Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his
disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while
he sent the people home. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by
himself to pray. Night fell while he was
there alone. Meanwhile, the
disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and
they were fighting heavy waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they
were terrified. In their fear, they
cried out, “It’s a ghost!” But
Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t
be afraid,” he said. “Take
courage. I am here!”
Matthew 14:22-27(NLT)
There are so many versions
of why
Jesus probably didn’t walk on water. The one I like best is where the theologians
presume the disciples were disoriented in the storm and had drifted near to
shore. Seeing Jesus walking on the dry land through the early
morning mist, it merely looked like he was standing on the
water.
One of the problems of
thinking too deeply through a miracle is when you think so deep you slide past
common sense. If Jesus was actually at the
shoreline, perhaps only a step or two into the water, and only appearing
to walk on top of the water’s surface, why do you suppose when Peter attempted
to walk to Jesus he sank up to his neck?
Hmmmmm; did the early
morning mist only make it appear that Peter was drowning? Didn't seem that way to Peter; LORD...HELP ME, I'M DROWNING HERE!
Actually, I have seen that walking on water thing up close.
It’s been 45 years, but my
memory is pretty good at this point. We
were fresh out of the Army and living in a three room apartment. We had two cats; one was Petunia, a tabby,
the other was a male we had named Gigi, because the lady at the
Kentucky Humane Society where we got the little fella had guaranteed us he
was a female.
(Notes to self: Never
trust a cat expert; never, ever name your cat before you take him to the vet to
have her spayed and bring home a neutered angry boy!).
But I digress.
The two cats were pretty sedentary during the
daylight hours. The angry neutered boy,
Gigi, slept a lot of the time in the bathroom sink. (Don’t ask me why…he just did). Elizabeth and I both worked, so they had the
run of the apartment during the day. But
they didn’t do much running until about 11:30 at night. To get
their exercise in that small apartment, the bathroom, living room, and bedroom
served as their gym.
About the time we would be
getting ready for bed, the felines would crank-up their workout routine. A brief sparring (two de-clawed cats can only
spar; they cannot fight in earnest) was followed by one chasing the other into
the living room, scrambling past the entryway tile floor, into the bedroom, and
finally racing through the bathroom – which included a jump into the bathtub,
up to the sink, bouncing off the commode tank and repeat the circuit, repeat
the circuit, repeat the circuit….you get the idea. It lasted at least 30 minutes, ending
somewhere around the stroke of midnight.
Lights off or on made no difference; bathtub…sink…commode bounce, and
start over again.
I might add it was quite
exciting when you’d fallen asleep and the cat-kids decided to do another rep on
their routine; the trip through the bedroom always included clawing their way
over the bed and any of the bed’s unsuspecting sleeping occupants.
(Another note to self: If I
ever get another cat de-clawed, make sure they take out the hind leg claws too –
that way when they jump on me at midnight it will not include de-fleshing the
sensitive skin on my back as felines moving at light speed use me for a
traction pad!).
One night before the
exercise routine had started we got home late. Elizabeth filled the tub for her bath and went
to the kitchen for something. Hearing
the sound of their food being opened stirred something primal in the felines;
the exercise game was ON! It began well…living room….entry way….bedroom
(knocking over a lamp I think), then the bathroom.
Well, you probably know
where this is headed.
The leap into a bathtub full
of steamy Elizabeth bathwater had never been part of the
workout before – Gigi and Petunia were NOT about to start now; cats
and water don’t mix well. I watched as
two very athletically-agile miracle workers walked – nay…it was more like skimming
at light speed – across the pond in our bathroom.
The two feline night terrorists
never stirred the surface of the water; not even a drop on the hairs of their
toes! Walking on water? Documented miracle! Saw it myself!
EPILOGUE
Now, you KNOW
this little story has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus
walking on water; I just love remembering the story. And I’m glad you listened-in as I had fun
remembering.
But the account of Jesus walking
on the water isn’t about fun (unless God was smiling as he got inside Peter and
the other disciples’ heads – again!).
But really, the account is
all about faith. In the end, if you
believe God created the universe and gave YOU breath, and died for your
sins…what trouble would you have knowing in your heart that he could walk on a
little of that water he created?
For
You, Today…
Let your faith be strong; you walk
on the water a little.
Let the storms
cease!
