Matthew 14
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Matthew 14
Matthew 14
Matthew begins this chapter by telling the story of the death of John the Baptist. Herod confuses Jesus and John, it seems that he believes they are one and the same, not two separate people; and Matthew provides background to the the story here.
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,
We saw this with the last chapter, that phrase “at that time” connects the chapters meaning the death of John occurred close in time to Jesus being rejected at Nazareth. Tetrach is a Greek word meaning a governor over a quarter of any region and they are lower than a king, so Herod the tetrarch refers to Herod Antipas who rules over a fourth of the kingdom, specifically over Galilee, which we can document in Luke 3:1.
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.
Some ancient writings state that Jesus and John closely resembled (which would make since with them being cousins), which gives more insight into why Herod thought that John and Jesus were one and the same. When Herod hears stories of Jesus, he believes they are stories about John.
For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife.
So Herod had arrested John for Herodias’ sake, Herodias had been married to Herod’s brother Philip, but now she was with Herod Antipas.
For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
John spoke out against Herod’s marriage because he had illegally divorced his previous wife and then seduced and married his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias. The father of Herod’s first wife was the King of Petra, and he later waged war against Herod because of how he had disgraced the King’s daughter.
And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
Herod was afraid that if the crowd knew he had killed John that they would rebel or cause an uprising, because the people considered John a prophet. So even though he wanted to kill John, he didn’t for fear of the multitude. This show’s a trap that can be easy to fall into though. Herod is fearful of people, but he should have been afraid of the wrath of God being poured out for his wickedness.
But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
The daughter of Herodias was named Salome, we can find that information in the Antiquities written by first century Jewish historian Josephus. At a celebration for Herod’s birthday Salome danced for him. The dances that they danced were suggestive and immoral, it pleased Herod because the dance was sensual in nature.
Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.
Herodias was furious with John for his condemnation of her relationship with Herod, and she coached her daughter on what to do so that they could have John killed. She asked for John’s head in a charger, which means a wooden platter or dish. She basically is asking for John’s head in a basket. And she wants it done immediately, allowing no time for John to mount a defense, and forcing a decision while Herod was still under the influence of wine and the dance.
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.
When it says “the king was sorry” it means he was distressed. This is still talking about his fear of the crowd and what they would do if he killed John, but he has sworn an oath to deliver John’s head to Salome.
And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
Herod was afraid to go against his wife so he did something he knew was wrong. Herod’s life ends up being a tragedy of constant sin and wickedness. After his ex-father-in-law defeats him in war, his brother ends up accusing him of treason against Rome, he is banished into a province called Gaul, and there he and Herodias end up committing suicide.
And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
John’s disciples come and collect his body to give him a proper burial instead of allowing him to be buried as a criminal. Spurgeon notes here that “It is not said by the Evangelist that they buried John, but ‘they took up his body, and buried it,’ not him. The real John no man could bury.”
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.
What did Jesus hear that caused he to depart to the desert? If we just start at the last verse it seems He was responding to the death of John the Baptist. But Matthew began this chapter with Herod's remarks on Jesus' fame and power, which Herod thought was John the Baptist. Then Matthew gives us the story about John's death. Now Matthew seems to pick up where verse 2 left off. The "this" which Jesus is hearing about seems to be Herod taking not of Jesus’ fame and power, not the death of John. Herod is surely going to realize the person he is hearing all of these stories about wasn’t John, because the stories continue after he had John beheaded in prison.
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
This is such a good example of God’s mercy and grace for us if we have faith in Him. Jesus was so moved with compassion that he teaches and heals the multitude until the evening.
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.
But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
Jesus here is instructing the disciples to physically feed the multitudes, but at the same time is expressing the mission that He will leave behind for His followers after his crucifixion: to spiritually feed the multitudes by spread the Word of God, that same word being Jesus Christ, the bread of life. And He will show how he will always give us what we need to accomplish the work He has for us, even if we don’t think we have enough.
And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
Bread and fish were a big part of the Galilean diet, especially for the poor. But this amount of food would have feed two people, at most three. These fishes and loaves were obtained from a little boy among the crowd (John 6:9). The disciples had faith and they trusted Jesus to provide for them, so they travelled light and had no provisions of their own.
He said, Bring them hither to me.
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.
Jesus thanks the Father for providing the food, and the phrases used represent a traditional blessing, something we still do to this day. The bread they had was made in thin cakes which had to be broken, not cut, before it could be eaten and this is where the phrase “to break bread” comes from. Notice that Jesus has the crowds sit, this suggests the idea of a banquet like atmosphere, similar to the feasts of the day.
And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
12 baskets, so one for each disciple. So much left that there was a full basket for each disciple. Showing that we should never hesitate to fulfill the job Christ has for us, because He will provide the tools we need, and he will sustain us as well.
And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
There were 5,000 men not including women and children. More than likely the total number was closer to 8,000, with some estimates up to around 15,000.
These events were important enough to be recorded in all four gospels, because it shows examples of a few things that are of significance. It shows that Jesus could feed the people of God, reflecting Israel being fed manna in the wilderness. It shows that Jesus had mercy and grace, even when it would seem like He would have been exhausted; showing His longsuffering or patience. And it also shows Jesus working through the hands of the disciples, a fact that continues now, and even into the future with the elect helping to teach during the millennial reign.
And we can draw from this that we can trust in God to provide for us, and that we should wisely use and not waste what he gives us.
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.
Jesus instructs the disciples to get a ship and to sail across the Sea of Galilee. Bullinger makes note here that Christ sending the multitudes away is a miracle in and of itself. How hard it must have been to send away a crowd that has seen first hand the miracles and healing of the Messiah, but yet Jesus was able to have them return to their lives, allowing Jesus and the disciples to immediately leave the area.
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.
Jesus goes into the hills near the Sea of Galilee to pray. The Bible doesn’t give any reference to a particular mountain. The thing that we need to pay attention here is that he removes himself to go and pray alone. It’s important for us to find quiet time to reflect and communicate with God. To remove all distraction and focus solely on praying and growing our relationship with God.
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
The Greek phrase that is used here for describing how far out the ship was refers to stadions which was about 1/8 of a Roman mile. In John 6:19 it gives the distance of 25-30 stadia, meaning the ship was roughly 7-8 miles out to sea. The Sea of Galilee is well known for it’s sudden storms and remember Jesus is currently not in the ship with the disciples.
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
The fourth watch is referring to how the Romans divided the 12 hour span from 6pm to 6am into four watches of 3 hours each. The fourth watch was 3-6am. According to what we see in Mark chapter 6 verses 47-52 Jesus came to the disciples after they have exhausted themselves rowing against the storm.
And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
The disciples thought that he was a phantom, that’s what the word in the Greek here used for spirit shows. They were surprised and fearful, kind of an example of how often we allow ourselves to lose focus and become troubled by the world. They know the power of Jesus, but instead of thinking first of Him, they immediately think they are seeing a ghost.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
In the midst of the storm Jesus speaks comforting words. And we can use this to our advantage even now, because we have His Word, and in troubled times we can turn to it to help find peace of mind and comfort.
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Peter steps up and speaks for the disciples, and from what he says we can tell they couldn’t see well enough to know that it was Jesus. Notice that he addresses Him as Lord; this shows Peter addressing Jesus as Yahweh/Jehovah, meaning that he is calling Jesus, GOD. Notice that he also asks for Jesus to bid him to come to him. He is essentially asking if it is Christ’s will.
And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
This is a great picture of walking in faith, showing that Peter was able to do the impossible as long as he looked to Jesus; but Peter here does what we all have a tendency to do, right? Instead of staying focused on Christ, he starts focusing on the trouble around him. How often do we focus on the troubles that are going on in our lives and allow that to pull our attention away from Jesus and the Word?
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Even the disciples had faith that would waver. How hard it can be to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and the mission He left for us. Little faith would have us look for signs of blessings, to place faith in our own strengths, or to be too affected by the world. But if we grow our faith and place it solely in God nothing is impossible as we will see when we get to chapter 19 here in Matthew.
And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
This is the first time we see an apostle in very clear language confess Jesus as the divine messiah. No phrase that could mean it, no name that implies it, but clearly and confidently saying “Jesus, Son of God, Messiah.” And they moved quickly from fear to worship, giving thanks and praise for Christ and His protection.
And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
Gennesaret was a region on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. It’s west of the Jordan river, south and Capernaum, and is called Chinnereth in the Old Testament. Josephus writes that the area was about four miles long and two and a half miles wide.
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;
And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
Think back to chapter 9. Obviously the healing of the woman by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment has spread and the crowds have faith in His power; to the point that they are travelling for miles and miles to have the chance to just be close to Him. And for that faith they were “made perfectly whole” or completely saved and healed.
This chapter shows us that Christ invites us to bring every burden to Him.
When we feel like we don’t have enough time, or money, or strength, or faith, whatever it is; Jesus can multiply it to the point that we have more than we will ever need.
We can cry out to Him just as Peter did. Even when the troubles of the world cause us to lose focus, He will be there to grab our hand and to help us get back on track.
We can reach out in faith, because we know that Jesus Christ loves us and cares about us. He was willing to die to pay the price for our sins, and He promised to never leave or forsake us; if we will just put our trust in Him.
Jesus helped the multitudes with their hunger and sickness, so that should give us confidence that we can come to Him with our daily struggles. The same Savior who fed the multitude and healed those who touched His garment cares for us just as much. Just as He calmed the storm the disciples fought against that night on the Sea of Galilee, so can He calm the storms of our lives.
The lesson we should take from this is very simple: bring everything to Christ. What seems overwhelming to us is never too much for Him, and with a little faith we can walk in His mercy and grace, allowing His light to shine on our lives.
Matthew 14
Matthew 14
