Gospel: Mark 6:45-52
Immediately, Jesus obliged his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, toward Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away. And having sent the people off, he went by himself to the hillside to pray.When evening came, the boat was far out on the lake, while he was alone on the land. Jesus saw his disciples straining at the oars, for the wind was against them; and before daybreak he came to them, walking on the lake, and he was going to pass them by.When they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified.
But, at once, he called to them, “Courage! It is I; don’t be afraid!” Then Jesus got into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely astonished, for they had not really grasped the fact of the loaves; their minds were dull.
Reflections
“It is I; don’t be afraid!”
No doubt the sight of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee filled his disciples with terror: “they thought it was a ghost.” John writes, “Perfect love drives away fear,” yet the disciples are far from such perfect love. They are also far from perfect under standing of who Jesus is and the significance of his actions. Hav ing experienced the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes, their minds remain “dull.” “Wow, wasn’t that great that we had enough to feed everyone?” they are thinking, without re cognizing once again a sign of the inbreaking reality of the kingdom of heaven in their midst.“It is I,” says the Lord;“don’t be afraid.”Perhaps we also fail to see things according to their true meaning, and thus we remain afraid. None of us has seen the Lord walking on the waves. No one has seen God. But when we love, according to the Epistle, “God lives in us,” and we can see God in the loving deeds of others, especially in the works of mercy: feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, visiting the prisoner. To the extent that such witness frightens us, it is a sign that our faith and our love remain weak. May the Spirit give us courage!
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019
