Matthew 14:22 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 14:22

Comments

‘And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into the ship.’ The word translated ‘constrained’ can mean to compel or to force, but the word ‘constrain’ rightly conveys the idea of strong persuasion. The disciple did not yet know why the Lord wished them to go without him, and were probably reluctant to leave him without his strong direction. He also sent the multitudes away. They too would have been reluctant to leave him, for John tells us that they wanted to come and take him by force and make him a king. The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand had impressed them deeply, but they saw Christ in very earthly terms, as a Messiah who they could use to serve their own political purposes. They lacked faith entirely, and the exchange that took place the next day, recorded in John 6, shows how little they understood, in spite of this wonderful miracle. The disciple had true faith, but they made some of the same mistakes and they too expected him to setup an earthly kingdom. They were about to go through an experience which revealed more of the power and authority of Christ to them. The crowds dismissed by Christ had watched as he sent away the disciples, and knew they had gone without him. At least some of them must have stayed in the region overnight, for the next day, when they realised that neither Jesus nor his disciples were still on that side of Galilee, they took shipping back to Capernaum, John tells us.

Application

Questions

Christ sent the disciples back to the west side of Galilee from where they had come; Mark adds ‘unto Bethsaida’. That is a little puzzling, because Luke has told us that the original journey across Galilee to where Christ had fed the five thousand, had been ‘to a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida’ (Luke 9:10). If that was where they started their return journey, how could they be sent in the opposite direction ‘unto Bethsaida’? They were going by ship in the general direction of Capernaum (John 6:17, 24), and Matthew tells us that they came ashore in the land of Gennesaret (Matthew 14:34). This is hard to understand unless we see that there were two places called Bethsaida (literally, ‘House of fish’) on opposite sides of Galilee.

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Matthew 14:22 Commentary and Bible Study