Year A Proper 14, August 10

Who is Jesus? What picture do you have of him? What are his characteristics, his attributes? It’s important that we have a good, clear picture of who he is, and usually we just have pieces, fragments, little bits of who he is. We have our favorite images, our Sunday school pictures, but these don’t convey the whole person, do they? Really, it’s pretty hard to get a good idea of who he is without some study, and even still we only get fragments.

Churches, denominations, other organizations often focus on certain characteristics, and exclude other ideas that aren’t as comfortable, or that challenge their theology or mission, not getting a comprehensive picture. “They may focus on Jesus as Savior, shepherd, teacher, Lord, friend, revolutionary leader, or provider. . . . [But] if Jesus is only a friend to us, perhaps we do not understand that he is also the powerful Lord of the universe, who can supply us with the power necessary to accomplish whatever God calls us to in life. If Jesus is only our gentle shepherd, perhaps we do not recognize him as the religious revolutionary who despised religious hypocrisy.”[1] I could go on and on, because Jesus is all of these things, and we need to understand that. In order to understand his significance for us, for our lives, we need to have a well rounded understanding of who he is and what he can and has accomplished for us, and in us. And when we understand more accurately who he is, we will, we must, worship him as the disciples did. “Those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying’ Truly you are the Son of God.”

But that’s the end of the story, so lets back up to the beginning. Jesus and his disciples have had a long day of teaching and healing, and they have fed 5000 men, not counting women and children. Jesus wants to go off by himself to pray, to recharge and reconnect with the Father. Of course, he is always in contact with the Father, but even Jesus needs time alone with God to reflect and pray. He tells the disciples to get in the boat and go on ahead, and he dismisses the crowds for the night. Jesus is finally alone, and spends time in prayer with the Father into the night.
Meanwhile, the disciples are out on the Sea of Galilee, and a storm has come up. The boat is being battered by the waves and the wind. The disciples are struggling and straining. To the first century people, water and storms represent chaos, instability, and terror. And while some of the disciples were seasoned fishermen, used to the action of waves and water, this was a powerful and dangerous storm, and they were afraid. Then they saw a figure walking towards them on the water and were even more terrified. They thought it was a ghost.

Earlier this week we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration, and I heard Father Swan preach on Tuesday. He suggested that Jesus often went alone to pray on a mountain, but at the transfiguration he took his inner circle of disciples with him: Peter, James and John. Usually he prayed alone, but on this occasion there were witnesses to his prayer, and they saw him clothed in brilliant light—and perhaps this always happened when he prayed, when he got “recharged” through time with the Father. And I thought that maybe the disciples in the boat were afraid of the figure approaching, and thought it was a ghost, because he was still clothed with God’s glory, glowing like Moses’ face whenever he met with the Lord on Mount Sinai. Have you ever seen or met someone who seemed to glow with God’s light, with holiness? I think it still happens.

But back to the story. The disciples thought Jesus was a ghost, and were terrified. And Jesus calls out, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Take courage because I am. This may allude to the voice of the Lord coming from the burning bush. Moses asked who the voice came from, and God answered, I am that I am. I am, so don’t be afraid. I am who has power over all creation, over wind and storms and seas. And Peter—don’t you love Peter?—he calls out and says, Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you. The idea is that if the figure really is Jesus, Peter knows he doesn’t need to be afraid, and it focuses Peter’s faith on Jesus, helping him to put aside his fear, to call out and to know that Jesus has the power and ability to bid him to come.

And Jesus says, come. Peter climbed over the side of the boat, and found that he could walk on the surface of the sea!! This is truly a miracle, walking toward Jesus on the top of the water. But then he thinks about what he is doing. Men can’t walk on water, the seas and winds are still stormy. Even for a fisherman, water is chaos. He noticed and became aware of the wind and thus took his eyes off of Jesus. When he focuses on the wind instead of on Jesus he begins to sink, and cries out, Lord save me! Even while he was sinking, Peter recognized that “the same Lord who could walk on water himself and then enable Peter to walk on the water is more than able to save him from sinking.”[2] And immediately Jesus reached out and rescued him, and said to him, “you of little faith, why did you doubt?” I don’t think Peter is being reprimanded or chastised. I don’t think Jesus was accusing him, but the gentle and assuring emphasis is on Jesus himself. Why did you doubt me? Why did you take your eyes off of me? Jesus is challenging Peter to keep his eyes on Jesus, to stay focused on who He is. Faith is consistently trusting in Jesus, keeping our eyes and our focus on him, no matter what storms are raging around us.

Jesus and Peter get into the boat and the winds die down. The wind that had caused Peter to take his eyes off of Jesus is under Jesus’ control. The disciples are awed and overwhelmed by all that has just happened, and they worship Jesus. In Scripture, worship is reserved for God alone. “The disciples are gripped with the reality that Jesus . . . is the Son of God, and so they worship him.” This is also the first time that they use the title, Son of God, for Jesus. Their understanding of who he is, is growing. They are beginning to recognize that Jesus, the compassionate teacher and healer, is also God’s Son, uniquely related to the Father, with authority over the forces of creation. And they worship him.

Who is Jesus? In his healing ministry, in the feeding of the 5000 that we read last week, he is compassionate. He is a provider—bringing healing, food, and “the security of his presence to his needy disciples . . . Ultimately he has authority over all of creation, which he demonstrates in the calming of the sea. . . All of these factors point strongly to his identity, and the narrative is capped off with the disciples worshipping him as they proclaim his identity: ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”[3]

Like Peter, we too have our fears and our doubts. We take our eyes off of Jesus. We say, ”I believe, help my unbelief.“ We have faith, and we doubt, and that’s okay. Our doubts challenge our faith, and our fears cause us to reach out to Jesus when we are sinking. Barbara Brown Taylor writes that

Our fears and doubts may paralyze us, but they are also what make us cry out for his saving touch, so how can they be all bad? If we never sank—if we could walk on water just fine by ourselves—we would not need a savior. . . .Our doubts, fearsome as they are, remind us who we are, and whose we are, and whom we need in our lives to save our lives. When we sink, as Peter does, as we all do, Our Lord reaches out and catches us, responding first with grace, and then with judgment—‘why did you doubt?’—but never with rejection.[4]

As we walk and sink, as we have faith and doubt, as we are rescued by Jesus, we begin to see and comprehend that Jesus is truly the son of God, God in flesh, God who is able to save and worthy of worship and honor and glory. In the storms of our lives, we perceive that Jesus is God and we worship him. Truly, you are the Son of God. Amen.

[1] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. Zondervan, p. 529.
[2] Ibid, 517.
[3] Ibid, 529.
[4] Taylor, Barbara B. The Seeds of Heaven: Sermons on the Gsopel of Matthew. Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p.60.