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They reached the other side and landed the boat at Gennesaret. People immediately recognized Jesus when he got out of the boat. They brought everyone who was sick to him, even carrying some on stretchers.
Whether he went into towns, villages, or the countryside, people brought the sick to him. They begged just to be able to touch the fringe of his robe. Everyone who touched it was healed.
MT 14:34-36, MK 6:53-56
Jesus immediately made his disciples get into the boat and travel ahead of him across the Sea of Galilee, while he sent away the crowd. Jesus went by himself to a mountain to pray. He was there alone when evening came.
From up on the mountain, he was able to see that the boat was in the middle of the sea, far from land. A very windy storm came up and the sea began to get choppy. The boat was being battered by the waves and the disciples were struggling because they were rowing against the wind.
Jesus came walking on the water towards them around three in the morning, and he meant to walk by them. When they saw him they cried out in terror because they thought he was a ghost.
Immediately Jesus spoke to them saying “Have courage! It’s me! Don’t be afraid.”
MT 14:22-27, MK 6:45-50, JN 6:16-20
Peter called out to him, “Lord if it’s really you, command me to come to you.”
“Come!” Jesus said.
Peter climbed out of the boat and started walking on the water towards Jesus. But he became afraid when he saw the size of the waves and the strength of the wind. He began to sink, and he cried out “Lord save me!”
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught Peter. He was surprised at how little faith Peter had and said “Why did you doubt?”
MT 14:28-31
When they were together on the boat, the wind ceased.
MT 14:32, MK 6:51a
Then everyone there said “You are truly the Son of God!”
MT 14:33
(Yet another Gospel says that)
They were confused and amazed because they had not yet come to understand even the miracle of the loaves. Instead their hearts were hard and they had a hard time believing.
MK 6:51b-52
The apostles came to Jesus and told him about all the teaching that they had done. He had them come away in a boat with him to a remote place to rest for a little bit. They needed to do this because so many people were coming to them that they didn’t even have time to eat. However, many people recognized them as they were leaving and they followed them on foot across the land from all the towns, and got there ahead of them.
Jesus saw a huge crowd as he stepped ashore and he felt compassion for them because they were lost, like sheep without a shepherd. He greeted them, talked to them about the kingdom of God, and healed anyone who was sick.
Late in the day, his disciples came up to him and said “This place is a wilderness and it is already long past suppertime. Make them leave, so they can go find food and a place to stay in the nearby villages, because there’s nothing here.”
“They don’t need to leave” Jesus said. “You give them their supper.” (For he knew what he was going to do.)
Philip answered “Should we go into town and buy 200 denarii worth of bread? It wouldn’t be enough for a crowd this large.”
Then, his disciple Andrew reported that there was a boy in the crowd who had five barley loaves and two fish, but even that wasn’t enough for so many people. About 5000 men, in addition to women and children, were there.
Jesus had his disciples get the people to sit down on the grass in groups of about 50. He took the five loaves and two fish, looked up into heaven, and then he gave thanks. He broke the loaves and fish into pieces and gave them to his disciples to give to the crowd. He kept giving food to the disciples for them to distribute. Everyone ate to their heart’s content.
At the end of the meal he told his disciples “Gather up the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” They were able to fill 12 baskets full of leftovers!
When the people realized the miracle that Jesus had done, they said to themselves “This really is the Messiah who we have been waiting for!”
When Jesus realized that they were about to forcefully take him away to make him king he withdrew by himself to a mountain.
MT 14:13-21, MK 6:30-44, LK 9:10-17, JN 6:1-15
I’m preparing for silence,
for stillness.
I’m preparing
to not prepare.
I’m readying myself
to be open to the idea
that God
has a better to-do list
than I could ever
make up.
My lists have
chores and groceries,
recycling and letters to write.
They are filled with
the minutia of life.
Get tire pressure checked.
Buy rocks for the garden.
Get cholesterol test results.
God’s list is much shorter.
Rest, and know
that I am.
God says
“Here’s a beautiful lunch I made
for you,
with My hands.”
God says
“Here’s a lovely flower
– come look at it.”
God says
“Let’s paint a picture
right now
with fingerpaints.”
God is the best child,
always wanting to show me
the latest treasure
or discovery.
I, the impatient,
harried parent,
have to put down
my purse,
my iPhone,
my canvas work bag
just to
pick them up
to look at them.
And maybe that is God’s plan.
Distract us
from ourselves
so we can
find ourselves.
Make us put
things
down
so God can
pick us up.
King Herod heard about everything that Jesus was doing. His name had become well known because of all the miracles and healings that he performed. He was perplexed and thought that Jesus must be John the Baptist raised from the dead, because he was able to do supernatural things. Others thought that he was Elijah, and others thought that he was one of the ancient prophets come back from the dead. Herod said “I beheaded John, so who is this I’m hearing stories about?” He wanted to see Jesus for himself.
MT 14:1-2, MK 6:14-16, LK 9:7-9
Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested and put in chains in prison, on account of the fact that he had married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. John had told him that it was not lawful for him to be married to his brother’s wife.
Herodias had a grudge against John because of this and wanted to kill him, but she couldn’t because Herod was afraid of the crowd. They thought that John was an upright and godly man, and a prophet. Herod was disturbed every time he heard what John had to say, yet he still liked to listen to him.
Herodias found an opportunity to get what she wanted at Herod’s birthday party, when he gave a large banquet for all the important people in Galilee. Her daughter pleased everyone at the party with her dancing. Herod made an oath in front of everyone that he would give her anything she asked for, even up to half his kingdom.
She asked her mother what she should request and her mother said “John the Baptist’s head!” Herodias’ daughter asked to be given John the Baptist’s head on a platter right away.
Herod was full of regret, but because of the oath he made in front of important guests he sent orders for John to be beheaded. His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who then carried it to her mother.
When John’s disciples received the news, they removed the body, placed it in a tomb, and then went to tell Jesus what had happened.
MT 14:3-12, MK 6:17-29
Jesus then went to his hometown of Nazareth, taking his disciples with him. He stood up to teach and to read in the synagogue on the Sabbath as he usually did.
MT 13:54a, MK 6:1-2a, LK 4:16
He was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll to the place where it was written: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim freedom to those in captivity, and healing to those who are blind, to set free those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Rolling up the scroll, he gave it back and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue was looking intently at him. He then said “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”
LK 4:17-21
They were amazed and said “How did he get to be so wise, and how is he able to perform miracles? Isn’t this Joseph the carpenters son? Isn’t his mother Mary, and isn’t he the brother of James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters sitting here with us? Where does he get these ideas?” They were offended by what he said.
MT 13:54b-57a, MK 6:2b-3, LK 4:22
Then he said “No doubt you will quote the proverb ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ And you will say ‘Do everything here that you did in Capernaum.’”
LK 4:23
“Mark my words, a prophet is accepted and given honor everywhere except his hometown, in his family, and in his home.”
MT 13:57b, MK 6:4, LK 4:24
“But I tell you there were certainly many other widows in Israel in Elijah’s days when there was a drought for three and a half years, and a great famine because of it. Yet Elijah was sent to only one of them, a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. And later in Elisha’s time there were many who had leprosy, but he healed only one of them, Naaman from Syria.”
Everyone in the synagogue became very angry when they heard this. They drove him out of town to the edge of a hill, meaning to throw him over the cliff, but he walked through the crowd and left instead.
LK 4:25-30
He was only able to heal a few sick people there, not many miracles at all. He was amazed at their unbelief.
MT 13:58, MK 6:5-6
In order to gain something you need,
you have to give up something you want.
Reading, study, sleep,
versus
TV and the internet
for instance.
Consider the
monkey with his hand in the jar.
He can hold onto what is in the jar,
or pull his hand out
and be free.
He can’t do both.
What are you holding onto?
Time, money, energy
– these are all things we spend.
Are they giving good value for you?
The meaning of the parable of the wheat and the weeds.
Jesus sent away the crowds and went into the house. His disciples asked him to explain the parable of the wheat and the weeds to them.
He answered “The Son of Man is the one who sows the good seed, the field is the world, and the sons of the kingdom are the good seed. The weeds are the sons of the Devil, who sowed them. The harvest represents the end of the age, while the harvesters are angels.”
“In the same way that the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will separate out every stumbling block and everyone who does not follow the Law of God. The angels will throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then, all the godly people will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen to this!”
MT 13:36-43
The parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure a man discovered that was buried in a field. After he found it, he covered it back up again, and in his joy he went and sold everything he had to buy that field.”
“Also, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant on a quest for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went and sold everything he had so he could buy it.”
MT 13:44-46
The parable of the net.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It gathers up every kind of fish, and when it is full, the fishermen drag it ashore and put the good fish into containers but throw away the worthless ones.”
MT 13:47-48
The storeroom.
Jesus asked them “Have you understood what I have told you?”
“Yes,” they said.
“Therefore, every teacher of the Law who has been instructed in the nature of the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings new treasures as well as old out of his storeroom.”
Jesus left there after finishing these parables.
MT 13:51-53
“There once was a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard. He went to see if there was fruit on it, but there wasn’t any. He told his gardener to cut the tree down, explaining that in three years there hadn’t been any fruit on the tree. It was a waste of dirt.
The gardener asked him to give it another year. He promised to dig around it and fertilize it. He said ‘If it doesn’t bear fruit after that then it can be cut down.’”
LK 13:6-9
“The kingdom of heaven is also like this; a man scatters seed, and without his knowledge or assistance the seed sprouts and grows over time. The soil makes the seed grow all by itself. First there was a leaf blade, then the heads of wheat formed, and finally the grain ripened. As soon the crop was ready, the man sent for the harvesters.”
MK 4:26-29
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