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Commentary on Matthew 5:20-26

Today’s readings are about repentance for the wrongs we have done and the guarantee of God’s mercy. The Gospel passage comes from the Sermon on the Mount, and is the first of six so-called ‘antitheses’ where Jesus contrasts the demands of the Law with those of the Gospel.

Virtue, for the scribes and Pharisees, was largely measured by external observance of the law. For Jesus, that is not enough. For him, real virtue is in the heart. There was a commandment not to kill, but Jesus says that even hatred and anger (i.e. violence in the heart, often expressed by abusive language) must be avoided. Furthermore, we cannot have one set of relationships with God, and another set with people.

So, it is no use going to pray and make our offering to God if we have done harm to a brother or sister. I must leave my gift at the altar, and first go and be reconciled with my brother or sister. Only then may I come to offer my gift.

I cannot say I love God if I hate a brother or sister:

Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars… (1 John 4:20)

and

Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. (Matt 25:45)

Repentance has to be expressed both to God and the person I have hurt. It is not possible to be reconciled to one, and not to the other.

We have something like this in every celebration of the Eucharist, although in practice, it can be very superficially done. At the beginning of the Communion, we together recite the Lord’s Prayer in which we all say:

…forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…

How often are we conscious of saying those words, and how often do we really mean them?

Just after that, we are invited to share a sign of peace with those around us. Again, this can be done in a very perfunctory way. But the meaning of this gesture is that we want to be totally in a spirit of union and reconciliation with each other before we approach the Lord’s Table together to break the Bread—which is the sign of our unity as members of his Body.

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Commentary on Matthew 5:43-48

Today’s passage, like yesterday’s, comes from the Sermon on the Mount. The two passages are related, as they both speak of dealing with people with whom we have difficulties.

Today’s is a passage which many find difficult, too idealistic, or just downright meaningless. The Mosaic Law said that one must love one’s neighbour. It does not actually say we should hate our enemies, but in practice such hatred was condoned. Jesus rejects that teaching outright for his followers. We are to love our enemies and pray for them. How can we possibly do that? It is important that we understand what ‘love’ here means.

In Greek, it is the word agape, a deep concern for the good of the other that reaches out, even if there is nothing in return. It is not sexual, physical love (eros), nor is it the mutual love of intimate friendship or that between marriage partners (philia).

“Enemy” here means those who do harm to us in some way. It does not include the people we turn into enemies because we don’t like them. The true Christian does not have this kind of enemy. The main reason Jesus gives for acting in a loving way is that this is what God himself does.

God has many friends and many who are opposed to him, yet he treats them all exactly the same. God’s agape-love reaches out to all indiscriminately, just as the welcome rain falls and the burning sun shines with equal impartiality on every single person.

Elsewhere we are told that God is love; it is his nature; he cannot do anything else. And that love is extended equally to every single person—to Our Lady, to St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), to the murdering terrorist, the serial killer, the abusive husband, the paedophile—to everyone. The difference is not in God’s love for each of these people, but in their response to that love.

Jesus tells us that we must try to love people in the same way he does. It is important to note that he is not telling us to be in love with those who harm us, or even to like them, or to have them as our friends. That would be unrealistic and unreasonable to ask.

But if we just care for those who are nice to us, how are we different from others? Even people who murder, or have no religion or morals, may do the same. But we are called to imitate the God in whose image we have been made.

And is it so unreasonable to love, to care for, to have genuine concern for our enemies, and pray for them? One presumes, as we have said, they are enemies in the sense that they are hostile to us, even though we may not have provoked them in any way. True Christians, from their side, do not have enemies.

For someone to be my enemy, it means that person really hates me, and may wish to do harm to me or may already have harmed me in some way. What do I gain by hating that person back? Then there are two of us who hate. Why should I allow another person’s hate to influence my feelings towards them? A person who hates is a person who is suffering, a person who is doing more damage to himself or herself, rather than to the supposed enemy. As the Gospel says, another person can hurt my body but not my inner self.

And if he or she does harm me, they harm themselves as well—even if they get twisted pleasure in the short term. If I have a true Christian spirit, I will reach out in compassion to that person. I will want that person to be healed, healed of their hatred, healed of their anger, and to learn how to love. Surely it is much better, and makes more sense, to pray for that person than to hate them back—to bring about healing and reconciliation, rather than deepen the wound on both sides.

What Jesus is asking us to do is not something impossible or unnatural. It is the only thing that makes sense, and will bring peace to me and hopefully, in time, to the person who is hostile to me. We can literally disarm a hating person by acting towards them in a positive and loving way, and refusing to be controlled by their negative attitudes:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt 5:9)

Jesus tells us today:

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Obviously, this is an ideal that we can only reach for. But it is a call to do our utmost to imitate God in extending our goodwill impartially and unconditionally to every single person. This is not just a commandment. When we reflect on it, it is simply common sense and it is as much in our own interest as it benefits others.

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Commentary on Hebrews 10:32-39

The writer again repeats his exhortation to the Hebrew Christians not to give up on the faith to which they gave such strong witness in the past.

He asks them to remember the days when they first heard and “had been enlightened”.  This “enlightenment” is an ancient metaphor for baptism but it may also refer to the catechumen’s enlightenment by faith and their experience of salvation.

At the time of their conversion, the Hebrew Christians had to go through many trials and difficulties, sometimes being “publicly exposed to insults and afflictions” either because of their conversion or because they had close connections with people being so treated.

In addition, they showed their solidarity and compassion with those Christians who had been thrown into prison because of their faith (perhaps a reference to Paul’s imprisonment?).  They even happily accepted their possessions being taken away from them in exchange for a treasure that was so much better and more lasting.

It is not time now for them to give up on their former faith and confidence, which brought such great rewards though not of a material kind.  They need a spirit of endurance and perseverance in their first faith so that, having carried out God’s will in every way, they will receive the reward that awaits them.

In confirmation of what he is saying the author gives a quotation from the prophet Habakuk (2:3-4).  He uses the Greek text of the Old Testament and inverts two lines from verse 4 of the original, and introduces the passage with a few words taken from Isaiah 26:20.  Paul, writing to the Romans (1:17), also quotes the phrase: “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”

…in a very little while,
the one who is coming will come and will not delay,
but my righteous one will live by faith.
My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.

This reflects the belief, mentioned many times in the New Testament, in the expected final coming of Jesus to take all his faithful followers to their future and unending life face to face with God.  The necessary condition was that the Christians maintain their total faith and trust in the promises of God and of Christ:

…we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but among those who have faith and so preserve our souls.

So, the author says in conclusion, the Hebrew Christians and himself are not the kind of people to pull back and so be lost.  Rather they are the sort who remain faithful and so win salvation.  It is this ‘shrinking back’ that these Hebrews are threatening to do, and he is giving them many reasons as to why it does not make any sense for them to do so.

We, too, must continue to move ever forward, remaining faithful to the core of the Gospel message, and living it out effectively and meaningfully in an ever-changing world.

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Commentary on Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19

We begin today chapter 11 of Hebrews which is a magnificent hymn on the meaning of faith.

The chapter is summarised by the New American Bible in these words:

“This chapter draws upon the people and events of the Old Testament to paint an inspiring portrait of religious faith, firm and unyielding in the face of any obstacles that confront it.  These pages rank among the most lofty and eloquent to be found in the Bible.  They expand the theme announced in 6:12, to which the author now returns (10:39).  The material of this chapter is developed chronologically.  Verses 3-7 draw up on the first 9 chapters of Genesis; vv 8-22, upon the period of the patriarchs; vv 23-31, upon the time of Moses; vv 32-38, upon the history of the judges, the prophets and the Maccabean martyrs.”

The author of Hebrews gives the most extensive description of faith provided in the New Testament, though his interest does not lie in a technical, theological definition.  In view of the needs of his audience, he describes what authentic faith does, not what it is in itself.  Through faith, God guarantees the blessings to be hoped for from him, providing evidence in the gift of faith, that what he promises will eventually come to pass (v 1).  Because they accepted in faith God’s guarantee of the future, the biblical personages discussed in vv 3-38 were themselves commended by God (v 2).  Christians have even greater reason to remain firm in faith since they, unlike the Old Testament men and women of faith, have perceived the beginning of God’s fulfilment of his messianic promises (vv 39-40).

Our reading begins with a description of what faith is, and then goes on to discuss the faith of Abraham.  The faith of some other Israelite heroes will be discussed in next Monday’s reading.

Faith is described in these words:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

We are dealing here with a description of faith, not a theological definition.

Faith and hope deal with realities for which we have no absolutely concrete evidence, but they are realities on which we are prepared to base our lives.  It does not mean that we have no evidence for these realities; at the same time they are of such a kind that we discover that by acting on the basis of their promise, we find what we are looking for.  It is not just wishful thinking or a wild shot in the dark.  No one who has genuinely based their lives on the Gospel message has been disappointed.

The Jewish Christians to whom the Letter is addressed have been discouraged by persecution in the past. So the author emphasises that it is only what is in the future and what is invisible that concerns hope.  The examples from the Old Testament are intended to show how faith is the source of patience and strength.

Indeed, says the author, it was because of their faith in God’s word that the ancestors of the Jews won approval from God:

Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.

The author then presents some magnificent examples of faith from the Old Testament.  He begins with Abel, Enoch and Noah and then goes on to Abraham, who is the subject of our reading.  Later, he will speak of Isaac, Joseph and Moses and others.  In general, Abraham is presented in the New Testament as the outstanding example of those who live “by faith” and as “the ancestor of all who believe” (see Rom 4:9-12).

Abraham was called out by God from his birthplace deep in what is now southern Iraq and told to go to a strange, far distant land where he would find an inheritance for himself and his descendants.  He set out not really knowing where he was going or what was ahead of him.  This was his first act of faith.

He arrived, a foreigner and an outsider, in what was to become the Promised Land.  Following him were his son, Isaac, and grandson, Jacob, who were heirs of the same Promise.  They lived in Canaan as nomads taking care of their flocks of sheep and cattle.  They looked forward to a permanent base:

…the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

The “city” speaks of permanence, in contrast to the tents in which the patriarch lived.  That would not come for quite some time in the form of Jerusalem on Mount Zion, the citadel of King David.  But the real city is the “heavenly Jerusalem”, “the city that is to come” and the “new Jerusalem” (see Rev 21).

Next, there is the faith of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.  She had borne her husband no children and hence no legitimate heirs.  Abraham did have a son, Ishmael, by Hagar (one of his slave women), but he did not count this child as part of God’s promise.  Sarah never lost faith that God would keep his promise about Abraham’s inheritance, which could only come through a legitimate son borne by her.  And her faith was rewarded when, already well past child-bearing age, she gave birth to Isaac.  God’s action was clearly present in this event which was beyond all expectation, and yet so crucial for God’s promise to be realised.  Says the author of Hebrews:

Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead [100 years old, according to Genesis], descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore”.

The lateness and unlikeliness of the birth only emphasises God’s role in it.

The author then goes on to comment on the examples he has given (including those not in our reading).  What these people all had in common was that they died before any of the things which had been promised became a reality:

…but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth…

They were nomads not only in the literal sense, but in the sense that this world was not destined to be their permanent home.

By speaking in the way they did they make it clear they were in search of their real homeland.  They were certainly not talking about the place they came from, because they could easily have gone back there.  They were on a forward journey from which there was no turning back:

…they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one….Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

That is, he has prepared a lasting home for them—their permanent home with God himself.

The third and final example of faith is when, being put to the test by God, Abraham was told to make a human sacrifice of his only legitimate son, Isaac.  In human terms, this did not make any sense at all.  Abraham had been promised innumerable descendants, but that could only happen by Isaac’s having sons of his own.  With the death of Isaac, the promise had no way of being realised.  Yet Abraham, in a supreme act of faith and trust in God’s keeping his promise, proceeded to carry out God’s command.

We know that, just as Abraham raised the knife to kill his son who was already bound on an altar, an angel of the Lord stopped him and substituted a ram for the sacrifice.  Abraham’s extraordinary faith was rewarded and God’s promise was fulfilled—and is still being fulfilled.  Says the author:

He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead—and, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Some see in Isaac’s return from virtual death a symbol of Christ’s resurrection.

Clearly, the author of Hebrews tells these stories to encourage those to whom he is writing.  Because of their difficulties, their faith is weakening.  And indeed, for the early Church in general, especially in times of great persecution, great faith was needed.  This is what the parables of the mustard seed and of the yeast in the dough are about.  What would they think of the more than two-billion Christians in the world today?

There are many lessons for us here.   In many parts of the world, including our own, Christians are in situations where their faith is under attack in one way or another.  In some cases, it may be direct persecution and harassment; in others, it may be the pressure from the surrounding culture. 

We need to go back to the heart of our faith, i.e. the core vision that Jesus handed on to us. Let us also go forward in faith and trust that God will keep his promises.

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Commentary on Mark 3:22-30

We have seen how the religious leaders have tried various ploys to expose Jesus as a violator of the Law. They now try a new tactic to discredit him by making two accusations:

1. He is possessed, not just by any ordinary demon, but by Beelzebul the prince of demons.
2. It is through the power of the demon in him that he expels evil spirits from others.

Jesus answers both charges. He responds to the second charge by showing its internal contradictions. If the devil was acting against himself, his power would eventually collapse like a divided household. To drive the demon from someone as Jesus did was to liberate that person, free that person from evil powers. Why would the demon want to do something like that? The charge does not make sense. It could only be made by a perverse mind.

Nor can someone:

…enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

Clearly Jesus is the strong man who cannot be overcome.

The next statement of Jesus, however, may cause difficulties for some. Jesus says:

Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin…

But why only this sin? Is God’s mercy not infinite and omnipotent?

The Spirit is the origin of all that is good in Jesus, in people, and in the world. God is present in the world through the Spirit. To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to deliberately refuse to see that presence, that goodness—as the scribes, for instance, obstinately refused to see the hand of God’s love in all that Jesus was doing. This was something the ordinary people had no difficulty in seeing.

Once we are in a position where we have closed our minds to God’s presence in our lives, how can God reach us? God readily forgives those who reach out to him in sorrow and repentance. Forgiveness came to the Prodigal Son when he turned back to find his father. Forgiveness for God enables reconciliation; it is the healing of our wound. He does not, he will not, reach into a heart that has closed itself tight. He will never force his way in.

Love is not love if it is not free. But the corollary of that freedom is the ability to choose the opposite. That was the choice the scribes were making.

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Commentary on Mark 3:31-35

We know that many of Jesus’ family already thought he was mad, and he had become an embarrassment to them. Now they come to the house where Jesus is teaching and, standing outside, send in a message asking for him. Do they want to talk with him or to remove him from what he is doing?

The message is sent in:

Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.

To which Jesus replies:

Who are my mother and my brothers?

And pointing to those sitting at his feet listening to his teaching, he says:

Here are my mother and my brothers!

And he clarifies that further by adding:

Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.

We should note that Jesus’ family is described twice as being on the ‘outside’. They are ‘outsiders’. By implication, those sitting in a circle with Jesus are on the ‘inside’—they are the ‘insiders’.

What Jesus is clearly saying is that being on the ‘inside’ is not just a question of location, but of relationship. That relationship is not by blood, but by identification with the Way of Jesus. To be a Christian is to enter into a new family, with stronger ties than those of blood, and where everyone is seen as a brother or a sister. The ‘insider’ is defined simply as anyone “who does the will of God”. So, it can include those who are not Christian at all.

A disturbing question that might arise from this passage is the status of Jesus’ mother, Mary. Was she also on the ‘outside’? The answer is an unequivocal no! We know from Luke’s Gospel that, when invited by the angel to be the mother of Jesus, Mary gave an unconditional ‘Yes’.

Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)

This was her total surrender to the will of God, and it was something that she never withdrew through all the difficulties she experienced and, most of all, when the “sword of sorrow” pierced her heart as she saw her own Son’s heart pierced on the Cross. She was with him to the very end, and finally would share his joy in the Resurrection.

On one occasion, when Mary was praised as blessed and privileged for having a Son like Jesus, Jesus replied:

Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it! (Luke 11:27-28)

Mary is on the ‘inside’, not because she was the mother of Jesus, but because of her totally identifying with his mission and being with him to the very end. May we be able to say the same.

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Commentary on Mark 4:1-20

Today we see Jesus teaching by the seashore.  The crowds were so great that Jesus had to use one of his disciples’ boats and preach from there.  Generally speaking, Jesus teaches the crowds near the sea but, when teaching his disciples, he tends to go to a mountain or secluded place.

For the first time in Mark, we come across a number of parables spoken by Jesus.  Before we go on to discuss the parable in today’s passage, let us make a few remarks about parables in general.   In the New Testament the word ‘parable’ represents a wide range of literary forms.  In general, however, it can be said that a parable is a way of illustrating a point of Jesus’ teaching through an illustration from daily life.  Sometimes there may be an exaggerated element only to make the point of the parable more striking.

Strictly speaking, the difference between a parable and an allegory is that the former just makes one point using a comparison, while in the latter each of the items in the story has a symbolism of its own.   Generally speaking, Jesus’ parables were of the first kind, but allegory cannot always be excluded.  We will see that today’s parable of the sower  is a parable in the strict sense, but when Jesus explains the parable to his disciples it is made to look more like an allegory.  That said, this is not a point to argue about.

The parable of the sower, as presented here, is in three parts.  The first part seems to be close to what Jesus actually said and, like most parables, just makes one point.  That point is that God’s sowing represents his plan to build the Kingdom and to make his reign effective in the world. Although it may seem to meet with partial or total failure in some areas, overall it will certainly succeed.  God’s plans will not be frustrated.

It is a parable to induce confidence, especially for a tiny Church in times of difficulty and persecution (which Mark’s Church would have been experiencing). The parable concludes with the call:

If you have ears to hear, then hear!

Listening is a very important element in our relationship with God and Jesus.  In the Gospel, listening involves:

Once we have reached the third stage, the fourth and final stage will inevitably follow:

Once a way of seeing life becomes part of us, then we will want to behave accordingly.  We will not have to force ourselves to act.  This is the freedom that comes with being one with Christ and his Way.

The next part of the passage may seem strange.  It seems to say that Jesus spoke in parables so that those outside his own circle would not be able to understand.  That does not really make sense.  Was his message not for all?  In fact, Jesus is quoting a rather cynical passage from the Hebrew (Old) Testament about people who keep looking but never see, keep listening but never hear (see Is 6:9-10).  Why? Because if they did see and understand, they might be converted and change, but they do not want to be converted or to change.  They have already made up their minds.  We certainly meet people like that today.

In fact, the parables, using graphic images from familiar scenes in daily life, were spoken precisely to help people understand the message of Jesus.  But as we have seen, there were those who simply did not want to see even the obvious.

Finally, there is another interpretation of the parable in response to a request by the disciples for an explanation. The explanation somewhat changes the emphasis on the parable itself and it becomes more an allegory than a parable. In the original parable the emphasis is really on the Sower, i.e. God, and the ultimate success of his work.

In this alternate interpretation, the emphasis is on the soil in which the seed is trying to grow. It describes different responses to the Word of God (the seed).  We have to realise first that, in Palestine at this time, the sowing took place before the ploughing.  Then we need to visualise a rock-strewn field lying fallow since the last harvest.  There are public paths going across it.  Weeds and brambles have grown up in parts.   This is where the farmer will scatter his seed.

Some seed falls on the barren paths.  It gets no welcome and never even begins to grow.  Birds come and eat it up.  This refers to those who come in contact with the message of Jesus, but it never even gets a start in their lives.

Some falls on the rocks, where in the crevices there may be some moisture.  Though the seed begins to grow, it soon runs out of moisture and nourishment, and it withers and dies.  This soil is compared to those who embrace Christianity with enthusiasm but, once they meet with some opposition or persecution (which would have been common in the early Church), they fall away.

Some seed falls among the weeds and brambles. It takes root, but the weeds are growing too, and they eventually choke out the wheat.  This is a picture of the Christian who gets caught up in the prevailing (materialistic) values of the surrounding society and ends up producing nothing.

Finally, there is seed which falls on fertile soil and yields a good harvest in varying amounts.  These are the Christians who really ‘hear’ the word (see above) and produce much fruit.

Notice that to be a Christian, it is not enough just to be fervent and observant, but one also must be productive:

…every good tree bears good fruit…Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
(Matt 7:17,19)

Perhaps we may reflect today which of the above categories best describes us.

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Commentary on Mark 4:21-25

We are still with Mark’s Gospel in a section of parables and images.  Today we see a number of disparate sayings.

No one lights a lamp and then covers it up.  Our Christian faith is a light for the world and not to be kept hidden. Our message is not meant to be kept secret, but to be broadcast and shared.  How many know that we are Christians?  How many see us practise our faith openly?  How many are influenced by our living according to the Christian vision?  Our faith, our knowledge of Jesus and his Gospel, is not something private to be kept to ourselves.

A ‘good’ Catholic is not just one who keeps all the Commandments, goes often to Mass and stays in the ‘state of grace’, but rather ‘good’ Catholics are those who radiate their faith, share it generously with others and are as much concerned with others having the experience of loving and being loved by God as they have.  If we are not seen to be Christians we have somehow failed, no matter how good our inner lives may be. To be a Christian is not just to be a good person but an apostle, an evangeliser, a sharer of faith by word and action.

What we give out to others is what we ourselves will receive—and even more:

For to those who have, more will be given, and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

That is what happened to the man who buried his master’s money in the ground so as not to lose it.  Those who invested it got even more in return.  In the Christian life, we gain by giving, not by getting.  It is only when we give that we can get, and when everyone gives, everyone gets.

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Commentary on Mark 4:26-34

Here we have the two last parables told by Mark in this part of his Gospel.  They are both images of the Kingdom of God, of God’s truth and love spreading among people all over the world.  They are both taken from the world of agriculture, a world that would have been very familiar to Jesus’ listeners.

In the first parable, God’s work is compared to a farmer planting seed.  As in the parable of the Sower, the seed is the Kingdom.  Night and day, the process of growth continues without any human intervention.  Whether the farmer is awake or asleep, the process of growth continues.  The seed sprouts and grows and the farmer does not know how.  The outcome is certain. Once the seed is ripe, it is for the farmer to bring in the harvest.  And that is our task—to bring in the harvest which has been planted in the hearts of people.  In the words of the other parables, it is up to us to shine the light which helps people see the truth and love of God already present in their deepest being.

In the second parable, the Kingdom is compared to a mustard seed.  Although one of the tiniest of seeds, it grows into a sizeable shrub in which even birds can build their nests.

Both of these parables are words of encouragement to a struggling Church living in small scattered communities and surrounded by hostile elements ready to destroy it.  How amazed would the Christians of those days be if they could see how the seed has grown and spread to parts of the world of whose very existence they were totally unaware! Today, we still need to have trust like theirs, and confidence in the power of the Kingdom to survive and spread.

Mark says that Jesus spoke many parables, or even that he spoke only in parables.  But the full meaning of his teaching was explained to his inner circles of disciples. Those staying ‘outside’ were not ready to take in the message.  They are the ones who were not ‘hearing’, as Jesus told his disciples to do.  How sensitive is my hearing?

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Commentary on Mark 4:35-41

After the passage on the parables, Mark continues by narrating four miracle stories, two of them put together in an ‘inclusion’. There are two messages in today’s story of the calming of the storm at sea.

The first is that the calming of the sea indicates the true identity of Jesus; he has the power of God himself.  This question of Jesus’ identity is a major theme of Mark’s Gospel.

He speaks to the sea as if it were a living thing, an instrument of the devil, an evil thing. No wonder that the disciples are filled with awe.  Their question contains its own answer:

Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

This is clear from passages in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms:

• You silence the roaring of the seas,
  the roaring of their waves… (Ps 65:7)
• You rule the raging of the sea…
  when its waves rise, you still them. (Ps 89:9)
• More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
  more majestic than the waves of the sea… (Ps 93:4)
• …he made the storm be still,
  and the waves of the sea were hushed. (Ps 107:29)

The second message lies in the symbolism underlying the whole story. It is a story of the early Church.  The boat represents a church community (our Church is a community of churches). The surrounding sea is the world.  Jesus gets into the boat “just as he was”, that is, a man looking no different from his disciples. There were other boats too. That is, other church communities. Then a violent storm arises and waves threaten to swamp the boat and sink it. This is just what was happening to so many little communities surrounded by hostile elements bent on wiping out the Christian faith.

Where was Jesus during all this?  Asleep!  Not in the least worried.  The disciples scold him:

Teacher [not yet Lord], do you not care that we are perishing?

How often that complaint must have risen from those tiny, battered communities wondering where their Lord was in all their troubles!  Jesus wakes up and:

…he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!”

And calm returns.

Now his disciples are scolded:

Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?

That is, why do they not trust in Jesus’ caring for them.  Of course, the real calm is not so much in the sea as it is in their hearts when they realise that Jesus is not far away, he is not asleep or absent, but is with them all the time.

Let us pray for that inner peace that comes from knowing Jesus is always very close to us, no matter what may be going on in our lives.