Sunday 9 August 2026
Lectio
Divina:*
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Meditatio:
‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ (Matt 14:27)
Commentary:
(See, also, Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:16-21)
In today’s first reading we hear of Elijah meeting God on
mount Horeb – not in scenes of thunder, noise and commotion but in the ‘sound
of sheer silence’ (1 Kings 19:12) according to one English language translation
(NRSVA). Other versions have ‘a still small voice’ (RSV) or ‘a gentle breeze’
(CEV)
The message that emerges is that God speaks gently and almost silently. We can hear if we are still and at rest. The idea of a whisper or a gentle breeze evokes memories of a time when the Holy Spirit spoke to us in a delightful way.
However, hearing the Lord ‘speak’ to us is more than just
fanciful imagination while we still the body and the mind. The Psalmist
declares:
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. (v.8).
To hear what God has to say to us we must be ready to ‘turn
to him’ in our hearts. In other words, we must be ready to do his will. Such a
disposition is not easy because we prefer to hear what we want to hear from
sources that suit our agenda and hang-ups. Listening with a ready ear and an
open heart and with a will ready to submit is what matters. Otherwise, we risk
twisting Scripture, which arose within the living Tradition of the Church, to
suit our own preferences.
The story of ‘walking on the waters’ in today’s Gospel
reading is part of a series of episodes from chapter 13 through to chapter 18
where Matthew tells how the disciples were prepared and formed by the teaching
and miracles of Jesus before the decisive events at the close of Jesus’
ministry in Jerusalem. There is a touch of a resurrection narrative about this
passage from Matthew. It has parallels such
as in the post-resurrection story found in the gospel of John when Peter swims
rather than walks towards Jesus (John21:1-8). An earlier story is found in Matthew (8:23-27)
where there is a storm at sea involving the apostles but, in this latter case,
Jesus is already in the boat when the storm breaks out. The episode
recounted in chapter 14 follows the miraculous feeding of the crowd and comes
before the definitive confession of faith by Peter in the Christ found in
Chapter 16 of that gospel.
Writing for a mainly Jewish Christian audience, Matthew is
anxious to stress the continuity of God’s saving power in the life of Jesus in
such manner that all who follow Jesus become part of God’s salvation story
first told among his chosen people and now told to the whole world.
Detailed consideration of this week’s passage from
Matthew
v.22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
Following the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, it is
now evening time and dark is descending. Later that night Jesus would see the
rising danger for his disciples. Going with the gospel of John, the summary and
pressing dismissal of the crowd may reflect pressure on Jesus to make him king
(John
6:14-15). On this supposition, Jesus needed to get the disciples out of the
way quickly, and having dismissed the crowds, to retreat to pray on his own.
This was no time for king-making or misrepresentation of the kingdom message.
v.23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone
There is a pattern of drama here following the miracle of
the loaves and preceding the walking on the waters. Matthew, in his ordering of
events, is preparing the reader for the climactic revelation of Jesus as the promised
messiah who will act in the power of God as witnessed through his power over
nature. To pray on his own, Jesus gives a pattern to those who might follow in
his steps.
v.24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.
The word ‘battered’ is from the Greek word basanizomenon in
the original manuscripts. We can only imagine that the disciples were
weary and greatly afraid as well as unsure of their whereabouts in the dark as
they were driven off course at some considerable distance from the shore.
v.25 And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake.
Sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. (the ‘fourth watch of the
night’), Jesus walked towards the beleaguered and exhausted disciples. There are
many precedents for God’s miraculous and all-powerful work over the chaos and
danger of waters in a number of places in the Old Testament including Psalm77:19, Psalm107:25-32 and Job9:8.
v.26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear.
In Mark’s account, the disciples were ‘astounded’,
‘terrified’ or ‘troubled’ depending on which English translation is used.
A similar word is used to describe the reaction of the apostles to the
appearances of Jesus after his resurrection.
v.27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’
The use of ‘It is I’ strongly hints at divine power at work
in Jesus where Yahweh revealed himself from the burning bush as the one who is
(Exodus3:14). There can be no mistaking, however, the link to the action of
Yahweh resonating among a Jewish audience listening to or reading Matthew. The
prophet Isaiah wrote (41:13):
For I, the Lord your God, hold your right
hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
This is exactly what Jesus proceeds to do next. The use of
Old Testament ideas and language fits with a Matthean style of extensive use of
such sources to back up the message that Jesus is the new Moses and Messiah and
that what was foreshadowed in the Old Testament matches the gospels ‘so that it
may be fulfilled’.
The use of ‘I am’ or ‘it is I’ occurs many times in the
scriptures and has a specific meaning and connotation depending on the context,
as something said by God. There are
relatively few places in the New Testament where the authors explicitly refer
to Jesus as God – period. One strong candidate is in the second reading for today
from Romans 9:5 where St Paul in speaking of his own people, the Jews writes:
to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
There are different translations and some are come down on
the side of this:
Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. (New International Version).
There is a rather detailed technical discussion of the
interpretation based on the syntax used in the original Greek and the lack of
punctuation in same. The traditional
Catholic interpretation understands the verse as referring to Christ as ‘God
over all, blessed forever,' and many modern scholars continue to favour that
reading
v.28 Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’
This episode involving Peter walking on the waters is unique
to the Gospel of Matthew. Some scholars
question if Peter actually, really, historically walked on the waters and that
a miraculous event – as described in Matthew – took place at all. Some
speculate that the story may reflect a post-resurrection experience retold and
reworked into Jesus’ earlier life. However, others suggest that no definitive
conclusion can be drawn as to the historicity of the walking on the waters. Who
can place limits on God’s sovereignty and power?
v.29 He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus.
And Jesus does exactly as Peter asked and calls him. What
Peter did next was, characteristic of him - rash and reckless. Having asked Jesus to
command him to come to him on the water and having heard the call ‘come’ he got
out of the boat and started walking!
v.30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’
O, Peter! When Peter
‘noticed the strong wind’ we can conclude that he took his eyes off Jesus for a
moment. That was nearly fatal until Jesus stretched out his arm to hold Peter
(they must have been near each other by now). Fear took over when Peter
lost sight of Jesus and focussed on the danger. Some scholars see, in this
story, a case of individual disciples struggling with adversity and not a case
of the ‘church’ struggling. However, many of the patristic sources including
Saint Augustine of Hippo writing centuries later clearly identify the boat on
the sea as the church. It seems to me that both points of emphasis are
valid and useful for a contemporary reading of this passage of Matthew. We are,
all of us, in a boat with others on a very stormy sea and, sometimes, our destination
seems unclear.
v.31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’
The finger and hand of God is here. There is a strong echo of the words of Isaiah41:10:
do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.
That victorious right hand is offered – in the person of
Jesus – to Peter who has lost his trust for a moment and is sinking.
The doubting reaction of the apostles or disciples found in
Mark is somewhat softened in
Matthew.
v.32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
The calming of the winds coincides with Jesus’ entering of
the boat (strictly speaking ‘storm’ is not mentioned in Matthew 14 whereas it
was in Matthew 8). The reference to the
fact that ‘the wind ceased’ seems like an anti-climax. The focus, here, is what
is happening to the disciples as well as the actions of Jesus and Peter. Jesus
did not calm the seas or restrain the wind to make things easier for Peter to
walk towards him. Rather, it was by coming into the boat that calm was
restored. This required a gesture of despair, appeal and rescue confirming that
God is in charge here but we need to invite him in. For all his recklessness
Peter took the lead and walked towards Jesus in trust.
v. 33 And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’
The hero of the story is Jesus himself who is proclaimed as
The Son of God and worshipped accordingly. The next time his disciples would
worship him in Matthew’s gospel would be after his resurrection (Matthew28:17):
When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.
And so for us today….
Central to this passage in Matthew’s gospel is the power of
God in situations of crisis and intense danger and fear. There is a personal
message to the individual Christian disciple just as there is a message to the
community of disciples gathered together in the name of Jesus.
The wind did not cease until Jesus entered the boat.
It was only when Jesus joined the disciples in the boat that the wind ceased.
Is there a lesson, today, for us who struggle against the storms of life alone
or with others? It is when Jesus is in our midst that we can find the way to
proceed and find our destination.
Collect
of the Word for this Sunday (Church of Ireland)
Mighty God and ruler of all creation, give new strength to
our faith, that we may recognise your presence even when all hope seems lost. Help
us to face all trials with serenity as we walk with Christ through the stormy
seas of life and come at the last to your eternal peace. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Post-Communion prayer (Roman Catholic missal of 1970)
Lord, may the eucharist you give us bring us to salvation
and keep us faithful to the light of your truth. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Private prayer after Holy Communion
(from The Family Missal and Prayer Book of the Church of
the Holy Spirit, Ballyroan, Dublin, 1976)
Lord Jesus, You are the Son of God. Hidden God, devoutly I
adore you, truly present in this eucharist. Wonderful how God can be present in
different ways. At the sound of a gentle breeze, Elijah covered his face with
his cloak. In the force of the dark wind and in the chaos of the wet waves,
Peter came to feel your saving power. Sometimes I get into difficulties and in
the darkness am tempted to lose hope. May I always call out to you, ‘Lord, save
me’.
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