Matthew 14:22-33
22Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Most of us imagine the Gospels as short biographies of Jesus. Matthew and Luke begin with his birth, tell the story of his ministry and conclude with his death and resurrection. Yet scattered in the gospels you discover unusual stories which cause us to wonder and contemplate the identity of Jesus. Today’s gospel story invites such consideration of the identity of this man who walks on the water.
Did you notice at the start of the story all the strange behaviors of Jesus with his disciples? Just before this story, Jesus fed a large crowd of 5,000 men so with the women and children we can imagine at least 15,000 people feasted on the bread and fish he provided for them. Jesus sends the disciples in a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee while he dismisses the crowd and climbs the mountain to spend the night in prayer with God. Why would Jesus send his disciples off in a boat into a storm brewing on the Sea of Galilee? Why would he send them in obvious danger? As their boat is tossed on the Sea, the disciples experience this vision of Jesus coming to them and walking on the water.
In an episode only cited by Matthew, Peter asks Jesus to approach him on the water. When Peter becomes frightened by the surging water and the threatening winds, he begins to sink and Jesus rescues him. As Jesus enters the boat, the disciples make a major confession of faith, calling Jesus the Son of God and worshipping him.
I would like to suggest that the today’s story may be better positioned at the conclusion of the gospel. Perhaps today’s Gospel is showing us an appearance of the Risen Christ to the disciples, commissioning them to go into the storm of proclaiming the Gospel and coming to them when they are swamped by opposition to their proclamation.
You all know that throughout this Gospel, God is continually manifesting Jesus as God’s Son, showing Jesus as God with us. When an angel tells Joseph about the birth of Jesus the angel names the child Emmanuel, God with us. The last promise Jesus makes to the disciples in this gospel is “I will be with you always.” You remember that throughout this Gospel, God speaks about Jesus and reveals Jesus as God’s Son. At the Baptism, at the Transfiguration and ultimately at the Resurrection, God is manifesting Jesus as God’s Beloved Son.
God’s revelation calls on the disciples, and us, to respond in faith, to acknowledge that what God is telling us is true. God plants faith in your hearts so you can see Jesus as God reveals him: the Son of God. In the Resurrection, God shows Jesus to be his Son, to be the revelation of God’s abiding presence among us. In today’s Gospel story, God reveals Jesus in a miraculous moment of walking on the water, something only God can do.
When Jesus enters the boat the disciples acknowledge what God has shown them. They profess their faith: “Truly you are the Son of God.” Later in this Gospel, Peter will make that same confession. When the centurion overseeing Jesus execution witnesses Jesus’ death, that centurion makes the same confession: “Truly, this man was God’s Son.” (Mt. 27:54)
You too are invited this day to be like the disciples in the boat. Jesus sends you, as he sent the disciples, to go into the world and proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God. When you go into the world, you, like the disciples, will experience the resistance of the world to that proclamation. You will feel as if you are in a boat tossed by the waves and threatened by the wind. In that moment of fear, Jesus invites you to overcome your fear by your faith.
God gives each of you a seed of faith to believe that Jesus is God’s Son, to believe that God continues to abide with you in the person of Jesus. There are times, and I know these moments happen for me and I guess they happen to you, when the challenges of life threaten that seed of faith. Like the disciples, your faith will allow you to see Jesus coming to you across the threatening seas and the terrors of the blowing wind. Like the disciples, your faith will see Jesus coming to you, abiding with you, assuring you to walk out in faith, as Peter did, and meet Jesus in the middle of your fear, in the middle of the conflict, in the middle of any terror. When you, like Peter, walk out in faith and then perhaps falter, you can be sure that if you raise out your hand and call out in faith, Jesus will grasp your hand and lift you up and bring you to safety.
You all know those times when your faith seems to fail, when you feel overwhelmed by the storms, when the challenges of life buffet you like the winds threatening the disciples on the sea. You also know to go deeper with your faith, to move to a new level of relationship with Jesus, to reach out to Jesus and know his sure presence. Receive Jesus this day by faith when he comes to you in Holy Communion. Draw deeply on his presence, feel his love for you. Then go from this place, strengthened to meet any storm, confident that the Son of God will lift you up no matter how threatening the sea, no matter how frightening the wind.