Matthew 14–28

John the Baptist Beheaded

14:1–12pp—Mk 6:14–29

14At that time Herod^w the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus,^{x 2}and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist;^y he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison^z because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,^{a 4}for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.”^{b 5}Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.^c

⁶On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much ⁷that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰and had John beheaded^d in the prison. ¹¹His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹²John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it.^e 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

¹³When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them^f and healed their sick.^g

¹⁵As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

¹⁶Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷“We have here only five loaves^h of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸“Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.ⁱ Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

14:22–33pp—Mk 6:45–51; Jn 6:16–21 14:34–36pp—Mk 6:53–56

²²Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.^j Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,”^k they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage!^l It is I. Don’t be afraid.”^m

²⁸“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”ⁿ he said, “why did you doubt?”

³²And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”^o

³⁴When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak,^p and all who touched it were healed.

That Which Defiles

15:1–20pp—Mk 7:1–23

15Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ²“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”^q

³Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^ar and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^{bs 5}But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

⁹They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.^t’^cu”

¹⁰Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,^v but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”^w

¹²Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted^x will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴Leave them; they are blind guides.^dy If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”^z

¹⁵Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”^a

¹⁶“Are you still so dull?”^b Jesus asked them. ¹⁷“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,^c and these defile them. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.^{d 20}These are what defile a person;^e but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman

15:21–28pp—Mk 7:24–30

²¹Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.^{f 22}A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,^g have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”^h

²³Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”ⁱ

²⁵The woman came and knelt before him.^j “Lord, help me!” she said.

²⁶He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁷“Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith!^k Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

15:29–31pp—Mk 7:31–37 15:32–39pp—Mk 8:1–10 15:32–39Ref—Mt 14:13–21

²⁹Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.^{l 31}The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.^m

³²Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people;ⁿ they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

³³His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

³⁴“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

³⁵He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them^o and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.^{p 38}The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

The Demand for a Sign

16:1–12pp—Mk 8:11–21

16The Pharisees and Sadducees^q came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.^r

²He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ ³and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.^{as 4}A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”^t Jesus then left them and went away.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”^u

⁷They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith,^v why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?^{w 10}Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?^{x 11}How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹²Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.^y

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah

16:13–16pp—Mk 8:27–29; Lk 9:18–20

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;^z others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”^a

¹⁵“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the…