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The Gospel of Matthew
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BIBLE STUDY MATTHEW 14:1-36 REVIEW: Chapter 13 was a collection of eight parables of Jesus (two of them with extended explanations). It is the third of five major “teaching discourses” by Jesus in Matthew’s gospel (the first two were Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” in chapter 5-7, and Jesus’ mission instructions to his disciples in chapter 10). Parables are stories that use familiar examples to convey spiritual truths – but only when the listeners are ready to listen and apply them to their own lives. At the end of chapter 13, Jesus went to his hometown and was rejected by the people there because he was “too familiar” to them. Although this is technically not part of the “parables” section, it does convey the same message – that in order for God’s word to impact people, the people must be willing to listen. Too often, however, people will use almost any excuse (including knowing the messenger “too well”) to avoid letting the truth of God’s message impact their lives. INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER 14: The overall theme in this chapter is that the Messiahship of Jesus being increasingly recognized by all people: by enemies such as Herod, by the crowds, and by his disciples. The events – in the exact same order – are all taken from the sixth chapter of Mark’s gospel. CHAPTER 14:1-12 “The Death of John the Baptist” “At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.” Jesus’ fame has been spreading far and wide, and now reports about him come to Herod. Although the NRSV calls him “the ruler”, the actual Greek word is “the tetrarch” (meaning ruler of a fourth). This Herod is Herod Antipas – one of the sons of the King Herod (The Great) who sought to kill the infant Jesus back in chapter 2. Upon King Herod’s death, his kingdom was divided into four parts: his son Herod Antipas became the tetrarch of the province of Galilee – where Jesus was doing his ministry. In looking at this story, we need to consider two aspects: 1) the story itself and what it means, and 2) why Matthew included it in his gospel.
The story of John’s death as presented in Matthew’s gospel is taken from Mark’s account in Mark 6:14-29. Matthew, however, does some subtle “editing”; for example, he portrays Herod as being the primary villain rather than his wife Herodias as Mark does. Herod is shown as being immoral, ruthless, and yet also weak (in being concerned about the opinions of his guests) – in other words, a thoroughly evil man!
We as the readers can see that Jesus is being opposed by more and more people: the Pharisees and scribes who opposed him for religious reasons, the people of his own hometown who opposed him because he was “too familiar” to them, and now by the government (Herod the tetrarch) as well! The “net” that will eventually result in Jesus’ crucifixion is starting to close in. Note: Only Matthew has the detail that after burying John’s body, his disciples then went and told Jesus – thus “heightening” the connection between them. CHAPTER 14:13-21 “The Feeding of the Five Thousand”“Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away’ you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousands men, besides women and children.” This is probably the most famous of all of Jesus’ miracles and is the only one mentioned in all four gospels (Mt. 14:13-21, Mk. 6:30-44, Lk. 9:10-17, Jn. 6:1-13). In fact, Matthew and Mark mention it twice (Mt. 15:32-39, Mk. 8:1-10), although in the latter accounts it is the feeding of four thousand people. The account of this miracle in Matthew is linked to Jesus’ hearing about the death of John the Baptist – it was for that reason that Jesus withdrew to “a deserted place” - probably to reflect upon what John’s death would mean for his ministry and the risks that he now faced. A number of biblical motifs are being alluded to in this miracle. Let’s look at some of them:
As far as the actual miracle itself, we do not know what actually happened. It could be that the loaves and the fish were miraculously multiplied. Personally, I (Pastor George) believe in another explanation – that many in the crowd probably had provisions (it was common for people to carry a snack, especially if they were intentionally going somewhere) and the “miracle” was that they shared with each other all that they had so that everyone had plenty to eat and indeed there was a lot left over. Besides the actual eating, the feeling of communion with each other and with God was the true miracle that made such an impression upon people! Finally, Matthew records that there were five thousand men, besides women and children. In other words, the real number was probably much higher! CHAPTER 14:22-33 “Jesus Walks on the Water” “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” This incident is connected with Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand which has just been recounted. Immediately afterwards, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. Why Jesus did that is not clear in Matthew’s account, but John’s gospel tells us that after the feeding of the multitude, the crowd was “about to come and take him by force to make him (their) king.” (John 6:15) This obviously was not what Jesus wanted (he had rejected that temptation back in the wilderness before the beginning of his ministry in Matthew 4:8-10), and he realized that events could easily spiral out of control. Perhaps even the disciples themselves may have been joining in the popular acclamation. So therefore, Jesus sent the disciples away and calmed the situation by dismissing the crowds – and then spent time in prayer with God. Meanwhile, the disciples were having a very difficult time crossing the sea – the wind was strong against them and the boat was being battered by the waves. The literal Greek says that Jesus came to them “in the fourth watch of the night” – that is, sometime between 3:00 – 6:00 am – that is, during a dark period that had going on for a considerable time. The Greek is ambiguous what Jesus actually came walking on the sea or at the sea (that is, by the shore). Whatever, the disciples at first thought that he was an apparition, but he then assured them that it was truly he. Rather than getting “sidetracked” by the details of whether or not Jesus actually walked on the sea, we need to understand the deeper message of the story – especially as it may have pertained to Matthew’s original readers. The point was that the disciples were encountering a great storm – even while they were obeying Jesus’ command to go to the other side of the sea. In the same way, the members of Matthew’s community were encountering “storms” of rejection and conflict from their fellow Jews as they tried to live as faithful disciples of Jesus. Just as Jesus came to his disciples in the moment of their darkest hour in the midst of the chaos of the sea, so Jesus will continue to come to ALL of his people at the moments of their greatest need! Therefore no matter how bad a situation may seem, we can always “take heart” that Jesus will come to us – we do not need to be afraid! “Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” The story of Jesus walking on the sea is found in the gospels of Mark (6:45-52) and John (6:15-21) as well as in Matthew – but only Matthew has this account of Peter walking on the water. Some of the main points of emphasis This account emphasized a number of things for Matthew’s original readers:
CHAPTER 14:34-36 “The Healing Ministry of Jesus” “When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.” This is one of a number of “interludes” in Matthew’s gospel that connect one section to another. This brief summary of Jesus’ healing ministry is similar other passages we have seen in Matthew 4:23-25 and 9:35-38. Although this passage is brief, William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible commentary states that it has two very important points that we should note:
-------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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