Let us cross over to the other side of the lake

 

© Author's collection

 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.  Therefore take heed how you hear.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."

Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd.  And it was told Him by some, who said, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You."  But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  And they launched out.  But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"

 

- Luke 8:16–25 

 

Yesterday we read that, after Jesus' encounter with the woman who anointed Him with a fragrant oil in the home of the Pharisee, He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities -- Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.  And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  "A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.   Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold."  When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"  And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'  Now the parable is this:  The seed is the word of God.  Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." 

 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.  Therefore take heed how you hear.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."   Again, emphasizes the importance of how we hear.  This is a responsibility of the listener.  We cannot encounter the wisdom of Christ on one day, but then cover this brilliant illumination with a vessel or put it under a bed.   Our response -- how we hear -- is important.  Are we going to cultivate the life it offers, or put it aside?  

Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd.  And it was told Him by some, who said, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You."  But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."  My study bible comments that it was not Christ's will to deny His mother and brothers.  Instead, what Jesus is doing is correcting both them and His hearers.  According to St John Chrysostom, He is leading them "to the right idea concerning Himself."  The family of His Kingdom, writes St. Chrysostom, "is not by nature but by virtue."  See also Luke 11:27-28.

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  And they launched out.  But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"  My study bible tells us that Christ deliberately permits the windstorm to arise while He is sleeping, so that the disciples' faith might be perfected, and their weaknesses rebuked, so they would eventually be unshaken by the temptations of life.  (See the parable of the Sower, above, and the commentary of Christ on the meaning of the "thorns" in the parable.)  Here their faith is still mixed with unbelief.  They showed faith when they came to Him, but unbelief when they said, "We are perishing."

 

 If we look at Jesus and the disciples' crossing of the Sea of Galilee as if it were simply a routine trip across this extremely large lake, we might be a bit confused by Jesus' rebuke of the disciples for their fear.  After all, the text tells us that their boat was filling with water, and they were in jeopardy.  But this isn't an ordinary boat trip.  This is one that Jesus has guided them to take ("Let us cross over to the other side of the lake").   So from the start of its telling, this is a different kind of a story.  It is a story set in the pursuit of faith and discipleship.  In that sense, it is all about life lived as those who seek to "hear the word of God and do it," and the courage that this journey will take.  We do not set out on such a journey with a worldly perspective -- that we are simply out for a nice time, or working for particular goals like catching fish so we can make a living selling them.  This is a "crossing over" that becomes a way to deepen faith, to develop courage in living out that faith, and to become stronger in the face of temptations.   At times in our faith lives, we find that we are setting sail into deeper waters, so to speak.  In this case, the disciples are told by Christ to cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  Let us not forget that at least some of these men are seasoned fishermen on this particular sea, but it's likely that even they haven't crossed over into strange Gentile territory.   In the following reading, Jesus and the disciples will have a strange encounter indeed after they cross over the Sea of Galilee.  But this is the way we should understand our faith works.  We don't stand still, we are called to move forward, to "cross over" into new and unfamiliar places that ask us to deepen our faith, and to go through challenges to that faith.  Our prayer lives aren't necessarily meant to lead us to "smooth sailing," great prosperity, and an easy life.  Christ and His illumination call us to deeper places within ourselves, to meet new struggles, and to become those who more brightly shine this light that we are given.  We know there are challenges in the world, and that our faith does not give us magic and false comfort, but rather a rock upon which we build our spiritual homes and face the difficulties of life.  So Jesus commands the disciples to cross over, and in so doing, they meet their fears, their sense of mortality, and especially the levels of confidence they may place in Him.  There is a deeper lesson to understand here, and that is that there are times when we can't see our way out of a bad situation or circumstance.  It is then that our faith really comes into play, as prayer becomes the one thing we can turn to.  That is, we turn to Him, just as the disciples did.  In such circumstances, I have found, there are "outside the box" realities that come into play. Either there is a solution that our own conventional expectations and understanding could not consider, or strange circumstances beyond our experience conspire to open a particular door with which we're not familiar or possibly are uncomfortable.  In any one of these circumstances, it is prayer that helps to open our eyes to things we don't see, paths we've never before followed, or a new chapter in life which stretches before us.  And in any of these cases prayer becomes a key to the imagination, to opening up our minds to new paths and possibilities.  God is leading us forward and expanding us in our faith, and the application and expression of that faith.  So let us learn from the apostles as they are guided by Christ across what was for them uncharted waters.  For so we will be led, too.