The gospel story of Jesus walking on the turbulent
waters of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14: 22-33) is well known by many people.
As the story unfolds, upon the feeding of the 5000 with the 5 loaves and 2
fish, Jesus, still needs some time alone to sort out the news of his cousin’s
beheading by King Herod. Jesus tells the apostles to go to the other side of
the Sea of Galilee while he dismisses the crowd, and gets some time alone to
pray. The apostles get into their boat and begin the journey across the Sea.
The stormy condition makes their travel difficult with huge waves tossing the
boat around when all of a sudden an apparition appears to be walking on the
stormy seas. “During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking
on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. ‘It
is a ghost,’ they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to
them, ‘Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.’”
The natural place to start with this gospel story,
is Peter’s faltering faith as he attempts to walk toward Jesus on the water.
Much can be said about how Peter, not fully trusting in Jesus, begins to sink
into the Sea, and how it applies to our own “on and off” trust in God. However,
the part of the story I find more intriguing is the reaction of the apostles to
Jesus walking toward them on the waters. They are deathly afraid that some
specter or demon is out to destroy them on that stormy night. They are so
shaken and so anxiety ridden, that Jesus finds it necessary to call out to them
to reassure them that he is not out to harm them.
This raises within me the question, are there times
in our lives that we feel uncomfortable in the presence of Jesus? It is so
comfortable and convenient to continue to be stuck spiritually and the thought
of our faith life evolving in such a way that change is required, can be
frightening. When Jesus approaches us, as he does the apostles in the boat, do
we get scared because we recognize in his light the need to change our lives?
Let’s face it, most of us know intuitively what we need to change in our lives
and are reluctant to let go and allow the change to happen. I believe it was
St. Augustine, who early on in his conversion, once said something like, “Lord
I want to change … but not yet!”
For those of us who hover on the cusp of conversion
and deepening our relationship with God, Jesus calls out to us to not be
afraid, to take courage and to trust in him. It is at this point that Peter’s
part of the story becomes significant. Stepping out of our boats of
complacency, out into the waters of a deepening relationship with God does take
courage. The waters look very dark at times and unforgiving. Rather than look
down into the depths of fear and unknowing, we need to took trustingly into the
face of Jesus, and know that if, for one reason or another, we begin to sink
into the depths, Jesus will be there to grasp us by the hand and pull us up
into his safe embrace.
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