circumstances
that was an extraordinary command.
This story is also told in
Mark 6, Luke 9, and John 6.
According to Matthew’s
writing, the disciples responded by telling Jesus that there were only five
loaves, and two fishes.
Jesus said, “Bring them to
me.”
Then, Jesus commanded the
crowd to sit and He took the small amount of food, and looking into heaven, he
blessed it. He broke the bread and gave
it to his disciples. The disciples in
turn, gave the food to the crowd.
Matthew reports that all ate
and were filled!
It is amazing to me that
neither Jesus, not His disciples ask a single person among the crowds, “Do you
trust in Jesus for your salvation?”
Jesus fed all that came to
Him. He did not question their motives.
After all were fed, the
Disciples recovered the fragments and filled twelve baskets full of food. In Christ, there is more than enough to feed
all and to have much left over. Grace as
come to all with plenty left over.
If God gives you an
assignment and you feel that there is not enough to complete the task, take the
situation to God. He will provide whatever
is needed and more.
In the first few chapters of
acts, we find that thousands responded after being fed the Gospel. While some sermons are nothing more than
empty group psychoanalysis, people still respond to the pure gospel.
In Acts 4, the people of
When the Jewish Priests tried
to stop Peter and John from preaching the gospel, they---the Priests---did not
deny the fact of the resurrection (Acts 4:16).
Indeed, they admitted that the resurrection was common knowledge among
those that were in
Today, more people deny the
resurrection than at the time of the resurrection! In that day, the Jews did not deny the
resurrection. Today’s denial is based in
historical ignorance.
Matthew 14:22-33
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to
get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the
multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went
up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there
alone.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea,
tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went
unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea,
they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be
of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be
thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out
of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid;
and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou
doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind
ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped
him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
Then, Jesus ordered His
disciples to get into a small boat. Their destination was the other side of the
As the disciples sailed away,
Jesus went up into a mountain to pray.
That evening, Jesus was there alone.
The small boat with the disciples
was a few miles off shore when a storm began.
The boat was being tossed by the waves.
It was quite stormy.
“In the fourth watch of the
night” (between 3 and 6 AM) Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water.
When the Apostles saw him walking
on the sea, they “were troubled” (Gr. etarachtheesan-etaracqhsan), or in great
distress. They saw Christ and said, “It
is a spirit!” They were terrified.
Immediately, Jesus told them,
“Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
Peter, not one to stand on
formality, asked permission to walk on the water.
Matthew 14:28
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on
the water.
Jesus granted his
request. While the others waited in the
boat, Peter walked on the water going to Jesus.
Peter was doing just fine, until he looked at his
circumstances. Do you look to Christ, or
look at your circumstances?
When Peter realized his
circumstances and took notice of the winds and seas around him, fear took
over. In the face of fear, Peter cried
out to Christ, “Lord, save me.” That is
what each of us should be saying in the face of our circumstances.
Some today read that and
preach on Peter’s fear or lack of faith.
However, Peter was the only Apostle to get out of the boat. That took more faith than the rest exhibited.
Each of us was drowning in a
sea of sin, until Christ came to our rescue.
Immediately, Jesus reached
out, and caught Peter.
Jesus rebuked Peter though,
saying, “O thou of little faith, why did you doubt?”
When they climbed into the
ship, the storm stopped. The Apostles
who stayed in the boat worshipped Jesus, saying, “It is a fact! You are the Son
of God.”
In that day, there were other
messiahs roaming around
Matthew 14:34-36
34 And when they were gone over, they came into the
35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him,
they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that
were diseased;
36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem
of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
They crossed the sea, and
came to the
When the people learned that
Jesus had come into that region, they sent the news to all in that area that
needed healing.
The KJV says that they
“besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment.” That is not, as some suppose, the hem of
Jesus’ cloak. “The hem” refers to the
fringe of Jesus’ prayer shawl.
All those that touched it
were made completely healed. Have you
come to Christ seeking to be made whole?