THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
Walking on the Water: Mt 14,22-36
The ancients feared the sea. For them, stormy seas were the forces of chaos (so for example the storm scene in Jonah chapter 1). Thus God brings order into chaos when the sea becomes calm (Ps 107,29).
In this Gospel, Matthew has added to Mark's account Peter's attempt to walk on the water (14,28-31).
Mountains between heaven and earth are places where significant events happen, where people meet God and were God is revealed. We seen this already (4,8 & 5,1); shortly we will also be seeing 15,29 and 17,1 as mountain settings.
While this is the first time Matthew has mentioned Jesus at prayer, he adds to Mark that Jesus went up the mountain "by himself".
Down below we have the disciples who are experienced fishermen. They are not frightened here as they were in the earlier storm scene (8,25). Then they have the sight of Jesus walking on the water, bringing order into chaos as only God can. Jesus' words, literally, are "I am". This recalls God's own self designation at the scene of the burning bush (Ex 3,14) and also in the second part of Isaiah (Is 41,4; 43,10).
With Jesus walking on the water and saying "I am", Matthew is highlighting the divine characteristics of Jesus.
This is the first episode in the Gospel where Peter is prominent; there will be more of him as the story unfolds. In this scene, Peter is willing to try but he soon beomes frightened. Like the disciples in the earlier scene (8,25), he says "Lord, save me". "Lord" is significant because it is the Christian title for Jesus following the resurrection.
As is typical of this Gospel, Jesus says the disciples are of "little faith", which is better than having no faith. 6,30 and 8,26 are two more instances of the expression being used by Jesus. In Mark's Gospel, the scene ends with the hardened hearts of the disciples (Mk 6,52).
By contrast, at the end of this Gospel's account, the disciples are doing homage or worship of Jesus. This happens frequently enough in Matthew from the Magi (2,11) onwards. This time the disciples are making their first proclamation of Jesus as Son of God, even before Peter's declaration at Caesarea Philippi (16,16).
Summary: 14,34-36
The proclamation of Jesus as Son of God by the disciples is followed by a stress on his power: he healed all who came to him (verse 36).
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Sunday Gospel
We have already noted several times the importance of the mountain as a setting in this Gospel, the place where heaven and earth meet. "Into the hills" of the Jerusalem Bible is a possible translation but it is one that misses the point.
We might say that Elijah's experience of God on Mount Horeb is similar to that of Jesus at prayer on the mountain.
Perhaps though we are being asked to compare Elijah with Peter and the very different ways they experienced God coming into their lives. Elijah comes to Horeb at a moment of crisis and proclaims his zeal for God (1 K 19,10.14). Peter and Elijah both have to take the risks of faith.
The traditional expression is that Elijah heard a "still small voice". The enigmatic quality of his experience is perhaps best captured by the NRSV expression that he heard "the sound of sheer silence". Phrases like "gentle breeze" or "whispering sounds" are too specific to be a good translation of a Hebrew phrase which is not clear.
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