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Even though a week has passed since we gathered to celebrate these Sunday ceremonies, our gospel picks up minutes from where we left off last weekend. If you recall, Jesus just fed thousands of followers with only 5 loaves and 2 fish. After this miraculous feeding, Jesus sent away both His disciples and the vast crowd. The disciples took a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. In the meantime, He “went up on the mountain by himself to pray.” Whenever we see Jesus retreating to solitude for prayer, it reminds us that He was a sojourner here. His original and permanent life is in Heaven, in communion with His Father. Like Him, we are also sojourners here. Like Him, we also need solitary times with our Father.
The plan was for the apostles to go on ahead to their next stop via boat and where Jesus would catch up with them. This wasn’t a big deal: many of his apostles are fisherman and the boat was like an ancient Uber to quickly get to their next gathering place.
Life often seems this way: simple, straight-forward, everything going according to plan. And then something changes or surprises us; a storm arises which throws everything into chaos. This is what happens to the apostles on the Sea of Galilee, which is infamous for being calm one moment and then dangerously tempestuous the next. There are a series of details Matthew gives us about this experience that are jam-packed with meaning but easy to miss.
The Greek word describing this storm, which is translated as “tossed about by the waves” in English, literally means “harassed, tortured.” Even for seasoned fishermen, this was quite a storm. Jesus goes to them in “the fourth watch of the night,” which is between 3:00 and 6:00 am. The apostles had been battling this storm most of the night. Why did Jesus wait so long? Was He so absorbed in prayer that He was unaware of their plight? Did he simply not care? As the episode unfolds, we get the feeling there was a point Jesus wanted to make, a lesson He wanted to teach His friends. If so, this reminds us of Jesus’ purposeful delay in going to his dying friend, Lazarus. In that case, Jesus chose raising a man from the dead as a more powerful testimony than a cured illness would have been. Was that same dynamic at work here?
Ironically, when Jesus approaches the disciples “walking on the sea,” they are terrified, not relieved. They do not recognize Him. They think He is a “ghost.” Why did they have that reaction? Certainly they didn’t expect to see Jesus (or any human being) walking on water; even more so now that there was a terrible storm with huge waves and violent wind. They had struggled so long against this frightening storm that, in their exhaustion, they had only fear and dread of this appearance. If they were thinking of Jesus at all, maybe they wondered if He would be waiting on the other side for them, if they made it there. Perhaps they were disappointed He hadn’t made the trip with them in the boat. Then He could have calmed the sea with a command. Here in the tempest, where the sea seemed to be winning its battle against them, the sight of a man walking on water was too strange and ominous for them. They literally “screamed” with fear. They did not feel the nearness of Jesus; on the contrary, they felt completely abandoned.
As their fear reached its height, Jesus “immediately” speaks to them: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” The sound of Jesus’ voice assures them this is no ghost. No matter what their eyes told them, or what their imaginations conjured up, it was the Word Jesus spoke that calmed their fears. They were his sheep, he was their shepherd and immediately they recognized his voice. Translated literally, Jesus says, “Take heart; I am.” For these Jewish apostles, this phrase had enormous significance. God had once said about Himself: “’I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.’ Thus says the LORD, Who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters’”. God first revealed himself to Moses as “I am, Who am.”
A few final details for us to consider. The boat has always been a symbol of the Catholic Church. The stormy sea is a metaphor of the world which often tosses the Church around and threatens to destroy Her and everyone she shelters. In our own time, haven’t we seen how quickly the weather can change for Christians? We can be tempted to despair and wonder why Jesus doesn’t calm the storm immediately.
Notice too, how Peter wants to get out of the boat and join Jesus on the water. Is it because of his faith? Maybe. Could it also be that he just wants out of the boat? I think that is part of it. Sometimes it is hard to stay in the Church with all the other disciples that Jesus calls to follow him. We all have our opinions, our way of doing things, and sometimes it seems like it would be so much easier to have Christianity be just me and Jesus. Let everyone else work out their own problems!! But what does Jesus do after he saves Peter from sinking? He does not walk with him over the water to the shore. He doesn’t tell the others in the boat, “Sorry suckers, you should have been willing to get your feet wet. Pete and I are outta here!” No! He returns, with Peter into boat, ——- he stays with the church, as divided, exhausted, frightened, and imperfect as they are, and TOGETHER they return safely to their destination.
So what do these little details mean for us in practical terms?
- For those who follow Christ, this life is a pilgrimage to a final destination. We will forever encounter times of calm and storm but neither will last forever. We should remember this in both the good and bad times of life and never get too comfortable.
- No matter what, we must make quiet prayer a priority. If Jesus needed it and made time for it, so can we. Our “to-do” list cannot possibly be bigger or more important than the Savior of the world so let’s make sure and imitate Jesus in this way.
- No matter how big the storm, Jesus can walk on its waves. He is not limited by its power but he may allow us to be tossed around for a little bit. We may never understand why but we can trust that he always has our greatest good in mind. Whatever storms you face, keep fighting, remain faithful, ignore the wind and waves, and stay stay focused on Jesus!
- Last, it seems like it would be so much easier to work with God alone to be saved and get through the storms of life. Mysteriously, God has placed all of us in this boat of the Catholic Church for a reason. Jesus used the imperfect, divided, petty group of disciples to form a cohesive Church that was capable of speaking to every nation and type of person. He can do the same with you and me but we have to stick together. Even when we falter in faith and begin to sink, we must allow Jesus to return us to His saving ship and together with him and everyone else on this voyage, reach our final destination.
May we not be afraid of any storm that awaits us but instead watch and listen for our Saving Lord when he reaches out to us. He has power over all things and he will not fail to save us if we stay close to Him and his Church.
