Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Homily by Fr. Ruslan Babii on the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
July 20, 2024
Christ comes at the last moment to lead the apostles to safety. Yes, he did not appear to them immediately; he did not come close enough to recognise him right away. Jesus allowed them to struggle alone in the darkness to purify them and bring them to understand the need for a Savior.
The departure of Christ to pray alone represents our time when Christ ascended from us to heaven (on a mountain). Yet, with His providence, He watches over us, over the church, the world, and all events within it.
At that time, the boat is still far from the shore, battered by waves and headwind.
It also clearly shows the current state of our poor spiritual lives! Symbolically, the lake represents our earthly life, the waves and the wind represent the world and the devil who want to swallow and frighten us (torment, tempt, suggest…), the shore is the destination, the goal of our life (a place of safety and peace which we will reach when we invite Christ into our lives), and that boat represents the church itself, its holy teaching, and God’s love for us, which prevents us from immediately drowning—perishing in sin. Christ is not visibly in the boat with the apostles, but rather they do not feel His presence and believe they are alone and abandoned by Him, fearing they will perish in the elements amidst complete darkness. Darkness symbolises a state of not knowing God. When we do not experience Him, we do not see a way out (despair, fear, unconsciousness), and it is even worse when a person does not understand what is inside them (living in an illusion, feeling safe, satisfied, obscured, shortsighted).
During the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the waves.
The fourth watch was the last watch of the night, lasting until morning. This was the time when God freed the Jewish fugitive slaves from Pharaoh’s oppression, leading them through the water. Similarly, Christ comes at the last moment to lead the apostles to safety. Yes, he did not appear to them immediately; he did not come close enough to recognise him right away. Jesus allowed them to struggle alone in the darkness to purify them and bring them to understand the need for a Saviour. Only in the morning did He approach them, and His coming frightened them! “It’s a ghost!” they shouted. They likely felt alarmed, thinking it was the end of them. The unexpected and uncharacteristic presence of Christ can be disturbing (a moment of recognition of true reality, an inner revelation that reveals our real selves before God, raising the question of our salvation). It is true. Our hearts remain restless until they rest in the Lord! It’s time to make a choice! Jesus directly told them: “It is I; don’t be afraid.” The phrase “I am” literally means “I am” and was the “name” of the Deliverer God. Moses said to God, “If they ask me, ‘What is his name?’, what shall I tell them?”. God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He continued, “Thus say to the Israelites, ‘I AM’ has sent me to you.” The Jews chose never to use the actual Hebrew word translated “I am,” meaning I am who I am. Instead, they preferred to substitute “Lord.”
Peter answered and said, “Lord, if it is You, lead me to come to You on the water.” He said, “Come!” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came to Jesus.
What did Matthew want to emphasise with this dialogue between Peter and Jesus? To emphasise Peter’s rapid faith? Can his insecurity and desire for certainty be cured? The incident and the dialogue closely echo the challenge thrown to Jesus by the devil in the desert: “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written: He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test!’ Perhaps Matthew meant to suggest that the devil, who tempted Jesus to defy his God, now tempted Peter to defy Jesus. In Peter’s case, the temptation to come on the water was not due to a lack of faith but rather to immature and weak faith. If so, why did Jesus respond to Peter’s challenge? Characteristically, Jesus accepts people at their actual level of faith and personal development to lead them through experience and further reflection to a deeper and more enlightened faith.
But, seeing the force of the wind, he got scared, and, starting to sink, he shouted, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately stretched out His hand, took him, and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Peter’s weak faith was revealed in his challenge to Jesus, even before it was revealed in his fear of the wind and waves as he began to sink. However, for Jesus, Peter’s request for a sign and his panic before the reality of wind and water were not only manifestations of his weakness and little faith but primarily a manifestation of his understanding of the possible salvation only by Christ. So Jesus stretched out his hand to him. The infinitely merciful Lord always saves those who call upon Him. Although Peter heard the rebuke addressed to him, he again stood in the midst of the waves, holding Jesus’ hand.
When they returned to the boat, the wind died down. Those in the boat fell down, worshipping Him, and said, “Truly, you are the Son of God!”
Inner peace is possible even in the midst of chaos. Matthew, in his assessment of the disciples’ faith, wants to draw attention to the fact that He “is.”Christ is always with us. Of course, when this is the case, everything around you subsides. When the disciples understood this, they came to faith. Matthew used this story to clarify the identity of Jesus—that He is God. Jesus encouraged the disciples to make a deeply felt act of faith in Him. They reached the right conclusion: they worshipped Jesus as the Son of God. The act of faith involved the same confession of faith that Peter made shortly after, saying, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!’ Amen.
