Secure In Jesus

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟓, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐍𝐮𝐦 𝟏𝟐:𝟏-𝟏𝟑 

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟓𝟏:𝟑-𝟕, 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟑 “𝐁𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟒:𝟐𝟐-𝟑𝟔 

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” (𝒗.32) 

          We are coming towards the end of this chapter of Matthew’s Gospel and as we go through the Gospel reading of today we are filled with the assumption that each one of us is already familiar with the events depicted in today’s gospel. But there is more to this than what we already know and that is what makes this an interesting read.

         𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟔:𝟏𝟓 tells us why Christ was in a hurry to dismiss the crowds. They had their fill earlier with bread and the crowd wanted to make Him king. It is the natural tendency that man will follow anyone who promises them the material things of life, but Jesus knew better and what He doesn’t want is to have “𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫” disciples.

         This Gospel gives us a picture of the church today. We see Christ on the mountain praying while the disciples are trying to survive from the storm they faced at the lake. This is the same today – Jesus is in heaven interceding for us while we fight the storms of sin here on earth. Here we see Jesus coming just at the darkest hour when the boat was sinking. He came to them. He stilled the storm and brought them safely to their destination (𝐉𝐧 𝟔:𝟐𝟏).        

          We have heard many times how the faith and or lack of faith of Peter has been highlighted by some and we will no longer add to that as we already know what happened. The boat boarded by Peter and the other disciples encountered a storm as they were crossing to the other side of the lake and while the boat was being tossed around, and they saw Jesus walking on the water.

         Peter also got out of the boat to meet Jesus, and he did walk on the water but when Peter felt the strong wind, he began to sink and the key statement here which has an impact in our lives is the verse that says, “𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒌.” Peter walked on the water because he had faith in Christ’s Word. “𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.29) “𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅.” (𝑹𝒐𝒎 10:17) But when he forgot the source of that faith and stopped looking unto Jesus (𝐇𝐞𝐛 𝟏𝟐:𝟏-𝟐), he began to sink.

         The secret in overcoming the storm in our lives and doing the impossible is simply to believe in the Word of God and keep looking to the Son of God. And even when we fail, Jesus still graciously helps us. Peter remembered this when he wrote “𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒑𝒐𝒏 𝑯𝒊𝒎, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (1 𝑷𝒆𝒕 5:7)       

         There are two things that may remain unnoticed if we will only look at the most common event in this Gospel as we are tempted to focus on the faith of Peter and these are the matter of the (1) 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 (2) 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵.        

         Many times, in our lives we don’t give much thought of what the winds may represent in our lives. We look at it as one of the components of our environment. We know and feel the wind is important as we also cannot live without as it provides us with the air that we breathe. At times the wind refreshes our tired bodies parched by the noonday sun. But that’s all there is to it.

         But as with the wind that nearly capsized the boat in which Peter and the other disciples were on board, the wind could also represent the struggles that we experience in our lives. It could be the circumstances that weigh down heavily on us as we set out to meet the challenges of everyday living.

         The winds could also be the temptations that we face and which could separate us from the source of joy and happiness if we don’t deal with it in a godly way. Frustrations over our failure to meet our targets, loss of business opportunities, failed business or even the sorrows we experience over the loss of our loved ones could be the strong winds which may create instability in our lives.

         It is during these storms in our lives that we can find stability in the cross of Jesus. And we find assurance in one of the letters written by St. Francis de Sales who was telling his friend what he noticed as the practice of the people in the village where he lived.

         Always the observant person that he is, St. Francis de Sales noticed that those who fetch water from the well near the house where he lived always place a piece of wood on the pail of water that they draw from the well and when he asked why, he was told it is to keep the water from spilling because the wood keeps the water stable.

         St. Francis de Sales later wrote that this is a picturesque analogy with the Cross of Jesus that brings peace into our lives. On the cross we can put our trust and confidence to bring stability to our lives when we are buffeted with strong winds.

         This also brings us to the need for us to develop the habit of listening and we can draw inspiration from Moses who told the people in 𝑫𝒆𝒖𝒕 5:1 “𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒔 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖; 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎!” During this time the people have entered into a covenant with God, and Moses was commanding them to hear, learn and follow his statutes.

          We Christians by virtue of our baptism are also in a covenant with God through Jesus Christ. As such, we should be responsive to what God expects. We can learn from the three-fold command of Moses to the Israelites by (𝘢) 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘰𝘥. (𝘣) 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 (𝘤) 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥. All three parts are essential to a growing relationship with God.

          This is also what Pope Francis is saying in his encyclical – Lumen Fidei (Light of Faith). All of its 88 pages, this encyclical can be summarized to mean that for faith to be complete, it must be learned, lived and shared with others.

         The Gospel reading ends with Matthew writing that Jesus healed everyone who came to him and all those who touched him were restored to health. And this is also the same with many of us. Most often people go to Jesus when they need something.

         People at times go to Jesus to take advantage of what he can give, of what he can do for us. In other words, we think of Jesus whenever there is something that we want to ask. And how we ask him for all the things in life and the only thing that we don’t ask is for Jesus to pay our rent.

         But that is as far as we go. We go to Church and join some of the organizations and or Communities in the Church because we want to enjoy the benefits of being a Christian, but we shun the corresponding responsibility that Jesus asks of those who come to him and are alleviated from the burdens they carry.

         For us to enjoy the eternal salvation that Jesus promised us, we need to respond positively to his invitation for us to a life of holiness in Him. We have been predestined after all and anyone who will come to him and accept his invitation to discipleship are assured of his Grace that flows from the cross which puts stability in our lives.

         And we can remind ourselves of Paul’s letter to the 𝑬𝒑𝒉 2:10 "𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎." (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 5, 2025)