Saturday of the Second Week of Easter
Sandwiched in between two overtly Eucharistic sections of John’s Gospel – the story of the multiplication of the loaves and the Bread of Life discourse – is the story we have in today’s gospel reading of Jesus walking on water. I have found myself wondering on multiple occasions: why? Why would Jesus walk on water? What was He trying to communicate? Aren’t there many other things that would’ve been better uses of His time? Was this a kind of David Blane or Houdini act meant to marvel the disciples? After some reflection, I think that we can best understand the nature of this episode in the wider context of John’s Gospel and Jesus’ entire ministry.
First, let us notice that the account does not construe Jesus as some sort of magician who performs this feat as part of a magic act. He is not displaying power for power’s sake, nor is he trying to gain attention. Rather, he appears only to his disciples at night. St. John uses the imagery of light and darkness to great effect throughout the gospel: Jesus is the light of the world; those who do not understand remain in darkness. The disciples are traveling in darkness; they do not understand. When Jesus appears to them on the water they are even afraid. Jesus says “It is I. Do not be afraid” (John 6:20).
To help us understand this sequence, particularly Jesus’ words to the disciples on the boat, we need to pay attention to the end of the previous passage (yesterday’s gospel reading). In John 6: 14-15, Jesus withdraws to the mountain alone because, John tells us, he knew that the people wanted to make Him into an earthly king. This is not who He is. When he appears as the One who has power over the sea, He tells them very clearly that He is God. The phrase “It is I” is a form of the name of God revealed to Moses at Sinai, “I AM” (YHWH) or Yahweh (Exodus 3:14). Steeped in the Jewish tradition, Jesus’ disciples would recognize these words as the unspoken name of God.
After going away, so that they would not make Him an earthly king, Jesus returns manifesting Himself as God, as a different kind of King.
We would, however, miss the point if we didn’t understand this story in the larger context of John’s treatment of the Eucharist throughout chapter 6. The cosmic divine Jesus, the one who has power over the sea, comes to us as the Bread of Life. We are invited to take Him, to become Him in the Eucharist. If we misunderstand Him as an earthly king, then we would think that by eating the bread of life we, too, are becoming earthly kings who seek power and riches. But something else happens to us in the Eucharist. When we receive the Bread of Life, we are made Christ-like, that is, we become those who lay down our lives for others. We become those who are instruments of God’s comfort and mercy.
– Tim Gabrielli