14:1-12. MISSION OF JOHN BAPTIST. ENDED.
1,2. Herod hearing of John.
3-11. John's death.
12-. John's burial.
-12. Jesus hearing of Herod.
Matthew 14:1 At that time Herod
(= Herod Antipas. Son of Herod the Great by Malthace. See 2:1)
the tetrarch
(The Greek word translated = a governor of the fourth part of any region: but the word subsequently lost its strict etymological meaning, and came to denote any petty prince not ruling over an entire country. So called from tetartos = fourth)
heard of the fame of Jesus,
2 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."
(Herod had a great deal of respect for John the Baptist, even though he took John's life. Herod knew that John was a man of God, and when Herod heard of these mighty works of healing palsy, making the blind see, and feeding of the five thousand and other mighty works, Herod thought that John the Baptist had risen from the dead. When that thought came to Herod's mind, I'm sure he was very much afraid. Herod had heard some of that preaching, and it disturbed him.)
3-11. JOHN'S DEATH.
3. Herod's imprisonment of John (from enmity).
4. Reason. John's reproof.
5-. Herod's imprisonment of John (from fear).
-5. Reason. People's opinion.
6. Opportunity given.
7. Herod's promise to Herodias. Made.
8. John's head asked.
9,10. Herod's promise to Herodias. Kept.
11. John's head given.
3 For Herod
(One of 11 rulers offended with God's reprovers. See Ex. 10:28. 11 in Biblical numerics = disorder, disorganization.)
had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.
(Philip I, son of Herod the Great and Mariamne II. Wife, i.e. widow.
John the Baptist knew that this relationship of Herod Antipas, living in a marriage relationship with his brother Philip's wife was a sin, and John went to the palace and told him so to his face. Herod Antipas knew John well, and he knew that John was a righteous man. However John turned Herod Antipas' hatred towards him, and even more so was the evil eye of Herodias.)
4 For John said unto him, "It is not lawful for thee to have her."
5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
(Cp. 21:26,46.
John the Baptist was a prophet, and he was the last prophet before Messiah. He prophesied of the coming of the Messiah. The first time John's ministry was reported was when he was standing by the river Jordan saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Many did repent, and changed their ways.
The people that heard John loved him, and followed him. John's following had grown to quite a number, enough so much that king Herod Antipas feared an uprising, if he had put him to death.)
6 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter
(Salome)
of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, "Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger."
(Or a wooden trencher. A charger is from the French charger = to load. Fig. put for what is laden; hence, used of a horse, as well as a dish.)
9 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.
(So it was that John the Baptist died at the hand of this maiden child, and by the request of her evil mother.)
10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
11 And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
12 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
13-36. MIRACLES.
13-. Departure from the people.
-13. Concourse.
14. Many Miracles.
15-21. One Miracle. Feeding the 5,000.
22,23. Departure from the people.
24-33. One Miracle. Walking on the Sea.
34,35-. Concourse.
-35-36. Many Miracles.
13 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.
(Why do you think that all these people sought after Christ? Do you think that they felt the moving of the Holy Spirit, or because of the healing miracles that He was performing? People will join a crowd and for many reasons.)
14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick.
(This is one of the reasons that they followed Him. They knew He had the power to heal, and their belief moved Christ with compassion to them and He healed the sick.
The multitudes of today don't have the clarity of understanding to even know who Jesus is, yet He is moved to compassion. He is reaching out to all persons, regardless of their sin to repent, and turn from their wicked ways. Jesus will heal today as He did then, and He wants to heal those sinful hearts, and make them whole. God is the same every day, His love for His children is just as great today as it was when He first created them.)
15-21. ONE MIRACLE. FEEDING THE 5,000.
15. Multitudes. Hungry.
16. "Give you them".
17. Supply. Insufficient.
18,19-. Supply. Sufficient.
-19. "He gave".
20,21. Multitudes. Filled.
15 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."
(They are in a desert, a solitary wilderness and it is getting late, and the people will be getting hungry soon. The day ends at 6 P.M., and the evening started about 3: P.M.)
16 But Jesus said unto them, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat."
(This is the biggest problem for the Christian in their following Christ. It is easy to use common sense and understand the things that man is able to do. But your faith is really brought forth, when you take the leap in faith to do the things that our Heavenly Father would have us do.)
17 And they say unto Him, "We have here but five loaves, and two fishes."
(Jesus is going to do a supernatural thing when He will take five loaves of bread, and two fishes, and feed ten thousand people. There were five thousand men alone, as well as women and children and when He takes this food, and blesses it and it expands to feed this multitude of people, the human mind just cannot comprehend it as fact. The way that it is accepted, is by taking it by faith.
If this seems like quite an impossible task, think of those million Israelites that were fed for forty years, with out any loaves, but by just picking up the manna, or angels food of the ground every morning. These are both supernatural acts, and in this time of the end, ninety nine percent of the deceptions that take place, will be in the supernatural, and if you are not ready for the acts of the Antichrist, you will think that He is the true Christ.
You know that it is earthly impossible for an earthly human being to feed these people with these five loaves and two fishes, but it is not impossible for the supernatural.)
18 He said, "Bring them hither to Me."
19 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,
(The bread was made in thin cakes, which had to be broken [not cut] before they could be eaten. Hence the idiom "to break bread" means to eat bread, as in Luke 24:25; Acts 27:35)
and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
(Jesus broke the bread, but it was the disciple who performed the miracle of feeding the multitude. The power to perform this miracle was through the Holy Spirit.
When you become part of a ministry that feeds that multitude, the bread of life is expanding. Some people say, God never blesses me, well what have you done to advance His ministry, or please the Father? Do you pay your tithe? Do you tell God that you love him, and pray for others to be saved? Have you told others of the love of God, that He loves them?)
20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
(There will be a time later when He is talking about the bread, only it is not the bread that you eat, but of the doctrine of the scribes and Pharisees. Later when it refers to the crumbs of the bread, when the analogy is teaching, we had better be careful.)
21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
22 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.
(There is a lesson to be learned here. The first time Christ was in the ship with them, in a storm, He slept, and the disciples were scared out of their minds. This time, Jesus has given them a lesson of His supernatural powers, and He sends them into the sea alone, He is not with them. How will they hold up now, without His presents. Jesus is preparing them to stand in that time when He as departed in the supernatural, and they have to stand alone.
The disciples will shortly see Jesus in His transformed body, walking on the water. This is the same transformed body that they will see Jesus in, along with Elijah, and Moses, on the mount transfiguration, when He told them to keep their mouths shut. Then that body was not for the average person to know, for the time had not come yet. They were to tell it only after Jesus had risen from the dead.)
23 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.
24-33. ONE MIRACLE. WALKING ON THE SEA.
24-. The Ship.
-24. The wind. Contrary.
25-31. The Miracle. Wrought.
32. The ship.
-32. The wind. Ceased.
33. The Miracle. Effect.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25-31. THE MIRACLE. WROUGHT.
25. The Lord walking on the sea.
26. Disciples troubled.
27. Be not afraid.
28,29. Peter essaying to walk, &c.
30. Peter afraid.
31. Why did you doubt?
25 And in the fourth watch
(From 3 a.m. til 6 a.m.)
of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
(Jesus is now preparing them to rely on Him. Though He walked with His disciples on the shore, Christ is getting them ready to rely on Him after He has gone.
Christians living in this end generation must prepare ourselves to see the supernatural acts again, and when it happens, be grounded enough to put the events of prophecy in true perspective, and not go head over heals over the first person to perform such deeds. This hogwash that many churches are promoting, stating that the Antichrist will be an evil spirit entering into a man from old Babylon, is going to get a lot of people deceived. The Antichrist is a man alright, but he is a supernatural man. It is a man that can snap his fingers and lightning will come from heaven, and performing miracles that a human being of this earth will not be able to understand, and they will be deceived.
Therefore it is important the we absorb these lessons being taught by Jesus Christ. Christ did walk on the water.)
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a spirit;" and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."
(Jesus knew these old boys knees were knocking, and they were only thinking of their survival. This was not one of those spiritual highs that you remember. When you are afraid of something, it is easy to think of everything, but keeping focused on Christ.
Our lesson of these end times, is that you have to be able to think, even when the going gets tough, and strange events are happening all around you. It is not just a matter of knowing the supernatural powers, but you must be able to discern between the good and the bad. When the supernatural events start flowing, those not prepared for what the Antichrist will bring with him, will jump right into the bed of Antichrist, and his religious system.)
28 And Peter answered him and said, "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water."
29 And He said, "Come." And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous,
(He looked at the circumstances instead of the Lord. This was the secret of his [and of our] failures or successes.)
he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, "Lord, save me."
(The "wind" in the Scripture also refers to the spirit. When you take your eyes of Christ, and focus them on the spirits of this world, you will also start to slip under. You let your mind waver for just a minute, and you will also start to sink. Notice that Peter did not wait until He was totally gone, but called out immediately, "Lord, save me".
Never take your eyes off the way, which is the path that we are to follow in Christ. Each of Christ's teachings and Words were to prepare His disciples for the times that they would face, when He would be gone. These aren't idle worlds, about another story, but a lesson to grasp for whatever level of study you are on.)
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
(There is a time coming very shortly, as we see the labor pains of end-time prophecy fly by is at a rapid pace. We will see the appearance soon of Satan, and his angels as they are cast from heaven, as recorded in Revelation 12:7-9, and we will then have supernatural entities on this earth. Though Satan's evil spirits are here now, you will physically see them when Michael casts them for Heaven.
When that day comes to pass, your faith better be strong. Your strength of your faith is the knowledge from God's Word that you have in your mind, which is your heart, and that is the seal of God that protects you from any harm of Satan's deceptions. Satan and his fallen angels, which is the locust army of the tribulation time, is ordered by God to leave you along, in Revelation 9:4.
In that day of the Antichrist, your armor will be on, and in place, and there will be no doubt to your faith.)
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
(This is what you have to remember also in the supernatural sense, that Christ controls the times and events of every day, and the prophecies recorded in His Word will come to pass, you can count on it. Our job is not to interfere with those events, but to observe them, and remember them, and know where we are in the course of the dispensations of time.)
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, "Of a truth thou art the Son of God."
(People are always looking for sign, yet when they see them their knowledge lets the sign pass them by unnoticed. The Antichrist when he is on earth, will be able to perform miracles in the sight of human beings, flesh man. This will be a sign to you, that when you see those miracles, not tricks or magic, be aware of the time that your are in.)
34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.
(It was at the northern end of the lake and to the west of the Jordan. It is Chinnereth of the O.T. Josephus says it was about 4 miles long by 2 1/2 wide. See 2:23.)
35 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;
36 And besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
(Or saved. Gr. diasozo = to save throughout. Occ. 8 times [here; Luke 7:5. Acts 23:24; 27:43,44; 28:1,4. 1 Pet. 3:20]. All are interesting and used of bodily savings.
This is still possible today, if you have the faith. He will heal the heart instantly, and the healing of the body may come a little slow at times. God is always the same, and what He did then, He can also do today. It is not God, but man that changes.)