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S a result of his ministry as a
prophet, John the Baptist died as a martyr. He had been the herald of the
kingdom of God. In preparing the way for Christ (the Savior and King of Israel)
John had preached fiercely against sin. Matthew 14:2-12 indicate that John even
preached against the immorality that resided in the royal palace of King Herod.
This ultimately cost John his head.
Once Jesus had commenced His
ministry, John associated himself with Him intentionally. Jesus also connected
Himself publicly to John. And, there were some definite similarities in their
message, methods and following. So closely connected were they that some even
considered Jesus to be a resurrected John.
In the chapter at hand, Matthew
presents the story of "The Feeding of the 5,000" on the heels of the
story of John's death. This was the kind of king that Israel needed, and they
knew it. Of course, they had much greater needs too. And, Jesus was the answer.
After that, Jesus sent the droves
of His satiated followers away and sent His disciples out onto the sea in a
boat. Then, He spent time in prayer. After His prayer, He went for a walk on
the water. He walked out to His disciples who were in the middle of a storm that
night. Jesus calmed their fears and even invited Peter to walk on water too (Matthew
14:29). He can feed the hungry, walk on water, heal the sick, save the lost,
defeat evil, etc. King Jesus is THE answer.
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