Tuesday 11 July 2023

Background

Today’s reading forms a break between the feeding of the multitude and reflection on the event in the remainder of the chapter. One wonders why the disciples set out across the lake. At the end of the previous section, the crowd were acclaiming Jesus as a prophet, and coming to take him to make him king. To avoid this Jesus had gone off alone. Perhaps the disciples felt they should get out of the way of the crowd as well.

This story appears in three of the gospels, with some differences in the detail, notably a difference in which direction they were heading across the lake. Whichever way it was, the journey was about seven miles and we’re told that they were about halfway across when Jesus was seen walking towards them. The verb used could mean that he was walking along the shore but given their position in the middle of the lake this is unlikely. 

Some have suggested that there’s an additional miracle in the fact that they seemed to be instantly back at the shore as soon as the storm calms. However, it may be simply that it felt to them like ‘the blink of an eye’ sailing over the last couple of miles on a calm sea, because of their joy in being saved. 

There are two ways in which this story may have seemed a powerful demonstration of Jesus’ divinity to the disciples. Firstly, the words of reassurance from Jesus can be translated not as ‘It is I’ but as ‘I am’, as in the ‘I am sayings’. Secondly, in Hebrew thought the sea was symbolic of evil, a violent force to be tamed by God. If for some reason they had been doubting Jesus despite the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish, then this ability to walk on and subdue the sea would have encouraged and affirmed them in their trust in Jesus.

To Ponder:

• Being acclaimed a prophet can be dangerous – some were lynched, but the danger Jesus feared was of being ‘put on a pedestal’ in a way that denied his true nature. Who are the prophets today who are either opposed or misunderstood?
• Can you recall a time when you struggled in a storm or doubted and felt you were sinking?  What brought you back from the brink?

Prayer

Calm me, Lord, where I am troubled, and bring me quickly to a safe haven. Amen.