Matthew 14a

The Gospel according to Matthew

1-2.  The ancestry and birth of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

3-4.  Jesus’ ministry begins; John’s baptism, Satan’s temptations, first disciples called.

5-7.  A summary of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, crowds were astounded.

8-9.  An account of Jesus’ healings; the authority of Jesus is questioned and defended.

10-12. Jesus sends apostles on a short-term mission; then continues his own ministry.

13.   Jesus ministers through parables for the crowds and explanations for the disciples.

14-17. Tension mounts as opposition grows while Jesus’ reputation spreads. 

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14: 1-5.  At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. 

 “At that time….” What time? At the time when Jesus shifted his methods because the crowds and Pharisees were becoming more critical. At the time when Jesus “came to his hometown and began to teach the people,” but even his own people “took offense at him,” so much so that “he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13: 54-58). Apparently, Jesus was not the Messiah that they were looking for (apologies to Obi-Wan Kanobi; see Tasker, Matthew, page 140-141). So, this is a time of growing opposition; but notice that Jesus will not force his hand. It is their choice to accept Jesus or reject Jesus. 

 This Herod is a son of Herod the Great who died in 4 B.C. Herod the Great named most of his sons Herod, so there is some confusion since the texts often just say ‘Herod’. In this story, it is Herod Antipas who became ruler of Galilee district on his father’s death. Later, Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Herod Philip, left her husband and took up with Herod Antipas. Both men were her uncles. Later, in Acts, her brother, Herod Agrippa shows up in the story of Paul. It’s complicated, and about as immoral as Hollywood.

 Complicated, as well, is Herod Antipas’ relationship with John the Baptizer. So far, from this text, we read that Herod was at least politically embarrassed because John condemned him as a sinner and his marriage as unethical. Yet, the interest of the crowds holds Herod Antipas in check. 

 Apparently, Herod has just heard about Jesus, so he tries to make sense out of his appearance on the scene. Herod seems to have a sense, or fear, of the spiritual side of life. He believes in the resurrection of the dead. He believes in elemental powers that are sometimes resident in persons.   

What powers? Go back a few sentences to 13: 58 where the text says that Jesus was doing “deeds of power,” and then recount the ministry of Jesus described in chapters 8 and 9 where Jesus heals people and casts out demons.

Notice, as well, the connection between ‘wisdom’ and ‘power’ in 13: 54, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power.” Throughout the gospel, Jesus is presented as the ‘Son of David’ in whom resides wisdom (the parables) and power (the healings).  

14: 6-11.   But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. 

We learn more about Herod Antipas. He was impetuous, rashly swearing an open-ended oath, “whatever she might ask.” Scripture is full of people who swear an oath without thinking. For example, the Judge Jephthah swore to sacrifice whoever came out of his house to meet him when he returned from battle victorious (Judges 11: 29-33); and the first person to come out was his only child, his daughter (Judges 11: 34-40). 

Herodias’ daughter is Salome, as we know from other texts, and her father is Herod Philip, so she has a grudge to settle with Antipas. That she was seductive and full of court intrigue is confirmed when she later marries her great uncle Philip the Tetrarch (another Philip in the Herod line). The Romans tired of this family by mid-century, and the last one, Herod Agrippa II, ruled only as a client of Rome until the Jewish rebellion. After 70 A.D. Agrippa and his sister Bernice lived out their lives in exile in Rome.

More interesting yet, to me, is the phrase, “The king was grieved….” A few sentences ago, it seemed that Herod Antipas was one-dimensional, he wanted to kill John. Yet, here the text says that Herod was grieved. Why? We should search the same book, here the Gospel According to Matthew, to try to answer a question. However, there is no answer here. We will have to examine other books like it, the gospels of Mark and Luke.

 From Mark Chapter 6 we learn that “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him.” So, Herod had been keeping John alive for some reason, and that is why Matthew says that he was ‘grieved’. What was Herod’s relationship with John? “When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him.” So, Herod had a sense of the spiritual and a sense of universal ethics, but he could not bring himself to live by the story of God. It interested him, but he was defeated by it.     

14: 12-13.  His disciples came and took the body and buried him; then they went and told Jesus. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 

 Lot of movement here; everyone is in motion. Remember, “at this time” there was growing opposition as well as confusion about who Jesus really is. This is not a good situation. Jesus heard about the confusion and the threats, and his response was that “he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” You rarely hear this verse quoted, especially by those who push for the aggressive spread of Christianity, such as forcing prayer in school and displaying the Ten Commandments on courthouse lawns. 

 Following Jesus’ lead, disciples cannot use power to force people to believe or to behave the way they claim that they behave. It is the foundational message of the New Testament (not to mention the basic message of J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings). The kingdom comes like a little mustard seed in the garden, or like a pinch of yeast hidden in the dough. People are invited to enter the kingdom, not enslaved and force-marched into the Kingdom of Heaven. People are free to accept or reject Jesus. 

14: 14-21.  When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

This story is found in all four gospels, and it is full of meaning. First, notice that, for all the trouble he had with them, Jesus sees the crowd and has compassion for them. The text does not say that he preached, but rather that he “cured their sick.” It is the most pressing need as perceived by the people that disciples of Christ should respond to. (Lesson # 1)

 Second, Jesus’ compassion may be compared to the disciples’ concern: the crowd had been out all day, it was getting late, they were in a “deserted place” (notice that this phrase is repeated in 14: 13 and 15). The disciples suggest dismissing the crowd so they can walk to surrounding villages to buy something to eat. At the end of the story, Matthew estimates the crowd at 5000 men aside from accompanying women and children. That crowd would overwhelm the resources of several villages. With no refrigerators, people made enough for today and kept little over to tomorrow. Remember that there is a parable with the example of a man who has to wake his neighbor to ask for three loaves of bread because he had unexpected company arrive late at night (Luke 11: 5-13).   

 Jesus challenges their concern that has not yet developed into compassion. He is teaching the disciples that the problems of the people in their community are their problems. (Lesson # 2).

 The disciples check their resources and discover that they do have a little food to share, but they lack the resources for this many people. Of course they lack, just as we lack the resources and the power to solve even one problem in our own communities. (Lesson # 3)

 Jesus’ next instruction is, “Bring them here to me.” Whatever experiences we have in life, whatever resources we have at hand, bring them to Jesus and he will do something good with them. (Lesson # 4) 

 Then Jesus gave the glory to God in anticipation of what would happen. He broke the bread and gave it to the disciples to distribute. Since the miracle dynamic is not described, it is likely that the crowd did not see what was going on, but the disciples sure did. Jesus includes them in the process, and they take their proper place as servants. In the parallel passage, Jesus had seen the crowd as sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6: 34); now Jesus dispatches the disciples as shepherds. The crowd has spiritual leaders as well as political overlords, but they have none who serve with compassion. That is what pastors, preachers, and priests are for. (Lesson # 5).   

This story may bring up images of Moses telling the people to collect manna. However, a more parallel story is found in II Kings 4: 42-44 where Elisha instructs a man who brought him 20 loaves of bread, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left’.” He did, and there was. So, these lessons originate in the Old Testament and find full expression in Jesus. (Lesson # 6)