Matthew Fourteen

A Day in the Life of Jesus

This chapter begins by describing the terrible death of John the Baptist.

Verse 13 says, "when Jesus got the news..." This is a very interesting line. Jesus is God, meaning He already knew what happened to John and that he was dead. This wasn't a surprise to Him. However, because of Jesus' humanity, when He got the news it was in His human form and He experienced it on a human level. The verse goes on to say that he slipped away by boat so He could be by Himself.

Jesus went away to grieve. The God-part of Him already knew, now the human-part of Him experienced it. That is fascinating. This would be the same thing that happens when He hears of Lazarus' death. I want to explore this God/human Jesus more.

Jesus tried to get away, but He was unsuccessful. Someone saw Him and quickly the word got out where Jesus was. He had compassion on them and healed them. So much for the quiet time.

At evening time, the disciples suggested they send the people home to eat. Jesus told them to feed the people themselves. They found five loaves and two fish. Jesus blessed the food, and it fed 5000 people, with 12 baskets left over - one for each disciple. No doubt a physical reminder for each one of them to trust Jesus.

After supper, Jesus insisted the disciples go to the other side of the lake while He dismissed the people. Jesus was determined to get some quiet time with His Father. He went up to the hill to pray, late into the night.

As the disciples were on the lake, a huge storm started. At about 4am, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. They thought He was ghost.

Sometimes it is difficult to recognize Jesus in the midst of our storms.

Once Jesus made Himself known, Peter asked Jesus to call him out of the boat, which He did, and Peter began to walk on the water toward Jesus. When Peter looked down and the saw the waves, he began to sink, and called out to Jesus. Jesus, without hesitation, rescued him.

Jesus will always rescue us, without hesitation, when we call out to Him.

They made it to the other side of the lake, now early in the morning, and docked the boat. Jesus began healing more people.

Whew! That is a lot to have happen in one day! Can you imagine how much the disciples' faith grew in that one day?

Does reading about the miracles of Jesus grow your faith? Does experiencing miracles in your daily life grow your faith?

When was the last time to you said about a situation in your day, "That was truly a miracle from God!"? Do you see the miracles of His handiwork and His creation?