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Day 262: Miracle Worker
Matthew 14 - 17
Chapter 14: The Fourth Narrative
Matthew chapter 14 continues the theme of the diverse reactions to Jesus' teaching that was begun in chapter 11. Chapter 14 can be divided into four topical parts:
Part I: The death of St. John the Baptist (Mt 14:1-12)
Part II: The feeding miracle of the five thousand (Mt 14:13-21)
Part III: Jesus walks on the sea (Mt 14:22-33)
Part IV: Jesus heals at Gennesaret (Mt 14:34-36)
Part I can be subdivided into three sections, with each subsection defined by the name "Herod" in verses 1, 3 and 6:
- Herod's opinions concerning Jesus and St. John the Baptist (verses 1-2).
- Herod's imprisonment of St. John (verses 3-5).
- Herod's martyrdom of St. John (verses 6-12).
Matthew 14:1-12 ~ Herod Antipas and the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist
Question: What event prompted Jesus to leave Judea for the Galilee to begin His ministry proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom? Why was it that this event prompted the beginning of Jesus' ministry? See Mt 4:12-13; Mk 1:14-15.
Answer: St. John the Baptist's arrest and imprisonment marked the end of John's baptisms of repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The time of preparation had come to an end. It was for this reason that Jesus withdrew to the Galilee to begin His ministry.
| Death of St. John the Baptist | Death of Jesus Christ |
| Herodias conspired to have John arrested and put to death (Mt 14:3, 8). | The chief priests and Pharisees conspired to have Jesus arrested and put to death (Mt 12:14; 26:3-4; 27:1). |
| John was seized and bound (Mt 14:3 )* | Jesus was seized and bound (Mt 27:2)* |
| The ruler Herod Antipas was responsible for making the decision to execute John (Mt 14:3). | The ruler (Roman governor) Pontius Pilate was responsible for making the decision to execute Jesus (Mt 22:2; 27:26). |
| Herod feared the crowds who held John to be a prophet (Mt 14:5). | The chief priests and Pharisees feared the crowds because they held Jesus to be a prophet (Mt 21:46). |
| Herod's wife wanted her husband to kill John (Mt 14:8). | Pilate's wife wanted her husband to free Jesus (Mt 27:19). |
| Herod did not want to execute John but was maneuvered by his wife to do so because he feared retracting his oath given to her daughter in front of the crowd at his party (Mt 14:6-11). | Pilate did not want to execute Jesus but was maneuvered by the chief priests (Mt 27:20-23) and feared the crowd would riot (Mt 27:24-25). |
| John's disciples took his body away and buried him (Mt 14:12). | Jesus' disciples took His body away and buried Him (Mt 27:57-61). |
Matthew 14:13-21 ~ The Feeding of the Multitude
The story of the feeding miracle of the five thousand begins with Jesus withdrawing to a quiet place, probably to pray and to grieve over St. John's suffering and death. St. Mark tells us that Jesus invited the disciples to join Him, to "rest a while," and to go by boat to "a deserted place" which St. Luke records was near Bethsaida on the northeast side of the lake. In the fourth Gospel, St. John includes the information in 6:3 that Jesus went up onto a "mountain;" the Greek word is oros (also see Mt 14:23 and 15:29 where the same word is used). It is a significant addition since the word "mountain" has symbolic significance in Scripture associated with revelations of God (i.e., Gen 22:2; Ex 19:16-19; 24:12-13; 2 Chr 3:1; Mt 5:1; 17:1-2; Acts 1:11-12; etc.; also see the chart "Holy Mountains of God"). Many people saw them leave and followed them, arriving before them (Mk 6:30-33).
Taking pity on them because "they were like sheep without a shepherd," Jesus began to teach them (Mk 6:34). Sts. Mark and John set the event of the feeding of the five thousand in the early spring when the grass was green and the crowds of the faithful were journeying to Jerusalem for the annual festival of Passover and the required pilgrim feast of Unleavened Bread (Mk 6:39; Jn 6:4). It is the second year of Jesus' ministry, 29 AD.(4)
At first glace this story of the feeding miracle seems to be only concerned with Jesus' compassion and His supernatural ability to meet the needs of His people, but there is so much more to be understood concerning this event.
Question: What feeding miracles do you recall from the Old Testament? For example see Ex 16:4-13, 35; Num 11:31-34; 1 Kng 17:8-16; 2 Kng 4:42-44.
Answer: The Old Testament feeding miracles:
- The feeding miracles associated with Moses in the Exodus journey to the Promised Land in the unending supply of manna and the two times it rained quail.
- The prophet Elijah caused the widow of Zarephath's nearly empty jar of meal and her depleted supply of oil to provide food throughout an extended famine.
- The prophet Elisha multiplied twenty loaves of barley bread to feed one hundred men.
Matthew's telling of the miracle of feeding the more than five thousand is not only meant to remind us of God's compassion in the Old Testament but to also prepare us for a greater miracle that St. John's Gospel points us to in Jesus' Bread of Life Discourse that took place the day after the miracle feeding. In that discourse the Jews saw Jesus feeding miracle the day before in the context of the miracle of the manna and Jesus as the new prophet Moses come to liberate His people and the new David come to reestablish the kingdom of Israel(see Jn 6:14-15; 30-31). In that discourse Jesus promises that He will one day give His Body and Blood as food and drink for the salvation of man (Jn 6:22-65). His miracle feeding and the discourse the next day is a foreshadowing of the giving of Himself in the Eucharist.
Jesus miraculously transforms five loaves of barley bread (St. John includes the detail that the bread was made of cheaper barley in Jn 6:9) and two fishes into enough food to feed the crowd. First He tells them to recline in groups on the grass (Mark records that the groups were composed of fifty and one hundred people; Mk 6:39-40). Then Jesus blessed the bread, broke the bread, and gave the food to His disciples to distribute to the people.
| The Feeding Miracle of the 5 Thousand | The Last Supper |
| 1. It was evening when the meal took place (Mt 14:15) | 1. It was evening when the meal took place (Mt 26:20) |
| 2. They reclined to eat (Mt 14:19) | 2. They reclined to eat (Mt 26:20) |
| 3. Jesus blessed the food (Mt 14:19) | 3. Jesus blessed the food (Mt 26:26) |
| 4. He broke the loaves (Mt 14:19) | 4. He broke the loaves (Mt 26:26) |
| 5. Jesus passed the food to the disciples (Mt 14:19) | 5. Jesus passed the food to the disciples (Mt 26:26) |
This miracle feeding foreshadowed the first Eucharistic banquet at the Last Supper but in no way was it the same miracle. It was not a sacred feast as in the eating of the Passover sacrifice at the Last Supper on the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread: the bread was barley bread (Jn 6:9) and not unleavened wheat bread, and fish was the meat of the meal and not the roasted sacrificed lamb or kid of the Passover. The miracle multiplication of the loaves and fishes prefigures the feeding the Eucharist to the faithful of the world and the promise of the eschatological banquet after the "final harvest" at the end of time (Is 25:6; 62:8-9; 62:8-9; 65:13-14; Jer 31:12-14; Ez 44:16; Rev 19:7-9).
| Herod's Banquet | Jesus' Feeding of the Multitude |
| Host: Herod Antipas son of Herod the Great and ruler of the Galilee and Perea | Host: Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God and King of Kings |
| Guests: the rich and powerful of Herod's court | Guests: the disciples and the lost sheep of Israel |
| The purpose: to celebrate Herod's birthday | The purpose: To meet the needs of the people and to prefigure a future event |
| The climax of the meal: a dance by Herod's step daughter that leads to the death of St. John the Baptist | The climax of the meal: over 5 thousand are fed with 12 baskets left over; it is a sign that points to the abundance of God's grace and the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of the Lord |
Matthew 14:22-33 ~ Jesus Walks Upon the Sea and Calms the Storm
This is Jesus' second nature miracle calming the angry sea (see Mt 8:23-27).
Question: In the first calming of the storm at sea miracle, what is the question the disciples ask concerning Jesus' identity?
Answer: They ask "What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?"
In this second nature miracle, they find the answer to that question.
In verse 23 the Greek word oros can be translated "mountain." As mentioned previously, the word "mountain" has symbolic significance in Scripture associated with revelations of God. Jesus withdraws from His disciples to pray and to have personal "alone time" with God the Father. He often takes the time for private prayer, in times of stress as in the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist and in times of victory to give thanks and praise. That they are "crossing" the Sea of Galilee and will land on the west side in the land of Gennesaret (Mt 14:34) supports St. Luke's account that the feeding miracle of the five thousand took place on the northeast side of the lake near Bethsaida.
Matthew 14:34-36 ~ Jesus Heals the Sick at Gennesaret
The land of Gennesaret was the territory on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. It was the most populated area surrounding the lake. News of Jesus' miracles had spread and such was the common peoples' interest in Him that any appearance now generates large crowds. Many people believed that just touching His garments could generate healing. They had probably heard of the cure of the bleeding woman (Mt 9:20-22) who touched the tassel (in Hebrew the tzizit; plural = tziziot) on His cloak (in Hebrew the talit; plural = taliot) and was healed.
Chapter 15: The Fourth Narrative Continued
Mathew 15:1-20 is a narrative with three scenes:
- Jesus with the Pharisees and scribes (verses 1-9)
- Jesus with the crowds (verses 10-11)
- Jesus with His disciples (verses 12-20)
Scenes 1 and 3 both open with a question directed to Jesus.
Matthew 15:21-39 has three narratives focusing on Jesus' compassion:
- Jesus heals the daughter of the Canaanite woman (verses 21-28)
- Jesus heals the great crowds that come to Him (verses 29-31)
- Jesus feeds the crowd that had stayed with Him three days (verses 32-39).
Matthew 15:1-9 ~ Jesus Debates the Pharisees and Scribes
The Pharisees presented themselves to the people as the "keepers of the Law" which they professed to strictly observe. The Pharisees and scribes have come out from Jerusalem, the center of worship and the center of supreme authority for the Old Covenant Church. They are probably members of the Sanhedrin, the highest ranking Jewish court of law.
To wash one's hands as an act of ritual purification before eating is not found in the Law of the Sinai Covenant. Matthew offers no explanation since his Gospel was written for the Jews and they understood their own traditions, but St. Mark, who's Gospel was written for a mixed congregation of Jews and Gentiles, explains: For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles [and beds] (Mk 7:3-4).
Matthew 15:10-11 ~ Jesus Addresses the Crowd on the True Meaning of Purity and Defilement
Question: Concerned that the Pharisees do not continue to mislead the people concerning living in the spirit of the Law as God intended, what does Jesus tell the people about purity and defilement?
Answer: Defilement that is offensive to God does not come from food that goes into one's mouth but from the words that come out of one's mouth.
Matthew 15:12-20 ~ Jesus Teaches His Disciples
Question: Why are the disciples concerned that Jesus has deeply offended the Pharisees and scribes?
Answer: The Pharisees are the most powerful political and religious force in the land and offending them could be dangerous for Jesus.
Jesus' teaching has shocked Peter and the disciples. The Pharisees have exercised their authority over the common people, with their consent, during their entire lives "only the Romans are above them. Then too, under the Law of the Sinai covenant, there are ritual purity rules that the people must obey concerning foods that they may eat and foods they may not eat as well as conditions that can defile a person and leave him/her unfit for worship (see Lev 11-22). These ritual purity rules were meant to separate the Israelites from the practices of their defiled pagan Gentile neighbors who were unfit for worship and sacrifice; and so, acting as the spokesperson for the group, he asks for clarification.
Matthew 15:21-28 ~ The Faith of the Canaanite Woman
Jesus makes His second expedition into Gentile territory where Jews are living. His first visit into Gentile territory was the journey into the Decapolis (Mt 9:28-34). This time, He travels west toward the Mediterranean Sea into the district of two great Gentile trading centers, Tyre and Sidon. These cities were originally Phoenician cities but in Jesus' times were cities of Hellenistic culture and prestige that were under Roman rule.
A Gentile woman, described as a descendant of the Canaanites, approaches Him and asks Jesus to heal her daughter. The woman appeals to Jesus three times. In the first appeal she respectfully calls Jesus "son of David," acknowledging His Messianic title as the Davidic heir. Jesus' first reply seems unfeeling.
Matthew 15:29-31 ~ The Galilee Healings Continue
Jesus' compassion and His healing are in fulfillment of the prophecies of the prophets in Isaiah 29:18 (healing of the deaf and blind) and 35:4-6 (healing of the blind, lame, mute and deaf), as He told St. John the Baptist's disciples (Mt 11:4-5).
Matthew 15:32-39 ~ The Miracle Feeding of the Four Thousand
This miracle feeding is only retold in Mark 8:1-10.
Question: How many days did the crowd stay with Jesus? Why is that number significant?
Answer: The crowd stayed Jesus a significant three days. Three is the number of importance, completion and fulfillment; especially signifying an important event in salvation history.
Chapter 16
Structure of Matthew chapter 16 can be divided into five parts:
- The Pharisees demand a sign and Jesus responds (verses 1-4)
- Jesus' warning to avoid the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (verses 5-12)
- Peter's profession of the Christ and the Son of God founds His Church (verses 13-20)
- The first prediction of the Passion (verses 21-23)
- Jesus states the conditions of discipleship (verses 24-28)
Matthew 16:1-4 ~ The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand a Sign from Heaven
This is the second time Jesus has been asked to produce a "sign" that His authority comes from God (12:38), but this time it isn't just the Pharisees and scribes who are asking. The Sadducees have also come from Jerusalem to demand that Jesus produce a sign from heaven to authenticate His claims (i.e., 9:6). Both groups are refusing to accept His exorcisms and healings as evidence of the authentication of His claims. That they are united in their desire to "test" Jesus (verse 1) may suggest a link to Satan who also tested Jesus (Mt 4:1-11). Jesus has already referred to the Pharisees and scribes who oppose Him as the "sons" of Satan when He called them a "brood of vipers" and accused them of being evil (Mt 12:34).
Matthew 16:5-12 ~ Jesus' Warning against the Teaching of the Failed Leadership of the Old Covenant
There are some amusing elements to this exchange between Jesus and His disciples. Jesus is still focused on His confrontation with the Pharisees and Sadducees and uses leaven as a symbol of their false interpretation of the Law and their evil influence that spreads like an infection in the same way yeast expands dough. The disciples, however, are more concerned about their empty stomachs "their focus is more on the material than the spiritual.
Matthew 16:13-20 ~ St. Peter's Profession of the Christ and Jesus Proclaims the Founding of His Church
Jesus led His disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi, about 40 km (more than 20 miles) north of the Sea of Galilee). Caesarea Philippi was a town (also described as a collection of villages in Mk 8:27) located on the southern slope of Mount Hermon, strategically located on the border with Syria. It was located in what had been the territory of the Israelite tribe of Dan that was at one time the northern boundary of the Promised Land. At this time it was part of the tetrarchy of Herod the Great's son Philip and had a largely Gentile population. It was near the site of one of the springs that was a source of the Jordan River, the site of which was considered to be a spiritual location from the time of the Canaanite inhabitants who built shrines to Baal-gad (Josh 11:17; 12:7; 13:5) and Baal-hermon (Judg 3:3; 1 Chr 5:23). After the Greek conquest in the 4th century BC, the Greeks dedicated a shrine to Pan (pagan god of nature, shepherds, flocks, the spring and fertility) at the site where the headwaters of the Jordan River emerged from the ground (Josephus, Antiquities, 15.10.3 [364]). They also named the nearly town Panias after the Greek god. Then, in the latter part of the 1st century BC, Herod the Great built a temple to Caesar Augustus near the source of the Jordan River. When Philip became the ruler of the region, he rebuilt the small town of Panias into a Hellenistic city, naming it after the Roman Caesar and adding his own name.(2) In choosing this rocky mountain location to announce the foundation of His Church upon Peter and Peter's proclamation of faith in Jesus as the divine Messiah, Jesus was reclaiming holy ground that had been usurped by the pagans.
Matthew 16:21-23 ~ Jesus' First Prediction of the Passion
Verse 21 announces a turning point in Jesus' ministry. This is the first of three predictions that Jesus gives concerning His Passion (also see Mt 17:22-23; 20:17-19). In sharing this secret with the disciples, Jesus is correcting the common misperception that the Messiah is coming in triumph and glory to vanquish Israel's enemies and to re-establish the Davidic kingdom on earth just as it had been in the past in the glory days of kings David and Solomon. Jesus' revelation of His suffering and death in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies of the Suffering Servant (Is 52:13-53:12) marks a new phase in Jesus' ministry, as Matthew introduces with the phrase "From that time on ..." (Mt 16:21). See the chart Isaiah's Suffering Servant fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.
Matthew 16:24-28 ~ Jesus States the Conditions of Discipleship
Jesus uses the image of a cross, an instrument of death in the execution of criminals, as a shocking metaphor for the obedience of discipleship.
Question: What is Jesus condition for true discipleship?
Answer: The willingness to disown one's self interest to the point of being willing to die for Jesus.
Verse 27 is a prophecy of the return of Christ (the Parousia) after His Ascension and the Last Judgment, but in the next verse Jesus says that there are those standing in His presence who will witness the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. The coming in His glory and the coming of His Kingdom are two different events.
Question: What is "the Kingdom" of Jesus Christ in verse 28? See Mt 13:38 and 41.
Answer: According to the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat, the Kingdom of the Son of Man is the world and the Church is the place where His kingdom is manifested.
Chapter 17
Chapter 17 is divided into five parts:
- The Son of God transfigured (verses 1-8)
- Identifying Elijah (verses 9-13)
- Healing of a boy possessed by a demon (verses 14-21)
- The second prediction of the Passion (verses 22-23)
- Jesus pays the Temple tax (verses 24-27)
Matthew 17:1-8 ~ The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ "the Greater than Moses
The disciples and Apostles must have been frightened and discouraged after Jesus' prediction of His death. To give them a vision to grasp in their darkest hour when the prediction of His death is fulfilled, Jesus took three Apostles, Peter, James, and John, up a "high mountain" to let them witness a manifestation of His glory that confirms He is the Son of God and that He will come in glory when all has been fulfilled. These three Apostles will also be taken apart from the others when Jesus faces His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Matthew 17:9-13 ~ The Coming of Elijah
Coming down from the mountain, Jesus commands the disciples again not to make known what they have discovered about Jesus' true identity (16:20). The disciples know Jesus' true identity but they are confused about the identity of the prophet Elijah who Malachi prophesied would return to announce the coming of the "Day of the Lord" (Mal 3:23-24/4:5-6). Jesus clears up their confusion by identifying John the Baptist as the one who was to come in the spirit of Elijah and includes that He too will suffer at the hands of the same kind of men who killed the Baptist "fulfilling the prophecy of the Messiah as Isaiah's Suffering Servant (Is 52:13-53:12).
The Transfiguration of the Christ presents the Apostles and the reader with the full mystery of Jesus' true identity. The miraculous transformation of the human Jesus into the glorified Divine Son puts the coming Passion and death of Jesus into perspective by giving the Apostles the assurance that Jesus' suffering and death will end in the triumph of His glorious Resurrection on the third day, as He has tried to tell them.
Matthew 17:14-21 ~ The Healing of a Demon Possessed Boy
Having come down from the mountain a crowd is waiting for Jesus. While Jesus, Peter, James and John have been absent for about a week, the other disciples have been healing the sick but not always successfully. A man approaches, kneels before Jesus and asks Him to heal his "lunatic" (or more literally his "moonstruck") son who the disciples have been unable to heal. The use of this word in describing the boy's illness as one adversely affected by the moon is unique, appearing in the New Testament only here and in Matthew 4:24. It may have been that the boy suffered from epilepsy, thought at one time to be brought on by certain phases of the moon.
Matthew 17:22-23 ~ The Second Prediction of Jesus' Passion
22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, 23 and they will kill him and he will be raised on the third day." And they were overwhelmed with grief.
Returning to the Galilee from the trip to the Mt. of Transfiguration, Jesus gives the second prophecy of His Passion. This time the disciples understand and are "overwhelmed with grief."
Matthew 17:24-27 ~ Jesus Pays the Temple Tax
Having arrived back in Capernaum, Peter is approached by the tax men collecting the Greek coinage of the double drachma for the Temple tax that supported the upkeep of the Jerusalem Temple. We know from Matthew 9:9 that there is a tax office in Capernaum.
Question: Why do they come to Peter and not to Jesus?
Answer: The people, including the tax collectors, recognize Peter as Jesus' second in command and his spokesman.
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