THE DEATH OF JOHN


AND THE FEEDING OF THE 


FIVE THOUSAND.



"AT that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him.'

After keeping John in prison a long time, Herod had beheaded him. The circumstances of this tragic event are given by Mark as follows: '' And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes, which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought; and he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb."

When the apostles returned from their tour, they told Jesus what they had done.

And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and out went them, and came together unto him. " Matthew says that Jesus departed by ship into a desert place; John, that he went over the Sea of Galilee; and Luke, that he went aside into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. These accounts are all in perfect harmony; for the Bethsaida undoubtedly here meant was situated near the northern end of the Sea if Galilee and east of the River Jordan; so that the people, by crossing the river, could really go to the other side of the lake on foot.

"And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.  "Jesus, moved with compassion toward the multitude, healed their sick, but, " when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge and get victuals; for we are here in a desert place. But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat." "And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred penny-worth of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? Go and see; and when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. 

And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 

And they sat down in ranks by hundreds, and by fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and break the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all." "And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children." "Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world."