Getting Out of the Boat part 2

    

     The last time you were in a plane, did you get any turbulence? Probably a little. If you're reading this, it means it thankfully didn't get too bad. Imagine it did. Imagine it got horrible. Imagine the plane crew was panicking, one of them was unconscious, and the 60-year-old smoker next to you vomited all over your pants. You look outside, and everything is black. Occasionally a lightning strike illuminates the terrifying maelstrom outside the plane, with it's 30,000 feet drops and mountain sized cumulonimbus clouds.

    Then, imagine, with one flash of lightning, you see a human silhouette far in the distance. You'd probably think someone just fell out of the plane. But then, another bolt flashes, and you see this person again and they're getting closer. And closer, and closer to the wing. And they're flying.

    Even as I wrote that example, I still don't think I can replicate the terror the apostles felt during the storm on the sea of Galilee. My mind, thanks to superhero movies, has adjusted to the fantastic concept of someone flying. Walking on water, though? You don't see that so much. It's a lot more archaic. No chance some Galilean fisherman entertained that idea often. The ocean feels like a lot more of a chaotic unknown quantity to most people, for good reason. You can't see what's down there, it can swallow you whole, and it occasionally spouts out the most Lovecraftian-sized squid you've ever seen just to show you how much you don't know about it.

    All this is to say- if you were in the situation the apostles were in in Matthew 14, you'd feel real terror. Any illusion of control you'd think you had over the situation would evaporate the moment you faced Christ walking on water. 

    So, like last time, we're gonna see how Peter reacts to the situation. I'll give you a hint: he gets out of the boat.

    AYO! ROLL CREDITS, BABY- 

No. That’s cringe.

  Here's the verses we're reading, Matthew chapter 14:

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    22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

    25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

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    There is so much going on here. We've already covered the sheer terror of the situation(seriously, this isn't Sunday school, you need to understand how terrifying this would be. Look up videos of a stormy sea if you need help), so best to start with Peter saying "Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water."

    Once again, Peter does the admirable thing! He has this intuition of the situation, its miraculous nature, and that if that person walking really is Jesus, this miraculous friend and teacher he knows so well, then he can do anything despite the storm around them. Peter is harnessing some piece of belief in this miraculous environment, and using it as an opportunity to get closer to Jesus, and man that is- I wish I could say that I'd do that. 

    So Peter begins to walk.

    Esoteric tangent: The symbolic nature of walking on water, by the way, goes straight back to Genesis 1:2, where the spirit of God is hovering over the face of the waters and masters it, and forms the earth above these chaos waters. There's a good theory that holds *pun intended* water that other religions' creation stories, such as the ancient Sumerian myth of Tiamat the giant sea serpent, feature water as the core symbol of chaos and disorder and the main threat to existence and that will destroy everything if left unchecked. The Bible employs these symbols as well, but, instead of having a major struggle between good and chaos ensue(like every other myth), it simply has Jesus going for a stroll right in between all of it. It's awesome - check out Dr. Tim Mackie at Bible Project for more.

    Esoteric tangent over. 

    Peter walks, but he falters. The distractions of his environment causes fear, the fear makes him afraid, and some combination of the distraction and the fear cause the miracle to cease. The ceasing of the miracle causes Peter to panic and cry for help. Jesus helps. It's very much a cause and effect chain of events unfolding right in front of Jesus, coming from a lack of faith, for him and the disciples to see. Embarrassing for Peter for sure. 

    Jesus rebukes Peter for his lack of faith, which could have a number of motivations behind it(the more I think about it, the crazier a question such as "why did you doubt?" becomes). He's communicating to Peter the fact that his kingdom, for those who follow him, is limitless. All it takes is faith. Even though a rebuke, given the circumstances, might initially seem unreasonable, it's definitely intentional on Jesus's part. He's disciplining those he loves for greater things to come.

    The two friends get back into the boat, and the weather calms down. That in and of itself must have been trippy to experience. Now the rest of the disciples know what to do, which is worship.

    I think the writer of Matthew definitely recorded this passage, and wrote it, with the intent of it being around Peter's lack of faith versus Jesus's. If you keep your eyes on Christ, then the physical facts of reality just don't matter. Not to mention the invisible facts as well - your checkered past, your crippling self-doubt, the fact that no one likes you, etc. I think this passage is trying to show the miracle of a Christ-focused life. So focus on him, I guess. I need to do a much better job at this. When the chips are down, I see a lot of room for improvement in my faith life. 

    Hopefully this was helpful for you to do so, as well. If you've made it this far, thank you. I've seen these blog posts are getting at least 10 views apiece which is seriously more than I was expecting or asked for, so thanks guys!

  See you next week.