John the Baptist beheaded
1 ① At that time the news about Jesus reached King Herod. 2And he said to his servants, “This man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. 4For John had said to him, “It is not right for you to have her as wife.” 5Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people who regarded John as a prophet.
6On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst of the guests; she so delighted Herod 7that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked. 8The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a dish.”
9The king was very displeased, but because he had made this promise under oath in the presence of the guests, he ordered it to be given her. 10So he had John beheaded in prison 11and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.
12Then John’s disciples came to take his body and bury it. And they went to bring the news to Jesus.
First miracle of the loaves
13 ② On hearing this, Jesus set out secretly by boat for a secluded place. But the people heard of it, and they followed him on foot from their towns. 14When Jesus went ashore, he saw the crowd gathered there and he had compassion on them. And he healed their sick.
15Late in the afternoon, his disciples came to him and said, “We are in a lonely place and it is now late. You should send these people away, so they can go to the villages and buy something for themselves to eat.”
16But Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They answered, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fishes.” 18Jesus said to them, “Bring them here to me.”
19Then he made everyone sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fishes, raised his eyes to heaven, pronounced the blessing, broke the loaves and handed them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 20And they all ate, and everyone had enough; then the disciples gathered up the leftovers, filling twelve baskets. 21About five thousand men had eaten there besides women and children.
Jesus walks on the water
22 ③ Immediately Jesus obliged his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the crowd away.
23And having sent the people away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. At nightfall, he was there alone. 24Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves for the wind was against it.
25At daybreak, Jesus came to them walking on the lake. 26When they saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. 27But at once Jesus said to them, “Courage! Don’t be afraid. It’s me!” 28Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you walking on the water.”
29Jesus said to him, “Come.” And Peter got out of the boat, walking on the water to go to Jesus. 30But, in face of the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink. So he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”
32As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. 33Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God!”
34They came ashore at Gennesareth. 35The local people recognized Jesus and spread the news throughout the region. So they brought all the sick to him, 36begging him to let them touch just the fringe of his cloak. All who touched it became perfectly well.
- Mt 14,1 For chapters 14 and 15 see commentaries on Mark 6 and 7. It would seem that this series of narratives that occupy chapters 14 and 15 and the beginning of chapter 16 formed a collection dating from the first years of the Church; an identical collection is found in Mark and a part in Luke. As in all these texts that have been passed on orally over a time, there were general ideas and keywords which helped them to be linked to each other. Here bread must have been one of the common themes. Do not forget that bread was by far the main food and to eat bread signified to have a meal (15:2). On the other hand there were few needs besides food and clothing, so religion gave much importance to everything related to food and cooking. That explains the questions presented in these chapters and the answers given by Jesus. Even the bread of the children (15:26) gave the opportunity to complete the teaching about the eucharist that was drawn from the two miracles of the loaves. Mt 14,13 See commentary on Mark 6:32 and John 6. Mt 14,22 See commentary on Mark 6:45. They were terrified: thinking that it was a ghost. The apostles shared the same fears and superstitions that their kinsfolk had. Only in time would they reach mature faith which drives away these paralyzing beliefs. Command me to come to you (v. 28). Matthew is not interested in emphasizing Peter's doubt, but his faith. Peter alone dared to attempt some-thing that seemed to be reserved for Jesus, and after joining his companions again in the boat he was, though soaked, the happiest of them all. Man of little faith (v. 31). Once more Jesus' reproaches are addressed to his best disciples (as in 6:30; 8:26; 16:8; 17:20) - in order to convince future disciples, like us, that much is still lacking in our faith.
- Mt 14,1 For chapters 14 and 15 see commentaries on Mark 6 and 7. It would seem that this series of narratives that occupy chapters 14 and 15 and the beginning of chapter 16 formed a collection dating from the first years of the Church; an identical collection is found in Mark and a part in Luke. As in all these texts that have been passed on orally over a time, there were general ideas and keywords which helped them to be linked to each other. Here bread must have been one of the common themes. Do not forget that bread was by far the main food and to eat bread signified to have a meal (15:2). On the other hand there were few needs besides food and clothing, so religion gave much importance to everything related to food and cooking. That explains the questions presented in these chapters and the answers given by Jesus. Even the bread of the children (15:26) gave the opportunity to complete the teaching about the eucharist that was drawn from the two miracles of the loaves. Mt 14,13 See commentary on Mark 6:32 and John 6. Mt 14,22 See commentary on Mark 6:45. They were terrified: thinking that it was a ghost. The apostles shared the same fears and superstitions that their kinsfolk had. Only in time would they reach mature faith which drives away these paralyzing beliefs. Command me to come to you (v. 28). Matthew is not interested in emphasizing Peter's doubt, but his faith. Peter alone dared to attempt some-thing that seemed to be reserved for Jesus, and after joining his companions again in the boat he was, though soaked, the happiest of them all. Man of little faith (v. 31). Once more Jesus' reproaches are addressed to his best disciples (as in 6:30; 8:26; 16:8; 17:20) - in order to convince future disciples, like us, that much is still lacking in our faith.
- Mt 14,1 For chapters 14 and 15 see commentaries on Mark 6 and 7. It would seem that this series of narratives that occupy chapters 14 and 15 and the beginning of chapter 16 formed a collection dating from the first years of the Church; an identical collection is found in Mark and a part in Luke. As in all these texts that have been passed on orally over a time, there were general ideas and keywords which helped them to be linked to each other. Here bread must have been one of the common themes. Do not forget that bread was by far the main food and to eat bread signified to have a meal (15:2). On the other hand there were few needs besides food and clothing, so religion gave much importance to everything related to food and cooking. That explains the questions presented in these chapters and the answers given by Jesus. Even the bread of the children (15:26) gave the opportunity to complete the teaching about the eucharist that was drawn from the two miracles of the loaves. Mt 14,13 See commentary on Mark 6:32 and John 6. Mt 14,22 See commentary on Mark 6:45. They were terrified: thinking that it was a ghost. The apostles shared the same fears and superstitions that their kinsfolk had. Only in time would they reach mature faith which drives away these paralyzing beliefs. Command me to come to you (v. 28). Matthew is not interested in emphasizing Peter's doubt, but his faith. Peter alone dared to attempt some-thing that seemed to be reserved for Jesus, and after joining his companions again in the boat he was, though soaked, the happiest of them all. Man of little faith (v. 31). Once more Jesus' reproaches are addressed to his best disciples (as in 6:30; 8:26; 16:8; 17:20) - in order to convince future disciples, like us, that much is still lacking in our faith.
