GOD NOT GHOST
Saturday in the 2nd Week of Easter
Jn 6: 16-21
If you see someone walking on the water, you would think you are either dreaming or seeing a ghost. But Jesus is no ghost and seeing Him walk on the water is not a dream. Jesus, of course, can walk on the water; He is God. To see Jesus walk on the water is not to dream about Jesus but to witness something rather ordinary for Him do.
Recognizing Jesus as the one who walks on the water, however, is a different matter. It is an act of faith.
Interestingly, the disciples, who spent many days and many nights with Jesus, while seeing Jesus walk on the water, failed to recognize it was actually Him. Instead, they thought He was a ghost.
Water is a very powerful symbol for the disciples who were Jews. It symbolizes chaos as it was prior to the creation story in the book of Genesis. It reminds the Jews of the great flood during Noah’s time and, therefore, of death. It brings to mind slavery as well because the Jews had to cross the Red Sea to escape the Egyptians. For the Jews, water represents chaos, death and slavery. In all instances that made water a very powerful symbol for the Jews, it was God who hovered over the water, caused the water to rise, and divided the water. God alone walks on water as God alone has power over chaos, death and slavery.
To see God, for the Jews, is to die. They believed that anyone who sees God dies. Moses himself saw only the back of God. And because he was in the presence of God on top of Mount Sinai, Moses had to put a veil over his face when he went down from the mountain because the Israelites could not look at the radiance of his face.
Because Jesus walks on the water and only God can walk on the water, Jesus, therefore, is God. Could it be that the disciples were afraid that they were actually seeing God face-to-face and therefore they would die? We cannot ascertain now. But if we were to see Jesus face-to-face today, it requires faith to believe that He alone can change chaos to order, death to life, and slavery to freedom.
Jesus is not a ghost. He is God Himself.
Jn 6: 16-21
If you see someone walking on the water, you would think you are either dreaming or seeing a ghost. But Jesus is no ghost and seeing Him walk on the water is not a dream. Jesus, of course, can walk on the water; He is God. To see Jesus walk on the water is not to dream about Jesus but to witness something rather ordinary for Him do.
Recognizing Jesus as the one who walks on the water, however, is a different matter. It is an act of faith.
Interestingly, the disciples, who spent many days and many nights with Jesus, while seeing Jesus walk on the water, failed to recognize it was actually Him. Instead, they thought He was a ghost.
Water is a very powerful symbol for the disciples who were Jews. It symbolizes chaos as it was prior to the creation story in the book of Genesis. It reminds the Jews of the great flood during Noah’s time and, therefore, of death. It brings to mind slavery as well because the Jews had to cross the Red Sea to escape the Egyptians. For the Jews, water represents chaos, death and slavery. In all instances that made water a very powerful symbol for the Jews, it was God who hovered over the water, caused the water to rise, and divided the water. God alone walks on water as God alone has power over chaos, death and slavery.
To see God, for the Jews, is to die. They believed that anyone who sees God dies. Moses himself saw only the back of God. And because he was in the presence of God on top of Mount Sinai, Moses had to put a veil over his face when he went down from the mountain because the Israelites could not look at the radiance of his face.
Because Jesus walks on the water and only God can walk on the water, Jesus, therefore, is God. Could it be that the disciples were afraid that they were actually seeing God face-to-face and therefore they would die? We cannot ascertain now. But if we were to see Jesus face-to-face today, it requires faith to believe that He alone can change chaos to order, death to life, and slavery to freedom.
Jesus is not a ghost. He is God Himself.
posted by Fr. Bobby @ 3:00 PM
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home