Matthew chapter 14 comments

 

Matthew 14:1 ¶  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.

 

Judaea was ruled by Herod the Great until his death at which time it was divided between three of his sons and his sister as a tetrarchy, with Judea as a Roman province until Rome assumed complete control later in the first century. This Herod was one of his sons.

 

Luke 3:1 ¶  Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, 2  Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

 

Here is the story of the death of John the Baptist. He was murdered, executed by a spineless, lascivious, and morally bankrupt Herod, son of the so-called Herod the Great, murderer of children. Remember his father’s slaughter of the innocents.

 

Matthew 14:13 ¶  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.

 

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, needed to get away by Himself when He heard of His cousin’s murder, the death of the one who directly foretold His arrival.

 

But the multitudes who followed Him moved Christ to compassion. Here is the feeding of the 5,000. We can’t help but ask ourselves if the 12 baskets represent the 12 tribes of Israel. There is so much symbology in these passages.

 

I am reminded of Sewall Smith’s sermon, “What are you going to do with YOUR 5 and 2?”

 

Jesus met immediate needs of healing and also fed those who followed after Him in a world that had neither insurance or government welfare and food stamps. These people were totally dependent upon themselves and their own efforts and in their poverty and in the uncertainty of living with few medical remedies compared to us today were blessed immensely by Jesus as their benefactor, healer, provider, and Saviour.

 

Matthew 14:22 ¶  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.

 

Immediately, the meaning of straightway, Jesus ordered His disciples to get into a boat and sail to the other side of the sea. See Matthew 13:1 for the general location of where they were as the seaside. He finally got His alone time to commune with God the Father. Between 3am and 6am in the morning while a storm was battering His disciples Jesus went to them, walking on the rough seas.

 

It is here that always questioning Peter asks that if the apparition is really Christ that Peter, too, can walk on the wind-tossed waves. He does, but with his faith wavering, he begins to sink. This is the way it is with our weak faith. We call upon God, if He is real, to save us, and then we doubt, no matter what miracles we’ve seen in our lives, and we begin to sink. But Christ will lift us up.

 

The declaration in verse 33 reminds me of verses in Psalms.

 

Psalm 89:9  Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

 

Psalm 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

 

Matthew 14:34 ¶  And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 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.

 

The land of Gennesaret is said by most sources to be on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Here, in this quiet and brief passage, it is noted that Jesus healed many sick people. In such a small statement is great power especially if you lived in a part of the world today where common sicknesses that are curable in modern countries can strike you down. I just can’t imagine what these people thought and felt as this man could just touch them or they might only touch a piece of His clothing and were healed.