45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. 47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. 53 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.
Have you ever noticed that whenever a boat is featured in a romance-themed picture or video that the boat is a sailboat not a motorboat? There’s something intrinsically romantic about a sailboat … until you actually go sailing.
In biblical times sailing was a matter of necessity not choice. Long before there were motors, man harnessed the wind to propel boats. But the wind can be fickle. Sometimes the wind is too light to propel the boat and the sails are useless. Other times the wind is too strong and the sails are dangerous. So ancient boats were outfitted with a back up system: oars. In today’s Gospel lesson we find Jesus’ disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee in their sailboat. The wind had grown contrary, so they had taken down the sails and taken out their oars. Even though they had resorted to rowing the boat, they were battling the wind with little progress. The wind had developed into a rather severe storm. In the midst of this storm, Jesus walked across the water to meet them. As they strained at the oars He called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I AM. Take courage!” Soon He had calmed the storm and they were safely on the shore. But even on the shore, in many ways the disciples were still "straining at the oars."
We each have our own versions of being caught in the storms of life. The smooth sailing we’ve enjoyed abruptly ends and things grow contrary. We struggle with all that we have, but we can’t seem to make any headway. We are “straining at the oars” without making any positive difference or getting closer to a workable solution. It’s in the midst of such struggles, when we cannot overcome our circumstances and are at risk of being overwhelmed by them, that Jesus calls out to us, “Don’t be afraid. I AM. Take courage!” He brings us to a shore, a place where we are safe in His love and care. But once there — even when we are safely on the shore with Jesus — we often continue to "strain at the oars" by our worrying, fearing, and doubting.
One of the aspects of this rescue that is often overshadowed by how Jesus went out to meet His disciples is when He went out to meet them. Although He saw them straining at the oars before sunset, He waited until the fourth watch of the night (between 3:00 and 6:00 am) to come out to them. His intentional delay is a great reminder to us that God always times His coming to us perfectly. The wind and waves of life will only wage against us until we are ready to welcome His intervention. When we despair of our own efforts to defeat these storms and rely on the One who has crossed over death, we can be certain that He will intervene and bring us safely to the shore of eternal life.
Through the storms of life, He encourages us to put aside our fears and doubts, to have faith and courage, because He has “rooted and established” us in a love that is wider, longer, higher, and deeper than any ocean (Ephesians 3:17-18). Through His love, we are safely on the shore. No storm can harm us. No waves overpower us. No winds defeat us. He’s calling us to stop straining at the oars and be secure in His love.
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