Matthew

Even though they had seen Jesus perform miracles and speak with godly wisdom, the people of His own town where He grew up were offended by Him. They could not understand Him, patronise Him or control Him. He was no longer seen as the young village carpenter, because they realised that He was superior to them in every way. Even though Jesus had received no higher education, He was wiser than those who had, and His knowledge seemed to penetrate into people's souls. And they did not like it.
 

Herod was afraid. Although he was the king in charge of the southern part of Israel, including Jerusalem, he was afraid of people and of truth. His fear of the people was due to their enthusiastic support for John the Baptist, who Herod had imprisoned and then killed. Herod's wife demanded that John was beheaded because he had criticised her incestuous marriage.

This is a sad narrative. King Herod was trapped by his pride and fear of his wife's anger into agreeing to murder a godly man. The king was married his brother's wife, while his brother was still alive; it was a wilful act of defiance against God's law (Leviticus 20:21). Although Herodias was thrilled to have the power of being the 'queen', John the Baptist said that the relationship was not right before God. The day came when the king had his birthday party.

John the Baptist was dead. Murdered in cold blood; executed because he spoke the truth from God. John was probably a distant cousin to Jesus (their mothers were related (Luke 1:36)) as well as being the prophet to announce Jesus to the world. John baptised Jesus and then diminished his ministry so that his followers could follow Jesus. So Jesus would have had a great personal sadness when he heard of the shocking news.
 

Challenges are growth points: no challenge, no growth. Jesus was not taken by surprise that huge crowds had followed them to a deserted place without any shops, restaurants or hotels. Towards the end of the day the disciples anticipated a great logistical problem - feeding 5,000 families with no supplies. Their practical solution was to send the people away before darkness fell, hoping they could find food in the nearest town.
 

Five bread rolls and two fish are not enough to feed 5,000 families. But they were the starting point for one of Jesus' notable miracles. His compassion was not limited to healing and teaching, He wanted to teach His disciples that He was the Bread of Life, sent from heaven to give life to the world. The miracle was one of the 'signs' in John's Gospel to illustrate Christ's Divine nature (John 6:35).
 

The day had not turned out as the disciples had expected. They wanted some respite from their mission activities; they wanted to tell Jesus what had happened, and they were also tired. Instead, they spent the day stewarding 5,000 families who came to hear Jesus and receive healing. Then in the afternoon, Jesus set them a test to feed the crowd, but all they could find was a boy's picnic. However, Jesus multiplied the food so that they fed everybody and there was a lot left over for them to collect.
 

Jesus had ordered them to cross the sea at night. The disciples were tired before they started but by the end of the night they were exhausted, rowing for much of the night against a strong wind and waves. Jesus had been on shore talking to Father God, so the disciples did not have Him on board to encourage them. But then, Jesus came to them. He was walking on the water.
 

It was early morning on Lake Galilee. The disciples were tired, having rowed against the wind through the night, when they were startled by a ghostly figure walking on the water near the boat. Their cry of alarm was more than matched by Jesus' reassurance, "It is I. Don't be afraid!" (Matthew 14:22-27). Peter, who was quick to respond, wanted to be sure that he was hearing and seeing rightly, so he challenged the misty figure to answer back.

Jesus had walked on the water. Peter stepped out of the boat to meet Him, initially in faith, and then doubt, and then fear: but Jesus caught him as he was beginning to sink. The others in the boat had rowed towards the Saviour and the saved man. As they climbed back aboard they were in awe of Jesus; they fell down on their knees in the boat and bowed to Him in worship.