Matthew 14 - John the Baptist Behead - Jesus Walks On Father - Peter Sinks!

Cick Here To Read or Listen Matthew 14

John the Baptist Beheaded

We have the gruesome story of John the Baptist being beheaded by King Herod. Herod was manipulated by his sister in law Herodias. She was the granddaughter of Herod the Great

The fame and report of Jesus spread around the region. This Herod was known as Herod Antipas and was one of the sons of Herod the Great who reigned when Jesus was born. - Guzik

John the Baptist had rebuked Herod for his immoral relationship with his niece Herodias

More than once, John the Baptist had rebuked King Herod for divorcing his wife and marrying his niece Herodias, who had been his brother Philip’s wife. Philip was still living, and both Philip and Antipas were uncles to Herodias—for several reasons, then, Herod’s marriage to Herodias was a violation of God’s law - Got Questions.org

Bottom line is John the Baptist got beheaded for being bold enough to rebuke Herod. He was fearless. He has an "audience of One". This is why Jesus gave him so much praise as the greatest prophet. 

He is a great example of being willing to stand up for what is right regardless of the cost to him personally. 

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Most of Jesus' miracles up to this point have been healing people miraculously and delivering people from demons. The next two miracles have to do with Jesus suspending the laws of physics, which again show He is both human and divine. 

As we can see the crowds following Jesus had grown exponentially, as now 5,000 were following him. This created anxiety for the disciples when they realized that at some point they would all need to be fed. Also, it says Jesus had compassion on them once again showing his love for people of all types.

Jesus taught the disciples about how God can provide even though we often only have meager resources to give those in need. Jesus asked them to give him what they had, which was five loaves of bread and two fish. When the disciples want to shew away the crowds Jesus says, "You give them something to eat!" They object on the grounds that they don't have enough to go around. I think I would have said the same thing. 

Jesus had faith in His Father's provision. Just as he had provided manna in the wilderness to Israelites, he would feed these people through God's provision. He shows this by having the people sit down in small groups. But after Jesus offered what they had and gave thanks for it, the food was distributed by the disciples.

I love the closing line, "All ate and wetre satisfied and there were leftovers!" What a story about God's provision. 

Where is there a seemingly impossible need in your life? What can you give to God which he might multiply in order to meet the need? Remember to give thanks for what you do have and give the rest to God!

Jesus Walks on the Water

After this scene Jesus dismissed the crowds (not sure how he did that) and told the disciples to go on a boat the other side. Meanwhile he went up on a mountainside to pray. As he was praying the wind kicked up and started rocking the boat. Notice Jesus did not go out right away to help them. He waited. The disciples must have wondered where he went and why was he taking so long to help them. 

Once again in compassion Jesus went out on the lake, walking on the water. The disciples were terrified, but Jesus tried to calm them down and told them it was him. Notice it is Peter who is bold enough to say, "If it is you tell  me to come out on the water!"

This was very gutsy of Peter. After all would you start walking on a lake if you thought someone was out there who you knew. Wouldn't you think you were seeing things? But sure enough Peter starts walking on the water. He was doing what Jesus was doing because of his faith and obedience to Jesus' call. 

But the wind kicked up again and Peter took his eyes of Jesus and began to sink. But to his credit he knew where to turn and said, "Lord save me!" And Jesus took him by the hand and brought him into the boat. What a great learning experience for Peter and the other disciples. When they kept their eyes on Jesus, they could do the things Jesus did. When they took their eyes off Jesus they became altogether human.

Where do you need to keep your eyes on Jesus, so you can do the things he told us to do? Are you bold enough to step out in faith like Peter did?