Here we read of John the Baptist again. He had rebuked King Herod for his sin of living with Herodias, his brother’s wife. Herod would have killed John for his faithful words, but Herod feared that his people would not like him if he did that because they all thought John was a prophet. So he put John in prison instead. On Herod’s birthday there was a big party, and when Herodias’s daughter danced for him, he promised her a great reward. She asked for John to be beheaded, and Herod felt forced to give her what she wanted. But his disciples buried him properly and then shared their sorrow with Jesus.
When Jesus heard about John’s death, He went to a desert place to be alone. But He wasn’t alone for very long. Many people always seemed to be able to find Him, and they flocked to Him because He helped them with their problems. He healed those among them who were sick. He fed the large group of people who gathered around Him with just five loaves of bread and two fish. And all this He did because of the compassion (love) that was in His heart for each one of those people.
Then the disciples got into a boat to go to the other side of the lake, but they found it hard to make any progress because of a strong wind that was against them. In the middle of the night, the Lord Jesus walked to them on the water. Peter saw Him coming and asked to walk on the water too. As long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, Peter was able to walk to Him on the water, but when he looked around at the waves, he began to sink. Peter cried for help and the Lord Jesus immediately reached out to pick him up. Then the wind stopped too.
Let’s rest awhile in our journey so you can find the following verses.
1. The writings of Moses and all of the ____________ speak about the Lord Jesus. Luke 24:___
And
2. When Jesus was about to leave His disciples to go back to heaven, He knew it would make them sad, but He said that He would change their ____________ into joy. John 16:___
Verily
3. God’s love and ____________ never stop and they are fresh every morning. Lamentations 3:______ (2 verses)
It
4. If God is on our side, no one can be ____________ us, because He has given His Son to die for us and He will always take care of us. Romans 8:___
What
5. God is always right next to us to ____________ us whenever we get into trouble. Psalm 46:___
God