Matthew 14

The death of John the Baptist (vs. 1-12)—This superstitious Herod (he thought Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead, v. 2) was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, of Jesus’ birth fame. Antipas wasn’t much better than his old man, and ended up dying in exile. John the Baptist, with his typical straight-forward approached, rebuked Herod for stealing his brother Philip’s wife. It takes great courage to stand up to wicked men of power like John did, and it cost him his head. There is an interesting story about Herod and Herodias (the wife he stole) and I’ll include it at the end for those interested in the history.

The feeding of the 5,000 (vs. 13-21)—When Jesus heard about the death of John, He departed to a deserted place, but the multitudes followed Him. “He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick,” (v. 14). But when evening came, His disciples suggested that He had best send the people away to find something to eat (v. 15). Jesus responded that such wasn’t necessary, that the disciples could feed them (v. 16). "And they said to Him, ‘We have here only five loaves and two fish’" (v. 17), which Jesus then used to feed the throng. When all the food had been divided up, there was 12 baskets full of leftovers (v. 20). The number fed was “about five thousand, besides women and children” (v. 21). So Jesus fed probably at least 10,000 people miraculously. A notable miracle indeed.

Jesus walks on water (vs. 22-33)—Jesus sent the multitudes and His disciples away so he could go to a mountain to pray (v. 22-23). The apostles were in a boat, but they were being ”tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary” (v. 24). Jesus then went to them, walking on the water (v. 25). It was late at night—or early in the morning, depending upon perspective, I suppose. Matthew says it was the “fourth watch of the night” (v. 25), which would have been between 3 and 6 AM. The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost (v. 26), but Jesus calmed them. Impetuous Peter replied, “’Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water’" (v. 28). Jesus bade him to come, and Peter started towards Him. But when he took his eyes off the Lord, he lost his faith: “When he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’" (v. 30). It will happen every time—lose sight of Jesus and lose your faith. Jesus, of course, rescued Peter with the mild rebuke, “’O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’" (v. 31). The disciples “worshiped Him, saying, "’Truly You are the Son of God’" (v. 33). As we shall see, their faith was still not strong, and they yet remained ignorant—obstinate?—regarding His mission. But their conclusion on this occasion was correct. Remember when Jesus stilled the storm, their response had been “’Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’" (Matt. 8:27). Now, they had at least progressed to believing that He was the Son of God.

Back to Gennesaret (vs. 34-36)—This is the place where Jesus had cast the demons out of a man and sent them into a herd of swine (Matt. 8:28-34). At that time, the reader might recall, Jesus, for whatever reason, was asked to leave. But this time, “When the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well” (vs. 35-36). Why they changed their attitude I cannot say, but it certainly was a blessing to them. And if people today would change their attitudes towards the Lord, they would find their lives richly blessed as well.


Addendum: On Herod and Herodias. This from Adam Clarke’s commentary: “This infamous woman [Herodias] was the daughter of Aristobulus and Bernice, and grand-daughter of Herod the Great. Her first marriage was with Herod Philip, her uncle, by whom she had Salome: some time after, she left her husband, and lived publicly with Herod Antipas, her brother-in-law, who had been before married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia Petraea. As soon as Aretas understood that Herod had determined to put away his daughter, he prepared to make war on him: the two armies met, and that of Herod was cut to pieces by the Arabians; and this, Josephus says, was supposed to be a judgment of God on him for the murder of John the Baptist. See the account in Josephus, Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 7.”