13 Now when it came to the ears of Jesus, he went away from there in a boat, to a waste place by himself: and the people hearing of it, went after him on foot from the towns.
And the twelve, when they came back, gave him an account of what they had done. And he took them with him and went away from the people to a town named Beth-saida. But the people, getting news of it, went after him: and he was pleased to see them, and gave them teaching about the kingdom of God, and made those well who were in need of it. And the day went on; and the twelve came to him and said, Send these people away so that they may go into the towns and the country round about and get resting-places and food for themselves, for we are in a waste place. But he said, Give them food yourselves. And they said, We have only five cakes of bread and two fishes, if we do not go and get food for all these people. For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them be seated in groups, about fifty to a group. And they did so, and made them all be seated. And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them, and when they had been broken, he gave them to the disciples to give to the people. And they all took the food and had enough; and they took up of the broken bits which were over, twelve baskets full.
And Jesus got his disciples together and said, I have pity for the people, because they have now been with me three days and have no food: and I will not send them away without food, or they will have no strength for the journey. And the disciples say to him, How may we get enough bread in a waste place, to give food to such a number of people? And Jesus says to them, How much bread have you? And they said, Seven cakes, and some small fishes. Then he gave an order to the people to be seated on the earth, And he took the seven cakes of bread and the fishes; and having given praise, he gave the broken bread to the disciples, and the disciples gave it to the people. And they all took food, and had enough; and they took up of the broken bits, seven baskets full. And there were four thousand men who took food, together with women and children.
And the twelve came together to Jesus; and they gave him an account of all the things they had done, and all they had been teaching. And he said to them, Come away by yourselves to a quiet place, and take a rest for a time. Because there were a great number coming and going, and they had no time even for food. And they went away in the boat to a waste place by themselves. And the people saw them going, and a number of them, having knowledge who they were, went running there together on foot from all the towns, and got there before them. And he got out, and saw a great mass of people, and he had pity on them, because they were like sheep without a keeper: and he gave them teaching about a number of things. And at the end of the day, his disciples came to him and said, This place is waste land, and it is late: Send them away, so that they may go into the country and small towns round about, and get some food for themselves. But he said to them in answer, Give them food yourselves. And they said to him, Are we to go and get bread for two hundred pence, and give it to them? And he said to them, How much bread have you? go and see. And when they had seen, they said, Five cakes of bread and two fishes. And he made them all be seated in groups on the green grass. And they were placed in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And he took the five cakes of bread and the two fishes and, looking up to heaven, he said words of blessing over them; and when the cakes were broken, he gave them to the disciples to put before the people; and he made division of the two fishes among them all. And they all took of the food and had enough. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken bits and of the fishes. And those who took of the bread were five thousand men.
After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee--that is, the sea of Tiberias. And a great number of people went after him because they saw the signs which he did on those who were ill. Then Jesus went up the mountain and was seated there with his disciples. Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Lifting up his eyes, Jesus saw a great number of people coming to where he was, and he said to Philip, Where may we get bread for all these people? This he said, testing him: for he had no doubt what he himself would do. Philip made answer, Bread to the value of two hundred pence would not be enough even to give everyone a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to Jesus, There is a boy here with five barley cakes and two fishes: but what is that among such a number? Jesus said, Let the people be seated. Now there was much grass in that place. And those seated on the grass were about five thousand. Then Jesus took the cakes and having given praise to God, he gave them to the people who were seated, and the fishes in the same way, as much as they had need of. And when they had had enough, Jesus said to his disciples, Take up the broken bits which are over, so that nothing may be wasted. So they took them up: twelve baskets full of broken bits of the five cakes which were over after the people had had enough. And when the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, Truly, this is the prophet who is to come into the world. Now when Jesus saw that the people were about to come and take him by force to make him a king, he went away again up the mountain by himself.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Matthew 14
Commentary on Matthew 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
Mt 14:1-12. Herod Thinks Jesus a Resurrection of the Murdered Baptist—Account of His Imprisonment and Death. ( = Mr 6:14-29; Lu 9:7-9).
The time of this alarm of Herod Antipas appears to have been during the mission of the Twelve, and shortly after the Baptist—who had been in prison for probably more than a year—had been cruelly put to death.
Herod's Theory of the Works of Christ (Mt 14:1, 2).
1. At that time Herod the tetrarch—Herod Antipas, one of the three sons of Herod the Great, and own brother of Archelaus (Mt 2:22), who ruled as ethnarch over Galilee and Perea.
heard of the fame of Jesus—"for His name was spread abroad" (Mr 6:14).
2. And said unto his servants—his counsellors or court-ministers.
This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, &c.—The murdered prophet haunted his guilty breast like a specter and seemed to him alive again and clothed with unearthly powers in the person of Jesus.
Account of the Baptist's Imprisonment and Death (Mt 14:3-12). For the exposition of this portion, see on Mr 6:17-29.
Mt 14:12-21. Hearing of the Baptist's Death, Jesus Crosses the Lake with Twelve, and Miraculously Feeds Five Thousand. ( = Mr 6:30-44; Lu 9:10-17; Joh 6:1-14).
For the exposition of this section—one of the very few where all the four Evangelists run parallel—see on Mr 6:30-44.
Mt 14:22-26. Jesus Crosses to the Western Side of the Lake Walking on the Sea—Incidents on Landing. ( = Mr 6:45; Joh 6:15-24).
For the exposition, see on Joh 6:15-24.
28. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is thou, bid me come to thee on the water—(Also see on Mr 6:50.)
29. And he said, Come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat. he walked on the water, to go to Jesus—(Also see on Mr 6:50.)
30. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me—(Also see on Mr 6:50.)
31. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said to him, O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?—(Also see on Mr 6:50.)
32. And when they had come into the boat, the wind ceased—(Also see on Mr 6:50.)