16 When evening came, Jesus’ disciples went down to the lake. 17 They got into a boat and were crossing the lake to Capernaum. It was already getting dark and Jesus hadn’t come to them yet. 18 The water was getting rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When the wind had driven them out for about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the water. He was approaching the boat and they were afraid. 20 He said to them, “I Am. Don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and just then the boat reached the land where they had been heading.
Reflection
It’s a defining moment of Christ – the walking on water.
It’s also, in my opinion, the cringiest parts of most film adaptations that try to depict it. Even with the fanciest special effects, it always just looks so strange and unnatural. I wonder why it always bothers me so much.
I think, besides for the fact that the rest of us can’t walk on water, it’s the juxtaposition of the rough waves with the calm attitude of Christ. Is He walking through a calm stream amongst the rough waves? Is He stepping on these quick moving waves? If so, does He move through or with the waves? It’s just so difficult to imagine and always appears strange no matter what way it is depicted on the big screen.
But is that the point of this odd, almost out-of-place, display of divinity from Christ? That Jesus Himself is this calm, almost unimaginable stability amongst the storms of life? Is the point to seek God at times moving with waves and at other times moving through the waves that life throws at us?
So, I guess it would be weird if the movies could make this look “normal” because to us, “normal” is just the chaos, not the divinity in the chaos.
by Rachel Callender
For Pondering & Prayer
Think about a storm in your life, presently, recently, or up ahead. Where is God walking through that?
Prayer: Holy Lord, the mystery of Your power astounds us. We ask that You be the calm in the storms of our lives. In jesus’ name we pray. Amen.