pericope, Jesus suggestively acts like Elisha, Elijah's successor (). Verse 12 Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. This is a further mission of John's disciples to Jesus in Galilee, following on from the one reported in Matthew 11. For Ernest Bengel, interpreting the words of Lutheran Pietist Johann Bengel, "the death of their master becomes the means of leading [John's disciples] to Jesus". Jesus's withdrawal to a 'deserted place' (14:13–15) and refer to a 'deserted' (NKJV) or 'secluded' (Amplified Bible) place, clarified as 'a place where no one lived' in the Easy-to-Read Version. In Luke's gospel, he goes at this point in the narrative to 'a town called Bethsaida', i.e. an inhabited place, but nevertheless one where 'he and his apostles could be alone together. Miraculous feeding of a large crowd (14:16–21) Eating together was a symbol of unity and Jesus was acting as the host of a large family gathering, welcoming the crowd into a new community. Verse 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. Looked up to heaven, blessed, broke, and gave indicate a 'communal, liturgical context' which is found in the early church; the same actions are to be seen in the Last Supper in . Walking on water (14:22–33) After the public miracle of loaves, the disciples witnessed in private one miracle that showed Jesus' authority over material things. Jesus the Healer (14:34–36) When they were back in Herod's territory, Jesus' popularity was shown again in his healing ministry, which was more extensive than so far recorded. See also Gennesaret Herod Antipas Herodias John the Baptist Miracles of Jesus Philip the brother of Herod Antipas Sea of Galilee Tzitzit Related Bible parts: Numbers 15, Matthew 15, Mark 6, Mark 8, Luke 9, John 6 References Sources External links King James Bible - Wikisource English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) Gospel of Matthew chapters Bethsaida