Matthew 14:1-21 --- Mark 6:14-44 --- Luke 9:7-17 --- John 6:1-14

Matthew 14:1-21 --- Mark 6:14-44
Luke 9:7-17 --- John 6:1-14

Matthew 14:1-21

The Death of John the Baptist (Lk 9.7—9; Mk 6.14—29)

Matthew 14:1 At that time Herod the ruler heard reports about Jesus; 2 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.” 3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Though Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded him as a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and she pleased Herod 7 so much that he promised on oath to grant her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; 10 he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. 12 His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.

Feeding the Five Thousand (Mk 6.30—44; Lk 9.10—17; Jn 6.1—14)

13 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. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 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.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 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. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Mark 6:14-44

The Death of John the Baptist (Mt 14.1—12; Lk 9.7—9)

Mark 6:14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. 18 For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. 21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. 22 When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.” 23 And he solemnly swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” 24 She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Feeding the Five Thousand (Mt 14.13—21; Lk 9.10—17; Jn 6.1—14)

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Luke 9:7-17

Herod’s Perplexity (Mt 14.1—12; Mk 6.14—29)

Luke 9:7-17 Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, 8 by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. 9 Herod said, “John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he tried to see him.

Feeding the Five Thousand (Mt 14.13—21; Mk 6.30—44; Jn 6.1—15)

10 On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.

12 The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 They did so and made them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

John 6:1-14

Feeding the Five Thousand (Mt 14:13–21; Mk 6:30–44; Lk 9:10–17)

John 6:1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?” 10 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

Devotionals, Videos and more ...

American Minute
by Bill Federer

On March 6, 1776, General Washington issued the order from his headquarters at Cambridge: “the… Legislature [has set apart] a day of fasting, prayer and humiliation, ‘to implore the Lord and Giver of all victory to pardon our manifold sins and wickedness, and… bless the Continental army with His divine favor and protection,’ all officers and soldiers are strictly enjoined to pay… reverence… to… the Lord of hosts for His mercies… and for those blessings which our… uprightness of life can alone encourage us to hope through His mercy obtain.” Within days, Washington, using the fifty captured cannons, forced the British to evacuate Boston.

Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.

Proverbs
by D.H. Stern

Proverbs 20:13-14

If you love sleep, you will become poor;
keep your eyes open, and you’ll have plenty of food.

“Really bad stuff!” says the buyer [to the seller];
then he goes off and brags [about his bargain].

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

My Utmost For The Highest
by Oswald Chambers

Amid a crowd of paltry things

… in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses. --- 2 Cor. 6:4.

It takes Almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator—the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when there is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator. It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take that step, than it does to preach the Gospel.

Every Christian has to partake of what was the essence of the Incarnation, he must bring the thing down into flesh-and-blood actualities and work it out through the finger-tips. We flag when there is no vision, no uplift, but just the common round, the trivial task. The thing that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to damp you. Continually get away from pettiness and paltriness of mind and thought out into the thirteenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

The Interrogation
the Poetry of R.S. Thomas

The Interrogation

But the financiers will ask
In that day: Is it not better
To leave broken bank balances
Behind than broken heads?

And Christ recognizing the
New warriors will feel breaching
His healed side their terrible
Pencil and the hemorrhage of its figures.

- R.S. Thomas, The Poems of R.S. Thomas.

Swimming in the sea of the Talmud:
Berakhot 13a

     D’RASH

     We live in a disposable society. Everything from pens to soda bottles, from diapers to “plastic silverware” (an oxymoron of the modern age) is throw-away. We hold on to so little, especially after items have fulfilled their short-lived purposes. Objects that were once used over and over again are now used once and discarded, even if they have some use left to them. Things that we refilled or recycled (like the old-fashioned glass milk bottle) have been replaced by disposable counterparts.

     These examples are quite obvious, yet there are dozens of others on a more subtle level. Decades ago, the standard rotary telephone was made to withstand years of use and abuse. It was rare that one had to be replaced. Many tell stories of growing up and using the same phone (and there was only one style) for thirty or forty years. Today, technology has given us telephones that outperform these early models in almost every way but one. These new phones come with speed dialing, automatic redial, and one-button memory of commonly used numbers. Today’s phones can be programmed to do a host of chores that were inconceivable a generation ago. Yet, the old black rotary phone excelled in one way: it seemed to last forever. Many of us consider ourselves lucky if our telephones outlast the warranty.

     Today, we are used to throwing out so many things that break. Even if we follow the environmentalists’ rule of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, we find ourselves using more and more items that are made to be used for shorter periods of time and then discarded. Some call this “planned obsolescence.” Among the problems this lifestyle creates is a garbage glut.

     If Rabbi Yehudah were alive today, he would probably tell us (perhaps by e-mail or fax) that we should not be so hasty in throwing old things out. Sometimes they still have a usefulness, even if it is not their original function. “The tablets and the broken tablets were placed in the Ark” means that what once had life and purpose can often be used to instruct us and inspire us.

     Yet, Rabbi Yehudah is talking not only about objects, but also about experiences. We learn from our experiences—both good and bad—and we should not discard any of them. Despite the fact that Oscar Wilde quipped “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes,” our past errors can be helpful to us. Thomas Edison patented 1,093 inventions in his lifetime, describing his work as “1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” He worked for over two years just on the incandescent light bulb, trying to find the ideal filament to conduct electricity. Edison knew that he would eventually find an element that would give off sufficient light when electricity flowed through it, but would not burn out in the process. Each of his failures led him to try a different substance. Without dogged persistence, including his countless failures, Edison would not have succeeded in discovering carbonized thread as the successful filament material.

     In The Evolution of Useful Things, Henry Petroski, a professor at Duke University, describes how everyday useful items are often the result of decades and even centuries of development. Few, if any, of the gadgets of everyday life—from the fork and the straight pin to the zipper and the can opener—were invented in perfect form. Most, if not all, inventions come as improvements of earlier designs or failed models:

     Clever people in the past, whom we today might call inventors, designers, or engineers, observed the failure of existing things to function as well as might be imagined. By focusing on the shortcomings of things, innovators altered these items to remove the imperfections, thus producing new, improved objects.

     Few of us like to recall our mistakes, yet without them, we cannot develop as human beings. Unless we carry our “broken tablets,” the negative experiences, we cannot understand how to avoid repeating them and move on to positive experiences. If we do not keep a record of where we have failed, we will be unable to narrow down the likely circumstances for success. We would prefer not having others pointing out our faults and foibles, but we do need to carry our own personal record of failure—not as a depressing reminder of where we have fallen short, but as an inspiring chronicle of the roads to success.

     Mishnah (2:1): If he was reading in the Torah and it was time to recite [the Sh’ma], if he had proper intention, he fulfilled his responsibility. Gemara: We learn from this: Mitzvot require proper intention. What if his intention was to read? To read? But he is reading! He is reading to correct.

     The Kavvanah for putting on the tallit: I wrap myself in a tallit with fringes to fulfill the mitzvah of my Creator, as written in the Torah: “They shall put fringes on the corners of their garments in every generation.”

     The Kavvanah for putting on tefillin: I put on tefillin to fulfill the mitzvah of my Creator, as written in the Torah: “Bind them as a sign upon your hand, and set them as a symbol above your eyes” [Deuteronomy 6:8]. The tefillin contain four passages from the Torah. They teach us the unity and uniqueness of God, recall the miracle of the Exodus, declare God’s dominion over all that is in the heavens and on earth, and affirm our duty to serve God with all our being. We place the tefillah [singular of tefillin] on the arm, pointed toward the heart, that we may recall God’s outstretched arm and be reminded to direct our impulses and desires to His service. We place the tefillah on the head to remind us to devote all of the power of our mind to the service of God, praised be He. (Translation, Siddur Sim Shalom)

     A Jew is required to recite the Sh’ma (“Hear, O Israel …”; Deuteronomy 6:4–9) twice a day, based on the rabbinic reading of those verses, to “recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.” This recitation is a mitzvah, a religious obligation (plural: mitzvot). But is the requirement simply to mutter the words, or does the person have to think about what is being said? If one read the words without focusing on them, has the obligation been fulfilled? In other words, do mitzvot require proper intention?

     The Mishnah deals with the situation where one is reading the words of the Sh’ma from a Torah scroll at the time when one should be reciting the Sh’ma. Does this perfunctory reading fulfill the responsibility to recite the Sh’ma? The Mishnah simply states that if the reader had proper intention (in Hebrew: “directed his heart,” i.e., was attentive; the heart is seen as the seat of thought) then the obligation has indeed been fulfilled.

     The Gemara asks what exactly this man was doing when he was reading from a Torah scroll. Rashi assumes that the man was reading a Torah scroll without paying attention to the words, simply reciting word after word to detect mistakes in the Torah scroll. The Tosafot say that one who reads to correct always pays attention. How else can one correct mistakes in a Torah scroll? However, say the Tosafot, the man was not reading the words with proper pronunciation, but was reading them in such a way to check out the spelling and letters in the Torah scroll.

     The question still remains: Is it enough simply to read the words of Sh’ma, or does one have to realize that one is fulfilling a religious responsibility? The Gemara never comes to a clear conclusion. Later Jewish law codifies a split decision: rabbinic enactments do not require intent, but laws from the Torah, like reciting the Sh’ma, do. (Even though the law of reading the Sh’ma twice daily is derived by rabbinic interpretation, the Rabbis considered it to be a law d’oraita, from the Torah.)

     In some Jewish communities, the spirit of this law was incorporated into Kavvanot, prayers of intention that were often added to the worship service, for example, to announce that “Behold I am inviting my mouth to thank, praise, and extol my Creator.” While these prayers themselves eventually became rote, their purpose remained a noble one—to focus the attention and intention of the worshiper on the act.

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. (1998). Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: Lessons for Everyday LIving . Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

Take Heart
by Diana Wallis

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. --- Psalm 103:13

     Children have something worse than follies; they have faults to be forgiven.65 Our Father has compassion for the faults of his children—he has provided for their cleansing, and he freely gives them use of that provision and readily forgives them their iniquities.

     Good children, who have done wrong, are never satisfied until they get to their parents and ask their forgiveness. Some parents think it wise to withhold the forgiving word for a little time; so may our great Father, but as a rule isn’t it wonderful how readily he forgives? He for a little time, perhaps, makes us smart under the sin for our good, but it is not often; as a rule, the kiss is on our cheek almost before the confession has left our lips.

     Do you think that Peter ought to have been kept out of the church awhile after denying his Master with oaths and cursing? Perhaps he would have been if we had been consulted, but Jesus Christ, by a kind look or a gentle word, could set crooked things straight. So we see Peter in company with John and the rest of the disciples within two or three days of his committing that serious trespass. The Lord is very ready to forgive; it is the church that is unmerciful sometimes, but not the Master; he is ever willing to receive us when we come to him and to blot out our transgressions.

     Come along, then, you who have erred and gone astray, you backsliders who are aware of sin; you who walked in the light only a few days ago and have gotten into the dark by some sad slip; yet come along—you are very ready to forgive your children, aren’t you? Don’t you remember, you who are too old to have them about the house, how readily in your younger days you caught up your little ones in your arms and said, “Dear child, don’t cry anymore; you must not do it again, but Father fully forgives you this time”?

     Just so your heavenly Father waits to catch you up, press you to his bosom and say, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3), not with a love that can soon be set aside by your fault, therefore, again I will blot out your transgression and set your feet on a rock and strengthen you to sin no more. Oh, it is a sweet, sweet thought—our Father feels compassion for us in our faults!      --- C. H. Spurgeon

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers (27). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.

Teacher's Commentary by L.O. Richards
The People: Leviticus 11–15

     Priests and people in Israel were to make distinctions between clean and unclean in Israel (cf. Leviticus 11:47). The regulations that covered diet and certain ritual requirements are discussed in this context.

     Some have gone to great lengths to invent “logical” reasons for some of the commands that God gave here. Even today, the proscription against pork has led to the imaginative notion that pork is “bad” meat. I recently talked with a person who argued that a pig’s digestive system is incomplete, and that consequently waste materials are stored in the body rather than eliminated as by other animals. Thus pork is supposed to be intrinsically dirty—and thus God is justified in telling the Jews not to eat pork.

     It’s a little more difficult to find similar explanations for other dietary laws, such as, “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.”

     In fact, such explanations miss the point. To teach Peter that the Old Testament economy was passing and that Jew and Gentile were no longer to be viewed as distinct, different races, God caused a great sheet to be lowered from heaven full of “unclean” animals. And Peter was commanded to kill and eat! Peter, a pious Jew, objected. But then the word of God came: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:9–15).

     The point is simply this. Some things are immoral and unclean in themselves for all persons at all times. Adultery, for instance, is never right. Such things are rooted in the very nature of man as God has created him, and reflect something of God’s own moral character and His righteousness. But many things that we read of here in Leviticus have no intrinsic rightness or wrongness. These things were “unclean” simply because God said they were to be so regarded by Israel.

     Why did God create this whole set of unclean things? In answering, we do not need to give a logical excuse for each item, as some attempt with the dietary laws. Instead, we need to realize that God was acting to train and to discipline His people. He was working with them, to give them a sense of their own unique identity as His people: to help them realize constantly the privilege—and responsibility—of fellowship with Him.

     I emjoy reading this Commentary, just as I am learning to enjoy the Gemara and the Talmud, that does not mean I agree with everything I read. I certainly hope everyone visiting my web site thinks and questions on their own.

     There was a tremendous danger that this people would forget their God. Sinai demonstrated how quickly and easily they forgot! Now, however, the very pattern of daily life in Israel was so structured that it was almost impossible to forget God. Each meal served was a reminder. The specialness of the offerings served as a reminder. The presence of the priests, scattered throughout the other tribes in their cities and supported by yearly tithes, were reminders. The Sabbath was a weekly reminder and, as we will see in the next unit, a system of annual festivals also helped to keep God in focus.

     Everything in the customs God gave to Israel was designed to constantly remind the people that they had a special relationship with God, and were called to walk in fellowship with Him.

     Many of these customs in Israel are irrelevant to us today. Others have some deep typical significance, and speak of Christ. Still others reflect God’s own character and are rooted in righteousness. But all of them serve as unique reminders of how special it is to live in fellowship with God.

Richards, L., & Richards, L. O. (1987). The Teacher's Commentary (323). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.