The Gospels have six passages about Jesus and the sea. Three are about the calming of the storm and three are about Jesus walking on the water. All six have that moment of desperation expressed by Peter: “Save me, Lord!” (Mt 14:31)
The “Lord, save me” moment is common to all human experience. Many times, in life, we find the naked vulnerability of being out of control with no apparent resources to solve our crisis. We turn to God in desperation. Today, we find ourselves in a cascading turbulence of change that is truly a “Save me, Lord” moment. We are immersed in the pandemic with its threat not only to our physical safety but to our very life. We have the growing threat of an economy that is diminishing our common prosperity, but also is drawing a large portion of our country into desperate economic insecurity. Food lines are becoming the norm not the exception for many. A cancerous partisanship seems to have rendered any meaningful political solution to our divided country and world a remote prospect. Probably the most threatening element we face is less apparent. The consequences of our ongoing abuse of our environment are steadily approaching a terrifying disaster. The destructive power of nature’s storms, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, along with the rising water level of our oceans and lakes, holds the prospect of ever-increasing damage for every dimension of our way of life.
Adding to the social upheaval of long overdue racial change, Covid-19 has spurred a great increase in homicides and suicides. Mental health issues have spawned many other pathologies on a personal level. For a people who have been guided by the myth of the relentless pursuit of “bigger and better,” this is a true ambush to our assumption of security and control that has been our heritage.
Our history has rightfully led us to believe that science and human ingenuity will deliver us from the chaos of nature. We share a common faith that our scientific efforts will produce the vaccines and medicines to conquer Covid-19. We also share a conviction that there will eventually be a responsible political and economic solutions to the immense challenges of our times.
Yet, there remain seeds of doubt that there will be a return to long-cherished stability and security of the past. We are getting a glimmer of the limits of science and human ingenuity. Without putting a name on it, we are surfacing the reality of our human limitations. Science, in all it power and magnificence, shares these limits.
We have a good deal to learn from the “Save me, Lord” moments in the Gospels. The people at the time of Jesus were almost totally devoid of the modern mentality that is generated by the ever-expanding wonders of science. Yet, these simple folks still had to deal with the conflict of good and evil that is so apparent in our present crisis. Without science, they experienced reality defined as a choice between forces of good and the powerful domain of darkness. As the apparent surefire resources assuring us of security and control seem to be slipping away from us, we may well to have something to learn from the people in Jesus’ time. There was a certain simplicity and clarity in their approach to life’s mysteries.
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The world that Jesus entered shared a certain basic understanding of reality, an accepted worldview. Good and evil prevailed as the dominating factors. This conflict was fundamental to understanding life. They labeled the combatants in this epoch battle, God and the demons.
Demons, under various names such as Satan or Beelzebub, were seen as a dominating force in all of reality. Whether this was the power of the oppressive Roman Empire, the destructive forces of nature, the crippling presence of physical and psychological disease, the basic issue was the control by the forces of evil under the label of demons.
The demons represented a loss of control in their life. Whether it was a tyrannical government that impeded their freedom or a personal affliction or addiction that robbed their independence, all these forces united in degrading them, limiting their choice and restricting their development. All were an attack on the harmony and goodwill of the community. There was a deep sense of powerlessness.
When Jesus confronted the storm, he used the same command as when he was exorcising an individual. Both acts were seen as gaining control over one common enemy, the forces of evil that were personalized in the demons.
For the people of Jesus’ time, the connection between personal healing of the paralytic, the lepers, the blind and the others all were similar to the personal exorcism and the calming of the storm. They were an expression of the action of God freeing his people from the united forces of evil.
Jesus was seen by the believers as one setting them free of the multiple captivities of the political, economic and personal forces that manifested the power of the demons. There was a new power of goodness against what had seemed to be the insurmountable authority of evil. They were experiencing a powerful force for liberation.
III
Jesus’ two ventures on the stormy water have a common element. They are filled with symbolism from the Hebrew Scriptures. Water out of control was another image of chaos and demonic power. The language of Jesus to command and rebuke the unruly sea is similar to the language of the exorcism at Capernaum. (Mk 1:25) The storm clearly represents demonic power. Walking on water was a divine prerogative.
Peter’s “Save me, Lord” cry mirrored the naked and unfiltered truth of our humanity. The episode of the disciples’ sinking displayed the totality of our vulnerability. Both show our absolute dependence on God. Both events disclose the defenselessness of life. As creatures we are called to be intelligent, responsible and loving in creating our security. Even with our best efforts, there still remains a large element of uncertainty. Our mortality assures us that God has the last word.
As the disciples first see Jesus walking on the water, they react in horror. Jesus says, “Do not be afraid!” (Mt 14:27) This phrase is one of the most common in all of the Bible. It is uttered over three hundred times. Each time it reveals the presence of a saving and compassionate God. To call it a statement of comfort falls far short of the mark. It reveals a God profoundly engaged in the human struggle with the power of healing and deliverance exemplified by Peter returning safely to the boat.
Jesus, in the stories on the sea, shows us a God profoundly sensitive and caring in the face of the human struggle with the utter ambivalence of life and the power of evil. The calming of the storm and the rescue of Peter were expressions of the deliverance we can anticipate when we reach out for Jesus’ hand.
As we face Covid-19 and its myriad troublesome offshoots in our day, we come face to face with our basic insecurity as creatures. We need to cry out, “Save us, Lord.” We need to reach out to the hand of Jesus to avoid the onslaught of despair and hopelessness. The intensity of the evil drives us to seek the ultimate power of goodness in Jesus.
The modern mindset is quick to reject the demons of biblical times. What it cannot reject is the force of evil that continues to create the chaos and injustice in our times. For us, the question is not a choice of science or the demons. It is an acknowledgement of the limits of science and the power of evil and need for divine assistance.
Jesus calls us to a faithful surrender and acceptance that is rooted in the connection of our need and his saving power. Like the disciples and Peter in their crises, Jesus is available to us as we seek freedom from the forces of evil. We need to believe and trust by keeping our eyes and heart on Jesus.
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