Matthew 14
MCGARMatthew 14:1-12
M 1-12; M 14-29; L 7-9. [Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. See ), but there was a prevalent idea among the ancients that departed spirits were endowed with superhuman powers, and Herod therefore supposed that the risen John had brought these powers with him from the spirit world.] [Jesus purposely kept out of the reach of Herod, knowing the treacherous cunning of his nature , and Herod’s curiosity was not gratified until the day of Christ’s crucifixion , and then its gratification was without sanctification.] [Some thought that Elijah might have returned, as the Scripture declared, or that Jesus might be a prophet just like the great prophets of old. Matthew, by introducing what follows with the word “for,” gives us the reason why Herod clung to this singular opinion of Jesus. He did so because this opinion was begotten in the morbid musings of a conscience stained with the blood of John.] [370] [Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, who was the half-brother of Herod Philip I. and Herod Antipas, and these two last were in turn half-brothers to each other. Herodias, therefore, had married her uncle Herod Philip I, who was disinherited by Herod the Great, and who lived as a private citizen in Rome. When Herod Antipas went to Rome about the affairs of his tetrarchy, he became the guest of his brother Herod Philip I., and repaid the hospitality which he received by carrying off the wife of his host.] [The marriage was unlawful of three reasons: 1.
The husband of Herodias was still living; 2. The lawful wife of Antipas (the daughter of Aretas, king or emir of Arabia) was still living; 3.
Antipas and Herodias, being nephew and niece, were related to each other within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity.] [Herod feared both John and his influence. His fear of the man as a prophet caused him to shelter John against any attempts which his angry wife might make to put him to death, and led him to listen to John with enough respect to become perplexed as to whether it were better to continue in his course or repent. At other times, when the influence of Herodias moved him most strongly, and he forgot his personal fear of John, he was yet restrained by fear of John’s influence over the people.] [A day suited to the purposes of Herodias. The phrase refers to ] [the language seems to indicate that others had first come in and danced] [This dancer was Salome, daughter of Herod Philip and niece of Herod Antipas. The dancing of the East was then, as now, voluptuous and indecent, and nothing but utter shamelessness or inveterate malice could have induced a princess to thus make a public show of herself at such a carousal] [The rashness of the king’s promise is characteristic of the folly of sin. Riches, honors, kingdoms, souls are given for a bauble in the devil’s market.] [She may have known beforehand what to ask.
If so, she retired and asked her mother that the brunt of the king’s displeasure might fall upon her mother.] [she wished to make her request known before the king had time to put limitations upon her asking] [She asked for the prophet’s head that she and her mother might have the witness of their own eyes to the fact that he was dead, and that they might not be deceived about it.] [because the deed went against his conscience and his sense of policy as above stated] [The oath alone would not have constrained Herod to grant Salome’s request, for if left alone [372] he would rightly have construed the request as not coming within the scope of the oath. The terms of his oath looked to and anticipated a pecuniary present, and not the commission of a crime.
But Herod’s companions, being evil men, joined with the evil women against the man of God, and shamed Herod into an act which committed him forever to a course of guilt. Thus, a bad man’s impulses are constantly broken down by his evil companions] [To the anxious, unrestful soul of Herodias this seemed a great gift, since it assured her that the voice of her most dangerous enemy was now silent. But as Herod was soon filled with superstitious fears that John had risen in the person of Christ, her sense of security was very short-lived. The crime stamped Herod and Herodias with greater infamy than that for which John had rebuked them.] [Herod had feared that the death of John would bring about a popular uprising, and his fears were not mistaken. As soon as they had decently buried the body of the great preacher, John’s disciples go to Jesus, expecting to find in him a leader to redress the Baptist’s wrongs. They knew the friendship of John for Jesus, and, knowing that the latter intended to set up a kingdom, they believed that this would involve the overthrow of Herod’s power.
They were ready now to revolt and make Jesus a king. See , , , .
But Jesus would not aid them to seek the bitter fruits of revenge, nor did he intend to set up such a kingdom as they imagined.] [FFG 369-373]
Matthew 14:13
(Spring, A. D. 29.)
M 13; M 30-32; L 10; J 1. [They had fulfilled the mission on which Jesus had sent them, and on returning each pair made to him a full report of their work.] [an uninhabited place] [Need of rest was one reason for retiring to the thinly settled shores east of the lake. Matthew proceeds to give us another reason for his retiring.] [Heard about John’s death. The excitement caused by this event, and the efforts to use Jesus as a leader in revolt, as indicated at the close of the last section, constituted another reason why Jesus should withdraw from the multitude] [the apostles] [They sailed to the northeastern shore of the lake to a plain lying near the city of Bethsaida Julius.] [374] [FFG 374]
Matthew 14:22-36
(Spring, A. D. 29.)
M 22-36; M 45-56; J 15-21. [Jesus had descended to the plain to feed the multitude, but, perceiving this mistaken desire of the people, he frustrated it by dismissing his disciples and retiring by himself into the mountain.] [the suburb of Capernaum] [The obedience of the disciples in leaving him helped to persuade the multitude to do likewise.] [The news of John’s assassination was calculated to exasperate him in the highest degree, and also to deeply distress him. He needed the benefits of prayer to keep down resentment, and to prevent despondency. For this he started away as soon as he heard the news, but the people prevented him till night.] [They evidently expected that he would follow. Possibly they skirted the shore, hoping that he would hail them and come on board.] [379] [That is, it blew from the west, the direction toward which the disciples were rowing.] [from 3 to 6 ] [The disciples of Jesus can rest assured that the eyes of the Lord will behold their distresses, and that sooner or later the Lord himself will arise and draw near for their deliverance.] [that is, about three and a half miles, or about half way across the sea] [Their fears would probably have been greater if Jesus had approached the boat, for they were severe enough to make them cry out, even when he was seen to be passing by them.] [There was no mistaking that voice. If Isaac knew the voice of Jacob , Saul the voice of David , and Rhoda the voice of Peter , much more did the apostles know the voice of the great Master.] [Superstitious fears are not always so soon allayed. His voice brought great assurance.] [This scene comports with the character of Peter, who had always a rash willingness [380] to go into danger, and a lack of steadfastness to hold out through it.] [So long as the attention of Peter was fixed upon the Lord’s command he succeeded in his venture; but so soon as he let the power of the tempest distract his thoughts, his faith failed and he began to sink.] [Fear is a source of doubt and an enemy of faith.
Those who would achieve the victories of faith must overcome their fears.] [The disciples showed the hardness of their hearts in that the working of one miracle did not prepare them either to expect or to comprehend any other miracle which followed. They ought to have worshipped Jesus as the Son of God when they saw the five thousand fed, but they did not.
But when he had done that, and had walked upon the water, and quieted the wind, and transported the boat to the land, they were overcome by the iteration of his miraculous power, and confessed his divinity.] [The land of Gennesaret was a plain at the western end of the lake of Galilee. Josephus describes it as about thirty furlongs in length by twenty in average width, and bounded on the west by a semicircular line of hills.] [381] [Though the apostles had started their boat toward Capernaum, the storm appears to have deflected their course, and the language of the text suggests that they probably came to land at the south end of the plain, somewhere near Magdala, and made a circuit of the cities in the plain of Gennesaret on their way to Capernaum. As he did not stop in these cities, the sick were laid in the street that they might touch him in passing through. Moreover, as they knew the course that he was taking, by running ahead they could anticipate his arrivals and have the sick gathered to take advantage of his presence. The story of the woman who touched the hem of his garment had evidently spread far and wide, and deeply impressed the popular mind.] [FFG 379-382]