Today,
Tuesday 13th in ordinary time, the liturgy offers us one of the most
shocking fragments of our Lord's public life. The scene shows a great
vivacity that contrasts radically with the disciples' attitude and
Jesus' behavior. We can imagine how frightened they must have been on
the boat when «without warning a fierce storm hit the lake,
with waves sweeping the boat» (Mt 8:24), though their
distress was not enough to awake Jesus, who was sleeping. It was up
to the disciples in despair to wake up the Master! «Lord save
us! We are lost!» (Mt 8:25).
The
evangelist, taking advantage of these dramatic events, reveals us the
true essence of Jesus. The storm was still raging and the disciples
full of fear and confusion, when Jesus, simply and calmly, «stood
up and ordered the wind and sea; and it became completely calm»
(Mt 8:26). Jesus' conjuring Word brought the calm over the
waters; but this calm was not meant to affect only the turbulent
winds and waters of the lake: Jesus' Word, above all, was addressed
to appease his disciples' fearful hearts. «Why are you so
afraid, you of little faith?» (Mt 8:26).
And
from embarrassment and fear the disciples shifted to admiration and
astonishment, for they had witnessed this prodigy, unheard of until
then. The surprise, the admiration, the wonder of such a drastic
change in a situation they were living arose in them a central
question: «What kind of man is he? Even the winds and the sea
obey him» (Mt 8:27). Who can assuage storms on earth and
skies and, at the same time, those in men's hearts? Only He, who
«sleeping as a man in a boat, can command the wind and the sea
as God» (Nicetas of Remesiana).
Whenever we may be
afraid the earth is collapsing under our feet, let us not forget that
our Savior is God himself made man, and that He is always close to
us.
