Day 290 (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9) - Year 8

Tara-Leigh Cobble (0:01)

Hey Bible Readers, I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap.

John the Baptist has been in prison since approximately the start of Jesus' ministry. Herod Antipas arrested him after he rebuked Herod for marrying his brother's wife, who is named Herodias, because she's actually the granddaughter of King Herod the Great, which means both of her husbands are also her uncles. Okay. She wants JTB dead, but Herod is torn. When Herod's birthday party rolls around, the daughter of Herodias does a little dance for him as a part of the event. In ancient Greco-Roman culture, the dances done at these parties tend to be more on the seductive side if you catch my drift. So it's super inappropriate that Herod's stepdaughter slash great niece is the entertainment. Herod loves it, of course, and makes the grand gesture of offering her anything she wants. It seems likely that Herodias was using her own daughter as a pawn in order to achieve this very outcome. Herodias tells her daughter, Hey, I know you had your heart set on a pony, but hear me out. How's about you ask for the head of a prisoner instead?

Can you imagine? So because of the sins of the king and the selfish plotting of his wife, John the Baptist is beheaded in prison. He dies an unjust death, the very one Jesus hinted at not long ago when JTB sent him a message asking him if he really was the messiah.

After Herod kills JTB., he starts getting word of all the miraculous things Jesus is doing, and he's super confused because he sees a lot of similarities in these two guys. He's left wondering if Jesus is the ghost or the resurrection of JTB because of how their ministries run along the same trajectory. Some people even suggest that Jesus is the resurrected Elijah because of the types of miracles he's performing. When Jesus gets word of J.T.B.'s death, he and the disciples set off in a boat to be alone. I imagine he wants to grieve and talk to the father about everything that's happening, but all the people see them out on the water and run to meet him when he docks. Scripture records the 5,000 men, but there were also women and children to account for. They're probably there for a variety of reasons. Some probably just want healing, and others have likely heard about what happened to JTB and their first thought is to go to Jesus, maybe to offer him condolences, or maybe they want to know what the plan is for moving forward now that one of the leaders of this new kingdom has been executed. For them, this must be kind of like a presidential assassination. Rome just killed one of their Jewish leaders.

I don't know what Jesus was thinking or feeling in this moment, but if I were him, I would feel emotionally exhausted. He just got the news of the unjust death of the man who was his forerunner, whose entire life was dedicated to preparing the way for him and pointing people toward him. And in the not too distant future, the same government responsible for that will play a role in his own death.

And on top of that, 15,000 people want something from him. Despite all that, he leans in. He doesn't send the crowd home as the disciples suggest. Instead, he tells the disciples to do something impossible, feed them. Then as they begin to take steps of obedience, they see that he is actually the one doing the feeding. He does the miraculous in the face of the impossible.

Jesus gives thanks to God the Father for the food, then breaks it and gives it out. And suddenly, there are 12 baskets of food left over when it's all said and done. I love that Jesus arranges for a to-go box for each of the disciples. It's not like he can't make more, but maybe he's thrifty. These leftovers not only serve as evidence of his power, but they also serve a practical purpose, to feed them on their journey. The whole story shows that Jesus isn't just concerned with spiritual provision, but practical provision too.

Then, Jesus wants more alone time to pray, so he sends the disciples on ahead by themselves. This seems to be another account where he is growing their faith. Last time they were in the boat together, they almost died in a storm that he calmed. And since then, he has given them authority and power over some things. Will they walk in that power or will they be afraid?

Another storm hits and they're struggling. It's about 3 a.m. and Jesus can see them from the spot where he's praying, so he decides to pull a fast one on them.