Homilies on John, Homily 43

“And when evening had come, His disciples went down to the sea and got into a boat, and crossed the sea toward Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. And the sea grew rough because a strong wind was blowing.” [1.] Christ provides for the good of His disciples not only when He is bodily present, but also when He is far away; for with His abundant resources and skill, He achieves the very same result through opposite actions. Notice, for instance, what He has done here. He leaves His disciples and goes up a mountain; and when evening came, they went down to the sea. They waited for Him until evening, expecting Him to come to them; but when evening came, their love was so great that they could no longer bear not to go looking for their Master. They did not say, “It is evening now, and night has overtaken us. Where will we go? The place is dangerous, and the time is unsafe.” Instead, driven by their longing, they got into the boat. The Evangelist mentions the time for a reason: to show how fervent their love was. Why, then, does Christ let them go without showing Himself? And why does He then show Himself walking alone on the sea? Through the first, He teaches them how great (an evil) it is to be abandoned by Him and increases their longing; through the second, He reveals His power. For just as they did not hear all His teaching together with the crowd, so they did not see all His miracles together with the mass of people. Those who were about to be entrusted with leadership over the world needed to have something more than the rest. “And what kinds of miracles,” someone asks, “did they see by themselves?” The Transfiguration on the mountain; this miracle on the sea; and those after the Resurrection, which are many and important. From these I infer that there were others as well. They came to Capernaum without any definite information, expecting to find Him there or even during the crossing. The Evangelist implies this when he says that “it was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.” “And the sea grew rough because a strong wind was blowing.” What did they do? They were distressed, for many different things made them feel that way. They were afraid because of the time, since it was dark; because of the storm, since the sea had risen; and because of their location, since they were not near land, but, Ver. 19. “Had rowed about twenty-five furlongs.” And finally, because of the strangeness of what was happening, for, “They see Him walking on the sea.” And when they were deeply distressed, Ver. 20. “He says to them, It is I; do not be afraid.” Why, then, does He appear? To show that He was the One who would stop the storm. The Evangelist has shown this by saying, Ver. 21. “They were willing to receive Him, and immediately the boat was near the land.” He gave them not only a safe passage, but also a favorable wind. He does not show Himself walking on the sea to the crowd, for the miracle was too great for their weakness. Indeed, even the disciples did not see Him doing this for long: He appeared and immediately withdrew. Now this seems to me to be a different miracle from the one found in Matthew xiv.; and there are many reasons why it is clearly different. For He often performs the same miracles so that those who see them will not merely find them very strange, but also accept them with great faith. “It is I; do not be afraid.” As He spoke these words, He drove fear from their souls. But on another occasion it was not so; that is why Peter said, “Lord, if it is You, tell me to come to You.” ( Matt. xiv. 28.) Why, then, did they not immediately accept that it was He on that occasion, while now they were convinced? Because then the storm continued to toss the boat, but now His voice had brought calm. Or, if that is not the reason, it is the other one I mentioned before: by often performing the same miracles, He used the first to make the second readily accepted. But why did He not get into the boat? Because He wanted to make the miracle greater, to reveal His Godhead to them more openly, and to show them that when He had given thanks earlier, He had done so not because He needed help, but out of condescension to them. He allowed the storm to arise so that they would always seek Him; He calmed the storm to make His power known to them; He did not get into the boat so that He could make the miracle greater. Ver. 22. “And the people who were there saw that there was no other boat there except the one the disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not gone into the boat, but His disciples had.” And why is John so precise? Why did he not simply say that the crowds crossed over the next day and left? He wants to teach us something else: that Jesus allowed the crowds to suspect what had happened, if not openly, at least indirectly. For he says, “They saw that there was only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered it with His disciples.” Ver. 24. And getting into boats from Tiberias, they “came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.” What else, then, could they suspect except that He had arrived there by crossing the sea on foot? For they could not say that He had crossed in another boat. “There was one,” the Evangelist says, “which His disciples entered.” Still, when they came to Him after such a great wonder, they did not ask Him how He had crossed over or how He had arrived there, nor did they try to understand such a great sign. What did they say instead? Ver. 25. “Master, when did You come here?” [2.] Unless someone maintains that they use “when” here to mean “how.” But it is also worth noticing how fickle their impulses were. Those who said, “This is that Prophet”; those who were eager to “take Him and make Him a king,” now, when they have found Him, make no such plans. Instead, having put aside their astonishment, they no longer admire Him for His earlier deeds. They were looking for Him because they wanted to enjoy another meal like the first. The Jews crossed the Red Sea under Moses’ guidance, but that case is very different from this one. He did everything with prayer and as a servant, but Christ acted with absolute power. There, when the south wind blew, the water gave way so that they could cross on dry land; but here the miracle was greater. ( Ex. xiv. 21.) For the sea, while retaining its own nature, carried its Lord on its surface, thus bearing witness to the Scripture that says, “Who walks on the sea as on a pavement.” ( Job ix. 8.) And He had good reason to perform the miracle of the loaves when He was about to enter stubborn, disobedient Capernaum. He wanted to soften its disobedience not only through what happened within the city, but also through the miracles performed outside it. For was it not enough to soften even a stone that such crowds should come to that city with such eagerness? Yet they felt nothing of the kind, but once again wanted food for the body; and Jesus rebukes them for this. Let us, then, beloved, knowing these things, thank God for material things, but much more for spiritual things. For this is His will, and He gives the former for the sake of the latter, using them, as it were, to lead in those who are less mature and give them preliminary instruction, because they are still gazing eagerly at the world. But when such people receive these worldly things and remain content with them, they are reproached and rebuked. In the case of the man with paralysis, Christ wanted first to give what was spiritual, but those present would not tolerate it. For when He said, “Your sins are forgiven,” they cried out, “This man blasphemes.” ( Matt. ix. 2–3.) I beg you, let us not react this way, but let us value those (spiritual) things more highly. Why? Because when we have spiritual things, the absence of bodily things does us no harm; but when we lack them, what hope, what comfort will remain for us? That is why we should always call on God for these things and plead with Him for them. Christ has also taught us to pray for such things. For if we examine that Prayer, we will find nothing carnal in it, but everything spiritual; and even the small part that seems to concern material things becomes spiritual through the way it is expressed. For telling us to ask for no more than our “successive,” that is, our “daily,” bread would indicate a spiritual and truly wise mind. And consider what comes before that: “May Your Name be held holy, may Your kingdom come, may Your will be done as in heaven, so on earth.” Then, after mentioning that earthly (need), He quickly leaves it and brings us back to spiritual teaching, saying, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Nowhere has He included riches or glory or ruling power in the Prayer, but only things that benefit the soul; nothing earthly, but everything heavenly. If, then, we are told to refrain from the things of this present life, how could we help being wretched and miserable when we ask God for things that He tells us to throw away even when we have them, to free us from worrying about them, and for which He tells us to make no effort? This is “using empty repetition”; and this is why our prayers accomplish nothing. “How, then,” someone asks, “do the wicked grow rich—the unjust and impure, plunderers and the greedy?” Not because God gives to them (reject that thought!), but through plundering and taking more than their due. “And how does God allow them to do this?” Just as He allowed that rich man to do so, keeping him for greater punishment. ( Luke xvi. 25.) Hear what (Abraham) says to him: “Son, during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus likewise received evil things; but now he is comforted, and you are tormented.” So that we too may not hear those words through living in luxury and idleness and piling up many sins for ourselves, let us choose true riches and right wisdom, so that we may obtain the promised good things. May we all attain them through the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom, to the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory, now and always and forever and ever. Amen.