We start our reading this week with the inspiration for what has become a common quip: “That so-and-so acts like he can walk on water.” Well, folks, this week, we see that at least one person has the bonafides to act like it: To the utter amazement of the disciples, Jesus comes “walking toward them on the sea.” Peter, ever the eager disciple, puts Jesus to the test. “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Peter takes the first few steps but quickly falters, loses faith, and begins to sink. Jesus saves him—and not for the last time. Peter learns quickly that Jesus as Messiah rules over creation, even over chaos as symbolized by the raging water and fierce winds at the Sea of Galilee. The closer we stay to Jesus, the better we can withstand the storm. It’s a particularly timely message for us these days.
It’s not surprising that Matthew continues to highlight encounters between the religious leaders and Jesus. Matthew’s audience is the Jewish Christian community; this gospel seeks to encourage and strengthen the people, reminding them of their traditions while also embracing new expressions of faith. The arguments with the religious leaders help to unveil the New Covenant, with Jesus as the path to salvation and eternal life.
These readings from Matthew also feature a number of healings and miracles. We meet the Canaanite woman, whose persistence ultimately leads Jesus to heal her daughter. Matthew, along with the Gospel of Mark, recounts a second miracle of loaves and fishes; this time, Jesus feeds 4,000 men (plus women and children). In chapter 16, Jesus asks his disciples a question that resonates through the ages: “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter, who earlier in the readings took a dip in the lake when his faith wavered, answers with exuberance: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus proclaims that Peter is the rock upon which the church will be built. Though Peter will falter again—denying Jesus three times after the arrest—Peter ultimately fulfills this vision, as we see in the Book of Acts, traveling far and wide to spread the Good News and build the church.
At the end of chapter 16, we see Jesus preparing his disciples for the coming days. Like a good friend and faithful follower, Peter tries to find a way for Jesus to avoid such suffering. But Jesus rebukes him, “Get behind me, Satan! … You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Indeed, who could imagine that such a treacherous death on the cross would be not the end of the story but the beginning of the greatest story ever told?
Late in our week, we arrive on the mountaintop. Along with Peter, James, and John, we experience one of the pivotal moments of the New Testament: the Transfiguration. As Jesus shines with a dazzling light, Moses and Elijah appear and talk with him. Ever earnest, Peter offers to build three dwellings so the three great prophets may stay on the mountaintop. But Jesus knows that we can’t stay on the mountains; we must return to the valleys of life, but hopefully we come back transfigured and transformed by such divine revelation.
We encounter the fourth of the Five Discourses in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 18. Known as the Discourse of the Church, this teaching from Jesus focuses on the nature of the church and the building of a faith community. The discourse explores how we are to treat one another; for example, the parable of the lost sheep is not only a lesson in how Jesus seeks after each of us but how we too are called to care for all, not letting any escape from the herd. This chapter offers a biblical template for negotiating conflict (verses 15-19), and a profoundly difficult and important edict that we must not simply forgive, but do it seventy-seven times.
Perhaps the words I’ll carry with me this week are from verse 20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Like you, I cannot physically gather with my church community, but I can gather with my husband and our children. And even though I cannot be in the same geographical location as my parents and sisters and friends and in-laws, I follow a Jesus who can walk on water and who raises from the dead. Whether we gather in person or gather in spirit as we shelter in place, Jesus is here, among us. Amen.
