It is I!
August 13, 2023: A Reflection for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr A
Matthew 14:22-33
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” (Mt 14:27-29)
You can hardly blame the disciples for being terrified. There they were, out on the lake at night, journeying to the farther shore and suddenly, from out of nowhere, a violent wind erupts and is tossing them about. The literal translation from the Greek is that the boat was being tortuously tested.
As if that is not enough, Jesus was not with them. He had stayed behind to dismiss the crowds and then spend some quiet time on the mountain in prayer.
Then, who should appear but Jesus Himself, walking on the water. Fear overtakes them and they cry out, “It is a ghost.” Jesus speaks to them and here it gets even more interesting. In our translation it says, “Take courage, it is I.” But in the Greek, the literal translation of ‘take courage, it is I’ is: Be confident (it is a verb); I AM.
To a Hebrew’s mind ‘I AM’ encapsulates the essence of God. It is the name with which Yahweh wished to be addressed. I AM. It is sacred beyond measure. It was not missed by the disciples. Jesus was saying he is God, that he is I AM.
So Peter, in the fervor of the moment says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Peter steps out of the boat and at Jesus’ invitation begins walking on the water. On he walked toward Jesus, until the impossibility of what he was doing made him cry out in fear, “Lord, save me!” And, of course, Jesus did. He stretched out his hand and kept him from sinking.
All of us, in our journey toward God, have been around long enough to have had the winds of adversity ‘tortuously test’ our fragile little skiff, the vessel of our lives. Many is the time that we have been, and will be, invited by Jesus to walk on the water to Jesus in the midst of a storm. But as Jesus said, “Be confident. I AM.”
I AM with you always, you have only to call to me with the confidence of faith and trust. As he did for Peter, Jesus will do for us. He will stretch out his hand and catch us. After all, he is I AM. With our being turned toward him in faith and trust, there is nothing to fear. I AM with you all ways.