Matthew 14: Kingdom Expectations

Have you ever found yourself questioning God when life gets stormy? You're not alone. Kingdom Expectations dives deep into Matthew 14, where we discover three powerful stories that reframe how we should view challenges as followers of Christ.

Pastor Brandon begins by challenging the comfortable, predictable faith many of us desire—comparing it to someone who always visits Waffle House or Cracker Barrel because they know exactly what to expect. But the Kingdom of God doesn't operate on such predictable terms. Through John the Baptist's tragic beheading, we confront the hard truth that faithful service doesn't guarantee earthly protection. Yet this sobering reality isn't where the story ends.

The miracle of feeding 5,000+ people with just five loaves and two fish reveals something extraordinary about God's provision. When the disciples reached the limits of their resources, Jesus was just getting started. This wasn't just a demonstration of power; it was an invitation to expand our expectations. With Jesus, our "not enough" becomes more than enough.

Perhaps most stirring is the account of Jesus walking on water. The disciples weren't caught in that storm because of disobedience—they were there precisely because they followed Jesus' instructions! Sometimes serving God leads us directly into storms. But it's often in these very storms where Jesus reveals himself most dramatically. As Peter discovered, stepping out of the boat in faith may feel terrifying, but true safety is found not in staying where we feel comfortable, but in being wherever Jesus is—even if that place defies natural laws.

Ready to raise your kingdom expectations? Join us as we discover that sometimes we need to reach the end of our strength before we can witness the beginning of His. Because the truth remains: the presence of a storm is never the absence of God.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Kingdom Expectations Introduced
• 5:19 John the Baptist's Beheading
• 7:00 Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
• 8:29 Walking on Water
• 11:57 Raising Our Kingdom Expectations
• 14:01 Prayer and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, matthew, chapter 14, and today's title is Kingdom Expectations Kingdom Expectations. You ever been to a restaurant or something like that? And it doesn't really matter where you go, like if it's a chain restaurant, you kind of know exactly what you're going to experience.

Speaker 1: 0:47

I knew a guy once who every time he would go on a trip somewhere, he would always eat at Cracker Barrel or the Waffle House you want to talk about two very different places and he would say that he would say every time I go somewhere, I am looking. When it's time to eat, I'm looking. You know, I'm going to interstate. Where's the closest Waffle House, cracker barrel and I remember one time being in a group of people and they asked him why in the world are you looking for those two places? He said because I know that when I go there, I know I'm going to get the same thing. I know exactly what I'm going to get. I have an expectation and the expectation is always met. When I go to crack a barrel, it's always going to taste the same. When iacker Barrel, it's always going to taste the same. When I go to Waffle House, it's always going to taste the same. And he's like that's what I want, I want these expectations. And he's like I'm never disappointed, I always get exactly what I thought I was going to get. Well, in the kingdom of God there are great expectations, so much better than the Waffle House or the Cracker Barrel I almost said crocodile. There's all these great expectations that we have and I think sometimes one of the reasons why we struggle in being part of the kingdom of God is we have weird expectations, right. We think that things are only going to be good or things are only going to be bad, or sometimes our expectations are nowhere near as big as what God can do. So we're going to kind of let the Lord kind of do a little palate cleansing for us today and letting us see that we have no idea what great things will come, and for some of us, maybe we need to raise our expectations about what God can do. We're going to get into that in just a moment, but if you have your Bibles, open up with me to Matthew, chapter 14.

Speaker 1: 2:28

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Speaker 1: 3:22

Well, as we've been talking about over the past several days now, the overall theme of Matthew is that Jesus is the King, king Jesus. And in chapter 1, matthew is just waving around the almost like the kind of the, the ancestral documents, and he's saying I can prove to you that Jesus is at the very least. He is the rightful earthly king of Israel. But then he spends chapter 2 through 28 saying but he is so much more than the king of Israel. But then he spends chapter 2 through 28 saying, but he is so much more than the king of Israel. He is the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And we've been seeing that as Jesus is taking this upside down world and turning it right side up again, and we've been seeing as he is continuing to build the kingdom of God. And then in chapter 14, he is resetting the expectations. He's going to talk about the reality at first, that in the kingdom of God, bad things happen Like we need to make sure we realize that we have this world that we live in, where there's good things and there's bad things happening, and the presence of a storm is not the absence of God. But then also, when we come into those environments, when we see something bad happening, there's also the expectation that God is also up to something. We're going to see him feed 5,000 and then we're going to see something even more amazing after that and the challenge for us is going to be what are your expectations in the kingdom of heaven. Heaven, is it time that you raise your expectation of God, let's. Let's jump into this together.

Speaker 1: 4:54

Matthew, chapter 14, verse 1, says this when Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus, he said to his advisors this must be John the Baptist raised from the dead. That is why he can do such miracles. For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife, herodias, the former wife of Herod's brother Philip. John had been telling Herod it is against God's law for you to marry her. Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot because all the people believed John was a prophet. But at the birthday party of Herod, herodias' daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him. So he promised with a vow to give her anything she wanted, and at her mother's urging, she said I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray. Then the king regretted what he had said, but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders. So John was beheaded in the prison and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. Later, john's disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened.

Speaker 1: 6:07

So pause. The first thing we have to remember is that in the kingdom of God, just like we read yesterday, there are going to be good people and there's going to be people who are pretenders they're not really in the kingdom of God. They have a thousand other reasons for coming close to Jesus. So it is not a bad thing to realize that bad things happen even though we're citizens of the kingdom of God. However, that's not all that is happening. The presence of a storm is not the absence of God. Watch what happens next. Verse 13,.

Speaker 1: 6:37

As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was and headed and followed on foot for many towns. When Jesus saw the huge crowds, he stepped from the boat and he had compassion on them and he healed their sick. That evening the disciples came to him and said this is a remote place and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves. But Jesus said that isn't necessary. You feed them, but we have only five loaves of bread and two fish. They answered Bring them here to me. Then he told the people to sit down on the grass and Jesus took five loaves and two fish. He told the people to sit down on the grass and Jesus took five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people, and they all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. Bible scholars have done different types of mathematical equations and they think it could have been up to 15,000 people that Jesus fed with five loaves of bread and two fish, or I guess some people say two fishes. However, that works, but the reality is that with Jesus, a little is always enough, raising our expectation of the kingdom of God. Next, look what happens In verse 22,.

Speaker 1: 8:05

Immediately after this, jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he sent the people home. After sending them home, he went up to the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while they were alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble, far away from land, for a strong wind had risen and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o'clock in the morning, jesus came to them walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. Wouldn't you be? And in their fear they cried out it's a ghost. Terrified, wouldn't you be? And in their fear they cried out it's a ghost. But Jesus spoke to them at once Don't be afraid, take courage, I am here. Then Peter called to him Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you walking on the water, yes, come. Jesus said. So Peter, and I'm just going to kind of put in my own parenthesis. So Peter, before anybody else could grab him, went over the side of the boat and walked on water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong winds and waves, he was terrified and he began to sink. Save me, lord, he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. You have so little faith? Jesus said why did you doubt me? And when they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped him, saying you really are the Son of God, they exclaimed, and after they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret.

Speaker 1: 9:34

And when the people recognized Jesus, the news of his arrival sped quickly throughout the whole area and soon people were bringing all their sick to be healed, and they begged him to let the sick touch even the least of the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed. Wow. So what did we see? In that? We saw three major stories that happened. First of all, we saw that when you follow Jesus, bad things are still going to happen. John the Baptist was still betrayed, basically, and beheaded. Bad things will happen, but the presence of God or the presence of a storm is not always the absence of God.

Speaker 1: 10:18

Then the second thing that happened in the kingdom is you can be doing a good thing but still come to the end of your strength. They were rallying around Jesus, but they ran out of their food. They didn't have any more. Following Jesus sometimes will get you to the end of your resources, but in the kingdom of heaven, it's not about what you have, it's about what he has. And when they got to the end of their resources, it was then they were able to see the power of God.

Speaker 1: 10:48

And then the third thing was is that sometimes serving God will lead you into a storm. Notice how it said the reason why they were in that boat was because Jesus told them to you mess with your theology just a little bit when you have some people who tell you that, man, if you follow God, you're never going to have a bad day, you're always going to have green lights when you're on the road, your food will always be cooked perfectly and, in the name of Jesus, your kids will never pitch a fit. Can I tell you something that? And in the name of Jesus, your kids will never pitch a fit. Can I tell you something? That is not my life story. All right, my life story is quite the opposite of that, other than I have perfect kids in Jesus' name, right, but we hear that, don't we?

Speaker 1: 11:24

But what do you do with this chapter, when being in the kingdom of God means sometimes bad things are gonna happen to good people. Sometimes following God is gonna cause you to get to the end of your resources, and following God will sometimes lead you directly into a storm. Well, if you stop there, that's very disappointing. Keep reading that the presence of a storm is not the absence of God that getting to the end of your resources is sometimes the best way for you to see the provision of God. And sometimes it is in the middle of the storm where you see Jesus the most clearly.

Speaker 1: 12:03

I love how Peter, who is a professional fisherman he knows these waters, he knows how dangerous it is that this storm is going, he knows what that is. But the mentality of Jesus. It may look like I'm safer in this boat, but I really know I'm safest wherever you are. So if you're on the water, that's where I want to be, peter. That's crazy, that's impossible, I know. But if that's where he is, that's what I want to be.

Speaker 1: 12:30

So I want to say one more time that when you're in the kingdom of God, when you're serving God, want to say one more time that when you're in the kingdom of God, when you're serving God, the Bible tells us in this life, jesus said in this life, you will have trouble, but be encouraged, I have already overcome the world. Other words, there's nothing you're going to face that is greater than me. Therefore, sometimes in this life, bad things are going to happen to great people. Sometimes in this life, bad things are going to happen to great people. But the presence of a storm is not the absence of God, that in this life, sometimes, when serving God, we will get to the end of our answers, we'll get to the end of our resources, but sometimes we have to get to the end of our strength before we can see the beginning of his. And sometimes in life, when you follow Jesus, he will lead you directly in the path of a storm, but sometimes it's in the storm where we see Jesus most clearly. The amazing thing about God is he is greater than we can imagine.

Speaker 1: 13:29

So for some of us, maybe it's time to lower our expectation of man and raise our expectation of God. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you that your word is true and it is alive and it speaks to us even in this moment. I pray for some maybe, god, who are experiencing bad things, experiencing the end of their strength, experiencing storms, that you'll show them that you are close. Strength experiencing storms. That you'll show them that you are close, that you are powerful and that you are present in their life. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen. You know what God's word says in Matthew 28, verse 18 or 19,. It says all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Matthew, chapter 15.