***
Gospel: Matthew 8: 23-27
As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea,
so that the boat was being swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
They came and woke him, saying,
“Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this,
whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
There’s a riddle we all learned as children:
“Why did the chicken cross the road?”
“To get to the other side.”
***
It seems stunning in its simplicity, yet it’s the same dynamic we see unfolding in today’s Gospel. Why did Jesus tell his disciples to get into the boat?
To get to the other side.
They don’t know this yet, but once they land, Jesus will begin preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles for the very first time, which is why he’s taking his rest while he can.
Meanwhile, the disciples are terrified of forces they cannot control – the wind, the sea, the waves – so much so that they awaken a sleeping Jesus, crying out, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
In Mark’s account of this story, Peter goes so far as to ask incredulously, “Do you not care that we are drowning?” As if Jesus is some absent-minded or cruel Lord.
Frustrated, Jesus gets up, rubs his eyes, and rebukes the wicked storm as he wonders why his disciples are still so weak in their faith. The Lord would never allow his friends to suffer without reason or to be overcome by nature.
***
I’m sure we’ve all felt like the disciples before. We’ve had that sinking feeling in our stomach like we’re going to drown – not necessarily in water, but in debt, temptation, fear, anxiety, or stress.
In those moments, we can expend a tremendous amount of energy unnecessarily staggering across the boat, as it were, crying out to the Lord. Meanwhile, the real “test” is on the other shore.
If we use this Gospel story as a model for our faith, then the invitation is not to panic when the flood waters rise, but to rest. Curl up next to a sleeping Jesus, “whom even the winds and the sea obey.”
Save your energy for whatever is on the other side.
***
***
Image credits: (1) The Storm at Sea, Rembrandt (2) Adobe Stock (3) Debbie McDaniel