St. Matthew 14

[Chapter fourteen of St. Matthew is one of the most important chapters in Yahveh’s [God’s] word.]

14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,

[Tetrach meaning a ruler of a fourth part of a county.]

2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew [Show] forth themselves in him.

3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife.

4 For John said unto [To] him, [Herod] It is not lawful for thee [You] to have her.

[Herod had taken has brother Philips wife Herodias to be his wife. It was illegal for Herod to take Herodias as his wife and John had told them so. Herodias had a grudge against John the Baptist because he told Herod it was illegal. Because of what was said Herodias hated John.]

[To John the Baptist truth was truth and it didn’t matter to him who it was even if it was Herod the Tetrarch.]

5 And when he would have put him [John] to death, he [Herod] feared the multitude, [People] because they counted him as a prophet.

6 But when Herod’s birthday was kept, [In other words they were having a party.] the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.

[Herodias daughters name was Salome. Herod evidently had thoughts of her that were wicked and immoral.]

7 Whereupon [Because he was pleased] he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever [Whatever] she would ask.

[When a king gives an oath he must keep his oath.]

8 And she, [Salome] being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. [Basket]

[Being before instructed by her mother meaning they had it planned.]

9 And the king was sorry: [In other words he hated that he had made the oath.] nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.

10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.

[In other words he sent someone to the prison and had someone behead John the Baptist.]

11 And his head was brought in a charger, [Basket] and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.

12 And his [John’s] disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

13 When Jesus heard of it, [He knew] he departed thence [From there] by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed Him on foot out of the cities.

14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, [A large crowd of people] and was moved with compassion [Sympathy] toward them, and He healed their sick.

[Jesus Christ care’s about His children.]

15 And when it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert place, [Empty expanse] and the time is now past; send the multitude [Crowd of people] away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. [Food]

16 But Jesus said unto [To] them, They need not depart; give ye [You] them to eat.

[The famine in these end times is for the word of Yahveh. Jesus Christ is the bread of life. He is the word.]

[Jesus Christ is setting this example for you so you can learn. He is setting an example of feeding people His word.]

17 And they say unto [To] Him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

[Consider that five in Biblical numerics is grace. Yahveh’s/Jesus Christ’s grace is sufficient. The loaves are symbolic of the bread of life and He is the bread of life, and the fish are the symbol of Christianity; Jesus Christ savior of the world so to speak. Two fishes represent the God head because where Jesus Christ and Yahveh [God] are so is the Holy Spirit.]

18 He [Jesus] said, Bring them [The five loafs and the two fishes] hither [Here] to Me.

19 And He commanded the multitude [Large crowd of people.] to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. [Large crowd of people.]

[Jesus didn’t feed the people. He had His disciples [People disciplined in His word] feed the people. It has been that way since then and it is that way today. Jesus Christ provides us with the bread of life [His word] and we as teachers of His word, or seed planters or Evangelist’s must feed Yahveh’s [God’s] word to as many people as possible. That’s how Yahveh [God] expects it to be done, and He expects His word to be taught chapter by chapter verse by verse, precept upon precept not three or four verses here and there blowing hot air.]

20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

[In other words when the word of Yahveh the bread of life was passed out there was a basket left for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.]

[Here and in Luke 9:17 the word fragments is a very important word because the word of Yahveh [God] symbolized by bread is what Jesus Christ was talking about. When a large group of people are together like this the fragmented doctrine some of them will bring with them is unfit for Yahveh’s [God’s] table. St. Matthew 16:11&12 explains what the fragments are. Jesus Christ said beware of the leaven, the false doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. When Jesus Christ was talking about fragments He wasn’t talking about bread. He was talking about the doctrine and traditions of men who make void the word of Yahveh.
Anytime you have a large group of people there will be heathen present, people on an ego trip trying to make a name for themselves teaching doctrine other then the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Be careful because people pick up those fragments of false doctrine and become deceived.]

21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

[All of them were fed Yahveh’s [God’s] word.]

22 And straightway [Immediately] Jesus constrained [Compelled] His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes [Large crowd of people.] away.

23 And when He [Jesus Christ] had sent the multitudes [Large crowd of people] away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: [To meditate in His word, Himself and the Father] and when the evening was come, He was there alone.

24 But the ship was now in the midst [Middle] of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. [Against them.]

25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto [To] them, walking on the sea.

[Yahveh [God] can do anything.]

[The fourth watch is 3 Am to 6 Am. Some so called higher critics say what the disciples saw was a mirage. They are liars because there is no mirage at 3-6 in the morning because there is no sun at that time.]

26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; [Phantom] and they cried out for fear.

27 But straightway [Immediately] Jesus spake [Spoke] unto [To] them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be thou, [If it is you] bid me come unto [To] thee [You] on the water.

29 And He [Jesus] said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

[Peter had faith enough to walk on the water because he had faith in what Jesus told him. Peter walked on the water keeping his eyes directly on our Lord Jesus Christ.]

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, [He looked away from Jesus and saw the wind and waves.] he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

[Peter took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink. You must keep your spiritual eyes on Jesus Christ. As long as you keep your spiritual eyes on Jesus Christ you can help people; you can feed people the word of Yahveh. Jesus Christ is the word. Keep your eyes on Him.]

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto [To] him, O thou [You] of little faith, wherefore didst thou [You] doubt? [Why did you doubt.]

[Why did you look away from me and let doubt enter into your mind.]

[Don’t look away from your Lord Jesus Christ. When He died on the cross for you He became your Sabbath and you need to rest in Him every day.]

[Keep you eyes on Jesus Christ instead of people and things of the world because they will pull you away from Him.]

32 And when they [Jesus and Peter] were come into the ship, the wind ceased. [Became calm.]

[Jesus Christ/Yahveh controlled the weather. He is in control.]

33 Then they [The disciples] that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, [Jesus] saying, Of a truth thou [You] art [Are] the Son of God. [Yahveh]

34 And when they were gone over, [Over to the other side of the sea] they came into the land of Gennesaret.

35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of Him, [When they knew He was there] they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto Him all that were diseased; [Physically and morally.]

36 And besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.