Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?

Today’s passage takes place on the sea of Galilee, in Peter’s Boat (aka. the “Bark of Peter”). For centuries, the “bark” (or boat) of Peter has been a metaphor for the church of christ, of which St. Peter was placed at the head.  This is why most of the ceilings, inside old gothic church’s were designed to look like a boat turned upside down. In this scene, all of Jesus’ disciples are with Him in His church, inside the bark of St. Peter. They are safe in the boat, but the world outside the boat is tossing them about, and is in a terrible state of chaos, threatening their destruction. Amusingly Jesus is asleep in the stern.

The story then, progresses to the point that the disciples decide to wake Jesus, and ask Him if He cares if they all perish. Rembrandt painted a wonderful depiction of this scene, I suggest you take a minute and click this link, and view the painting. In it you will notice that those disciples closest to Jesus are the most calm, and those further away, are struggling while they fight the storm. This is a metaphor life and a direct representation of the trials in the church and world today. Those that are farther away from God are struggling helplessly, all by themselves, to fight the storms of the world. They are being consumed by the struggle, and are not be able to see the break in the storm, and the blue skies on the horizon. Peter is at the front of the boat fighting to trim the sails, John is at the back of the boat, on his knees before God praying his way through the ordeal.

There is a great message for us here too. In life we will often become blind to what is most important, and because our feeling of power and/or responsibility to the people or things of this world, we can often miss the one thing that Jesus most wants for us at that moment, Faith! To remind us of this fact, Rembrandt painted himself into the painting, he is the 13th disciple in the boat, the one in the painting, breaking the 4th wall, looking directly at you. Rembrandt in this depiction, is basically asking you, “where are you in this storm?” This is a really important question for us all to ask ourselves, Put yourself into the storm and imagine yourself in the scene, and ask yourself…, “where are you in the storm of your own life?” Your answer will determine how you should respond.

Jesus finally gives us the answer at the end of the passage. He asks “why are you afraid?” This too, is a fine question to ask yourself, especially when you are in the storm of your own life. If you are in the front of the boat, and afraid that you will perish, you need instead to get on your knees and pray for God’s providence. He is faithful in all things, and He will deliver you from this ordeal, if you are faithful. If you find yourself in the back of the boat, and you are still afraid, it means that you need to pray all the more fervently. God will be faithful, but not always in the time you expect, and not always in the way you were hoping. But the storm will eventually break, and you will see blue skies again…, As king Solomon would say “this too shall pass,” And it is faith that will get you there.

Oh lord, help me to have faith in you, even in the midst of the great storm. Amen.