Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water

Aivazovsky, Ivan Konstantinovich.  Storm on the Sea at Night.  1849. The Grand Palace at Peterhof, St. Petersburg, Russia

 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.  Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!"  And they cried out for fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."  So He said, "Come."  And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"   And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

- Matthew 14:22-36

Yesterday we read that when Jesus heard that Herod feared He was John the Baptist risen from the dead, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.  When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late.  Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."  But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away.  You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."  He said, "Bring them here to Me."  Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass.  And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.  Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.  Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!"  And they cried out for fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  My study bible comments here that this is the second Christ permits His disciples to be caught in a storm (see 8:23-27). The first time, He was with them.  This time, Jesus has left them on their own.   This is a parallel to our own lives, in which our own difficulties and temptations prepare us for a step further.  My study bible says that in this way, Christ strengthens their faith that He will be with them in the middle of life's storms.  It is I is literally translated as "I Am," the divine Name of God in the Old Testament (see John 8:58, Exodus 3:14).  Christ reminds His fearful disciples of His identity as Lord, an absolute and divine authority in their lives.

And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."  So He said, "Come."  And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"     My study bible explains that it is Peter's faith that allows him to walk on the water.   It tells us to take note that Peter doesn't ask to walk on water per se, but rather to come to Jesus.  His desire isn't to perform miracles rather to be with Christ.  Peter may participate in this divine miracle so long as his focus is kept on Christ.  Once he is distracted, he begins to sink.  

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"  This Greek word translated as doubt means "wavering" or "hesitation."  The cause of Peter's sinking wasn't the storm.  It was his doubt.  Therefore, my study bible points out, Christ does not rebuke the wind, but Peter.

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."  This is the first confession of the disciples that Jesus is the Son of God.  They know that only God can be worshiped, and so their confession of His divinity includes worship (the Greek word translated as worshiped means to prostrate oneself, kneel, or bow down as in a position of worship).

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment.  And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.  My study bible writes that Christ permits miracles through touch to show that His very body is life, in order to show that contact with His flesh is life-creating (see 9:20-22). 

Why does Peter get into the water to walk?  It seems that he wants assurance that what he is seeing in not a ghost, but really Christ Himself.  That is, the One who has said, "It is I; do not be afraid" is the one of whom Peter wants to be completely certain.  In some sense this perspective tells us something very important about our faith.  Faith isn't blindness -- it is instead a trust, a confidence.  When one speaks of acting on faith without knowing or certainty first, that is because we have trust in the One who tells us to go forward and who has given us His gospel message.  Whatever we are "blind" to does not convey blindness but rather not knowing, and that is a different thing altogether.  My study bible points out that Peter's real desire is to go toward Christ, and not to perform a miracle himself of walking on water.  He's not looking to prove he has a superpower or special grace.  Instead, his focus is actually on his faith, and he wants to have faith in Jesus more than anything else.  It's quite a marvelous thing to consider what my study bible says here, that Peter is fine so long as he keeps his focus on Jesus and doesn't get distracted.  There is a metaphor there for all of us.  It tells us that what we need is in front of us, that we can't approach our faith with certainties, that it's possible all kinds of things will be open to us when we need them in certain circumstances.  Here are the disciples once again in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, and it's the fourth watch of the night (3:00 in the morning), while Jesus has remained behind to pray.  Why does He stay behind to pray?  The Eucharist has just been revealed in this feeding (even if the disciples are a long time away from understanding it).  Jesus has been revealed as the Lord (even if, yes, again, the disciples are a long way from understanding it).  It is just a testament to the profound moment in this time of turning in His ministry, when for a certainty the state power is already against Him, and it will only grow more so.  Jesus doesn't want to be made a king John 6:15.  He isn't going to be a Messiah according to the popular expectations.  He has His own path to go, in which He must be guided by the Father.  In that context, walking on the water becomes a part of the ministry, a part of the way He has to reveal to His disciples what is necessary.  It has to be relevant.  In so doing, He reveals Himself to them as divine, as the Lord, and so not simply the glorified human being the Messiah was expected to be.  He shows us the way also through Peter's response of faith -- and then lack of faith.  We can come to Him any way we really need to, but what we need is faith.  Just like in baseball or any other sport, we're always told, "Keep your eyes on the ball."  Well, for today's reading, we learn that through all the storms of life and all the horrible day-to-day things we read about and fear, the injustices of our world, the unfairness of brutality, and the deceitfulness of riches -- while we are in or on our game -- we ask what is it we are supposed to do?  We keep our eyes on Christ.  We keep our focus on Him so that He leads our way through this world of unfairness, and so that we can come to Him through it all.  Let's not forget Peter walked on the water until he took his eyes off of Jesus, and Jesus will be there for you and for me as well.  Let's not forget that the early followers of Jesus saw the world as an arena, a contest, like an athlete.  They knew it was a struggle and we are caught in the middle of something  Let's not forget where we need to keep our focus today.