But when they saw him walking on the sea,
they thought it was a ghost and cried out.
Since perfect love drives out fear we can see that they had not yet been perfected in love. This was in fact what the miracle of the loaves was meant to accomplish. They were to recognize in Jesus the God who desired to be himself the shepherd of his people Israel. He intended to lead them not only through the valley of the shadow of death but also to keep the safe during storms, whether during the first watch of the night or the fourth.
They were completely astounded.
They had not understood the incident of the loaves.
On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.
The miracle of the loaves had not had the desired effect on the disciples themselves. More than anyone else who witnessed it they should have recognized that in Jesus there was a sufficient abundance to meet every need. Perhaps at a distance it might have been possible to ignore this reality. But they themselves were so involved, both by bringing the five loaves and two wish, and by providing the multiplied results to the people. They were not only seeing an impressive miracle. Jesus himself was demonstrating his love and compassion for the crowd through them. It was one thing to ignore a miracle. It was another to harden oneself against this kind of participation in the divine love. We are led to wonder if there are ever times when Jesus uses us to express his love, perhaps even literally involving us in miracles, and yet we harden our hearts. Perhaps it is too different from our expectations or too distinct from our more selfish desires. Perhaps we mostly feel relief that its over rather than thankfulness that we were privileged to participate. How might we allow Jesus to help us have a better attitude?
But at once he spoke with them,
“Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!”
He got into the boat with them and the wind died down.
The hour seems more late and the storms seem more terrifying when we believe that we are facing them alone. When our hearts are hardened even the presence of Jesus can at times feel like a hostile external force. But Jesus does not wish to leave us in this condition. If the initial theophany of 'passing by' is insufficient he is willing to get into the little boat of our soul and speak words of peace. This helps us learn to see things correctly. It is not the circumstances of the storm that have the last word. It is rather Jesus himself, whose word can calm even the fiercest wind. He wants us all to be able to testify together with John the Evangelist, "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us".
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