Episode 241: Casting bread before dogs

Matthew 14-15

Herod: Jesus is the risen John the Baptist

14 ¹ Herod the tetrarch heard of Jesus's fame, and said to his servants,

² This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead.

The imprisonment of John the Baptist

^3-4 Herod had arrested John and put him in prison, because John the Baptist had said to him, It isn't lawful for you to marry Herodias, your brother Philip's wife.

⁵ Herod would have killed John the Baptist, but he was afraid of what the people might do who considered him to be a prophet.

The death of John the Baptist

⁶ It was Herod's birthday, and Herodias's daughter danced for him and pleased him.

⁷ So he promised to give her whatever she asked.

⁸ She said, after being instructed by her mother, "Give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

⁹ Herod was sorry, but since he had made an oath, he commanded it to be done.

¹⁰ And he had John the Baptist beheaded in the prison.

¹¹ His head was put on a platter and given to the daughter, who brought it to her mother.

¹² John's disciples took the body, buried it, and went to tell Jesus.

Jesus feeds five thousand men

¹³ When Jesus heard about it, he went on a boat to a desert place. The people followed him from the cities.

¹⁴ Jesus saw the crowd, felt sorry for them, and healed their sick.

¹⁵ When evening came, his disciples came to him and said,

This is the desert and it's getting late.

Send the crowd away so they can go to the village to buy food.

¹⁶ Jesus said, "They don't need to leave. Give them something to eat."

¹⁷ They said to him, "We only have five loaves of bread and two fishes."

¹⁸ Jesus said, "Bring them to me."

¹⁹ Jesus told the people to sit on the grass, while he took the five loaves and two fishes, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the bread, and gave the loaves to his disciples who gave it to the people.

²⁰ And everyone ate enough to be satisfied. They collected twelve baskets of leftovers.

²¹ There were 5000 men who ate, not counting the women and children.

Jesus walks on water

²² Jesus boarded a boat and sent the crowd away.

²³ When he got to the other side (of the Sea of Galilee), he climbed to the top of a mountain to pray.

²⁵ Early the next morning, Jesus went out to them, walking on the water.

²⁶ When the disciples on the boat saw Jesus walking on the water, they were troubled, and said, "It is a ghost! "

²⁷ Jesus said to them, "Be happy! It's me. Don't be afraid."

²⁸ Peter said, "Lord, if it is really you, let me walk to you on the water."

²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Come.”

Peter got out of the boat and began walking on the water.

³⁰ But he was afraid and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"

³¹ Jesus grabbed him and said, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'

³³ The disciples who were in the boat said to Jesus, "Truly, you are the Son of God."

Jesus heals the sick in Gennesaret

³⁴ Then Jesus and his disciples went to the land of Gennesaret.

^35-36 All of the sick were brought to Jesus, and everyone who touched the hem of his robe was healed.

The Pharisees criticize Jesus's disciples (for not washing their hands)

15 ¹ The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,

² Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands before eating?

³ Jesus replied,

Why do you break God's commandment by not killing children who curse their parents?"

Things that defile a person

¹⁰ Jesus called a crowd of people together, and said to them,

A person is defiled by what comes out of the mouth; not by what goes into it.

¹² The disciples said to Jesus,

Don't you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you said?

¹³ Jesus answered,

¹⁴ Don't worry about what they say. They are the blind leading the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the ditch.

¹⁵ Peter said to him, "Explain that parable to us."

¹⁶ Jesus said,

¹⁷ What goes in the mouth, goes into the belly, and out of the body.

¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart. These are the things that defile a person.

¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, theft, lies, and blasphemies.

²⁰ But to eat with unwashed hands doesn't defile anyone.

Jesus removes a devil from a Canaanite woman's daughter (after calling her a dog)

²² Then Jesus went to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman cried out to him, saying,

Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is possessed by a devil.

²⁶ Jesus said to her, "It's not right to take the children's bread and give it to dogs."

²⁷ She replied,

Yes, but dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.

²⁸ Jesus said to her,

O woman, you have great faith. Let it be done to you as you wanted.

And the devil left her daughter at that hour.

Jesus feeds four thousand men

²⁹ Jesus went up on a mountain next to the Sea of Galilee.

³⁰ A great crowd came to him, with many crippled, blind, mute, and maimed people. Jesus healed them all.

³² Jesus called his disciples and said,

I feel sorry for the crowd. They've been following me for three days and have had nothing to eat. I won't send them away fasting, for they will faint along the way.

³³ His disciples said

Where will we get enough food to feed such a large crowd?

³⁴ Jesus asked them, "How many loaves of bread to you have?"

They answered, "Seven, and a few little fishes."

³⁵ Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

³⁶ And he took the seven loaves and fishes, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the crowd.

³⁷ Everyone ate and was filled. And the disciples collected seven baskets of leftovers.

³⁸ Four thousand men were fed, not counting the women and children.