Matthew 14

The Death of John the Baptist


Herod had John the Baptist in prison, and he claimed that he has been raised from the dead.

Is this supposed to have happened, or is Herod supposed to be lying or mistaken?


Herod wanted to put John to death but feared reprisal from the people as they say him as a prophet. On His daughter's birthday, Herod promised to give her anything she wanted and she asked for John's head on a platter.  He obliged. Then the disciples took the body and buried it and told Jesus.

That is pretty brutal. Either the point of this is to show that Herod is evil (point taken) or there is more meaning that will be revealed later. 


Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand


Jesus was sad about John and went to a desolate place. People followed him there and had nothing to eat. They only had 5 loaves and 2 fish. Jesus looked up to heaven and said a blessing and then they had enough food for everyone.

Not really sure what to say about this. Pretty cool miracle. 


Jesus Walks on Water


Jesus went off on his own to pray and everyone else took off. Later, there were no boats so Jesus walked on water to get to his disciples who were on a boat. They were scared at first thinking he was a ghost, but he said he was Jesus. Peter asked him if he could walk on water as well and Jesus said yes. So he did but got scared and started sinking. Jesus reached out to him and saved him and said "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Then they got in the boat and the storm went away and they said "Truly you are the Son of God"

I remember this story from a little cartoon when I was a kid. I guess it left a big impact as I don't remember much from that age. Another pretty cool miracle.


Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret


Jesus went to Gennesaret and when the people heard he was there rounded up all the sick people. They asked if they could touch his garment and as they did they were made well.

I guess the faithful get rewarded