Study of Matthew

Matthew Chapter 14

Matthew 14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,

Jesus never sought fame in this world because at His first coming He was concerned only with obtaining the individual salvation of souls who would believe upon Him for salvation. He came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. To confirm the word He preached, signs followed Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. When the sick were healed and devils cast out of those bound, it attracted attention. He did these things to preach the gospel, not to be king of the world then and there.

Signs are supposed to follow those that believe to confirm God's word that is preached but we need to be very careful not to accept the praise of men or take credit for what God does. That has been the downfall of many who start out with good intentions.

Matthew 14:2 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.

Looks like Herod was heavy with guilt for having John the Baptist killed. No one before this was ever raised from the dead so I wonder why he would think that. Of course there was a couple who was raised in the Old Testament by prophets but it wasn't something that occurred often.

Matthew 14:3 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.
6 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.

We must be careful about making rash promises that we make in the heat of emotion. Thinking things through before making a promise is better than making rash promises that one might not want to keep. He probably would not have kept this promise if he had not have had witnesses that heard his rash promise to this dancer.

In the case of Herod through the dance this young woman did; caused either lust or such admiration that he made a rash promise that he later regretted making.

Birthday parties were usually for those held in high esteem like kings and those in authority. The custom was more heathen than Jewish. It was a tradition and never commanded by God. We do not ever read of celebrating the birthday of Moses, David, or any other prophet. The birth of Christ was never celebrated before the 3rd or 4th century after His birth. God does not give us the true date of His birth. So the practice of birthday parties was a heathen custom mostly for those esteemed as important. I'm stating this a fact not as an anti birthday party agenda.

Matthew 14:8 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.

Notice how that the king did this to please those that sat with him, not because he wanted to do it himself. This would indicate a weak king rather than a strong one that was not afraid to do his own will.

Matthew 14:10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.

In these modern times especially in the free world, it is hard to understand how a person could be killed if he was not a murderer or thief for instance that deserved the death penalty. Death penalty for one's faith is foreign to us but it wasn't too long ago that our Puritan forefathers did ban people from their colony for having a different faith than the one established. They were not as bad about this as the established religions in Europe but they did think they were doing God a favor.

Usually they would just ban them from the colony but occasionally some would be hanged. I really believe that if Pentecostals and Baptists had of lived in Europe during the 1500s they would have been burned at the stake for heresy. In fact in early American history we hear of the Puritans who were strict Calvinists, sentencing to death a few Baptist and Quakers because of their faith, not any civil crime. We should count our blessings.

There are religions in today's world that do kill those who they think are infidels or apostates but not in the free world. Some fear the ecumenical movement because they fear a strong religious body that would attempt to make laws and control everyone like they did during the Middle Ages.

In many religions though, they used the government to deal out the death sentences so that it would appear to be a result of civil law rather than religious law. Usually the religious establishment would turn the offender over to civil authorities. The evil Jewish Pharisees used the civil government of Rome to have Jesus crucified.

Because of things like the Salem witch trials and such, they put a clause in the constitution of the United States that forbids government from interfering in the private worship of individuals. In the United States we no longer are allowed to persecute anyone for their faith. Some of course use that same clause to kick God out of all society but they are taking it way out of context when they do.

Without God, any country or nation will not exist very long. Sexual immorality, increasing violence, selfishness, substance abuses, human trafficking, slavery, disease and many other things will consume a nation that has lost its moral absolutes and it's reverence for God and His word.

Matthew 14:11 And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.

We are never told what that woman did with his head but she probably considered it a victory. She was offended when John told the king that he should not have married his brother's wife. This greatly offended her and she must have felt threatened by the life of John the Baptist. She most probably gloated over his death and held his head as a trophy. Yet getting rid of the preacher never excuses the sin. We may succeed in silencing the word of God in our society but that does not make the word of God null and void. It is still God's word and will judge us on the day of judgment. Adultery is a serious sin or else John the Baptist would not have risked his life to warn the king against it.

Matthew 14:12 And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

At least they had respect for what was left of John and gave him a decent burial. I believe from that day on many of John's disciples decided to follow Jesus.

Matthew 14:13 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.

Jesus of course was not scared but it was not yet His time to return to His Father in heaven. He had to fulfill all things and preach the gospel to the crowds.

Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

If we truly had the heart that Jesus had, we too would see multitudes and be moved with compassion toward the suffering, the sick and those that simply needed the gospel preached to them.

This sometimes shows us the difference between preaching because it is a job or preaching because one has the passion and desire to see the lost brought to Jesus Christ. Sometimes one may preach because they want to attract an audience for the purpose of gaining a following. Some like to control others, some like the fame and some do it just because they are paid. Yet I believe God raises up those that really care also. I've never yet had a pastor that was not for real. In that I'm truly blessed.

Matthew 14:15 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.
16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
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, 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.

So we see that Jesus was not a "Be ye warmed and filled," type of person. It took a miracle but he addressed the necessary need at the time. They needed food to sustain them until they returned home. Some may have traveled miles on foot to hear Him.

Feeding the hungry is still part of our ministry as believers in Christ. Some of us may be called into this type of ministry altogether and some may run into the opportunity once in a while for an individual family with a need. Unfortunately some ministries that major is food and clothing have long ago departed from the most important mission, bringing the lost to Jesus Christ. Receiving government funding for any charity is really one way to send doom to the individual soul because to become dependent upon government for the source, they have to abide by government rules which could in future times forbid the preaching of the gospel when passing out the food.

Matthew 14:22 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.
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.

If Jesus needed to refresh Himself in the Spirit by speaking to His Heavenly Father, how much more to we as individuals need to pray without ceasing on a regular basis. Jesus said, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." A church that does not pray is powerless to bring souls to Christ or teach God's word. It takes the presence of the Holy Spirit to save the lost or even to give us understanding of the word.

Matthew 14:24 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.

Even back then they believed in walking spirits or ghosts. They knew a man could not walk on the sea so they assumed this was some kind of spirit.

Matthew 14:27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
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.

Peter at least was willing to test the spirits and find out if this was indeed Jesus. He was bold at first which was typical of Peter and he was always quick to react but would usually fail when the testing came except after he received the power of the Holy Spirit that was recorded in the book of Acts. That changed Peter somewhat except in the case of the Judaizers who didn't want to associate with Gentile Christians. Peter got caught up in his natural fear of man for a short time in that case.

Matthew 14:30 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?

This seems to indicate that if Peter had not have doubted he would not have sunk. But we see something else here. Notice the compassion of Jesus. He didn't allow Peter to sink and die in the waves thinking that since he didn't have faith, he would have to suffer the consequences. Jesus had compassion on those with weak faith that were struggling to believe and trust in Him. We must have compassion on those who are weak in faith or just coming into the faith.

Matthew 14:32 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.
34 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.

When miracles occur, it does confirm the word that is being preached. I pray that signs and wonders would never accompany false doctrine but in the last days it is said that this will occur. We have to discern the false from the real in those cases but not reject the gifts of the spirit that should follow those that believe.

In saying this though I must say that there are times and seasons when there are no signs or miracles that are visible. There are always miracles that we do not see with our natural eye. The salvation of just one soul is the greatest miracle of all yet we visibly cannot see one born again by the spirit of God. Sometimes we fail to see this as a miracle but it is really the greatest of all.

Miracles that can be seen will draw crowds. That is why it mostly will occur in places where the gospel has never been preached before in order to confirm that the word preached is from God. Without this kind of confirmation, heathen may not always accept the gospel however, the word of God by itself is quick and powerful and the word along with the unction of the Holy Spirit can make converts out of the most hardened sinner without visible signs. I will not limit God for any reason. I believe everything recorded in the New Testament that Jesus and His apostles did when they preached the gospel is available to us today.

There are times though when we will not see signs for one reason or another. Times of testing, times of doubt or times when we are not praying as we should. Those are the times though that produce true faith. True faith is believing God even when we do not see any visible results as far as the spectacular. Sometimes we do not see instant healing but see a long progress and struggle before a loved one we pray for recovers and in some cases the one we pray for goes on to meet the Lord and does not recover in this life but has the ultimate healing from then on.

This is truly a test of faith and may show whether or not we are going to believe no matter what. True faith is tested and tried.

Although signs are to follow them that believe, we see also that the signs seen in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were to show those living then that Jesus was truly sent from God to save from sin. That is what miracles and signs are for. To confirm the gospel that is to save the lost. Miracles are not given to exalt one person and build a ministry around that one person. It is to bring souls to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Maybe the reason we do not see as many miracles today as in the past, is because many build big ministries that exalt the preacher rather than the savior. This is wrong for two reasons: One, we are not the one doing the healing, God is; and two, the gifts of the spirit are for all believers not just one or two people that are exalted in men's eyes and thought to have more spiritual faith and power than others.

We must give all glory to God for any real miracles done whether or not someone does the praying or we pray ourselves. DC

Matthew 15