Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 14:1

Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 14:1 - 14:36

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Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 14:1 - 14:36

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

14:1 - 14:36

EXPOSITION

Mat_14:1-36

CHRIST'S POWER TO SUPPLY AND PROTECT AND HEAL, PREFACED BY A STATEMENT OF HEROD'S RELATION TO HIM.

Mat_14:1-12

Herod's opinion of Jesus, and a parenthetical account of his murder of John the Baptist. Parallel passages: Mar_6:14-29; Luk_9:7-9; Luk_3:19, Luk_3:20.

Mat_14:1

At that time; season (Revised Version); Mat_11:25, note. Herod the tetrarch; i.e. Antipas, youngest son of Herod the Great, and by one of his father's wills named his successor on the throne, but by the last will appointed only tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. Though not legally king, he sometimes received the title by courtesy. "In point of character, Antipas was a genuine son of old Herod—sly, ambitious, and luxurious, only not so able as his father." He was deposed by Caligula, A.D. 39, when, at the instance of Herodias, he had gone to Rome to try to obtain the same title of king that had been granted to her brother Agrippa I. (Schurer, I. Mat_2:18, 36). Heard of the fame—heard the report (Revised Version); Mat_4:24, note—of Jesus.

Mat_14:2

And said unto his servants. According to Luke, the following assertion was brought forward by some, but was, it would seem, summarily rejected by Herod (Luk_9:7, Luk_9:9); according to Mark ( ἔλεγον , Westcott and Hort, text) it was common talk, and agreed to by Herod. If a reconciliation of so unimportant a verbal disagreement be sought for, it may perhaps lie in Luke representing Herod's first exclamation, and Matthew, with Mark, his settled belief. Clearly Herod did not originate it, as the summary account in our Gospel would lead us to suppose. This is John the Baptist (Mat_3:1 and Mat_4:12, notes). (For this opinion about our Lord, compare, besides the parallel passages referred to in the last note, also Mat_16:14.) He ( αὐτός , Mat_1:21, note) is risen from the dead. The other dead still lie in Hades ( ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν ). Plumptre, on Mark, adduces a curious passage from Persius, 5:180-188, which he thinks is based on a story that when Herod celebrated another of his birthdays (cf. verse 6) in Rome, in A.D. 39, he was terrified by a Banquo-like appearance of the murdered prophet. The superstition that already suggested to Herod the resurrection of John might well act more strongly on the anniversary of the murder, and after he had connived at the death of the One who, by his miracles, showed that he possessed greater power than John. And therefore; "because he is no ordinary man, but one risen from the dead" (Meyer). Mighty works do show forth themselves in him ( αἱδυνάμεις ἐνεργοῦσιν ἐν αἰ τῷ ) do these powers work in him (Revised Version). "These" ( αἱ , the article of reference), i.e. these which are spoken of in the report (verse 1). Αἱδυνάμεις may be

(1) specifically miracles (cf. Mat_13:58), in which case they are regarded as potentially active in John before their completion in history; or

(2) the powers of working miracles, as perhaps in 1Co_12:28. Observe that this passage confirms the statement of Joh_10:41, that John performed no miracle. Observe that it is also an indirect witness to the fact of our Lord performing miracles. For Herod's utterance is not such as a forger would have imagined.

Mat_14:3

For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him. Although had simplifies the meaning to the English reader, as definitely marking what must have been the case, that John's imprisonment began some time before, yet in the Greek only the aorist is used to commence a vivid narrative. And put him in prison; "put him away in prison ( ἐν φυλακῇ ἀπέθετο )." So of Micaiah by Ahab (2Ch_18:26, LXX., but not Lucian's text). Probably here in allusion to the distance of Machaerus from Herod's usual residence at Tiberius. Possibly, also, a reference to John being safer there from the designs of Herodias. Anyhow, notice the stages in Herod's action—capture, binding, imprisonment in a place where he was quite out of the way. For Herodias'sake. John was imprisoned, according to the New Testament,

(1) as a punishment for his rebuke of Herod;

(2) to protect him from Herodias' vengeance.

(On the statement by Josephus, that it was for political reasons, see Mat_3:1, note.) His brother Philip's wife. According to Josephus ('Ant.,' 18.5. 4), the first husband of Herodias was "Herod," son of Herod the Great by Mariamne the high priest's daughter, and the daughter of Herodias, Salome, married Philip the tetrarch, who was also the son of Herod the Great by Cleopatra of Jerusalem. Hence many critics (e.g. Ewald; Schurer, I. 2.22) suppose the account in Matthew and Mark to be mistaken, and due to a confusion of Herodias with her daughter. But, although it is curious that two sons of Herod the Great should have been called Philip, yet, in view of their being by different mothers, it cannot be pronounced impossible ("Antipas" and "Antipater" are not precisely identical). Besides, Herod the son of Mariamne would probably have had some other name than that of his father alone. It is noticeable that, in the same context, Josephus speaks also of Antipas by the name Herod only.

Mat_14:4

For John said unto him, It is not lawful ( οὐκ ἔξεστιν , Mat_12:2) for thee to have her. Herod Philip being still alive. Bengel remarks, "Causas matrimoniales non possunt plane abdicare theologi." Was he thinking of Luther's unfortunate advice to Philip of Hesse?

Mat_14:5

And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude (cf. Luk_20:6). Mark has, "And Herodias set herself against him, and would have put him to death; and she could not; for Herod feared John." The more detailed account in Mark is doubtless the more exact. Perhaps the facts of the case were that, in the first heat of his resentment, Herod wished to kill John, but feared the anger of the people, and that afterwards, when he him in his power and Herodias still urged his death, Herod had himself learned to respect him. Observe

(1) that it is quite impossible to suppose that either evangelist had the words of the other in front of him. The difference does not consist merely of addition or explanation;

(2) that these are exactly the kind of verbal coincidences which might be expected to be found in two oral traditions starting from a common basis. For they counted him as a prophet ( ὡς προφήτην αὐτὸν εἶχον ); so Mat_21:26.

Mat_14:6

But when Herod's birthday was kept; came (Revised Version); γενεσίοις δὲ γενομένοις τοῦ Ἡρῴδου , dative of time (Winer, § 31:9), with the addition of a participle. Birthday. So "Pharaoh's birthday" (Gen_40:20, ἡμέρα γενέσεως ). Thayer's Grimm refers to "Alciphr. Epp. 3, 18, and 55; Dio Cass., 47, 18, etc.," for γενέσια being used in the same sense. The Talmudic àéñéðéâ (see Levy, s.v.) apparently represents the same word, and (preceded by îåé ) has the same meaning (cf. Schurer, I. 2:27). Possibly Jews found γενέσια an easier word to pronounce than the more classical γενέσλια . The daughter of Herodias; i.e. Salome, daughter of Herod Philip and Herodias; she afterwards married her half uncle, Philip the tetrarch (Mat_14:3, note). She could not now be less than seventeen or eighteen years old (cf. Gutschmid, in Schurer, I. 2:28), so, in the East, could only just be still called a κοράσιον (Mat_14:11). Mark's text (like the Greek of Codex Bezae here) speaks of her as though she herself was called Herodias, and was the daughter of Antipas and Herodias; but the issue of this union could not then have been more than two years old (Schurer, loc. cit.). Besides, the trait mentioned by Mark (Mar_6:25), that she came back with haste to the king, asking for the head of the Baptist, implies that she was more than a child. Rendel Harris suggests that the confusion is due to an early Latinization of the Greek from an ambiguous ejus. Danced. Probably with the same kind of voluptuous dance as that of the Egyptian almd described by Warburton. But that a member of the royal family should so dance before a company must have been almost unheard of. Before them; in the midst (Revised Version). Matthew only. Such a dance with men sitting round would be specially abhorrent to the Jewish mind. And pleased Herod. And of course, as St. Mark adds, "them that sat with him" (cf. verse 9).

Mat_14:7

Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.

Mat_14:8

And she, being before instructed; being put forward (Revised Version); προβιβασθεῖσα (Act_19:33, Received Text; Deu_6:7, LXX.). The word implies that the girl herself would not have thought of it, and perhaps that she had at first some little reluctance. But if so, it was soon over, for she came back "in haste" (Mark). Of her mother. St. Mark explains that she left the room to ask her mother. Said, Give me. This is the gift I want. Here. And evidently at once. The word excludes the possibility of the feast being in Tiberias, if John was slain at Machaerus, as the passage in Josephus states (cf. Mat_3:1, note). There is no very great difficulty in supposing the chief men of Galilee, etc. (Mark), to have gone as far as Machaerus to pay their respects to Herod and to partake of the feast, but whether the statement in Josephus is accurate, and how, if it be so, it is to be reconciled with the preceding statement that Machaerus belonged to Aretas, are questions not easily answered (see Schurer, I. 2.26). John Baptist's head in a charger; in a charger the head of John the Baptist (Revised Version). She defines here still more closely ( ὧδε ἐπὶ πίνακι ), and then states her request. On the form of her demand for John's death, Chrysostom says that she wished to see his tongue lying there silent, for she did not merely long to be freed from his reproaches, but to insult and jeer him ( ἐπιβῆναι καὶ ἐπιτωθάσαι κειμένᾳ ). Charger. A wooden trencher.

Mat_14:9

And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake; better, and though the king was grieved, yet for the sake of his oaths ( καὶ λυπηθεὶς ὁβασιλεὺς διὰ τὺος ὅρκους κ .τ.λ.). That he was grieved at John's death is a verbal contradiction to verse 5, but after some weeks' or months' delay psychologically quite possible (cf. note there). Kubel attributes the change to his conscience recoiling when his wish had a sudden chance of being accomplished; or it may be that he still fearest the multitude (cf. verse 5), and felt anxious lest he should bring about some political disturbance. Oaths; for in making the promise of verse 7 he would certainly take more than one. And them which sat with him at meat. Had he uttered the promise and the oaths in private, it would have been different, but now there were so many witnesses. Observe that these said nothing to stop him. They were no friends of the enthusiast who was now a prisoner. He commanded it to be given her.

Mat_14:10, Mat_14:11

And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison, and his head was brought in a charger (verse 8, note), and given (the fourth time that the word "give" has come in five verses; the head of the herald of the kingdom becomes a royal gift) to the damsel—( τῷ κορασίῳ , verse 6, note)—and she brought it to her mother. But a few minutes after she had first spoken her request (verse 8, note).

Mat_14:12

And his disciples came. "And when his disciples heard thereof, they came" (Mark). Perhaps they were not permitted to be so much with him as at an earlier period in his imprisonment (Mat_11:2). But if the murder was in the evening, as would appear probable from the circumstances of it, they would naturally not be in the castle at the time. And took up the body; the corpse (Revised Version, τὸ πτῶμα ). And buried it; him, (Revised Version, αὐτόν ). It is right in Mark, but St. Matthew has preserved the more popular form of expression. And (Revised Version adds they) went and told Jesus. Matthew only. In Mark (Mar_6:30; cf. also Luk_9:10) this expression dearly belongs to the next paragraph, and is predicated of the twelve apostles on their return from their mission (Mar_6:7-12; our Mat_10:5). It looks as though some confusion had arisen in the source before St. Matthew used it. As the words stand here they show the kindly feelings which both John and his disciples felt towards our Lord

Mat_14:13-21

The feeding of the five thousand. Parallel passages: Mar_6:30-44; Luk_9:10-17; Joh_6:1-13. The miracle was deemed so characteristic of our Lord's work, in his care for men and his power to sustain them, and more especially in its being a parable of his readiness to supply spiritual food, that it was recorded not only by each of the three evangelists who used the framework, but also by the one who depended entirely upon his own materials. But though St. John's account of it is on the whole independent, yet even this has expressions which are certainly due to the influence of the source used by the synoptists, or, less probably, of one or other of our present Gospels.

The evangelist relates

(1) the occasion of the miracle

the preparation of the disciples (verses 15-18);

(3) the miracle itself (verses 19, 20);

(4) a summary statement of the numbers fed (verse 21).

Mat_14:13

When Jesus heard of it (cf. Mat_14:12, note), he departed. (For the form of the sentence, see Mat_4:12; Mat_12:15.) Thence by ship; in a boat (Revised Version); Mat_8:23. Into a desert place apart. Defined in Joh_6:3 as "the mountain;" in Luk_9:10 as "a city called Bethsaida." The spot appears to have been in part of the plain El-Batiha, which is at the northcast corner of the Sea of Galilee on the Gaulonitis side of the Jordan, and in which stood Bethsaida-Julias. Mar_6:45 implies that there was a second Bethsaida on the western side of the lake, which, though not alluded to by Josephus, is expressly spoken of in Joh_12:21, and is probably referred to in all the other passages of the New Testament where the name Bethsaida occurs. And when the people (the multitudes, Revised Version) had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. The fact that it was near a feast time (Joh_6:4, the Passover, if the text be right; and cf. infra, Joh_6:19, note) perhaps accounts for the multitudes being so large. Some at least would be on their way up to Jerusalem.

Mat_14:14

The first half of this verse is found verbally in Mark (Mar_6:34); comp. also Mat_9:36, note. And Jesus went forth; came forth (Revised Version); i.e. from the more retired place where he had been conversing with his disciples. And saw a great multitude. "The multitudes" of Mat_9:13 have now become one body. And was moved with compassion toward them; and he had compassion on them (Revised Version). The true reading, ἐπ αὐτοῖς , regards the Lord's pity at, so to say, a later stage than the common reading, ἐπ αὐτούς . It was not only directed towards them, but actually resting on them. And he healed ( ἐθεράπευσεν , Mat_4:23, note) their sick ( τοὺς ἀῤῥώστους αὐτῶν ). Αῤῥωστος here only in Matthew, elsewhere in the New Testament in Mar_6:5,Mar_6:13 [Mar_16:18]; 1Co_11:30. As compared with ἀσθενής , it "seems to point to diseases predominantly marked by loss of bodily power ('diuturno languore teneri,' Calvin), while the more common ἀσθενής is simply used to denote sickness generally" (Bishop Ellicott, on 1 Corinthians, loc. cit.). But in our passage it is used without any such limitation (cf. Luke, "And he healed them that had need of healing"). Mark and John do not speak of miracles of healing on this occasion.

Mat_14:15

And when it was evening. But not as late as the "evening" of Mat_14:23. It appears that the first evening was from the ninth to the twelfth hour (our 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the equinoxes), and the second evening was for a short time, perhaps forty minutes, after sunset (cf. Mat_8:16, note). His (the, Revised Version) disciples came to him, saying. St. John alone has recorded our Lord's previous conversation with Philip (Joh_6:5-7). This is a desert place; the place is desert (Revised Version), which better marks the parallelism with the next clause. And the time is now (already, Revised Version) past ( ἡὥρα ἤδη παρῆλθεν ); i.e. probably the hour at which he was accustomed to dismiss his audience. For he would often have to consider their wish to get home before nightfall. Send the multitude away; the multitudes (Revised Version); for now again they are regarded separately as having to go in different directions. That they may go (go away) into the villages, and buy themselves victuals; food (Revised Version). One at least of the disciples would have a keen eye for the amount of the contents of the common purse.

Mat_14:16

But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; they have no need to go away (Revised Version). Matthew only. The Lord takes up the expression. There is no need for them to move from this place, desert though it is. Give ye them to eat. Ye; emphatic, he throws upon his disciples the duty of feeding them, and, strange though the command seemed to them (cf. 2Ki_4:43), they carried it out.

Mat_14:17

And they say unto him, We have here ( ὧδε ) but five loaves (Mat_4:3, note), and two fishes (Mat_7:9, note). St. Matthew omits the question, "Shall we go and buy?" etc., which comes in Mark and Luke, and essentially in John (verse 5).

Mat_14:18

Matthew only. He said, Bring them hither to me ( φέρετε μοι ὧδε αὐτούς ). This gives the sense, but still more is implied. He takes up their ὧδε . "Yes," he says, "it is possible to feed them where we are, and especially where I am. For there is not the poverty of supply here that you think there is." Observe that for the disciples to bring them "here" was in itself an act of faith.

Mat_14:19

And he commanded the multitude; the multitudes (Revised Version). Here also the plural (Mat_14:15), because they are thought of as grouped over the ground. To sit down; i.e. to recline as at a meal ( ἀνακλιθῆναι ). On the grass ( ἐπὶ τοῦ χόρτου ). The addition of "green" ( χλωρός ) in Mark suits the time of the Passover (verse 13, note), but hardly of any later feast, for the grass would have been dried up. And took the five loaves, and the two fishes. He used all the means there were. And looking up to heaven. So also Mar_7:34; Joh_17:1. He blessed. He may well have used the blessing that is still used over bread ("Blessed art thou, Jehovah our God, King of the world, that causest bread to come forth from the earth"); for this can be apparently traced to the second or third century A.D., and is probably much older still. (For the habit of saying grace before meals, cf. Mat_15:36; Mat_26:26; Rom_14:6; 1Co_10:30; 1Ti_4:5; see also 1Sa_9:13.) And brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. That the people received the bread at the hands of the disciples is not mentioned by St. John. Perhaps because his chapter dwells so much on the need of direct contact with Christ. But Christ's work through his agents, both before and after his time on earth, is an important point with the synoptists.

Mat_14:20

And they did all eat, and were filled ( ἐχορτάσθησαν , Mat_5:6, note). And they. Undefined, but seen from Mat_16:9; Joh_6:12, to have been the disciples. Took up of the fragments that remained; that which remained over of the broken pieces (Revised Version); i.e. of the pieces broken by our Lord for distribution (Joh_6:19). Twelve baskets full. The disciples personally lost nothing by the miracle (Joh_6:15, note), the provision basket that each always carried was now replenished. Baskets; "cofyns" (Wickliffe); κοφίνους (cf. Luk_9:17, note; and the Talmudic saying, "He that has bread in his basket is not like him that has not bread in his basket," Talm. Bab., 'Yoma,' 74b).

Mat_14:21

And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. Only Matthew mentions the presence of other than men. We may assume that no great number of women and children were there; and this, considering the distance that most had been obliged to go (verse 13), is what we should expect. "Observe here the diminutive παιδίων , little children, whom their mothers either carried in their arms or led by the hand" (Meyer).

Mat_14:22-33

Christ's power over the elements. He walks on the water and stays the storm. St. Peter's attempt to walk on the water is successful so long as he exercises faith on Christ. Jesus receives homage as Messiah. Parallel passages: Mar_6:45-52; Joh_6:15-21. It is strange that the incident of St. Peter is recorded in Matthew only, and not in Mark, for it serves to emphasize what is a leading thought of the preceding narrative, even in Mark, viz. the power that believers receive by virtue of faith on Christ (verses 16, 19). With Christ in the boat, difficulties cease (verse 32); they that believe on him can triumph as he did (verses 28-31; cf. the thought of Joh_14:19, end). For St. John's purpose the mention of St. Peter was not necessary; since, by way of introduction to the following discourse, be desired rather to familiarize his readers with the idea of Christ's body being triumphant over earthly limitations (cf. verse 19, note).

Mat_14:22

And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples. It was not their wish to leave him, especially when the multitudes seemed likely to elect him king (Joh_6:15). But from the temptation to side with the multitudes our Lord desired now to shield them. Separation and physical work (Mat_14:24) would calm their excitement, and the object lesson that their Master already ruled over wind and sea would lead them to more perfect trust in his methods. Another reason for his sending them forward may have been that they should use the failing light; and yet another, that he himself desired time for prayer. To get into a ship; a boat ( ἐμβῆναι εἰς πλοῖον ); cf. Mat_8:23 (the boat, Revised Version, reading εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ). And to go before him ( προάγειν αὐτόν : Mat_2:9; Mat_21:9). For he would follow. He fulfilled his promise much more literally than they anticipated. Unto the other side. "Unto Bethsaida" (Mark); "unto Capernaum" (John). Probably they landed at the western Bethsaida (Mat_8:13, note), in Gennesaret (Mat_8:34), and went on to Capernaum, where our Lord again addressed the people (Joh_6:24-26). While he sent—till he should send (Revised Version); ἕως οὗ ἀπολύσῃ , Mat_13:33—the multitudes away. Why should this take up time? Why did he not dismiss them then and there? Possibly they were too eager to carry out their own plans on his behalf to attend to only one expression of his wish.

Mat_14:23

And when he had sent the multitudes away. Matthew speaks merely of the dismissal as such ( ἀπολύσας τοὺς ὄχλους ); Mark refers to his parting words ( ἀποταξάμενος αὐτοῖς , i.e. probably to the multitude). He went up into a mountain—the mountain (Revised Version); Mat_5:1, note—apart. Κατ ἰδίαν is to be joined with the preceding, and not to the following words (cf. Mat_5:13; Mat_17:19). And when the evening was come (Mat_5:15, note), he was there alone. For some eight hours, if it was spring or autumn (Mat_5:25).

Mat_14:24

But the ship; boat (Revised Version); Mat_14:22. Was now; rather, already, when the following incident happened. In the midst of the sea. So also the text of the Revised Version, but its margin, "was many furlongs distant from the land." Westcott and Hort prefer the latter, with Codex B and the Old Syriac. It somewhat resembles Joh_6:19. Tossed; distressed (Revised Version). For βασανιζόμενον suggests not physical motion, but pain and anguish, the idea being transferred in figure to the boat. In Mark it is applied more strictly to the disciples. With waves; by the waves (Revised Version). The agents of the torture ( ὑπὸ τῶν κυμάτων ). For the wind was contrary. Yet he came not at once, for he would teach us to bear troubles bravely (cf. Chrysostom).

Mat_14:25

And in the fourth watch of the night. Therefore some nine hours after sunset (Mat_14:23, note). They had been battling for hours, and had only gone about three miles and a half (Joh_6:19). Jesus went; came (Revised Version); ἦλθε , not ἀπῆλθε , with Received Text. Unto them, walking on the sea ( ἐπὶ τὴν θάλθασσαν ); contrast Mat_14:26 ( ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης ). Here there is more thought of motion (cf. Mat_14:29), but in the next verse the advance is almost forgotten, and the fact of Christ being on the water is all-important; "they saw him on the sea, walking."

Mat_14:26

And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit—an apparition (Revised Version, φάντασμά ἐστιν )—and they cried out for fear.

Mat_14:27

But straightway Jesus spake unto them ( ἐλάλησεν , not ἔκραξεν ). He was evidently near them. Saying, Be of good cheer ( θαρσεῖτε , Mat_9:2); it is I; be not afraid. Encouragement, self-manifestation, recall from present terror. But the absence of θαρσεῖτε in Joh_6:20 suggests that it is, perhaps, a duplicate rendering of the Aramaic for μὴ φοβεῖσθε . For the LXX. commonly translates "fear ye not" by θαρσεῖτε (e.g. Exo_14:13; Exo_20:20). One or two second-rate manuscripts omit θαρσεῖτε in Mark, but this may be only due to a reminiscence of John. It is also omitted in Tatian's 'Diatessaron' (edit. Hemphill).

Mat_14:28-31

St. Peter's venture. Matthew only.

Mat_14:28

And; δέ , slightly adversative, because St. Peter's words were so contrary to what might have been expected. Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou ( εἰ σὺ εἷ ). No doubt is implied (Mat_4:3, note). Bid me ( κέλευσόν με ); jube me (Vulgate). He will only come at Christ's command. In this lies the difference—and it is a decisive difference—from the second temptation (Mat_4:6). Come unto thee on the water. Not "bid me walk on the water;" for he does not want to perform a miracle, but to come to Jesus. His request is not due to the hope of making a show, but to impulsive love. Observe, too, that he seems to have realized that the Lord would enable his followers to do as he himself did (cf. Chrysostom). On the water; the waters (Revised Version); rough though they were. Had we any ether account of this incident, it would be interesting to see if it contained these words. They read very like an explanatory addition by the narrator.

Mat_14:29

And he said, Come. Our Lord takes him at his word, and gives the command. It is not merely a permission. Observe that our Lord never blames him for having made the request. His venture of faith would have been altogether successful had his faith continued. And when Peter was come down out of the ship. The Revised Version has more simply, And Peter went down from the boat, and. He walked on the water. For the narrator was chiefly interested in his walking there (contrast Mat_14:28). To go to Jesus; rather, and came to Jesus. The true text states what did, in fact, happen, notwithstanding Peter's lack of faith (cf. Mat_14:31).

Mat_14:30

But when he saw the wind boysterous ( ἰσχυρόν is clearly a gloss, and therefore omitted by the Revised Version). He was afraid; and beginning to sink. The natural tendency to sink, which he had had all the time, was counteracted before by his faith, which enabled him to receive Christ's power. But now that his doubt made him incapable of receiving this, he sank (cf. Meyer). He cried ( ἔκραξεν ), saying, Lord, save me (Mat_8:25). Aphraates quotes an apocryphal saying of our Lord's, "Doubt not; lest ye are engulfed in the world, as Simon; for he doubled, and began to sink in the sea."

Mat_14:31

And immediately. Without any waste of time, just as in Mat_14:27. Jesus stretched forth his hand. So that St. Peter had come up to him (Mat_14:29). And caught him; and took hold of him (Revised Version, ἐπελάβετο αὐτοῦ : cf. Heb_2:16; Heb_8:9). And said; saith (Revised Version). The writer passes to more vivid narration. Unto him, O thou of little faith ( ὀλιγόπιστε ); Mat_6:30, note. But in Mat_17:20 (Westcott and Hort) the substantive is used of faith in a more active sense. Wherefore ( εἰς τί ); " äîì , literally rendered" (Dr. Guillemard). Didst thou doubt? ( ἐδίστασας ). In the New Testament, Mat_28:17 only. Christ saves first, and rebukes afterwards. Perhaps the need for help was more immediate than in Mat_8:26, or possibly the fervency of St. Peter's love deserved gentler treatment.

Mat_14:32

And when they were come—gone up (Revised Version)—into the ship, the wind ceased. Apparently not before, so that Peter may still have walked a little further on the water in the midst of the storm, but upheld by the Lord's hand.

Mat_14:33

Matthew only. Then—and (Revised Version, δέ )—they that were in the ship; boat (Revised Version). If there were others than the disciples in the boat, as is probable, these also would be included; but the disciples would naturally take the lead (cf. the notes on Mat_8:23, Mat_8:27). Came and. The Revised Version omits these two words, with the manuscripts. They are due to the analogy of Mat_8:2; Mat_9:18. Worshipped him (Mat_4:9, note). In Mat_8:27 we read of wonder; here, of homage. Saying, Of a truth ( ἀληθῶς ); cf. Mat_5:18, s.v. "verily." The word seems to imply that the suggestion did not enter their minds now for the first time. Two had, perhaps, heard the words spoken at the baptism (Mat_3:17), and most of them, if not all, the utterance by the demons in Mat_8:29. Yet these utterances in reality far surpassed what they even nosy imagined (vide infra). Thou art the Son of God ( Θεοῦ υἱὸς εἶ ). Although the phrase is not of the definite form found in Mat_26:63 and Mat_16:16, where it is used with express reference to the Messiahship of Jesus (cf. for the intermediate form, Mat_27:40 with 43), yet it is impossible to take it here as merely referring to a moral relation between Jesus and God. In Mat_27:54 this might be sufficient (Luke has "righteous''); but here there is no question of coming up to a standard of moral uprightness, but rather of manifestation of power, and this is connected with Messiah. His authority over the elements leads to the homage of those who witness its exercise, and forces from them the expression that he is the promised Representative of God on earth (Psa_2:7; cf. Mat_2:15, note). Observe, however, that not even so is it a profession of faith in his absolute Divinity. (Kubel's note on this subject in Mat_8:29 is very good.)

Mat_14:34-36

On landing at Gennesaret numbers come to him and are healed. Parallel passage: Mar_6:53-56, which is fuller.

Mat_14:34

And when they were gone over—had crossed over (Revised Version); διαπεράσαντες Mat_9:1—they came into the land of Gennesaret—to the land, unto Gennesaret (Revised Version, with the true text). The plain El-Ruwer, part of the northwest side of the lake, and some three miles long by one broad, extending, roughly, from Chorazin (perhaps Khan Minyeh; but comp. Mat_11:21, note) to Magdala. (For its fertility, see Josephus, 'Wars,' 3.10.8.)

Mat_14:35

And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about (cf. Mat_3:5). Matthew alone states definitely that this zeal was shown by the inhabitants of the Plain of Gennesaret. Mark's words (Mar_6:55) are vaguer. And brought unto him all that were diseased; sick (Revised Version); cf. Mat_4:24; Mat_8:16.

Mat_14:36

And besought; and they besought (Revised Version); i.e. the sick, for probably the change of person takes place here and not at" that they might touch." Him that they might only touch the hem of his garment (Mat_9:20, Mat_9:21, notes): and as many as touched were made perfectly whole ( διεσώθησαν ); were made whole (Revised Version). For διά here is probably not intensive, but rather gives the thought of being brought out safe through the danger. In the LXX. διασώζεσθαι is a common rendering of èìîï , "escape."

HOMILETICS

Mat_14:1-12

The death of John the Baptist.

I. HEROD THE TETRARCH.

1. He heard of the fame of Jesus. Herod Antipas was a weak, cruel, voluptuous tyrant; he resembled his father in his vices, not in his capacity and energy of character. He heard of Christ's miracles; it seems strange if, as the words appear to imply, he now heard of Christ for the first time. For Christ had long been preaching in Galilee; about a year, perhaps more. Great multitudes had flocked to hear him; his mighty works had excited a far spread interest and wonder. Herod may have been absent from Galilee during much of the time, possibly at the distant fortress of Machaerus, where John the Baptist, was imprisoned. But his life was spent in ostentatious display and sensual excesses. He would take no interest in a religious movement unless his fears were aroused by the popular excitement which it caused. His courtiers would not listen themselves to the preaching of Jesus; or if any did, such as the nobleman whose son was healed by the Lord at Capernaum, or Chuza, Herod's steward (possibly identical with that nobleman), whose wife Joanna ministered to our Lord, they would not relate to the hardhearted selfish tyrant teaching so uncongenial to his character. The miracles, it is true, would excite more interest; they would stir up his curiosity. Some account of them reached him at last. Thus the ruler of Galilee was perhaps one of the last men in the province to hear of the Saviour. The great in this world are not always great in the kingdom of heaven. The tumult of political cares and the glitter of earthly pomp often prevent them from hearing the fame of Jesus. His blessed work goes on among the lowly. Souls are healed, the eyes of the blind are opened. The good news does not, reach those who dwell in kings' houses. Thank God, it is not always so; there are men high in rank who are also living near to Christ.

2. His superstitious fears. Herod is thought to have been a Sadducee. Probably he had no real religious convictions. But inconsistencies are common in human nature; the unbelieving are not unfrequently superstitious. Herod was haunted by a guilty conscience. The spectres of those whom he had foully murdered troubled his dreams. Christ's mighty works excited his attention. No ordinary man, he knew, could do such things. It must be some one more than mortal; some one in whom the powers of the unseen world were active and energetic. And conscience whispered, and an awful shudder thrilled through the despot's soul, "It is John—John, whom I beheaded." Better to be the most miserable prisoner perishing in the gloomy dungeons of Machaerus than that tyrant, whom the world called happy, terror-stricken in his gilded palace.

3. He desired to see Christ. The Lord would not come; he departed into a desert place. "I will come and heal him," he said, when the centurion sent for him. He would not go to Herod. For what were Herod's motives? Partly mere curiosity; partly that awful power of conscience which seems sometimes to draw the criminal to the scene of his crime or the murdered body of his victim; partly, perhaps, malice and fear; he would have slain the Lord as he had slain the prophet. The Lord Christ doth not manifest himself to those who seek him from motives such as these. Herod saw him at last. The sight did him no good; it increased his condemnation. He set Christ at nought, and shared with Pilate the guilt of his death.

II. THE IMPRISIONMENT OF JOHN.

1. The sin of Herod. He had married Herodias. That wicked woman had ensnared him with her deceitful beauty. She was not contented with the quiet life of her husband Philip; she sought rank, wealth, magnificence. Antipas was the greatest prince of the family. She lured him to his ruin. She heeded not sin and shame and scandal, so that she might compass her wicked purpose. Now she was the tetrarch's queen, but her soul was stained with the double guilt of incest and adultery. What is beauty of person when it hides a black and loathsome soul? Herod was weak and self-indulgent. He fell into the snares of Herodias. He took her from her husband. The stronger will of that wicked woman led him on from sin to sin; she became a second Jezebel to a second Ahab.

2. The rebuke of John. John had had considerable influence with Herod. "Herod feared John," St. Mark tells us, "knowing that he was a just man and a holy, and observed him [or rather, 'kept him in safety']; and when he heard him, he did many things [or rather, 'he was much perplexed'], and heard him gladly." Herod had paid some attention to John; partly, perhaps, from political reasons, for John had been for some time a great power in the land; partly from curiosity and some sort of languid interest in John's mission and character. He was struck, too, with the intense earnestness of his preaching; he felt the power of his commanding personality. Worldly men sometimes take a sort of interest in religious matters. Statesmen are forced to do so from the widespread influence of religious motives. Men are attracted by a strong character or great spiritual eloquence. But this external interest in religion may coexist with irreligious habits and a hatred of religious restraints. John the Baptist knew this. He did not care to retain Herod's favour at the cost of condoning his sin. He wanted Herod's soul; his spiritual good, not his patronage. So he rebuked him boldly for his sin: "It is not lawful for thee to have her." John possessed in a high degree that holy courage which is so often necessary in dealing with souls. It is easy to speak to the humble and the timid of their faults; but when the sinner is great and powerful, stern, perhaps, and masterful, it needs a brave man then to set his sin before him, and to urge him to repentance. John did so plainly. The guilty pair must be separated. Nothing else could avail Herod; no affectation of religion, no costly gifts, no patronage of John's cause. He could not be saved in his sin—that was impossible; he must at any cost tear himself from it.

3. Herod's answer. He cast John into prison. Wicked men will do the like now as far as lies in their power; they will do all they can to injure the faithful Christian who reproves them for their souls' good. So it was with Herod. John might reprove the Pharisees and Sadducees, the publicans and soldiers; but when he came to reprove Herod himself, then he shut up John in prison. It was a hard lot for one like John, accustomed to the free open life of the desert, to be penned up in some wretched dungeon. Herod would have put him to death at once; his own anger prompted him, Herodias urged him in her unfeminine malice. But he feared the people; and, as St. Mark tells us, he feared and respected John himself. Herod feared John, he feared the people; he did not fear God. John feared God, and that holy fear raised him above all other fears; he feared nothing else, but only God. Oh for that brave and holy faith to keep the fear of God in our hearts, and in that fear always to obey him! Worldly men are restrained from crime by some lower motive; it was selfish fear that kept Herod for a time from the awful guilt of murder.

III. THE BIRTHDAY FEAST.

1. The dance of Salome. There were high festivities at Machaerus to celebrate Herod's birthday or perhaps his accession to the crown. He had gathered a great company round him—his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee. We may be sure that his guests were entertained with all the costly luxury of the time. Even the Roman Persius had heard of the sumptuousness of these Herodian banquets (5:180). But there was one show which could not have been expected. Salome, Herod's own niece, the great-granddaughter of Mariamne, the descendant of the long line of Asmonaean princes, so utterly forgot the delicacy of a Hebrew maiden and the decorum of a princess as to dance alone in the midst of Herod's nobles when excited with feasting and heated with wine. Vashti, the Persian queen, had forfeited the crown rather than even appear at such a banquet. Salome, it seems, came unbidden, and in all the bright beauty of her early youth danced before the assembled guests. It was unbecoming, indecent. But the guests were delighted; and, strange to say, Herod too was pleased, though it was his own niece, and now his stepdaughter, who was thus transgressing the accepted rules of society. Feasting and wine often lead to sin. A simple life is safest for a Christian.

2. Herod's rash oath. In his excitement and folly he promised her with an oath whatever she would ask. He invoked the holy Name of God at this wild, dissolute feast. He swore to what he knew not. Wine and luxury help the devil in his work of slaying souls. The plot had been laid. The princess was instructed by her wicked mother. The malice of hell lurked under the girlish beauty of Salome. That fatal oath was to bring the most awful guilt upon the soul of Herod. For Salome claimed his promise. "I will that thou forthwith give me in a charger the head of John the Baptist." She would have it immediately. The tetrarch was weak and vacillating; she would hold him to his wicked oath. She would have it there and then on a charger—on one of the great dishes, perhaps of silver or gold, which had been used at that gorgeous banquet; a thing ghastly and horrible exceedingly. The king was sorry. He had hated John; once he wished to kill him. But not now. He feared the people; his old reverence for John returned; he shrank from the fearful deed. But he had sworn; all his courtiers had heard him. He had not cared for the shame of his niece; but he thought it shame that a prince should break his word, should be false to his oath. He thought much more of those half-drunken guests who sat around than he thought of God. For, had he thought of God's honour, his conscience would have told him that to break such an oath was far less insulting to the honour of God than to keep it. It was sinful exceedingly to swear as Herod had done, and so to expose himself to the snare of the devil. But it was beyond all comparison more wicked to keep that wicked oath than to break it. Herod's grief did not save him; it was only the sorrow of the world; not godly sorrow, not repentance.

3. The martyrdom. The wicked woman gave him no time for thought; she forced him to send an executioner immediately. John was beheaded in the prison. It was a noble death, the death of a hero, the death of a high saint of God. Salome might bear the bleeding head upon the golden charger—a strange burden for a young and beautiful princess; Herodias might exult over it in her gratified malice. The holy martyr's soul was safe in the Paradise of God. Herod might wear his blood stained diadem; John had received the crown of glory that fadeth not away. He has left behind him a glorious example. Let us ask God to give us his grace that we may truly repent according to the Baptist's teaching; and after his example constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake.

4. The burial. The disciples of John cared for his decent burial. Herod, conscience-stricken, perhaps, already, did not hinder them. They laid his body in the grave, and then went and told Jesus. It was as he would have wished. He himself while living had sent his own followers to Christ. "Behold the Lamb of God!" he said to them; and now that he was dead, to whom should his disciples go but to the Lord whom he had honoured, before whose face he had been sent? We should go to Christ in all our troubles; we should tell him. He will listen; he will give us his loving sympathy. He will be a Father to the fatherless, and a Husband to the widow. In our great and in our little troubles, in the bitter sorrow of bereavement, in the petty vexations of daily life, let us tell Jesus. If we come to him in faith and love, we shall never come in vain.

LESSONS.

1. Christians are sometimes called to rebuke vice; let them do it fearlessly when it is their duty.

2. Much feasting often leads to sin; the Christian must be temperate in all things.

3. Rash oaths are full of guilt; take not God's holy Name in vain.

4. One sin leads to another; hate the beginnings of sin.

5. Bring all your troubles to Christ; he will help you to bear them.

Mat_14:13-21

The feeding effective thousand.

I. THE LORD'S DEPARTURE FROM GALILEE.

1. He went by ship into a desert place. His apostles had returned from their mission (Luk_9:10); they needed rest, "for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat." He had also heard of Herod's superstitious fears, and that he was desirous to see him. The Lord would not meet the tyrant; he departed out of his tetrarchy. He crossed the lake to a place near Bethsaida Julius, in the dominions of Herod Philip. His hour was not yet come; he would not expose himself to the cruelty of Antipas, nor would he satisfy his curiosity.

2. The people followed him. It seems to have been long before Herod heard of the fame of Jesus. The humble inhabitants of Galilee heard of all his movements; they followed him on foot out of the cities. The poor Galilaeans were better instructed than the wealthy, wicked prince. They followed Christ whithersoever he went; so should we. They went with him into the desert, trusting in him; so should we always trust. While he is with us, we are safe.

3. His compassion.

(1) He went forth, perhaps from the ship. He found, not the quiet which the apostles needed so much, but a great multitude. They had looked for retirement, and they found crowds of people; they had looked for rest, and they found more work awaiting them.

(2) His forgetfulness of self. He had compassion on the multitude. Wearied as he was, he healed their sick. The Lord is an Example to us here as always. We are apt to repine if work is thrust upon us when we need rest. We must learn of Christ; we must imitate his compassion for the needy and suffering, and take, as he did, every opportunity of doing good to the souls or bodies of our neighbours. He began to teach them many things, the other evangelists tell us; he spake unto them of the kingdom of God.

II. THE MIRACLE.

1. The conversation with the apostles. The multitude was great; the place was desert; the hour was late; there were no ordinary means of providing for their wants. The disciples were burdened with a deep sense of responsibility. The Lord had himself, earlier in the afternoon, put the question to Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" (Joh_6:5). Then the difficulty was only suggested; it was not removed; it became more pressing as the day wore on. Later in the evening the disciples came to Christ, not to ask advice, but to give it; it was late, they said, too late already. "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals." There was something of presumption, perhaps, in this advice; certainly there was a want of faith. They did not understand the Lord's majesty, his power, his love. We too often wish to dictate to Almighty God what we think he should do for us. It is best to trust ourselves absolutely to his providence, he doeth all things well. He himself knoweth what he will do. "They need not depart," the Lord replied. It can never be necessary for any needs of ours to depart from Christ. In the greatest tumult of business, in the utmost poverty, in the most imminent danger, faithful souls will not depart; they will draw nearer to the Lord, as temptations thicken round them. He who has learned to know and love the Lord Jesus will cling closest to him in want, in peril, in distress. "Give ye them to eat," he added. There is an emphasis on the pronoun. It was good that they should feel their helplessness. They had but five loaves and two small fishes. It was nothing for that great multitude. How often we feel our ability, our strength, our means, utterly inadequate to fulfil the work which the Lord has given us to do! If we offer them to him in simple trustfulness, he will multiply them. "Bring them hither to me," he said. He asks us for what we can give him, what is in our power. Let us bring our offerings in faith, he will accept them, if only we bring that offering which he most desires—our hearts, ourselves, if we give him that, then those little offerings which we thought unworthy of his acceptance shall be honoured, and will, it may be, by his grace become the means of working great results.

2. The feast in the wilderness. He bade them sit down in companies. He would have order, not confusion. They must sit in their ranks; they must not press rudely round him; they must not try to anticipate one another; they must so sit that the apostles could move freely among them; each must wait till his turn came. Mark how, even in these smaller matters of courtesy and order, the Lord gives us an example for the regulation of our daily life. He looked up to heaven, teaching us to recognize the great truth that i