We need real faith in Jesus as we try to live up to our role in the world. We are asked to cross to the other side of the sea on a boat buffeted by waves and with opposing winds, and to do what Jesus does (Matthew 14:22-33).
Alone on a stormy sea
Hearing the death of His friend, John the Baptizer, Jesus sought earlier to be alone in a deserted place. But the crowd came hungry for Him, and He fed 5,000 of them in the wilderness. Still wanting to be alone with His Father in prayer on the mountain, he sent his disciples on a boat to precede Him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, while He sent the people away too (I think, giving them from the leftover bread of the miraculous feeding, pabaon provision for the road and pasalubong take-home for their families).
Themselves nourished by the bread from Jesus, the disciples have the assignment to go out to sea and cross over to the other shore. Any questions the disciples might have they kept to themselves, for they have just seen that their reservations about feeding the crowds in the desert were baseless. But after surviving one, they were to run into another crisis. Some kilometers offshore, alone and at night, they found themselves being tossed about by the waves and tried hard by the turbulence caused by the contrary wind. The boat of the Church battered by waves and resisted by winds is in danger.
Walking on the water
The exhausting struggle against the angry sea put uncertainty in their hearts, and it turned into terror around four in the morning when they saw someone walking on the sea toward them. “It’s a ghost!” was their instinctive reaction, a specter sowing fear in their world of spirits. The disciples’ task to cross the sea was in itself fraught with risks. The sea is the abode of evil spirits, the abyss and seat of the kingdom of darkness. For the “bark of Peter” to cross the sea is to bring the fight to the enemy. A stormy sea must be expected, for the Church is a counterculture going against the current in a world pervaded by evil.
But the Church is never really alone in the midst of the storm. Someone walks with sovereign power on the sea: Jesus Christ, who is now the visibility of the Almighty in control over the chaotic waters. “It is He,” who alone can say “I am” in identification with the reality of God. Jesus has already conquered the kingdom of darkness, and He walks on the sea triumphantly. Peter, representing the entire boat tossed about by the waves, exemplified the wavering between faith and doubt in the face of conflicts. “If it is you…”, then they can really cross the sea and weather the turbulent passage, and be like Jesus on top of the situation walking on the water. That would not be impossible; it is part of their mission.
Alálaong bagá, Peter asked Jesus to command him to come over on the water. He did not arrogate to himself the power of Jesus; he only requested to be commanded and empowered by him. Believing and calling Jesus as the Lord, Peter took the steps in his journey deeper into the mystery of his master. It entailed overcoming his fear, with his eyes on Jesus. But he wavered, letting his mind fill with the noisy opposing winds, and he started to sink. He asked for help, and Jesus caught him. Peter was led to see that his “little faith”, as manifested in his doubt, needs to mature still. With Jesus on the boat with His disciples the threatening forces died down, and they recognized His power as the Son of God. But it is clear their homage must include understanding that faith translates into participating in Christ’s power and action. They still have to grow into what Jesus commanded: “Do not be afraid!” in the face of the storm.
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