mat15

Matthew 14:1-7 The Herod spoken of here is Herod Antipas one of many sons of Herod the Great the king who was in power when Jesus was born. When Herod the Great died his three sons took a third each of his kingdom. Herod Antipas was the ruler over Perea and Galilee, Herod Archelaus over Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, and Herod Philip II over Gaulantis and Syria. Tetrarch is the Roman title for a ruler. And hearing of the great miracles and such concerning Jesus Herod said it must be John the Baptist risen from the dead. I would say that Herod might be feeling guilty for having John put to death and we must remember that John and Jesus were cousins and so there also might have been a close similarity in appearance causing one to think such a thing as John rising from the grave. Needless to say this worried Herod because of his arrest of him for the words he spoke against him concerning Herodias, the wife of his brother Phillip. Even though Herod arrested John to try to cover his guilt we see this did not work, Herod still had guilt. Hiding sin will not remove the sin or the guilt of it. John of course knowing the law told Herod it was wrong for him to have her (Leviticus 18:16 and Deuteronomy 25:5-10). Herod wanted to put John to death but feared what the people would do because so many of them admired and followed John considering him a prophet. So in prison Herod would keep John hoping that soon the people would forget he was there and than he could execute him but Salome, daughter of Herodias, changed things by asking for the head of John on a platter. It was Herod’s birthday and Salome danced for him and it pleased him so he gave her his oath that she could have whatever she asked for.

Matthew 14:8 And so Salome following the wishes of her mother asked Herod for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. She was a very vindictive woman and sought revenge for what John had done and so she persuades her daughter to have Herod behead John and present the head to her on a platter.

Matthew 14:9-12 Now this greatly distressed Herod, although he wanted John dead this was not in his timing but he had made an oath and so he ordered John beheaded and to have the head brought in on a platter. Not only were the Jewish people angry with Herod but his father-in-law was putting together an army to attack him and he needed all the support he could get and this was not the way to do it, but an oath was binding. It also shows Herod’s lack of concern over the commandments of God to commit murder so willingly taking the life of an innocent man. Herod was most certainly a man of great weakness. So the head was brought to Salome and she then brought it to her mother and the disciples than came to take up the body to bury it and than they went to tell Jesus what had happened.

Matthew 14:13-14 Hearing this Jesus was most certainly distraught and He went from that area by boat to a secluded place to be alone. Jesus left I believe to mourn the loss of His cousin and to talk with His Father. The multitudes though hearing of what happened followed Jesus. And when Jesus saw the multitudes He went ashore and had compassion on them and healed them.

Matthew 14:15-21 And evening drew near the disciples came to Jesus and told Him to send the people home so they could buy food. Usually it would be that the people would return home before the sunset but this time it seems they lingered on pressing in to receive from Jesus all they could. Jesus though said to the disciples that they do not need to leave they can stay and the disciples would feed them. Quickly the disciples replied to Jesus, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” The disciples may not have yet counted the people but they could see that the number was around 5000 men plus women and children. How are they going to feed that many people with two fish and five loaves of bread? Jesus says that will be fine tell the people to sit and He takes the fish and bread holding it up to heaven and gives thanks. He then gives to the disciples and they feed the people and when all had eaten they gathered the remaining food and had twelve full baskets of food left over. We see here that Christ is sufficient to meet all needs and never will there be anything that comes from Christ that will be wasteful. All Christ gives is valuable and fulfilling.

Matthew 14:22-23 Jesus commands the disciples to get into the boat and head for the other side. Mark says that Jesus told them to go to Bethsaida. After the disciples entered the boat and were on their way Jesus spoke to the disciples and sent them on their way and He then went up into the mountain to be alone. Jesus desired to be alone with the Father to commune with Him. But even alone with the Father Jesus kept a watch on the disciples. The eye of the Lord is never off His children.

Matthew 14:24-33 As Jesus looks upon the disciples being blown with the wind He knows they are in trouble and He comes to them walking on the sea. The time of the evening would have been somewhere between 3 to 6 a.m. And the moon must have been bright almost full to illuminate the area and make Jesus appear ghostly as He came towards the boat walking on the water. This sight would have been enough to bring fear to anyone and that is exactly what happened to the disciples and they cried out in fear. Immediately though Jesus spoke to them, saying, “take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.” It is essential for us as Believers to take courage. This means to stand on our faith, increase our faith and trust in the Lord. The disciples were in the midst of a storm and just as many times in our life we are in the midst of a storm it is difficult to fully trust and believe that Jesus is right there beside us but this is when we more than any other time need to faithfully trust in Him. And Peter hearing this quickly said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus spoke to Peter telling him to come to him and Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on water coming toward Jesus. If Jesus tells you to do something, He will equip you to do just what He tells you. You though must have faith! And then it seems the wind must have increased which faltered his faith and he began to quickly sink, yelling out, “Lord, save me!” Peter stepped out of the boat and onto the water taking a few steps towards Jesus by faith but then the winds increased and the way got rougher and his faith was challenged and Peter stumbled beginning to sink. How often our faith is so strong until we see danger! But Peter uttered a prayer that Jesus will never close His ears to, Peter said, “Lord, save me!” And Jesus stretched forth His hand and saved Peter saying to him that he had little faith and it was because of his doubt that he began to sink. Satan's greatest tool against the Christian Believer is doubt. If he can get you to doubt he can defeat you. But if we keep Jesus close to us and in our hearts always no danger can harm us. And they entered the boat and the wind stopped and those in the boat began to worship Jesus saying that He most certainly is the Son of God!

Matthew 14:34-36 The waters now calm, the air still, they cross over to shore. In John it seems the boat instantly came to shore the moment Jesus and Peter entered the boat, which would be another miraculous event. They came to shore at Gennesaret a narrow piece of land north west of the Sea of Galilee. When they got there those at the shore, probably fishermen, recognized Jesus, which is what we must do also if we want to receive from Him, and they went about telling all they could that Jesus was there and they brought unto Him all that were sick and pleaded with Jesus to just touch the edge of His cloak and they would be healed. And all those that touched His cloak were healed.

Father, let me always be strong in faith, holding fast to You, keeping Jesus always central in my heart and life, never doubting, and when doubt comes my way help me to quickly say, “NO, IN THE NAME OF JESUS DOUBT BE GONE!” I thank You Father for Your Word and for the gift of Jesus in Jesus name, amen!
Where Jesus is Lord!
Living Vine Ministries
Pastor Thomas Miles

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