Matthew 14:22-33 : Storm on the Lake (Part I)

The last I blogged of the Gospel of Matthew was 14:15-21.

That was more than a year back. Golly-schmolly. Where has time gone?

Anyway, yups. I got distracted from my study of Matthew (it happens), And wound up somewhere else in the Bible. It was a long break. Thought I would get back to Matthew for the New Year. 2016.

Matthew 14:22-33. Storm on the lake. Peter walks on water.


Before he walked on water - a detail in history which only Matthew was adamant not to spare (cf. Mark 6:45-42, John 6:16-21) - there was the miracle of bread and fish in 14:15-21. And I am revisiting it in Part I.

Pic source

Apparently, there are circles within the universal Church which hold that the real deal was not the physical multiplication of bread and fish. Rather, the real deal was the guiltifying of five thousand men (besides women and children) to stop hoarding food under their robes... and thus, share with those who had nothing to eat. In other words, this tradition, so entirely divorced from the supernatural significance of the event, implies that Jesus compelled the people in the crowd to sort of lift up their robes and pull out their stash. Food passed.... from the hands of those who had surplus to the hands of those who had none (including Jesus and His disciples). A plausible explanation that compromises on the following facts, at least:

1. The disciples implied that the people did not have food with them - and Jesus did not disagree. He did not suggest that it was...psst... customary for the people to hide food under their robes. Plus if the people were so hungry, wouldn't they have taken food out to eat anyway? You don't just starve to deny your neighbour a morsel, right?  "You give them something to eat," Jesus said to His disciples. (14:15-16) I don't think He said that smirking, aware of what His disciples were oblivious to, i.e. the food stashes. Because there were none.

2. The conversation regarding food was between Jesus and His disciples. Not between Jesus and the crowd. When Jesus finally addressed the crowd, it was to direct them to sit down on the grass (14:18). He didn't entreat them to reveal or share anything.

3. Food passed...and kept passing... from the hands of Jesus who gave thanks and broke the loaves.... to those of His disciples. The disciples then distributed them to the people. (14:19) Food from Jesus to 5000 people and their wives and children. Not from people to people. Not from people to Jesus.

The original intent of the multiplication was not to teach the people to share. Or even to convince the people that Jesus was to be king right there and then (cf. John 6:15). If ALL four gospel writers made room for this flabbergasting event in their gospels (the one and other miracle narrative that appears in all four gospels is Christ's resurrection) and described it as a miracle, it must be a miracle. Perhaps, what made this miracle so outstanding compared to the previous miracles (amazing as they were) was the display of Jesus' creative power that resonated with YHWH's provision of manna in the wilderness - and indeed, the Gospel of John ties these two events together. (In healing the sick, raising the dead, changing water into wine, etc. something was restored, amended or transformed that had already existed. Only in this particular miracle, consumables were stretched far beyond their true potential and even replicated with non-existent ingredients.) It was especially in this event, I think, that Jesus was portrayed as the "image of the invisible God" by and through whom all things were created, who is before all things, and in whom all things hold together..." (Colossians 1:15-17)

Jesus = God. The Messiah... Son of David... not just any earthly king but God incarnate. I wonder if the disciples ever saw that connection.

With this image in mind, Matthew's readers are transported into the next scene.

To be continued in Storm on the Lake (Part II).