The Gospel of Matthew

Aquarian Gospel

Chapter 14

Chapter 117

1: At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,

2: 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.

3: For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.

4: For John said to him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

5: And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

6: But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.

A ROYAL feast was held in honor of the birthday of the tetrarch in fortified Machaerus, east of the Bitter Sea.
2) The tetrarch, Herod, and his wife, Herodias, together with Salome were there; and all the men and women of the royal court were there.
3) And when the feast was done, lo, all the guests and courtiers were drunk with wine; they danced and leaped about like children in their play.

4) Salome, daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before the king. The beauty of her form, her grace and winning ways entranced the silly Herod, then half drunk with wine.

7: Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.

5) He called the maiden to his side and said,
Salome, you have won my heart, and you may ask and I will give you anything you wish.

8: And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John the Baptist's head in a charger.

6) The maiden ran in childish glee and told her mother what the ruler said.
7) Her mother said, Go back and say, Give me the head of John, the harbinger.

9: And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.

8) The maiden ran and told the ruler what she wished.
9) And Herod called his trusty executioner and said to him,
Go to the tower and tell the keeper that by my authority you come to execute the prisoner known as John.

11: And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel:

and on a platter bore the lifeless head of John, and Herod offered it unto the maiden in the presence of the guests.

11) The maiden stood aloof; her innocence was outraged when she saw the bloody gift, and she would touch it not.
12) Her mother, steeped and hardened well in crime, came up and took the head and held it up before the guests and said,
13) This is the fate of every man who dares to scorn, or criticize, the acts of him who reigns.
14) The drunken rabble gazed upon the gruesome sight with fiendish joy.
15) The head was taken back unto the tower.

12: And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

The body had been given unto holy men who had been friends of John; they placed it in a burial case and carried it away.
16) They bore it to the Jordan, which they crossed just at the ford where John first preached the word;
17) And through the passes of the Judean hills they carried it.
18) They reached the sacred grounds near Hebron, where the bodies of the parents of the harbinger lay in their tombs;
19) And there they buried it; and then they went their way.
20) Now, when the news reached Galilee that John was dead the people met to sing the sonnets of the dead.

the rest of Chapter 117 continued at Matthew 8:18

Chapter 124

THE twelve apostles now had reached the stage of spirit consciousness, and Jesus could reveal to them the deeper meanings of his mission to the world.
2) Next week the great feast of the Jews would be observed, and Matthew said, Shall we not gird ourselves and go unto Jerusalem?
3) But Jesus said, We will not go up to the feast; the time is short and I have many things to say to you; come you apart into a desert place and rest a while.

13: When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

4) And then they took their boats and crossed the sea, and came into a desert place near Julius Bethesda.

14: And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

5) The people saw them go, and in vast multitudes they followed them.
6) And Jesus had compassion on the anxious throng, and he stood forth and taught them all the day, because they sought a light and were like sheep without a fold

15: And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

7) And as the night came on the twelve were doubting what the multitudes would do, and Thomas said,
8) Lord, we are in a desert place; the multitudes have nothing to eat and they are faint from lack of food; what shall we do?

16: But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

17: And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

10) And Judas said, Shall we go down and buy two hundred pennies' worth of bread for them to eat?
11) And Jesus said, Go look into our larder and see how many loaves we have.
12) And Andrew said, We have no bread, but we have found a lad who has five barley loaves and two small fish; but this would not be food enough for one in ten.

19: And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed it, and broke it, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

13) But Jesus said, Command these people all to sit upon the grass in companies of twelve; and they all sat down in companies of twelve.

14) Then Jesus took the loaves and fish, and looking up to heaven he spoke the sacred Word.
15) And then he broke the bread and gave it to the twelve; he also gave the fish unto the twelve, and said,
Go to and feed the multitudes.  

20: And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

21: And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
 

16) And all the people ate and were refreshed.
17) There were about five thousand men, a company of little ones, and women not a few.
18) And when the people all were filled the master said,
19) Let not a crumb be lost; Go to and gather up the pieces of the bread and fish for others that may want.
20) They gathered up the fragments and they filled twelve baskets full.

21) The people were bewildered by this wondrous act of power; they said, And now we know that Jesus is the prophet that our prophets said would come; and then they said, All hail the king!

22: And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

22) When Jesus heard them say, All hail the king! he called the twelve and had them take their boats and go before him to the other side;

23: And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening  came, he was there alone.

24: But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

24) The twelve were on the sea and hoped to reach Capernaum in just a little time, when all at once a fearful storm arose, and they were at the mercy of the waves.

25: And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

25) And in the fourth watch of the night the wind became a whirling wind, and they were filled with fear.
26) And in the blinding storm they saw a form move on the waves; it seemed to be a man,

26: And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27: But straightway Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

27) But John discerned the form and said, It is the Lord.

28: And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, bid me to come to you on the water.

28) And then the wind blew not so hard, and Peter, standing in the midst, exclaimed:
29) My Lord! my Lord! If this be truly you, bid me to come to you upon the waves.

29: And he said, Come. And when Peter came down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30) The form reached forth his hand and said, Come on.
31) And Peter stepped upon the waves and they were solid as a rock; he walked upon the waves.

30: But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me!

32) He walked until he thought within himself,
What if the waves should break beneath my feet?
33) And then the waves did break beneath his feet, and he began to sink, and in the fearfulness of soul he cried,
O save me, Lord, or I am lost!

31: And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said to him, Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?

34) And Jesus took him by the hand and said, O you of little faith! why did you doubt?

And Jesus led the way to the boat.
35) The storm had spent its force; the winds were still,

33: Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth you are the Son of God.

and they were near the shore, and when they landed they were in the valley of Gennesaret.

35: And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;

36: And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.