WALKS ON THE WATER - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Homily for the 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Based on Mt 14:22-33 (Gospel), 1 K 19:9, 11-13 (First Reading) and Rm 9:1-5 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

 WALKS ON THE WATER

“He went towards them, walking on the lake” (Mt 14:25).

The Gospel for this  19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time  (Cycle A) is taken from Mt 14:22-33. The title is “Jesus walks on water.” Parallel texts are:

1.       Mk 6:45-52 - Directly after this he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to Bethsaida,^e while he himself sent the crowd away (v. 45). After saying good-bye to them he went off into the hills to pray (v. 46). When evening came, the boat was far out on the lake, and he was alone on the land (v. 47). He could see they were worn out with rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the lake. He was going to pass them by (v. 48), but when they saw him walking on the lake they thought it was a ghost and cried out (v. 49); for they had all seen him and were terrified. But he at once spoke to them, and said, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid (v. 50)’ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind dropped. They were utterly and completely dumbfounded (v. 51), because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed (v. 52). Footnote ^e says “Add. ‘on the other side of the boat’, cf. Mt 14:22.”

2.       Jn 6:16-21 - That evening the disciples went down to the shore of the lake and (v. 16) got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them (v. 17). The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough (v. 18). They had rowed three of four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming towards the boat. This frightened them (v. 19), but he said, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid.’^c (v. 20) They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it reached the shore at the place they were making for (v. 21). Footnote ^c  says “Or ‘Do not be afraid’.

Verse 22 and 23 say: Directly after this, he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone…

Parallel texts of verse 23 are:

1.       Mk 1:35 - In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to  lonely place and prayed there.

2.       Jn 6:15 - Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king,  escaped^b back to the hills by himself.  Footnote   ^b says  “Var. ‘withdrew’.”

Verses 24 to 30 say: while the boat, by now far out on the lake,^e was battling with a heavy sea, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night^f he went towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost’ they said, and cried out in fear. But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I!’ It was Peter^g who answered, ‘Lord’ he said ‘if it is you tell me to come to you across the water.’ ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord, save me!’ he cried. Footnote  ^e  says “Cf. Mk. 6:47; var. ‘some furlongs from land’, cf. Jn. 6:19.”; Footnote ^f  says “3 to 6 a.m.”; and Footnote ^g says “Matthew deliberately punctuates the narrative section of his ‘eschatological book’ with three episodes featuring Peter: this passage, 16:16-20 and 17:24-27.”

Parallel text of verse 24 is Jn 7:21 that says: Jesus answered, ‘One work I did, and you are all surprised by it.

Verses 31 and 32 say: Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’ As soon as they got into the boat the wind dropped.

Parallel texts of verse 31 are:

1.       Mt 8:25-26 - So they went to him and woke him saying, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’ (v. 25). And he said to them, ‘Why are you s frightened, you men of little faith?’ And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again (v. 26).

2.       Mt 8:10 - When Jesus heard this, he was astonished  and said to those following him, ‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith^b like this. Footnote   ^b says “The faith that Jesus asks for from the outset of public life (Mk. 1:15) and throughout his subsequent career, is that act of trust and self-abandonment by which people no longer rely on their own strength and policies but commit themselves to the power and guiding word of him in whom they believe (Lk. 1:20,45; Mt. 21:25p,32). Christ asks for this faith especially when he works his miracles(8:13; 9:2p; 22p, 28-29; 15:28; Mk 5:36p;10:52p; Lk 17:19) which are not so much acts of mercy as signs attesting his mission and witnessing to the kingdom (8:3+; cf. Jn 2:11+), hence he cannot work miracles unless he finds the faith without which the miracle lose their true significance (13:58p; 12;38-39; 16:1-4). Since the faith demands the sacrifice of the whole man, mind and heart, it is not an easy act of humility to perform; many decline it, particularly in Israel (8:10p; 15:28; 27:42p; Lk 18;8), or are half-hearted (Mk 9;24; Lk 8;13). Even the disciples are slow to believe (8:26p; 14;31; 18;8; 17:20p) and are still reluctant after the resurrection (28;17; Mk 16:11-14; Lk 24;11,25,41). The most generous faith of all, of the ‘Rock’ (16:16-18), the disciples leader, was destined to the shaken by the outrage of the Passion (26:69-75p) though it was to triumph in the end (Lk 22:32). When faith is strong it works wonders (17:20p; 21:21p; Mk 16:17) and its appeal is never refused (21:22p; Mk 9:23) especially when it asks for forgiveness of sin (9:2p; Lk 7:50) and for that salvation of which it is the necessary condition (Lk 8;12; Mk 16:16, cf. Ac 3:16+).”

Verse 33 says: The men on the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God’.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Mt 4:3… and the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God,^c tell these stones to turn into loaves’. Footnote ^c  says “The biblical title ‘Son of God’ does not necessarily mean natural sonship but may imply a sonship which is merely adoptive, i.e., which as a result of God’s deliberate choice sets up a very intimate relationship between God and his creature. In this sense the title is given to angels (Jb. 1:6), to the Chosen People (Ex. 4:22, Ws. 18:13), to individual Israelites (Dt. 14:1, Ho. 2:1, cf. Mt. 5:9,48, etc.), to their leaders (Ps. 82:6). Were therefore it is attributed to the royal Messiah (1 Ch. 17:13, Ps. 2:7, 89:26) it does not necessarily imply that he is more than man; nor need we suppose that it has any deeper significance when used by Satan (Mt. 4:3,6) or by the possessed (Mk. 3:11, 5:7, Lk. 4:41), still less when used by the centurion (Mk. 15:39, cf. Lk. 23:47). By itself the sentence at baptism (Mt. 3:17) and at the transfiguration (17:5) suggests no more than the divine predilection for the Messiah-servant, and all probability the High priest’s question (26:63) concerns messiahship only. Nevertheless the title ‘Son of God’ can bear a further, more profound meaning of sonship in the full sense of the word. Jesus clearly insinuated this meaning when he spoke of himself as ‘the Son’ (2:37), ranked above the angels (24:36), having God for his ‘Father’ in a way others had not (Jn. 20:17 and cf. ‘my Father’ in Mt. 7:21, etc.), enjoying with the Father an altogether singular relationship of knowledge and love (Mt. 11:27). These assertions, coupled with others that speak of the Messiah’s divine rank (22:42-46), of the heavenly origin of the ‘son of  man’ (8:20+), assertions finally confirmed by the triumph of the resurrection, have endowed the expression ‘son of God’ with the strictly divine significance which will later be found, e.g. in Paul (Rm. 9:5+). During the lifetime of Christ, it is true his disciples had no clear conception of his divinity – the texts of Mt. 14:33 and 16:16 which add the title ‘Son of God’ to the more primitive text of Mk reflect, in all probability, a later stage in the faith’s development. But it is equally true that Jesus expressed with his own lips and with as much clarity as his audience could support, his own consciousness of being Son of the Father in the fullest sense. On these historical utterances the faith of the disciples rested, a faith that reached its perfection after the resurrection with the help of the Holy Spirit.”

2.       Mt 16:16 - Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ’ he said ‘the Son of the living God’^d Footnote    ^d says “In Mt Peter acknowledges not only that Jesus is the Messiah but also that he is the Son of God: this second title is not found in Mk and Lk. Cf. also 14:33 with Mk 6:51f. Cf Mt 4:3+.”

The First Reading is taken from  1 K 19:9, 11-13.

Verse 9 says: There he went into a cave^c and spent the night in it. Then the word of Yahweh came to him saying, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ Footnote  ^c says “The ‘crevice of the rock’ where Moses crouched when God appeared, Ex 33:22.”

Parallel text of verse 9 is Si 48:7 that says: …hearing reproof on Sinai, and decrees of punishment on Horeb…

Verses 11 and 12 say: Then he was told, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh’. Then Yahweh himself went by. There came a mighty wind, so strong it tore the mountains and shattered the rocks before Yahweh. But Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But Yahweh was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. But Yahweh was not in the fire. And after the fire there came the sound a gentle breeze.^e Footnote  ^e says “The storm, earthquake, and lightning, which in Ex 19 manifested God’s presence, are here only the heralds of his coming. The whisper of a light breeze signifies that God is a spirit and that he converses intimately with his prophets; it does not mean that God’s dealings are gentle and unperceived-this common interpretation is refuted by the terrible commission of vv.16-17.

Parallel texts of verse 11 are:

1.       Ex 13:22 - The pillar of cloud never  failed to go before the people during the day, nor the pillar of fire during the night.^f Footnote^f  says “In the Pentateuch we find the divine presence manifested in various ways: the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire (‘Yahwistic’ tradition); the ‘dark mist’ and the cloud (‘Elohistic’ tradition); finally coupled wioth the cloud, the ‘glory’ of Yahweh’, 24:16+, a consuming fire which moves as God moves (‘Priestly’ tradition), cf. 19:16+. Mystical theology makes much of these ideas or images.”

2.       Ex 19:16 - Now as daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled.

Verse 13 says: And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice came to him, which said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?

Parallel text of verse is that says:

1.       Gn 3:8 - The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in eth garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

2.       Jb 4:16 - Someone stood there-I could not see his face, but the form remained before me. Silence-and then I heard a Voice…

3.       Ex 3:6 - I am the God of your father,’ he said, ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ At this Moses covered his face, afraid to look at God.^e Footnote ^e says “God’s majesty is such that no man can gaze on it and live.”

4.       Ex 33:20  - ‘You cannot see my face’ he said ‘for man cannot see me and live.’^I Footnote ⁱ  says “God’s sanctity is so removed from man’s unworthiness, see Lv 17:1+, that man must perish if he looks on God, cf. Ex 19:21; Lv 16:2; Nb 4:20, or even hears his voice, Ex. 20:19; Dt. 5:24-26 and 18:16. For this reason Moses, Ex. 3:6, Elijah, 1 K 19:13, and even the seraphim, Is 6:2, cover their faces in his presence. The man who remain alive after seeing God is overwhelmed with astonishment and gratitude, Gn 32:31; Dt 5:24, and with awe, Jg 6:22-23; 13:22, Is. 6:5. It is a favor God rarely concedes, Ex 24:11; he grants ‘it to Moses his ‘friend’, Ex 33:11; Nb 12:7-8; Dt 34:10, and to Elijah, 1 K 19:11f, the two who looked on the New Testament theophany, the transfiguration of Christ, Mt. 17:3p. Hence, in Christian tradition Moses and Elijah (together with Apostle Paul, 2 Co 12:1f) are the three pre-eminent mystics. In the New Testament the ‘glory’ of God, cf. 33:18 and 24:16+, is manifested in Jesus, Jn 1:14+; 11:40, who alone has gazed on the Father, Jn 1:18, 6:46; 1 Jn 4:12. Man cannot look on God’s face except in heaven, Mt 5:8; 1 Jn 3:2, 1 Co 13:12.”

The Second Reading is taken from Rm 9:1-5.

Verse1 says: What I want to say now is no pretense; I say it in union with Christ-it is the truth-my conscience in union with the Holy Spirit assures me of it too.

Parallel text is 2 Co 11:29 that says: When any man has had scruples, I have had scruples with him; when any man is made to fall, I am tortured.

Verse 2 says: What I want to say is this: my sorrow is so great, my mental anguish so endless,

Parallel text is 2 Co 12:7 that says: In view of the extraordinary nature of these revelations, to stop me from getting  too proud I was given a thorn in the flesh,^d an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! ^e Footnote  ^d  says “Perhaps a disease with severe and unforeseeable attacks; perhaps the resistance of Israel, Paul’s brothers according to the flesh’, to the Christian faith.”; and Footnote ^e says “O. ‘or I might get too proud’. Possibly also the beginning of v. 7 ‘and for fear…make me too proud’ should be read as the conclusion of v. 6. The clause is awkwardly phrased and the text critically uncertain.”

Verse 3 says: I would willingly be condemned b and be cut off from Christ if it could help me brothers of Israel, ^c my own flesh and blood.

Footnote  ^c says “Lit. anathema, a thing accursed, under a ban, cf. Jos 6:17+ and Lv 27:28+.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ex 32:32 - And yet, if it pleased you to forgive this sin of theirs…! But if not, then blot me out from the book that you have written.

2.       Ga 1:9 - I am only repeating what we told you before: if anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one you have already heard, he is to be continued. 

Verse 4 says: They were adopted as sons, they were given the glory and the covenants; the Law and the ritual were drawn up for them, and the promises were made to them.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ep 2:12…do not forget, I say, that you had no Christ^g and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise,^h you were immersed in the world, without hopeⁱ and without God.^j Footnote ^g  says “I.e. ‘you had no Messiah.’”; Footnote ^h says “The successive covenants made by God with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David etc.; cf. Ex 19:1+; Lv 26:42,45; Si 44-45; Ws 18:22; 2 M 8:15; Rm 9:4.”; Footnote ⁱ  says “The pagans had many gods but not the one true God, 1 Co 8:5f.”; and Footnote ^j says “The wall separating the court of the Jews from the court of the pagans in the Temple, cf. Ac 21:28f.”

2.       1 Th 2:8 - We  felt so devoted and protective towards you, and had come to love you much, that we were eager to hand over to you not only the Good News but whole lives well.

3.       Rm 3:1-2 - Well then, is a Jew any better off?^a Is there any advantage in being circumcised? A great advantage in every way. First, the Jews are the people to whom God’s message was entrusted. What if some of them were unfaithful? Will their lack of fidelity cancel God’s fidelity? Footnote ^a says “There is one further argument in favour of the Jews: if Israel if the people chosen by God to receive the promise, then how can there be any other way to salvation? Later, ch. 9-11, Paul develops at great length the brief answer he gives here: however much humans are unfaithful to the pact, this cannot abrogate God’s promises; indeed the way humans behave only makes the promises more remarkable, a fact however which does not stop God being angry with the sinner (v. 6), or absolve his sin (v.8). The dialogue used here seems it may echo some of Paul’s debates in the synagogues.” 

Verse 5 says: They descended from the patriarchs, and from their flesh and blood came Christ who is above all, God forever blessed.^d Amen. Footnote  ^d says “Both the context and the internal development of the sentence imply that this doxology is addressed to Christ, Paul rarely gives Jesus the title ‘God’ though, cf Tt 2:13, or addresses a doxology to him, cf. Heb 13:21, but this is because he usually keeps this title to the Father, cf Rm 15:6, etc., and considers the divine persons not so much with an abstract appreciation of their nature as with a concrete appreciation of their functions in the process of salvation. Moreover, he has always in mind the  historical Christ in his concrete reality as God mad man, cf Ph 2:5+; Col 1:15+. For this reason he presents Christ as subordinated to the Father, 1 Co 3:23; 11:3, not only in the work of creation, 1 Co 8:6, but also in that of eschatological renewal, 1 Co 15:27f; cf Rm 16:27, etc. Nevertheless, the title “lord’, Kyrios, received by Christ at his resurrection, Ph 2:9-11; cf Ep 1:20-22; Heb 1:3f, is the title given by the LXX to Yahweh in the OT., Rm 10:9,13; 1 Co 2:16. For Paul, Jesus is essentially the ‘Son of God’, Rm 1:3-4,9; 5:10; 8:29; 1 Co 1:9; 15:28; 2 Co 1:19; Ga 1:16; 2:20; 4:4,6; Ep 4:13; 1 Th 1:10; cf Heb 4:14, etc., his ‘own Son’, Rm 8:3,32, ‘the Son of his love’, Col 1:13, who belongs to the sphere of the divine  by right, the sphere from which he came, 1 Co 15:47, being sent by God, Rm 8:3; Ga 4:4. The title ‘Son of God’ became his in a new way with the resurrection, Rm 1:4+; cf. Heb 1:5; 5:5, but it was not then that he received it since he pre-existed not   only as prefigured in the OT., 1 Co 10:4, but ontologically, Ph 2:6; cf. 2 Co 8:9. He is the Wisdom, 1 Co 1:24,30, and the Image, 2 Co 4:4, by which and in which all things were created, Col 1:15-17; cf Heb 1:3; 1 Co 8:6, and have been re-created, Rm 8:29; cf. Col 3:10; 1:18-20, because into his own person is gathered the fullness of the godhead and of the universe, Col 2:9+. In him God has devised the whole plan of salvation, Ep 1:3f, and he, no less than the Father, is its accomplishment (cf. Rm 11:36; 1 Co 8:6 and Col 1:16,20). The Father raises to life and judges, so does the Son raise to life (cf. Rm 1:4; 8:11+ and Ph 3:21) and judge (cf. Rm 2:16 and 1 Co 4:5; Rm 14:10 and 2 Co 5:10). In short, he is one of the three persons enumerated in the Trinitarian formulae, 2 Co 13:13+.”

Parallel text of verse is that says:

1.       Rm 1:3- This news is about the Son of God who according to the human nature he took, was a descended from David.

2.       1 Co 15:28 - And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected in his turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all

3.       2 Co 5:16 -From now onwards, therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh.

Even if we did once know Christ in the flesh,^e that is not how we know him now.

4.       1 P 4:11 -  If you are a speaker, speak in words which seem to come from God;^c if you are a helper,^d help as though every action was done at God’s orders; so that in everything God may receive the glory, though Jesus Christ since to him alone belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. Footnote  ^c says “As in impromptu spiritual prophecies and in glossolalia, cf. 1 Co. 14:2-19; Ac. 11:27 with Ac. 2:4+.”; and  Footnote ^d says “This could possibly refer to liturgical service.”