Matthew 14

http://www.esvbible.org/Matthew+14/

King Herod had arrested John the Baptist, tied him up, and thrown him in prison because he was in love with Herodias, his brother Phillip's wife. John had told them that they shouldn't be married (historically unclear).  Herod wanted to kill John, but he did not want to upset the Jewish people, who he ruled over because they might think John is a prophet. One night, at a dance, Herodias's daughter danced for the guests, and Herod was so moved by the performance that he told the girl to name anything she wanted, and Herod would get it for her. She told him she wanted the head of John the Baptist on a platter, so she could give it to her mother. Immediately, Herod regretted making the promise, but he could not back down. He gave the girl the head on a platter. Later, when Herod heard about the work Jesus had been doing, he grew afraid because he thought Jesus might be John the Baptist reincarnated. This story just goes to show that Jesus strikes fear into His enemies. Do you have to worry about your enemies if Jesus has promised to protect you, and His enemies fear Him?

When Jesus heard about John the Baptist's death, He wanted to go somewhere alone to mourn, so He got into a boat and began sailing across the Sea of Galilee. A crowd, however, heard about this movement, so when Jesus got off the boat, He saw the crowd waiting for Him. He felt sorry for them and healed their sick and taught them. This example shows how much Jesus served. He wanted to be alone to mourn for His family member who had been executed and talk to His Father. When He saw the people, He began to serve them instead. He put off His own needs for the needs of others. We should live our lives in this way. Go find a cause you support and join. Give with your resources--time and money are the big ones. After some time, the disciples told Jesus it was getting late, and He should send the people home so that they could eat. Jesus told His disciples that they weren't supposed to leave, and He would feed them. The disciples found this ridiculous because they only had five loaves of bread and two fish. That does not sound like enough for the thirteen travelers, much less five thousand men (men and women were not included in this count, so the number is probably larger than 10,000). The disciples were probably a little upset that Jesus asked them to give Him their last bit of food to feed a crowd, even though they "knew" it wasn't enough to feed everyone. Then, when everyone was seated, Jesus prayed over the food, and everyone ate their fill. Not only that, but there were twelve baskets full of food left after everyone ate as much as they desired. How many times do we doubt what Jesus can do in our lives. If He can feed five thousand men (plus unaccounted for amounts of women and children), then He can help you with whatever problems you are facing and then some.

Jesus sent His disciples on a boat to the other side of the sea. Meanwhile, Jesus sent the crowd away. Afterwards, He climbed the mountain so that He could pray to God alone. Jesus often had His quiet time. At least daily. That's what I try to do because Jesus is the ultimate example for how we are to live our lives. The boat was being tossed around at sea by a violent storm. Jesus went out to help the disciples, but when they saw Him coming, they though He was a ghost and began screaming. Jesus told them to calm down and not to fear. Peter, starting to get it before the others, asked Jesus to command Him to walk out of the boat if Jesus was really Jesus. When Jesus did so, Peter got out of the boat and began walking on the water towards Jesus. Don't race over this. A man, mere mortal, was walking on the water in the middle of a storm because of Jesus! All who have read this story, though, know that Peter grows afraid when he realizes how strong the winds are and begins to sink. He calls out for Jesus to save him, and He does. But Jesus is also upset at Peter's lack of faith. When Peter had his eyes and focus and faith and strength in Jesus, he was fine walking on the water, but when he made it about himself again, he began to sink. Jesus will do the impossible through us if we place everything onto Him, but if something scares us, and we begin trying to do it ourselves, it may start to fall apart. Jesus can still save us though, just as He did for Peter.