Verses 1-2 At that time Herod the tetrarch 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.
With the exception of casting out devils, all the miracles that Jesus did when on this Earth had already happened and were recorded in the Old Testament. For example, Elisha the prophet prayed unto the LORD and raised a dead child back to life and this is recorded in 2 Kings chapter four. Apparently, people coming back to life from being dead was not an occurrence that the people of Jesus’ day feared or thought to be unusual as King Herod believed that John the Baptist was alive and well and living as the person named Jesus. Remember that King Herod had beheaded John the Baptist to save face as he had made a rash promise in front of his party guests and he had to follow through or lose the respect of the guests.
Verses 3-5 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. 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.
The Herod referred to in these verses was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. He became tetrarch of Galilee after the death of his father. Herod the Great was the ruler that ordered the killing of all the male children in Bethlehem two years old and younger in an effort to find and destroy Jesus as an infant. Herod Antipas took his brother’s wife, Herodias, as his own and John the Baptist criticized his actions. Because King Herod feared the people, he did not kill John but stuck him in prison. It was Herodias who plotted to have John the Baptist killed.
Application: Jesus said of John, “For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Luke 7:28 John the Baptist was not afraid to tell a ruler that had the power to arrest and execute him that he had sinned. Christian believers need to take the life and actions of this man as examples of how to live and how to confront the sin in the world today. Many political leaders throughout all the governments of the world and many leaders in the mainstream religious organizations of the world are guilty of child molestation, abuse and trafficking. In other words, these leaders are guilty of sexual sin just like Herod Antipas. Where is the outcry from the true Church of the LORD Jesus Christ? Think about it.
Verses 6-11 But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter 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. 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. 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.
King Herod was not sorry that John the Baptist would die. He was sorry because he was worried about upsetting the people who thought correctly that John the Baptist was a prophet sent by God. He wanted to hang on to his position and power and it would not do to have the Jewish people riot in protest and then the knowledge of this unrest get back to the Roman government that had appointed him to be tetrarch and to keep the peace. A tetrarch was a governor of a fourth part of a region. Herod Antipas was banished from the region to a place in Gaul in A.D. 39 where he died, and Herod Agrippa 1 took over the rule as king of all of Palestine. It was this Herod that ordered the Apostle James, the son of Zebedee, to be killed and who put Peter into prison. See Acts chapter 12.
Verses 12-13 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. 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.
The popularity of Jesus was so great that He could not even find a place or find the time to be alone, away from the masses, and mourn the loss of His physical cousin and fellow worker in the ministry of the Gospel.
Verse 14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
So what did Jesus do? He put aside His feelings and ministered to the needs of the people.
Application: So often, when hurt emotionally or when suffering psychologically, or when experiencing a loss, the Christian believer pulls away from others and seeks isolation. This usually only prolongs the suffering and hurt. Like Jesus demonstrated, the best way to get over a hurt or a loss is to get to work ministering to others. Seeing the hurts and trials of others puts the believer’s hurt or loss into perspective and allows for quicker resolution and healing.
Over and over again the Scripture records that Jesus was “moved with compassion”. This does not mean that Jesus felt sorry for the plight of the people. It means that He literally felt, related to, and understood what they were experiencing. It is easy to feel sorry for someone and then move on to something else that distracts the thoughts away from that person. True compassion is where the plight of a person is literally felt in the spirit of another so that there is great concern for the suffering person and a true desire to help.
Verses 15-16 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. 16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
The disciples were practical young men. Most of them worked in the fishing trade or in other jobs related to the land and water. They knew how to problem solve, and they saw a problem of thousands of people of all ages and of all physical conditions being stranded in a place without food. They wanted the people to leave before dark and go and get something to eat so that they would have the stamina necessary to walk back to their homes. Some readers of the verses above have suggested that the disciples just wanted to have a free evening to themselves in which to relax and unwind and so they wanted Jesus to end the day by sending the people away. This writer does not believe this was the case and believes that the disciples were just being practical and wanting to problem solve what they saw as a bad situation. They had not learned to walk “in the Spirit” yet and were walking in the flesh and only seeing the physical world around them and not seeing the Spiritual world that was operating with the LORD Jesus Christ. When Jesus commanded His disciples to feed the multitude, they were to get a lesson in walking in the Spirit and in having faith enough to believe for what is perceived to be the impossible.
Verses 17-18 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
The number 5 in the Bible represents death and the number 2 in the Bible represents division. Jesus and his disciples were divided in their ideas of how to solve the problem of a hungry multitude, and if the people didn’t get nourishment, they might have negative health and physical situations when walking the long distances back to their villages and cities.
Application: The disciples showed Jesus what they had to work with and it was not adequate. But Jesus just commanded them to bring their inadequate resources to Him. Christian believers need to remember, when faced with situations in which there is inadequate resources, skills, or talent to meet the challenges being presented, to bring the situation or problem to Him along with what resources, skills, and talents they have and let Him provide a miracle.
Verses 19-21 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. 20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
Jesus was/is the creator of all things, animate and inanimate. It was not difficult for Him to divide (the number 2) the food and make it multiply into a feast for thousands of people. This writer wonders, however, how the disciples who were few in number compared to the multitude managed to pass out fish and bread to all those people. Notice also that each disciple ended up with a basket full of food at the end of the meal to help them to have a deeper understanding of faith in the LORD and of how to walk in the Spirit and exercise that faith.
Application: Notice that Jesus gave thanks before the miracle happened? No matter what the negative situation is or what the need is, the Christian believer should thank the LORD for it and then ask for assistance and wait for His response. He never fails. Notice also that Jesus did not just provide what was actually needed, but provided more than was needed as reflected in the twelve baskets full of fish and bread remaining after all the people had eaten.
Verses 22-23 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. 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.
This writer believes that this was Jesus’ way of getting some quiet time to deal with the murder of John the Baptist and to talk with the Father. Remember that Jesus was both man with a physical body able to experience all the things that all mankind experiences, and God, able to perform supernatural things. As a man, He was praying to the Father who is Spirit. As a man, He was feeling the loss of John the Baptist and feeling the problems of the multitude He had just ministered to. This concept of Jesus being both man and God at the same time is difficult, if not impossible, to fully understand, but the Bible teaches it and therefore it is true as there is no error in the English King James Bible. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, and Luke 21:33 Three is the number of divine perfection in the Bible and for the LORD to be sure that this statement would be recorded word for word in three of the four Gospel books means that He wanted to make the point clear.
Verses 24-27 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 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.
Remember that in chapter eight of this book, a similar thing happened when a storm arose as Jesus and his disciples were again crossing the lake. Jesus was so concerned that He was asleep as the ship was being swamped by the waves.
The sea would have been the Sea of Galilee and the waves were being driven by the wind in such a manner as to impede the boat’s progress towards the shore. The Greek word translated as “contrary” is “enantios” and it means over against or opposite.
A watch was the way the night hours were divided. The fourth watch would have been somewhere between what today is 3AM and 6AM. The Greeks divided their night hours into three watches and so originally, the Israelites only had three watches. But after being occupied and becoming subject to the Romans, the Israelites adopted dividing the night into four watches.
Notice that after experiencing the huge miracle of feeding thousands of people supernaturally, and after watching all the miracles of healings that Jesus had done, and after previously experiencing Jesus calm the storm they were in on this very lake, these disciples were still unable to discern the things of the Spirit from the things of the natural world. They thought they were seeing a ghost and did not have faith to believe that they were seeing the LORD Jesus Christ. They did not even recognize Him as they were so full of fear and apprehension of the storm they were in that their focus was on surviving. Even though they knew they had been chosen by the LORD for ministry, they were not walking in the Spirit and so unable to see that this storm was an opportunity for exercising faith and for expecting a miracle.
Application: Where does fear come from? 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” So fear is from the Devil or from evil spirits. Fear is a spirit. The Christian believer needs to cast that spirit of fear out if fear is present in his/her life. There should be no fear of anything in the believer’s life. Why not? Because God is in charge of everything and the believer places his/her trust in God.
Verses 28-31 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 was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
The Apostle Pete has received much criticism down through the years for what has been perceived as failure on his part. But please note that Peter was the only disciple that was willing to step out of the boat. Also notice that Peter was the only disciple that experienced what it is like to walk on water. And also notice that Peter called out to Jesus to be saved. His faith may have wavered for a period of time, but he knew the One who could save him while the rest of the disciples did not even recognize their Savior. Peter was beginning to walk by faith and in the Spirit, but he was not yet able to remain in faith and in the Spirit. And lastly, remember, that Peter was not yet converted. He had a head knowledge and understanding of who Jesus was, but he had not yet been “born again” in the Spirit. So please do not be so hard on this man to whom the “keys of the kingdom” were entrusted and who established the Church in Jerusalem and in other areas of the country.
Application: Like the Apostle Peter, all Christian believers have times of spiritual success and times of spiritual failure. These failures do not affect the believers salvation or standing with the LORD. They should be viewed as learning experiences that help the believer grow in the Faith and become better ministers of the Gospel.
Verses 32-33 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
This writer believes that this storm should be viewed with suspicion as the experienced fishermen in the group of disciples would not have headed out in a boat to cross over to the other side of the lake if they thought there would be the risk of a serious storm. They knew how to judge the weather. So could this wind have been brought by the Devil in an attempt to destroy the disciples that Jesus had chosen? Read the first chapter of the book of Job and see how Satan brought a “great wind” that knocked down the house where Job’s children were gathered, killing all of them. Also, as soon as Jesus got onto the boat, the wind ceased. Satan could not destroy the LORD as He was/is God, very God.
Application: This storm served the purpose of cementing in the minds of the men that would take the message of the Gospel to the known world that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. When facing the storms of life, whether physical, emotional, or environmental, realize that each storm is a teaching tool that helps the believer grow in his/her walk with the LORD. And just as Jesus got into the boat with the disciples, He will be with every Christian believer in their storm as He has promised to never leave His chosen people.
Verses 34-36 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 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. (Matthew 14)
Go back and review the events of chapter eight where Jesus was rejected by the people living across the lake because He cast devils out of the men who where possessed and living in the tombs and sent the devils into a herd of swine. These men freed from spiritual bondage went and told the people in the region what Jesus had done for them. So when Jesus and His disciples returned, they got a different greeting from the people and they were able to minister to their needs.