Matthew 14
The Death of John the Baptist
1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard reports about Jesus,
King Herod was an Edomite from the tribe of Esau. Esau was the brother of Jacob. The twelve tribes of Jacob became the nation of Israel.
Esau possessed such poor spiritual maturity that he traded in the messianic birthright for a bowl of red stew. Herod was the result of this Edomite line.
2and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.”
King Herod was a superstitious pagan. When he heard that Jesus was performing miracles, he feared that this was actually John the Baptist who had been raised from the dead.
3For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4because John had repeatedly told him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
John the Baptist was not a seeker-friendly teacher. Just as the sinful Herod would not listen to strong Bible doctrine that does not tickle the ears, so will many sinful and ignorant Christians not listen to a pastor who does not tickle their ears.
5Although Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd because they accepted John as a prophet.
King Herod was an Edomite from Esau ruling Israelites from Jacob. He had to be very careful politically to remain in power.
6But on Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 7so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.
Since King Herod executed John the Baptist because of sexual lust for his half-daughter, then Herod expected divine judgment. Therefore, the reports of Jesus scared Herod’s superstitious nature.
8Instructed by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”
Satan used this godless woman to remove a prophet of God from this planet.
9Although it grieved the king, because of his oath and the dinner guests he commanded it to be given.
Herod placed his man-made honor over the Word of God.
10So he sent and had John beheaded in the prison.
John the Baptist lost his head for teaching the truth.
11His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.
This was a morbid family who was controlling Judea. Today’s politicians are just as ruthless. However, they use laws instead of beheadings to eliminate the gospel.
12Then John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.
John’s disciples buried his body and reported the incident to Jesus.
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
13Now when Jesus heard this he went away from there privately in a boat to an isolated place. But when the crowd heard about it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
Although the Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus and called Him demon possessed, the crowds still flocked to Him. They walked from town to town in order to hear Jesus teach.
14As he got out he saw the large crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Jesus was not performing miracles anymore to authenticate His message of the coming Messianic Kingdom. His miracles now were for private individuals. Jesus is the God of love, so His compassion led Him to heal the sick who were suffering.
15When evening arrived, his disciples came to him saying, “This is an isolated place and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
The disciples noticed that the people were getting hungry. They suggested that the teaching stop so that the people would have time to purchase food in the nearby villages.
16But he replied, “They don’t need to go. You give them something to eat.”
Jesus knew that there would not be enough money to buy food and product to sell. He was using this situation as a teaching moment of His own omnipotence.
17They said to him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
The disciples were poor. This is all that they had to feed 13 men.
18“Bring them here to me,” he replied.
This is no problem for Jesus, who is omnipotent.
19Then he instructed the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
Jesus prayed and then offered the five loaves and two fish to the crowds.
20They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, twelve baskets full.
Jesus is God, so He is omnipotent. Just as He created the heavens and the earth, now He created bread and fish to feed the multitudes. Jesus would make a great general. His soldiers would always have bread and fish to eat.
21Not counting women and children, there were about five thousand men who ate.
Counting men and women, the crowd could be estimated at 20,000. There is another incident recorded in the gospels where Jesus fed 4000, but this was a separate event.
Walking on Water
22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds.
The crowds were so large, that Jesus could not travel by foot any longer. He had to travel by boat.
23And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.
The crowds were following Jesus so heavily, that He could only find time to pray at evening after every one fell asleep. While appearing as a human on earth, Jesus communicated with God the Father by prayer.
24Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it.
Since Jesus was praying alone at night, He had to meet the disciples later on during the evening. The disciples had already left in the boat.
25As the night was ending, Jesus came to them walking on the sea.
Jesus was God. He was omnipotent. He could have instantly appeared in the boat if He wished. Instead, to catch up to the boat, Jesus chose to walk on the sea.
26When the disciples saw him walking on the water they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear.
There are no such things as ghosts. The apostles were superstitious. There may be demons who disguise themselves as ghosts in order to deceive men, but ghosts have never existed. When people died during the Old Testament dispensation, their bodies were left lifeless on earth. Their souls and spirits departed to Hades. Those who were righteous departed to a section called Paradise, or Abraham’s bosom. Those who were unrighteous departed to a section in Hades called hell.
27But immediately Jesus spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”
Jesus identified Himself to the fearful apostles.
28Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”
Peter wanted to walk on water. This was a bold statement, because Jesus would have to give him the authority over nature to accomplish the miracle.
29So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.
This took courage. Peter was beginning to trust the claims of Jesus.
30But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Satan most likely sent the strong wind to scare Peter. God allowed Satan to send the wind. Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at his surroundings.
31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Jesus was the omniscient God-man. He knew the answer. He asked questions to Peter, just as He asked question to Adam, Eve, and Job. He was giving Peter a chance to confess his sin. It is a sin not to trust God. It is a sin to worry. Worry is the sin of not trusting God.
32When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased.
Either Satan dispelled the wind because his task was accomplished. Or, Jesus stopped the wind. It seemed as a victory for Satan, but it was actually a victory for God. It gave Jesus another teaching moment to train His disciples. They would need these kinds of lessons later after the presence of Jesus left them alone in the satanic world system.
33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Only God can walk on water. Angels will not accept worship, but Jesus did. He was more than just a created angel.
34After they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.
Gennesaret was NW of the Sea of Galilee.
35When the people there recognized him, they sent word into all the surrounding area, and they brought all their sick to him.
All of the sick in the area were brought to Jesus.
36They begged him if they could only touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Jesus healed everyone. The charismatics cannot perform this type of healing today, because their healing is demonic and limited. The healing of God is total, complete, and everyone is healed.