Daily Bible Reading (Thursday, January 18th)

15

Matthew 14 (ESV)

 

The Death of John the Baptist

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,[a] because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. 10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.”19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way[b] from the land,[c]beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night[d] he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,[e] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

Footnotes:

  1. Matthew 14:3 Some manuscripts his brother's wife
  2. Matthew 14:24 Greek many stadia, a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters
  3. Matthew 14:24 Some manuscripts was out on the sea
  4. Matthew 14:25 That is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
  5. Matthew 14:30 Some manuscripts strong wind

15 Comments

After an example like John the Baptist, let us fear God.

Theme Summary: The miracles of Jesus cause his fame of spread more and more, and demonstrate that he is a compassionate King, even in his grief, unlike the cruel Herod the Tetrarch.

Jesus ask Peter to come to him on the water and when Peter took his eyes off Jesus he started to sink.... it’s the same for us when we take our eyes off Jesus we focus in the world and not the one who will hold us up!

Amen Sarah.

And the daughter of Herodias, Salome as well.

Focused on the death of John the Baptist. Verses 1-12...it was brought to my attention in reading this passage of how Herod the snake would oblige Herodias with anything she would like on "his" birthday mind you. And conspire to kill John on the account of his reputation and exclude the people who saw John the Baptizer as a prophet. Lust overrides fear, however, there is always the fear of temptation, among other things. Help me Father in this area.

It is interesting how in the Bible we read the Lord uses ordinary things to do extraordinary events, like in this case “five loaves and two fish”, it is really encouraging when we read that God does the same with people, he uses ordinary people as instruments to do extraordinary things (1 Corinthians 15:10), like his disciples. Gloria a Dios.

I'm always amazed at the story of the disciples in the boat during the storm. I'm especially astonished by Peter who calls out to Christ when he sees Jesus walking on the water. Jesus tells Peter to come to him. Initially, all is great until Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and seeing the storm all around him, he became afraid. I realize how often I am like Peter. When I see the tumult around me I can become afraid if I take my eyes off Jesus. We need to learn to always "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith" and not be afraid. Then, we can boldly go forth and proclaim the name of Jesus to those around us.

I love how Jesus’ ministry gives us little glimpses into how glorious things will ultimately be without the devastating effects of sin and the broken world that resulted. Sickness and disability? All banished without even scratching the surface of God’s power. “Natural disasters” threatening people’s lives? Jesus only needs will for them to be gone, and they have no power over anyone. It’s a good reminder of just how serious the consequences of sin are to the world, but also how good and perfect our eternal state can and will be.

John the Baptist was faithful until death. He faithfully proclaimed God's message and applied it to the people and issues of His day without fear or reservation. His greatest delight was in pointing people to Christ and proclaiming, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" We so often are afraid but we need to hear Jesus' words about not being afraid and we need to be encouraged by the example of men like John.

Herod and his niece were alike, in that they were both more concerned with pleasing others and their own pride than giving thought to pleasing their God and maker. Lord, please keep my eyes open and discerning, so that I see my pride and turn to pleasing you instead of feeding my own image.

I also need to keep my eyes more consistently on Christ and off of my circumstances. I like how Sarah put it - "Keeping my eyes above the waves". Praying that the Holy Spirit would help me.

There are two things that really stand out to me in these accounts, 1) Christ's compassion and 2) Peter's doubts restraining his faith. Christ provides us the perfect example of what our compassion for others should look like... I have a lot of work to do! I also have a lot of work to do in keeping my faith strong by keeping my eyes fixed on Christ; for, when I let myself start focusing on my fears, or even life in general, my gaze wavers and my faith is then affected. I pray that I will keep my eyes above the waves and keep my gaze on Christ alone.

Amen Keagan! I too was struck by the actions and availability of Jesus. Especially v. 14, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” He withdrew to a desolate place to mourn yet was seemingly interrupted by the crowds. I love the word compassion because it is clear where Jesus heart was in this situation. He was not at all interrupted. Instead, he sought to serve those around him despite his situation. What an incredible lesson in humility and sacrifice! Father change my heart to be more like you. Increase my capacity to love and serve others well so that they may come to know you.

I read this and see a man absolutely pouring Himself out in ministry. He loses a close childhood friend in John the Baptist, goes off to mourn by Himself, and is surrounded by crowds, but He doesn’t disappear through the crowd and go somewhere else, He makes Himself fully available to everyone. He has never been too busy for anyone. I need to take a page out of His book as a dad; I should never be too busy for any of my children when they come to me in need. Father, please forgive me, humble me, and make me more like Christ.

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