Last Sunday, we read Matthew 14:13-21, and our Gospel reading ended, saying, “The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.” This morning we continue where we left it, verse 22, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.” This event is the only one in the gospels where Jesus had to dismiss, sent people home after he preached or performed a miracle.

         Those who were fed by Jesus stayed longer than usual, and  John 6:14 and 15 gave us the reason, “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”  Jesus stayed there to convinced them not to try to make him king but to go home.

         After this, Jesus withdrew to the mountain by himself. His disciples got into the boat and went ahead of him to the other side. Up to this point, everything seems to be under control. The crowd went home, Jesus went to pray, and the disciples started paddling to the other side. Maybe both groups crowd and disciples were excited talking about the miracle they witnessed; maybe they were planning what was going to happen when Jesus organize the people and overthrow the Romans. However, all this excitement did not last long for the disciples; the waves buffeted their boat because the wind was against it. Therefore, I believe they stop talking about the miracle and the plans they had and started paying attention to their reality.

         Shortly before dawn -the Gospel says, – Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.” Imagine the scene, Jesus is walking on the lake toward where the disciples are struggling the wind the waves. The waves buffet Their boat, and as if they had not enough, gazing through gusts of wind and the spray of the waves as they navigate a rocking boat, they see something or someone walking toward them. Looks like a person, but that is impossible, they are in the middle of the lake, “It can only be a ghost!” and they cry out in fear.

This reading is -I believe- a fitting metaphor that describes our present tumultuous moment in history. The Gospel describes our intense politicization of everything, the global pandemic and what science says; racism and the tactics to fight it, the reopening of the economy, wearing or not wearing masks. All these have obstructed – as in the Gospel are the waves and wind – our vision preventing us from seeing that is Jesus and not a ghost walking toward us offering His help. 

The pandemic and social chaos we are facing, rather than clarify our thought and judgment and see our need for unity, have made us more suspicious and fearful of each other. The rampant divisions, polarization, and tribalism among people caused by the wind and waves of our time have made us fear people who do not think or believe the way we do. Notice that the disciples did not fear the winds and waves; many of them were fishermen; they knew what to do. It seems to me that they were in control. They feared what those circumstances made them see. The waves crashing against the boat and the winds prevented them from seeing clearly. They did not see Jesus; they saw a ghost. We -like the disciples- can control this pandemic. All we must do is stop focusing on the ghost they make us see, and fight all together against the winds and waves threatening our existence.

Delving into the Gospel, we can see that their vision was not the only thing altered by the waves and winds. Their faith was too. Upon seeing Jesus walking on water and confronting the wind, Peter had faith that Jesus would guide him to do so as well. “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Peter knew that if it was Jesus, he had the power to make him walk on water. “Come,” Jesus said.

 But when he faced the wind, he became afraid, and his doubt was bigger than his faith, and he began to sink. Jesus saved him, questioning why Peter had doubted and why he had lost faith when he knew Jesus was there as his guide.

As followers of Jesus, faith sustains us through times of challenge and doubt, times of winds and waves, times of pandemic, and social and economic chaos. Faith in Jesus is what guides us and illuminates our path through times of hardship and darkness. Faith is what gives us the strength to fight during times of weakness. Faith is the only thing that will clear our vision that not a ghost is walking toward us but Jesus our Lord and Savior.

By having and placing our faith in God, with Jesus as our guide, He will take us through the darkness to light again.

“And when they climbed into the boat, -the Gospel continues– the wind died down.” With Jesus inside the boat, everything changed. Their greatest fear disappeared, their vision, judgments, and actions no longer were based on fear, but on Jesus’ presence among them.

“Then those in the boat -says Matthew- worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” What difference makes Jesus in one’s life.!

Sisters and brothers, fear is normal. After all, some fears are healthy and God-given. However, remember Jesus is our Lord, and he is Lord, even over our fears. Fear is normal in times like this; just do not let fear rule over you. In other words, because we hope and trust that Jesus is with us, rather than fear and blame and accuse the people with whom we disagree and believe in things that are not real -ghost says the Gospel- we have to remember the commandment of Jesus to “Go ahead to the other side.” Go ahead to the other side means continue trusting, continue with your ministry even if ghosts, waves and wind, pandemic and social and economic chaos are trying to prevent you.

Now more than ever, we need to remember Jesus’ prayer for unity among his disciples. John 17:21 “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Now more than ever is time to come together and worship Jesus, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”