WE need to have real faith in Jesus as we try to live up to our tasks in this world. For we are asked to cross to the other side of the sea and on a boat buffeted by waves and with opposing winds, and to do what Jesus does (Matthew 14:22-33).
Crossing a stormy sea
Hearing of 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 ended up feeding thousands of them in that deserted location. 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 pabaon or provision for the road from the 12 baskets of leftover of the bread miraculously multiplied and also pasalubong or take-home for their families).
Themselves nourished by the bread from Jesus, the disciples received the instruction to go out to sea that same night and cross over to the other shore. Any questions the disciples might have they kept to themselves, for they have just seen how their reservations about feeding the crowds in the desert were proven baseless. But after surviving one, they were to run into another crisis. Some kilometers offshore, all by themselves and in the dark, they found themselves being tossed about by the waves and tried hard by the turbulence caused by the contrary wind. The boat of Christ’s faithful, the Church, battered by waves and resisted by winds, is in peril.
Walking on the sea
The exhausting struggle against the stormy sea put uncertainty in their hearts, and it turned into terror around four in the morning when they saw someone walking on the water toward them. It was 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 as a counter culture naturally goes against the current in a world pervaded by evil.
But the community of faith is never really alone in the midst of the storm. Someone walks with sovereign power on the sea: Jesus the Christ, God’s chosen one in control over the chaotic waters. “It is He” who alone can say “I am” in identification with the Almighty. Jesus has already conquered the kingdom of darkness as He sends evil spirits scampering out of His way and as He walks on the sea triumphantly. Peter, representing the entire boatload of believers in Jesus even as they were tossed about by the waves, exemplified human wavering between trust and doubt in the face of conflicts and dangers. “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 sea. 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 ordered and empowered by Jesus. Believing and calling Jesus “Lord,” Peter took the steps on the water in his personal journey deeper into the mystery of God-in-their-midst. It entailed overcoming his fear, with his eyes on Jesus. But he wavered letting his mind fill with the noise of the protesting winds, and he started to sink. As Jesus, whom he asked for help, caught him, Peter was led to see that his “little faith” as demonstrated by his doubt needs to grow still. On the boat with the disciples, the threatening forces died down and everyone recognized Jesus as the Son of God. It is clear that the homage of the disciples must include the understanding that faith in Jesus translates into participating in the work and mission of Jesus. And they still need to grow in that faith that is not afraid in the face of the storm.
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