Saturday April 29
Again a grand night scene: Christ appearing in the midst of the storm. His appearance baffles the disciples who were busy fishing. The presence of Jesus is not merely physical; he walks on water, against the law of gravity, thus declaring himself transcendent, beyond the laws of nature. I am, he affirms, bringing back the memories of his disciples to God’s response at Sinai. A little later, in his discourse at Capernaum, he will reveal a new way of a totally unexpected presence: the Eucharist, bread and wine, body and blood of the Lord.
Alternative
As in other cultures, water had a double meaning for the Jews of old: it was both a benign and a destructive element. God is “a fountain of living water” (Jer 2:13); but on the other hand, the enemy can be “like an overflowing torrent” (Jer 47:2). They especially feared the chaos of the sea, which brought remembrance of the Deluge.
The associations were likely to have been of the second kind for the disciples caught in a storm at night on the Sea of Galilee. Then Jesus appeared “walking on the sea.” They were terrified, but he said, “Don’t be afraid, it is I.” In Greek, the words are, “I am.” This recalls the divine “I am” of Genesis. A constant theme in the Old Testament is the power of God over the sea. It was by such power that he delivered them from the Egyptians in the Exodus. Clearly John wants this association to be present to the reader.
What meaning can this strange story have for us today? This occurs to me: the Lord can come to us in the least likely medium. We seat ourselves on the solid ground of common sense and logic, but he is well able to do without them!
