Matthew 14, Part 1

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Death of John the Baptist

Matthew 14:1–5 ESV
1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.
Herod - the ruler over the area (but not a king). Luke 3:1
Luke 3:1 (ESV)
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
It becomes clear that, as Herod had heard of the popularity of Jesus that it caught his attention. It reminded him of someone…
As he is thinking, he is talking to his servants. He reminds me of John the Baptist…but I know he can’t be because I had him killed… He must have resurrected, that’s what we see him doing these miracles! Luke 9:9 reads this way:
Luke 9:9 ESV
9 Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.
He didn’t want to see Jesus because he was intrigued. He had other plans. Luke 13:31
Luke 13:31 ESV
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
This will be the same Herod that is mentioned at the trial of Jesus.
Now we find an explanation of what Herod meant, and why he wanted to see Jesus. Herod had seized John and put him in prison BECAUSE John had been telling the tetrarch he could not have an extramarital affair with his brothers wife.
Apparently Herod lived a highly immoral lifestyle. According to historical documents, Herod had married, but seduced his brothers wife into returning with him. His own wife ran away, hoping to spare her own life, since the king was displeased with her.
The Gospel according to Matthew 1: Chapters 1:1–16:12 (King James Version) (B. The Messiah’s Forerunner Is Murdered: A Godly vs. An Ungodly Man, 14:1–14)
Herod had married the daughter of Aretas, King of the Nabataean Arabs; but on a trip to Rome he had visited his half-brother and was deeply attracted to his wife, Herodias. He seduced her and talked her into returning with him. Herod’s own wife discovered his plans; and fearing for her life, she fled to her father, King Aretas.
John had been placed in prison because he pointed out the sin in the tetrarchs AND his new flings life choices. Herodias despised John also, and continued to compel him to get rid of John. Now we see the immorality of Herod carried even further during his birthday party.
Matthew 14:6–12 ESV
6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, 7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.
Herod feared John. He knew he was a holy man, and even though he did not like hearing of his own sins, he still knew who he was. But during this party, where surely there was plenty of liquid libations, the king was having a little too much fun.
Mark goes into more detail Mark 6:21-24
Mark 6:21–24 ESV
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”
They were drinking, and she was dancing, leading to thoughts that Herod should not have had for his step daughter.
It was during this time of drunken lust that Herod promises to do whatever she would ask him to do. I don’t think he was expecting to hear what she would say. “I want John the Baptists head”. Now, I don’t know what is worse here. The fact that Herodias and her daughter would ask for this innocent mans head, or that Herod would follow through with it.
Herod immediately regretted his words.
Often, we say things we don’t really mean, or the way we mean them. Unfortunately, they can be misinterpreted or interpreted in another way to cause us to regret our choices. I think this is where we find Herod. He was sorry he had given her free reign to ask for anything. Now, because he had told her he would do whatever she asked he had no choice. There were witnesses. He couldn’t turn back on his word.
So he had John beheaded, and his head was brought on a platter, given to the girl, who then took it to Herodias. Note Herod would not kill John because he was afraid of the people’s reaction, but now he put himself in a position where he could not wiggle out. The forerunner of the Messiah, one who had made the way for the Savior, met his fate of beheading over an immoral, illegal affair where the political leader favored selfish desires over Godly action. What if John had remained silent? What if he had just shaken his head and played it safe? John couldn’t do that, though, as he was sent to be a witness for God.
Herod was sorry. Sorry isn’t good enough, as it does not equal repentance. The POSB makes this comment “There is a worldly sorrow and a godly sorrow”. The difference between the two is literally heaven or hell.
2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
John’s disciples retrieve the body and buried him.

Feeding the Five Thousand

Matthew 14:15–21 ESV
15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Now, evening has arrived, and the crowds have gathered around Jesus as they apparently have been all day long. You can imaging that Jesus may have been tired, the disciples were tired, it appears the crowd was hungry, and the disciples came to Jesus. Notice how they approached Him - Lord, we are in the middle of nowhere, it’s getting late, send these people away so they can go find something to eat.
Preacher, you’ve kept everyone here all day long - would you PLEASE let us send them into Pennington to get something to eat! Everything the disciples were seeing was worldly. They were not focused on the spiritual needs of those around them, only the physical needs. They had to be getting hungry. We don’t have the resources to care for them, so send them away to fend for themselves. Oh, but Jesus was about to use this as a teaching moment.
He had called them to minister, to show people that He, the Messiah, was the answer to human helplessness. They were to meet the day-to-day needs of people, helping them through the trials and problems of life. He had to teach them a critical truth: they would never be able to do the job in their own strength. Their human resources were just too inadequate to meet the needs of the world. Why can man himself not meet all the needs of the world? Because so few see the multitude in their need and even fewer experience compassion for them. Most say, “Send the multitude away, that they may go … and buy themselves”. But Jesus said, “They need not go away; YOU give them something to eat”.
Jesus needed to meet the needs of those in need. Even those who did not know they had needs. His compassion had caused His heart to pour out to the multitude, and He had been ministering most of the day. Notice how he responded to the disciples - Give what ever resources you have, and I will take care of the rest. We all have the duty and responsibility to give whatever we have, no matter how little or how small.
Lord, all we have are two sardines and five rolls - enough for a young child. Now how are we supposed to feed all these people with someones lunch??? Luke tells a different side to the story:
Luke 9:13 ESV
13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”
Whether it happened this way or not, I can sense sarcasm - All we have are a few fish and a few rolls - what do you want us to do now, go buy food for EEEEEVERYONE??? It’s going to take a miracle when they see just how little food we have. What do you want us to do, huh???
Bring it to me. What? Now, how do you think you’re going to… Bring it to me. What Jesus said is profound: “Bring them [your human resources] here to me”. If only we would surrender our “human resources” to Him and allow Him to give the increase, what impact would we have on our own lives, our family, our friends, our community, our nation, and our world?
The crowds were seated, and he took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to the Father, and asked for a blessing. What happened then shows us what can happen when we bring our humanness to God for His multiplication.
He broke the loaves, he broke the fish. The disciples passed it all out to the crowd, and the crowd ate until they were full. Scripture says they were even past full, they were SATISFIED. After everyone had eaten all they could hold, there were twelve baskets full of the bread and fish that were gathered.
While the size of the basket is not stated, some sources indicate these were stiff wicker baskets capable of holding 1.25 to 2.5 gallons of food. 15-30 gallons of food were picked back up. And look at the last verse - those fed were about 5,000 men - NOT INCLUDING the women and children that ate also. It could have been well over 15,000 people that were fed from a kid’s meal.
Look at how Jesus used the resources given to Him. He took what was given, He gave thanks, and He USED those resources.
Christ teaches how to use what resources we have.
(1) Take them: surrendering them to Christ and His purposes.
(2) Thank God: acknowledging Him as the source of the resources.
(3) Use them: giving all we have to those who are so hungry, lost, and desperately needful throughout the world.
It is by giving what we have, and trusting Christ can multiply it enough to meet every need.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (2004). The Gospel according to Matthew: Chapters 1:1–16:12 (Vol. 1, p. 342). Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
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