Water

²⁴but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. ²⁵And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ (Matt.14)

In water we have the flooding ability to destroy. Rivers flow, lakes ripple with little waves; sometimes not so little wave.  Oceans , seas, flow with the motions of the earth beneath in huge waves.  Sometimes with tsunami force. Rain comes down form heaven to water the earth bringing life to the soil.

There are many ways the water can destroy; however,  sometimes it has an amazing ability to calm, and soothe, the soul

When I returned to finish my undergraduate education, I attended Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  It is located at the edge of Lake Michigan. A  wonderful place to study; and just sit enjoying the beautiful water.

The lake was so interesting with all of its various moods — quiet and calming, filled with diamond on a sunny day; gray on stormy days when the waves would roll up on the land with great force.

Any way it was, somehow it brought me a certain peace; and yes gratitude.

When Jesus came to the frightened disciples, in that tiny boat being tossed about in the angry wave of the sea, it reminded me of Lake Michigan on stormy day.

And I can’t imagine even being in a boat on water like that; let alone walking calmly on it.

So I try to imagine how the disciples felt as they saw Jesus coming toward them.

What divides my ability to imagine today, and how they might have been feeling thousands of years ago.  I cannot ever begin to understand.  They understood a very different theology about God' and how He worked

First of all, I saw Lake Michigan from a safe distance.  It was no threat to me no matter how stormy it was.

However, the disciple had been raise to believe in a theology, formed by the Hebrew tradition, which understood water meant something more than simply threatening weather.

To them the storm represented “all the evil powers which oppress and resisted the salvation intended for the people of Israel.” (Karl Barth 1958)

The Hebrew religions agrees with Barth’s understanding of water.

In my simple mind there understanding was,  anything that attempts to threaten God’s plan is doomed to fail.

  

Those disciples must have believed that God was somehow acting in the stormy water to either punish them; or teach them something.

When we, then, consider the reaction of the disciples — mostly former fishermen — it makes sense that they had fear of the storm. And to top it all off  is the “ghost” that was coming toward them walking on that rough water.

And so Jesus, bring aware of their theology, calls out over the angry waves:  “ego eimi — it is I” — God.

Surely a divine manifestation approaching their fear.

The LORD triumphs over water.