Tuesday of Week 18 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 14:22-36

As soon as the people had been filled with the food that Jesus gave them, Jesus packs his disciples off in the boat to the other side of the lake. He sends the crowds away and then retreats to the mountain to pray all by himself.

We know from John’s account that the people wanted to make him a king. If Jesus wanted to take control of the crowd, this was the moment; they were ready to follow enthusiastically. Jesus was indeed their King, but not the kind they were expecting. He would draw the crowds to him in a very different way, hanging in shame on a cross.

It looks too as if he did not want his disciples to get any wrong ideas either. They must have been elated at their role in the extraordinary event of feeding more than 5,000 people. So, perhaps with a lot of grumbling, they are sent off even before the excited crowds have dispersed.

As they make their way across the lake in this dark mood, things get even worse. They run into a big storm and their boat is being tossed about like a cork. Then out of the darkness, between 3 and 6 in the morning hours, they see Jesus approaching them across the water. Far from being delighted, they are terrified out of their wits. Superstitious men that they are, they think it is a ghost. Ghosts were very much a part of their world.

Words of encouragement come across the water:

Take heart, it is I [Greek, ego eimi = I AM]; do not be afraid.

Jesus gives himself the very name of Yahweh; this is all the reassurance they need. Their God is with them.

Only in Matthew’s account of this story do we have Peter’s reaction:

Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

To which, Jesus replies:

Come.

Peter gets out of the boat and goes towards Jesus. It is an act of love, faith and trust. But not quite enough. The power of the wind and waves gets stronger than his desire to be with Jesus. He begins to sink.

Lord, save me!

Jesus lifts him up and says:

You of little faith, why did you doubt?

As soon as Jesus and Peter get into the boat, there is a complete calm.

The rest of the disciples are overwhelmed and bow down before him saying:

Truly you are the Son of God.

We have here behind this story an image of the early Church, of which the boat and the disciples are a symbol. The surrounding water is the world, and the wind and waves are the forces which threaten the tiny community. Jesus seems to be far away, but he is not, and he appears in the midst of the storm. Once he steps inside the boat, there is calm, not only because the surrounding storm has stopped, but also because of the peace which the awareness of Jesus’ presence gives.

There is an added element in this story in that Peter, the leader of the community, comes hand in hand into the boat with Jesus. In time, the authority of Jesus will be passed over to him.

There is also, of course, in the calming of the storm an indication of Jesus’ real identity, expressed in the awe-filled words of the disciples, “Truly you are the Son of God”, echoing Jesus’ own statement of “I AM”.

There is a brief epilogue at the end of our passage. The boat reaches the area of Gennesaret. The name refers either to the narrow plain, about four miles long and less than two miles wide on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Magdala, or a town in the plain. Significantly for the work that Jesus was about to do, the plain was considered a garden land, fertile and well-watered.

As soon as Jesus reaches the shore the crowds again gather in huge numbers especially to have their sick cured. So great was their faith that they asked only to touch the fringe of his garment. All those who did so (in faith) were healed.

Jesus had sent away the crowds earlier probably because of the late hour, but also perhaps because of the mood of the crowd which was taking on political overtones not wanted by Jesus. But now they are back to seek from him what he came to give them—healing and wholeness.

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Tuesday of Week 18 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Numbers 12:1-13

Not only do the people complain, but Aaron and Miriam, the brother and sister of Moses, are also grumbling against their brother. Ostensibly their complaint was that Moses had married a Cushite woman. This seems to be Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro and a Midianite, whom Moses married when he was in hiding for killing a man prior to his becoming leader of his people (see Exod 2:21). There is an element of contempt in the expression.

However, it seems their real grievance was that God spoke not only through Moses, but also through them. The prophet Micah speaks of Moses, Aaron and Miriam as God’s gracious provision for Israel (Micah 6:4). Yet they were not given the treatment they felt they deserved, the kind of treatment that Moses was getting from God. Miriam appears as the chief complainer and Aaron simply goes along with her, so she alone will be punished.

In spite of the favours God showered on him, Moses himself is described as being the meekest man on earth (though he could, when need be, speak in very harsh language to wrongdoers). The complaint thrown against him could not be attributed to any arrogance on his part.

So God (how human he appears in all these accounts!) overhears their murmurings and summons all three to the Tent of Meeting. He comes down in a pillar of cloud, stands at the entrance to the Tent and calls Aaron and Miriam to come forward.

God makes his meaning very clear to them. He makes a distinction between other prophets and Moses (Miriam herself was a prophetess). God communicates with prophets through visions and dreams, but only Moses is at home in God’s house and God speaks to him face to face, plainly and not in riddles and Moses sees the very form of Yahweh.

With other prophets and seers, God’s revelation did not always come to them with complete clarity. A prophet might not fully understand the oracles he uttered, and they might seem to be riddles and mysteries. But, in Moses’ case, God spoke with special clarity—like two people speaking face to face. Clearly this was a privilege granted to no other human being.

By way of exception, some others would be given a share in the divine spirit, and God would raise up prophets after Moses’ death, but Moses will remain the greatest of them all—at least until John the Baptist comes, the forerunner of the new covenant.

How then could Aaron and Miriam have the temerity to speak against someone who had such a close relationship with him? So angry was God with the way Miriam and Aaron criticised God’s special friend that, as soon as he left and the cloud disappeared, Miriam found herself a leper, her whole body as white as snow. Actually, it was not strictly speaking leprosy (Hansen’s disease), but an affliction known as ‘white leprosy’ that is not regarded as serious or of long duration. However, it had the effect of ostracising her from the community for some time.

Aaron then begged God that the sin they had foolishly committed be not held against them. He begged that his sister not be left to look like a still-born baby:

…whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb.

Moses too, begs God to bring healing to his sister. On this note the reading ends.

Later, Aaron will pray to God on behalf of his sister. She will be cured, but not before she spends seven days outside the camp in quarantine and isolation until her skin returns to normal.

Perhaps today we could look into our own hearts and see if there are any traces of jealousy there. What or whom are we jealous about and why? And how do we relate with the people towards whom we feel jealousy or envy? Can we learn to thank God for the gifts we see in other people?

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