Jesus Is in the Boat with Us

The Gospel of St. Mark talks about two storms at sea which affected Jesus and his apostles. One of the storms is in Chapter Four and the other is in Chapter Six of St. Mark’s Gospel. In Chapter Four, Jesus climbs into a boat at the water’s edge and teaches the people from there. When evening comes, and everyone goes home, Jesus tells the apostles to cross over to the other side. Jesus is in the boat, fast asleep when a storm comes up and the apostles are afraid that they are perishing. Jesus calms the storm after they fearfully awaken him, and the apostles  are amazed at this miracle. They wonder who is this who calms the storm and commands the wind and makes the sea die down?

When they reach the other side of the lake, they are in the country of the Gerasenes. Immediately upon disembarking, a man possessed with an unclean spirit rushes out of the tombs at them. Jesus cures this man and sends the Legion of devils within him into the swine. The herd of 2000 swine rush down the hill toward the sea and drown. The swineherds are so frightened that they run into the town to tell the people what happened, and the people come out and tell Jesus to leave. Jesus, however, tells the healed man to go to his relatives and friends and tell them how God had mercy on him.

In Chapter Six of St. Mark’s Gospel, Jesus teaches a crowd of 5000 men plus women and children and works a miracle for them by multiplying the loaves and the fishes. Then he sends them home while also sending his disciples on a boat to cross the sea to go to Bethsaida. After Jesus dismisses the crowd, he crosses the water and would have walked right past his disciples who were rowing mightily against the strong wind. When they saw Jesus walking on the water, the disciples cried out, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Take courage; it is my, do not be afraid.” Then he just got into the boat with them, the storm died down, and they came to the land of Genesereth , and people brought the sick to Jesus to heal. These are the same people who earlier told Jesus to go away from their lands because he had sent the demon from the possessed man into the swine. The people are now bringing their sick to Jesus to heal, because the possessed man who had been healed evangelized his fellow townspeople and told them all that Jesus had done for him. So now they were ready for Jesus’ arrival and brought the sick to him to be healed.

These two Gospels are telling us that Jesus is in the boat with us. Amid the storms of life, when we are confused and tossed about, when we do not know where to turn and when think we are perishing, Jesus is in the boat. He may seem to be asleep, but he is there. He may seem to be walking past us, but he comes and joins us. Jesus is in the boat. He tells us, “Have no fear. It is I.”

Who is this Jesus? Who is this one who calms the wind and the storm? This is God made man. This is God who loves us. This is the God of mercy. This is the God who is Love. We are not to fear him. We are to trust him. If we fear God, then we are afraid of his punishment. When we love him, we trust him. We know that he is in the boat with us. We know that he is Love in bodily form. We know that he is Love who came to drive out demons, to heal us, to find us, to pity us, to love us. He who is Love entered the boat of the world. Because he is in the boat, the storms of this world are different because will face them differently. Jesus can drive out are demons. He can make us whole. He understands us. We need to tell others about what he has done for us.

“Have no fear. It is I.” Love is in the boat with me.

A transcription of thoughts from a homily by Father David Engo, FBM