verses 1-14
John the Baptist was ‘arrested’ and ‘put in prison’(3). Shortly after this, he was ‘beheaded’(10). John was a faithful man. He was ‘faithful unto death’(Revelation 2:10). His death arose directly from his faithfulness to God. He died as a ‘martyr’. Following the death of John, news came to Jesus, who was to die as our Saviour. How did Jesus react to this news?- First, ‘he withdrew... privately to a solitary place (13). Then, having renewed His strength in the presence of His Father (Isaiah 40:31), He stepped out again into the sphere of public ministry. He continued on His way - the way that would lead Him to the Cross. What are we to learn from John, the faithful martyr, and Jesus, the faithful Saviour, who gave Himself in death for us? We are to be faithful to God. If suffering lies ahead of us, He will make us strong.

verses 15-36
We read of the feeding of the five thousand (15-21) and the walking on water (25-33), and our thoughts go to Calvary. From the feeding with bread and fish, we move to the bread and wine, symbols of Jesus’body broken for us and His blood shed for us (26:26-28). From the confession of faith - ‘Truly You are the Son of God’(33), we move to the Cross to hear the centurion’s words of faith; ‘Surely He was the Son of God!’(27:54). We see Jesus, the Man of prayer (23), the Healer (35-36), and we look to the Cross, where we experience the healing influence of His prayer for us; ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’(Luke 23:34). ‘Thank You for the Cross, The price you paid for us, How You gave Yourself, So completely, Precious Lord, Now our sins are gone, All forgiven, Covered by your blood, All forgotten, Thank You, Lord’(Mission Praise, 632).

Matthew 14:1-36