of great val ue , he went away and sold ev ery thing he had and bought it .
The Parable of the Net
47
“ Once again , the king dom of heav en is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish . 48 When it was full , the fish er men pulled it up on the shore . Then they sat down and col lect ed the good fish in bas kets , but threw the bad away . 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age . The an gels will come and sep a rate the wick ed from the righ teous
50 and throw them into the blaz ing fur nace , where there will be weep ing and gnash ing of teeth .
51
“ Have you un der stood all these things ?” Jesus asked . “ Yes ,” they re plied .
52
He said to them , “ There fore ev ery teach er of the law who has be come a dis ci ple in the king dom of heav en is like the own er of a house who brings out of his store room new trea sures as well as old .”
A Prophet Without Honor
13:54-58pp — Mk 6:1-6
53
When Jesus had fin ished these par a bles , he moved on from there . 54 Com ing to his home town , he be gan teach ing the peo ple in their syn a gogue , and they were amazed . “ Where did this man get this wis dom and these mi rac u lous pow ers ?” they asked . 55 “ Isn ’ t this the car pen ter ’ s son ? Isn ’ t his moth er ’ s name Mary , and aren ’ t his broth ers James , Jo seph , Si mon and Ju das ? 56 Aren ’ t all his sis ters with us ? Where then did this man get all these things ?” 57 And they took of fense at him .
But Jesus said to them , “ A proph et is not with out hon or except in his own town and in his own home .”
58
And he did not do many mir a cles there because of their lack of faith .
John the Baptist Beheaded
14:1-12pp — Mk 6:14-29
14
MattheW 14:14 | 1559
At that time Her od the te trarch heard the re ports about Jesus , 2 and he said to his atten dants , “ This is John the Bap tist ; he has ris en from the dead ! That is why mi rac u lous pow ers are at work in him .”
3
Now Her od had ar rest ed John and bound him and put him in pris on be cause of He ro di as , his broth er Phil ip ’ s wife , 4 for John had been say ing to him : “ It is not law ful for you to have her .” 5 Herod want ed to kill John , but he was afraid of the peo ple , be cause they con sid ered John a proph et .
6
On Her od ’ s birth day the daugh ter of He rodi as danced for the guests and pleased Her od so much 7 that he prom ised with an oath to give her what ev er she asked . 8 Prompt ed by her moth er , she said , “ Give me here on a plat ter the head of John the Bap tist .” 9 The king was dis tressed , but be cause of his oaths and his din ner guests , he ordered that her re quest be grant ed 10 and had John be head ed in the pris on . 11 His head was brought in on a plat ter and giv en to the girl , who car ried it to her moth er . 12 John ’ s dis ci ples came and took his body and bur ied it . Then they went and told Jesus .
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
14:13-21pp — Mk 6:32-44 ; Lk 9:10-17 ; Jn 6:1-13 14:13-21Ref — Mt 15:32-38
13
When Jesus heard what had hap pened , he with drew by boat pri vate ly to a sol i tary place . Hear ing of this , the crowds fol lowed him on foot from the towns . 14 When Jesus land ed and saw a large crowd , he had com pas sion on them and healed their sick .
13:47 – 52 Similar to the parable of the weeds ( Mt 13:24 – 30 ), this parable describes the ingathering of the righ teous and wicked and their subsequent fates . The kingdom of heaven will consist of those who follow Jesus .
13:47 a net A net with floats on one end and weights on the other . Fishermen cast the net into the sea and allowed the weighted end to sink to a sufficient depth . When they pulled it in , the net scooped up everything in its path . 13:50 weeping and gnashing of teeth See note on 13:42 . 13:52 new treasures as well as old The disciples were beginning to understand the new things Jesus was teaching in conjunction with the traditions from the Scriptures they already knew .
13:53 – 58 Following his teaching in parables , Jesus travels to his hometown . Because of their familiarity with Jesus , the people of Nazareth reject him as a prophet .
13:54 his hometown Jesus ’ base of ministry was Capernaum , but he had grown up in Nazareth ( 2:23 ). Where did this man get this wisdom The people know that , unlike their rabbis , Jesus has no formal training ; he was raised as a craftsman . 13:57 And they took offense at him Their offense comes from Jesus ’ claim to be something that they assume he is not . 13:58 because of their lack of faith Jesus does not need to prove his authenticity with signs ; the people have already rejected his message .
14:1 – 12 Matthew begins this section by recounting the death of John the Baptist . Since Herod mistakenly identifies Jesus with John , Matthew provides the background to the story . See the event line “ Jesus ’ Early Life and Ministry ” on p . 1530 .
14:1 Herod the tetrarch Refers to Herod Antipas ; a tetrarch is one who rules over a fourth of the kingdom . See note on Lk 3:1 . See the table “ Political Leaders in the New Testament ” on p . 1916 . 14:6 the daughter of Herodias Identified as Salome by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus ( Josephus ,
Antiquities 18.136 ). 14:9 was distressed Refers to Herod ’ s fear of the crowd ( Mt 14:5 ); he didn ’ t want to incite a rebellion .
14:13 – 21 Matthew ’ s Gospel records two mass feedings ( compare 15:32 – 39 ). In addition to caring about his followers ’ spiritual needs , Jesus also evidences concern for their physical well-being .