Matthew 14:1,2
THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. The fame of Jesus reaches Herod:... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. The fame of Jesus reaches Herod:... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THAT TIME HEROD THE TETRARCH HEARD OF THE FAME OF JESUS,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAID UNTO HIS SERVANTS, THIS IS JOHN THE BAPTIST; HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD, AND THEREFORE MIGHTY WORKS DO SHOW FORTH THEMSELVES IN HIM. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was tetrarch of Galilee and Perea until 39 A. D. In ambition, political sagacity, and love of splendor he equaled his fa... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HEROD HAD LAID HOLD ON JOHN, AND BOUND HIM, AND PUT HIM IN PRISON, FOR HERODIAS' SAKE, HIS BROTHER PHILIP'S WIFE.... [ Continue Reading ]
The story of John's imprisonment:... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR JOHN SAID UNTO HIM, IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR THEE TO HAVE HER.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE WOULD HAVE PUT HIM TO DEATH, HE FEARED THE MULTITUDE, BECAUSE THEY COUNTED HIM AS A PROPHET. A laconic account of sordid baseness! Herod had been legally married to the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia. And Herodias, his niece, daughter of Aristobulus and Berenice, had been married to... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN HEROD'S BIRTHDAY WAS KEPT, THE DAUGHTER OF HERODIAS DANCED BEFORE THEM, AND PLEASED HEROD.... [ Continue Reading ]
The birthday feast:... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREUPON HE PROMISED WITH AN OATH TO GIVE HER WHATSOEVER SHE WOULD ASK.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SHE, BEING BEFORE INSTRUCTED OF HER MOTHER, SAID, GIVE ME HERE JOHN BAPTIST'S HEAD IN A CHARGER. There was a great birthday celebration, with much luxury and costly show, the highest military and civil authorities and the most prominent citizens of the country having been invited. There was much... [ Continue Reading ]
The reaction and its result:... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SENT, AND BEHEADED JOHN IN THE PRISON.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS HEAD WAS BROUGHT IN A CHARGER, AND GIVEN TO THE DAMSEL; AND SHE BROUGHT IT TO HER MOTHER.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS DISCIPLES CAME, AND TOOK UP THE BODY, AND BURIED IT, AND WENT AND TOLD JESUS. Although Herod, here called king by courtesy, was sorry, touched for a moment with regret, and because, for the once, he realized that he had been tricked, yet his foolish, rash, repeated oaths had been heard by th... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND. 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. News of death and disaster travels quickly. Herod returned from Machaerus to Tiberius. But the news of h... [ Continue Reading ]
The kindness of Jesus: AND JESUS WENT FORTH AND SAW A GREAT MULTITUDE, AND WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION TOWARD THEM; AND HE HEALED THEIR SICK. So eager were the crowds to come to Jesus that they actually out-went Him, Mark 6:33, arriving at the eastern shore before His boat came to that point. When He... [ Continue Reading ]
The threatening necessity: AND WHEN IT WAS EVENING, HIS DISCIPLES CAME TO HIM, SAYING, THIS IS A DESERT PLACE, AND THE TIME IS NOW PASSED; SEND THE MULTITUDE AWAY THAT THEY MAY GO INTO THE VILLAGES AND BUY THEMSELVES VICTUALS. In the excitement attending the healing, time sped away; late afternoon... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, THEY NEED NOT DEPART; GIVE YE THEM TO EAT.... [ Continue Reading ]
The miracle:... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SAY UNTO HIM, WE HAVE HERE BUT FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISHES.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SAID, BRING THEM HITHER TO ME.... [ Continue Reading ]
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, AND GAVE THE LOAVES TO HIS DISCIPLES, AND THE DISCIPLES TO THE MULTITUDE.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY DID ALL EAT AND WERE FILLED; AND THEY TOOK UP OF THE FRAGMENTS THAT REMAINED TWELVE BASKETFULS.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY THAT HAD EATEN WERE ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND MEN, BESIDE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Matthew has only a very brief account of the events leading up to the miracle. The other evangelists bring out the dramatic incidents with great vividness. The evident distress of the disciples stood out in such contras... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRIST WALKS ON THE SEA. The beginning of the return voyage: 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. The narrative implies unwillingness on the part of the disciples and a very strong urgency o... [ Continue Reading ]
Christ in prayer: 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. A significant fact: Jesus, in the midst of the most distracting work, always found time for prayer, for presenting the great work He had taken upo... [ Continue Reading ]
The distress of the disciples: BUT THE SHIP WAS NOW IN THE MIDST OF THE SEA, TOSSED WITH WAVES; FOR THE WIND WAS CONTRARY. While Jesus remained behind on the shore to pray, the boat had gradually traversed a part of the way toward Capernaum, which they should have reached in a few hours at the most... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN THE FOURTH WATCH OF THE NIGHT, JESUS WENT UNTO THEM, WALKING ON THE SEA.... [ Continue Reading ]
The miracle:... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THE DISCIPLES SAW HIM WALKING ON THE SEA, THEY WERE TROUBLED, SAYING, IT IS A SPIRIT; AND THEY CRIED OUT FOR FEAR.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT STRAIGHTWAY JESUS SPAKE UNTO THEM, SAYING, BE OF GOOD CHEER; IT IS I; BE NOT AFRAID. Almost the entire night Jesus had spent in prayer, almost the entire night had His disciples struggled to reach the opposite shore. It was in the fourth and last watch of the night, between three and six in the... [ Continue Reading ]
Peter's impetuousness:... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PETER ANSWERED HIM AND SAID, LORD, IF IT BE THOU, BID ME COME UNTO THEE ON THE WATER.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID, COME. AND WHEN PETER WAS COME DOWN OUT OF THE SHIP, HE WALKED ON THE WATER TO GO TO JESUS.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN HE SAW THE WIND BOISTEROUS, HE WAS AFRAID; AND BEGINNING TO SINK, HE CRIED, SAYING, LORD, SAVE ME.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IMMEDIATELY JESUS STRETCHED FORTH HIS HAND, AND CAUGHT HIM, AND SAID UNTO HIM, O THOU OF LITTLE FAITH, WHEREFORE DIDST THOU DOUBT? Peter was always impetuous, quicker to act than to think. The voice of the Lord filled him with a courage that made him almost reckless. It was the joy of faith that... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY WERE COME INTO THE SHIP, THE WIND CEASED.... [ Continue Reading ]
The effect of the miracle:... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THEY THAT WERE IN THE SHIP CAME AND WORSHIPED HIM, SAYING, OF A TRUTH THOU ART THE SON OF GOD. Christ is the supreme, the absolute Lord of the elements. In this case the wind ceased as soon as they had stepped into the boat, not by gradually abating, but by a sudden calm. No wonder that all th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY WERE GONE OVER, THEY CAME INTO THE LAND OF GENNESARET.... [ Continue Reading ]
Safe arrival:... [ Continue Reading ]
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,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BESOUGHT HIM THAT THEY MIGHT ONLY TOUCH THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT; AND AS MANY AS TOUCHED WERE MADE PERFECTLY WHOLE. The distance from the shore still remaining was covered in a moment of time, John 6:21. Both space and time are in the control of this Man, to whom has been given the fullness of div... [ Continue Reading ]