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MINISTRY 3
THE DEATH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (Matt 14:1 12; Mark 6:14 29; Luke 9:7 9)
Machaerus Now by that time, King Herod the Tetrarch
had heard stories about Jesus, (and) the kinds of things that he was doing; for his name
had gotten around. But Herod was perplexed, because he (and) some (others) were saying,
"John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and for this reason these powers work
in him." But others held that Elijah had come: "He is Elijah," they would say. And still
others maintained that one of the ancient prophets had come to life: "It is a wise man,
like one of the sages of old." Now when Herod heard that, he said to his attendants, "John,
whom I had beheaded, has been raised up. But then again, who is this that I have been hearing
so much about? I had John’s head chopped off! And he sought for a chance to meet with
him." Herod, you see, had sent for John, had him
bound up and arrested and put into prison over the issue of his brother Philip’s,
wife, Herodias, whom he had married. For John had been admonishing Herod, "It is against
the law for you to have your brother’s wife." Now Herod really wanted to kill John, but
since the people believed that he was a prophet, he feared them. Now Herodias nursed a grudge
against him and sought to have him put to death, but was not able to make it happen,
for Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and therefore kept
him safe in prison. He would become extremely perplexed (and) do many things whenever he
would hear him speak, and he heard that he worked many wonders, yet he continued to hear
him gladly. Then the day came at last. On his birthday,
Herod held a banquet for his noblemen and military brass and the foremost of Galilee.
When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced for them, she delighted Herod and his
guests to such an extent that he promised her on oath to give her anything that she
would ask of him. "Ask me for whatever you wish," the king assured the girl, "and I will
give it to you." And he solemnly swore to her, "Whatever you might ask of me, I will
grant it to you--even if it should be the half of my kingdom." And she went out, and
besought her mother, "Tell me what I should ask him for?" Whereupon her mother replied,
"The head of that Baptizer, John!" She hurried right back in to the king, and,
at her mother’s behest demanded, "I would that you give me John the Baptist’s head
on a dish right here (and) now." The king regretted it deeply, but for the sake of his
oath, and those who were sitting at table with him, he would not break his word to her.
He sent an executioner right away, with orders that her request be carried out--that that
man’s head be brought in on a serving dish. And he went and beheaded him in the prison,
and brought his head in on a platter, and handed it to the girl; and the girl carried
it to her mother and gave it to her. When his followers heard about it, they came and
picked his body up. Then they buried it, laying it in a tomb. And they went back to Jesus
and told him these things. JESUS FEEDS FIVE THOUSAND
(Matt 14:13 21; Mark 6:30 44; Luke 9:10 17; John 6:1 13)
Northeastern Shore of the Sea of Galilee After this, when the apostles had returned,
they gathered all around him, telling him all about what they had done and taught. And
when Jesus heard this, he urged them, "Come now, let us go secretly to a secluded spot
and take it easy for a while." You see, they had been coming and going so much that they
had absolutely no chance to eat. And Jesus took them, boarded a boat with them, and sailed
with them to an isolated setting on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea
of Tiberias, to a town called Bethsaida. Now many who were there recognized them, for
they had seen the wonders that he had worked on the sick. And the people watched as they
went away, so when the throngs of people heard about it and it became known, they all followed
after Jesus, running there on foot from all of the towns, and arriving there ahead of
him. After Jesus had left that region behind and gone ashore, he saw a great crowd and
felt sorry for them, for they were like sheep who were lacking a shepherd. He welcomed them
all and started speaking to them and teaching them many things about God’s kingdom. Then
he healed those who were sick and needed healing. Jesus climbed up the mountainside and sat
with his disciples there, and the Jewish feast day of Passover, was drawing near. Then he
lifted up his eyes and saw many people coming to him, Jesus therefore said to Philip, "Where
are we to buy bread for these people?" (This he said as a test to him, for he already knew
what he would do.) Then Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii worth of loaves would
not be enough for each of them to have even a partial serving." And later on, toward dusk
that day, his twelve disciples approached him and urged, "This is such a far-flung place,
and the day has grown quite long; please tell them to go away. Have them go out into the
countryside and villages round about to buy themselves some food to eat, as well as lodging."
"They have no need to go away," Jesus answered. "You give them something to eat." Then the
disciples asked, "Are we to go out, and with two hundred denarii worth of loaves, give
them something?" "How many loaves have you got?" he asked them. "Go and see." One of
his servants, Simon’s brother Andrew, said to him, "here is a boy, who has five barley
loaves and two fish; but what do these amount to among so many?" And when it dawned on them,
they said, "We’ve got nothing here but five loaves and two fish; that is unless we go
and buy food for all these people!" (You see, there were close to five thousand men who
were there.) And Jesus said, "Bring them over here to me." Then he had the crowd sit down
on the green grass. He then said to his disciples, "Have them sit in parties of fifty." And so
they did, and there was a lot of grass in that place, and they all sat down, by hundreds
and by fifties; about five thousand men in all. Upon receiving the five loaves and the
two fish, Jesus took the loaves, looked to the sky, and blessed them. And after he had
given thanks, he tore apart the loaves and handed them to the disciples to set before
the people; and they distributed them among those who were sitting there, and the fish
as well. He divided the two fish among them all--as many as the people wished--and they
ate their fill and were satisfied. And when the crowd had had enough, he instructed his
disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, so that nothing might be lacking of them."
And they took the leavings, gathering up and filling twelve baskets with what remained
of the five barley loaves and the fish that were left by them who had eaten it. And there
were five thousand men who ate in that place--not including the women and children!
JESUS REJECTS AN EARTHLY KINGDOM (Matt14:22 23; Mark 6:45 46; John 6:14 17a)
Northeastern Shore of the Sea of Galilee When the people saw the sign that he had shown,
they said, "This is surely the prophet who is coming into the world!" Then, when evening
had come, he immediately constrained the disciples to get into the boat and travel on ahead of
him to Bethsaida on the other side, as he stayed behind and dismissed the crowds. His
students then went down to the sea, got into a boat and set out for Capernaum, on the opposite
shore of the lake. And after he had left them there, Jesus, knowing that the people were
about to come and force the kingship on him, headed up to the mountain to pray alone.
JESUS WALKS ON THE SEA (Matt 14:23b 33; Mark 6:47 52;
John 6:17b 21; AcJn 12,13) The Sea of Galilee
By the time evening had come and darkness had fallen, Jesus was all alone upon the land.
But he could see the disciples, wind against them, straining at the oars in the boat, already
many stadia away, being hurled about by the waves in the midst of the lake. The wind was
blowing strong and the waters were growing violent. Even so, Jesus had not yet joined
them. Then, in the fourth watch of the night, by the time they had rowed about twenty five
or thirty stadia, Jesus went walking out to them on the water. He was just about to pass
them by, but when they saw him drawing near to the boat, walking on the surface of the
sea, they imagined him to be a ghost. Since they all saw him and were terrified, they
cried out in fear, "It is a spirit!" But Jesus immediately spoke up and said, "Be not fearful,
but believing, for indeed it is me!" "Master," Simon answered, "if you are who you claim
to be, order me to come out to you upon these waters." Jesus said, "Come to me." So Simon
got out of the boat and walked out to him upon the water; but he grew anxious when his
thoughts turned to the powerful gale. Then Peter began to sink, so he cried out, "Master,
save me!" And immediately Jesus caught hold of him and said, "Oh, you limited of faith,
why ever did you doubt?" Then they were willing to take him into the ship. He climbed into
it with them, and the wind died down just as soon as they had boarded. And right away
the boat reached the shore for which they had set out. They were all completely taken
aback, since their hearts had been made hard, and they had not understood about the loaves.
And the ones who had been in the boat came to him in adoration, saying, "You’re assuredly
the Son of God."