Monday, October 8, 2007
Mt 14, 22-33 Jesus walking on the sea
(Mt 14, 22-33) Jesus walking on the sea
[22] Then he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. [23] After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. [24] Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. [25] During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. [26] When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. "It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear. [27] At once (Jesus) spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." [28] Peter said to him in reply, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." [29] He said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. [30] But when he saw how (strong) the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" [31] Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" [32] After they got into the boat, the wind died down. [33] Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God."
(CCC 547) Jesus accompanies his words with many "mighty works and wonders and signs", which manifest that the kingdom is present in him and attest that he was the promised Messiah (Acts 2:22; cf. Lk 7:18-23). (CCC 514) Many things about Jesus of interest to human curiosity do not figure in the Gospels. Almost nothing is said about his hidden life at Nazareth, and even a great part of his public life is not recounted (Cf. Jn 20:30). What is written in the Gospels was set down there "so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (Jn 20:31). (CCC 515) The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the faith (Cf. Mk 1:1; Jn 21:24) and wanted to share it with others. Having known in faith who Jesus is, they could see and make others see the traces of his mystery in all his earthly life. From the swaddling clothes of his birth to the vinegar of his Passion and the shroud of his Resurrection, everything in Jesus' life was a sign of his mystery (Cf. Lk 2:7; Mt 27: 48; Jn 20:7). His deeds, miracles and words all revealed that "in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Col 2:9). His humanity appeared as "sacrament", that is, the sign and instrument, of his divinity and of the salvation he brings: what was visible in his earthly life leads to the invisible mystery of his divine sonship and redemptive mission.
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