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

This is a continuation from my previous post: Storm on the Lake (Part I).

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Water. Storm. A boat. Chaos. A ghostly figure appears. Guess who?

Pic source

Yes. You've got it right.

Surely, it is...

Jesus, the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15-17).

Matthew, who used the gospel of Mark as one of his sources, tells the story a little differently from Mark. Some observations and reflections:

First, the disciples in Matthew's account come across as having a little more faith than the disciples in Mark's account - right up to the end. Well then, what happens at the end? The disciples in Matthew's account worship Jesus, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God." On the other hand, the disciples in Mark's account are described to lack understanding of the bread and fish miracle, having hardened hearts. I imagine that Mark, writing to a Roman Gentile audience, might have wanted to encourage those who thought their faiths were of less value compared to the Jewish Christians - and thus, his concluding emphasis. The "insider" Jewish disciples to whom the mystery of the Kingdom had been given could still have hardened, unbelieving hearts like Gentile "outsiders". Faith in Christ is faith indeed, whether one is Jew or Gentile. There is no distinction (cf. Rom 10:12-13). Actually Matthew does not necessarily contradict Mark by ending on a positive note. After all, the disciples in Matthew's gospel often worship despite doubting - e.g. when they worshiped Jesus on the mountain after His resurrection (28:17). The word "Truly" (14:33) not only gives us a picture of how emotional, overwhelmed, and grateful they were after the near-death experience... but also conveys an element of surprise, somehow. But why should the disciples be surprised that Jesus could calm the wind especially after the previous miracle? And so we find out from Mark's gospel that they hadn't understood the message of bread and fish, having hardened hearts (Mark 6:52). I don't think that "hardened hearts" means that they were unteachable or resistant to the revelations of God. Rather, they just failed to reflect deeply on the previous experiences/miracles in which God's glory was fully revealed in the person of Jesus Christ - a good reminder for us. Anyway, Matthew's account thankfully ends with worship - which only God is worthy of as per the Law (Exodus 20:3-5). Some of Matthew's Jewish readers might still find it hard to believe that Jesus is the Messiah - but shouldn't they now at least be convinced that Jesus and the Holy One of Israel are one, and so, worship Him?

Secondly, the boat was being beaten (basanizo) by the wind in Matthew's account - while Mark ascribes basanizo to the disciples instead of the boat. Basanizo is better translated to "tormented". For the early Church, the boat which played an important symbolic role in the Old Testament (think Moses' boat-basket, Noah's Ark, etc.) became an ancient symbol for Church. The boat is a vessel of salvation - and traditional church buildings eventually named the central section of the Sanctuary "nave" rooted in the Latin word for boat, i.e. navicula. Clearly then, Matthew must have intended to expand the purpose of the event to address the issues which the early Church was facing - and will continue to face as it expands through time and space. The boat was to bring the disciples to "the other side" (14:22). The parallel account in Mark's gospel reveals that Jesus had meant to send His disciples to Bethsaida (a mainly Gentile city on the east side of the lake) and so, "the other side" could have had negative implications as far as Jewish readers were concerned. What comes to my mind here is Jonah's attempt to disobey God's call to Nineveh - the people he hated. He fled on a ship which also ran into a storm. Is the storm then merely a symbol for the chaos that the early Church faced - or does it also warn readers against disobedience?

I would say both.

Chaos. Chaos like back in the Exodus - dark, enslaving powers in close pursuit. The threat of death. Faith-sinking agents. But He who delivered Israel through the sea will now also deliver His Church through trials and persecution for He has power over chaos. In Hebrew thought, only God walks on the water (cf. Job 9:8; 38:16; Ps 77:19; Isa 43:16; 51:9-10; Hab 3:4). Jesus did what only God can do, and so, the hope of believers may be reaffirmed. You have not believed in vain... even with faith as small as a mustard seed. Jesus is God indeed. Emmanuel - God with us. Worship Him.

Disobedience. It may not be outward, but it sure begins in the heart. Rebellion. Resistance. That unwillingness to submit to Lordship.. Setting the human will above God's will, human priorities above God's commission. The gospels don't say but perhaps, the disciples were reluctant to go to the other side. Guess what? They ended up in Gennaseret instead of Bethsaida (Matt 14:34). Gennaseret, south of Capernaum, is a Jewish area on the same (western) side of the lake from which they departed. Did the storm keep the disciples from their original destination... or did the storm happen because the disciples had not wanted to make it to "the other side" in the first place? Food for thought.

Thirdly, Peter's water walking feat is covered in Matthew's gospel and not in Mark's as well as the other gospels. It must then be a matter of his target audience. Why did Matthew devote a quarter of his account of the storm to this special feature? What was his intention? In my opinion, we tend to misinterpret Matthew's message.

I hesitate to applaud Peter for his daring experiment and it's not because I am chicken. I now find it hard to believe that he did it out of awe and faith. "Lord, if it is you...." (14:28) in response to "Take heart; it is I..." (14:27) could be a little more like skepticism than awe. I mean... what would you do if an eerie ghost tried to convince you that it meant no harm? I would demand for some sort of proof that it was telling the truth... well unless, it identifies itself as the ghost of a good, trusted and dead friend. And then I would still want proof! This is an unbiblical, near-heresy illustration, but do you see where I am coming from? Of course, the supposed "ghost" on the Galilean lake identified himself as Jesus - the one who had just multiplied bread and fish for 5000 grown male stomachs and thousands more. Alive, fearsome, and with apparent power over creation, chaos and death.

My question is this: should Peter have left the boat in the first place? Was he just being courageous, enthusiastic and... typically reckless? Or was he yielding to the satanic temptation that Christ had resisted in the wilderness (Matthew 4:6-7) i.e. to put God (in Peter's case, Jesus) to the test - because he wasn't sure if Jesus could be trusted? There must have been (and there still is) within the Church a dangerous tendency to want special experiences and test God in order to believe the word that has already been given. Matthew might have wanted to address that. To be fair, this was pre-resurrection; the disciples couldn't have been certain despite the many signs that Jesus is God Incarnate. And so, the Lord showed mercy by commanding Peter to "Come"... However, He later gently rebuked Peter in 14:31: "O you of little faith, why did you doubt (distazo)?"

Distazo seems to not merely refer to the fear Peter felt when he was distracted by wind and momentarily shaken in his faith. Rather, it refers to Peter's indecision over who Jesus was, His credibility, and the given word: "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." (14:27) Distazo connotes vacillation - or a sort of fickle-mindedness. Distazo is about the battle in Peter's heart even before he left the boat... or earlier i.e. while he was distributing bread and fish to hungry people. And distazo prompted Peter to request a sign: "Lord, if it is You..." Because Peter was seen to be the foundational rock of the Church following his confession (which only Matthew among the gospels records in chapter 16:13-20), Matthew could have highlighted Peter's indecision in order to warn the early Jewish Church against the humanly weakness - distazo. God has given the word. Hard as it is, will we take Scripture as "living and active..." (Heb 4:12) - even when God doesn't seem real and present with us in our storms?

Contrary to contemporary understanding, remaining in the boat doesn't have to mean faithlessness. Faith may not be walking on water. Faith may not be asking for spectacular signs or looking to defy the laws of gravity - because the truth be told, special experiences hardly help us when crisis strikes again. Rather, faith is standing firm in one spirit and striving like-mindedly (cf. Phil 1:27-28) with the rest of one's community of faith in the tormented boat. After all, it was He who has authority over the wind and waves who also bids us not to fear.

Storm on the Lake. Matthew 14:22-33. A very interesting passage to reflect on, even after reading it countless times.