"He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn, he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed."

Mark 6:48-51

It was about 4:00am. The disciples had been rowing for hours against the wind. To the Jews, historically a desert people, the sea represented chaos, danger, and fear. By the time Mark was writing, early Christians had come to understand in this event what the disciples did not. The storm was an allegory of the chaotic and dangerous human world, and the boat was the early church, struggling to negotiate the ‘world’s tempestuous sea.’ Conscious that soon he would no longer be physically present to guide and protect, Jesus, like the prophets of old, made his own life into a living parable.

Although not physically with them, Jesus wanted them to feel his presence, but they didn’t. So, he made himself more obvious, passing by them, walking on the water. In this momentous encounter, he thrice declared that he was God.

First, while God’s prophets could heal or raise the dead, God alone ‘treads on the waves of the sea.’

Second, Jesus was about to ‘pass by,’ the term used in the Scriptures for God’s close self-revelation to Moses and Elijah.

Third, Jesus used for himself the name of God, not ‘it’s me’ but I AM, lost in translation here. Jesus knows when we struggle against the buffeting of the world. Jesus comes to us, through the turbulence. ‘Don’t fear the storm,’ he says to us, ‘I AM is here. I AM is with you, always with you until the end of time.’

CLOSING PRAYER

Son of God, it’s easy to acknowledge your presence in good times. Help me to trust that you are at work and cling to your promises when things are hard, frightening, and seeming hopeless.

(edited from Encounter with God)