seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Matthew 14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2 and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.
6 On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed
This commentary is from bible-studys.org.
“Herod Antipas,” identified as Herod the tetrarch in the Gospels, was the son of Herod the Great and brother of Archelaus. Of the Herods, Antipas figures most prominently in the Gospels since he ruled over the regions where both John the Baptist and Jesus conducted most of their ministries – Perea and Galilee.
“Herod was the ruler of Galilee. “Tetrarch”: One of 4 rulers of a divided region. After the death of Herod the Great, Palestine had been divided among his sons. Elsewhere, Matthew refers to Herod as “king” because that was the title by which he was known among the Galileans.
Antipas is remembered primarily for his imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. Antipas had married his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias. Though Antipas respected and feared John, nevertheless he had John beheaded as the result of a plot by Herodias.
The Gospels mention three occasions involving Jesus and Antipas.
- 1. The first relates Antipas’s fear when he learned of Jesus’ ministry. He feared that John whom he had beheaded was resurrected.
- 2. The second (Luke 13:31-33) relates the fear of others that Antipas would kill Jesus as He passed through Perea on His final trip to Jerusalem.
- 3. On the third occasion Antipas finally meets Jesus, when He was sent from Pilate to be examined (Luke 23:6-12).
After a long reign of 43 years (4 B.C. – 39 A.D.), Antipas was deposed by Rome and exiled.
John had been arrested because he challenged the legitimacy of Herod’s divorce and incestuous remarriage. “Herodias” was the daughter of Aristobulus, a half-brother of Antipas. She had been married to her uncle, Herod “Philip,” and had borne him a daughter, Salome. However, she divorced her husband and married Antipas, who was already married.
Herodias was a guilty and vindictive woman who wanted John dead, and she devised a plan to get rid of him. At the king’s birthday party, her daughter performed a provocatively enticing dance which so appealed to the drunken Herod that he “promised with an oath” she could have whatever she wanted. She asked for “John the Baptist’s head in a charger” (a table platter).
The feeding of the five thousand is the Lord’s only miracle recorded in each of the four Gospels (Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-13). According to John, Andrew, who had brought Peter to Jesus, now brought a boy’s lunch consisting merely of “five loaves, and two fishes” (small baked rolls and dried fish, an adequate lunch for a boy, but hardly a crumb for the immense crowd).
The simplicity of the story and its inclusion by all four evangelists should eliminate any doubt of its historical accuracy.
Not only is the miracle itself amazing but its result was equally stunning. “Twelve baskets full” of fragments remained over and above what was eaten. The baskets (Greek kophinoi) were small, carried on the arm, and used as a satchel. These may have belonged to the disciples, who received a basket full of blessing as a result of their labor to feed others.
Collection of the fragments emphasized the adequacy and immensity of Christ’s provision. Besides the “five thousand men” a large uncounted group of women and children were fed.
Following the miraculous feeding, which John relates in the discourse on the Bread of Life (John 6:22-59), the disciples departed across the “sea” (of Galilee) by rented ship. Jesus dismissed the crowd and went up into a mountain … to pray.”
That night, about three miles out in the lake (John 6:19), the disciples encountered great difficulty from a “wind” that was “contrary.” During the “fourth watch,” three to six a.m., Jesus came to them “walking on the sea.” The nearly exhausted disciples, who had been rowing all night, were afraid, thinking He was a “spirit” (Greek phantasma_, that is, a ghost or apparition. Jesus reassured them, saying, “IT is I.”
“Peter answered him” in his characteristically impulsive manner. This part of the story is recounted only by Matthew, who was in the boat and on whom it must have made a deep impression. The incident is not presented as a parable, but as an actual event involving three miracles. Jesus walks on the water, Peter temporarily does so, and the wind ceases immediately.
In the days of Jesus.... there was a political uprising happening. The area where the descendants of Jacob [Israel] lived had been conquered by Greece and then Rome. The area had been divided into four parts and there was a nasty couple controlling the area where John the Baptist was baptizing people in the River. This nasty man had married his niece and John took exception to that. John said the woman should have never divorced his brother and married the uncle..... but she did..... and John's harping on the subject got under her skin. Now she had a daughter.... apparently the daughter was quite a vixen.... she danced for her stepfather.... made him desire her to the point he would do anything.... and then in front of plenty of witnesses.... she demanded the head of John the Baptist.... and she got it. Although this is a horrible story.... and the Bible said it bothered Jesus terribly.... causing Him to have to go out alone.... there is another tiny twist I don't want to forget. Jesus will see this guy again.... Jesus will deal with this man after Jesus is arrested in the Garden. But this guy Antipas thinks John the Baptist came back to life in the form of Jesus. That has got to be a very scary idea for a murderer..... imagine.... ordering up a head on a silver platter.... only to have the victim come back.... I'm going to watch for that tiny tidbit to raise its head again.
Now on to dinner..... I've posted about this before.... the shear size of the crowd gathered around Jesus was huge..... It wasn't just 5000 people... it was 5000 men along with uncounted women and children. He fed them all and He had enough left over to feed the disciples the next day. It's the twelve baskets that were left over that amazed me this time..... the twelve baskets left always alluded me until this morning.
And finally.... the walk..... when I posted this before.... I discovered that although the lake was only 7 miles wide, it was really really really deep.... and it could [can] create horrific storms. The storms didn't bother Jesus but I'm pretty sure they would have spooked the disciples who were not fisherman by trade. Jesus had already shown that He could talk to the wind and the waves. They calmed right down for Him... but now the disciples looked out and saw Jesus walking on the water...... walking right across those waves... they weren't bothering Him at all. No wonder they thought He was a ghost.
Peter wanted to try it.... Jesus told Him to step out of the boat..... a lot of sermons have started with "Peter stepped out". Peter sunk when he stepped out.... Jesus told Peter he didn't have enough faith to do it. That leads me to another thought this morning.... the human body is perfectly capable of doing everything Jesus did with His body.... all we have to do is figure it out. I didn't get that message until now.... and this body of mine has got almost 70 years of wear and tear. I don't know if this body has the physical ability to do what Jesus did with His earthly body..... I wish I had known this before the lyme disease and cancer got to it.... then again... it took me 53 years to quit smoking.... so who am I trying to fool.
Jesus knew how the human body works.... intimately..... and Jesus also knew grief.... He grieved of John the Baptist.
