May 13, 2016
My 2016 Ongoing Journey: Exploring
Matthew to discover what following Jesus and becoming more like him would look
like.
Matthew 14:22-36 ~ The story of Jesus
(and briefly, Peter) walking on the sea can test one’s sense of credibility if
one is looking for concrete, tangible, test-tube-verifiable reporting of facts.
I’ll simply repeat a short paragraph from my last blog: “Let Matthew speak for
himself. Matthew has an important message, which is addressed to a specific
audience, and which is delivered for a specific purpose. The need to defend the
Scriptures becomes an end in itself, and too often we end up ‘proving’ the
details of biblical stories, but missing the point”--"straining at a gnat but swallowing a camel" (Matthew 23:24).
There is evidence both from within the Gospel and from other witnesses that suggests Matthew wrote to instruct and encourage recent converts to Christianity—converts probably from among Hellenized Jews. These were marginal Jews (kind of like today’s “spiritual but not religious” population) who had found traditional Judaism empty and had adopted Greek culture.
Since Judaism was (and is) monotheistic, we don’t find much in Judaism about demons, spirits, etc. But when we move outside of Judaism in to the Greco-Roman culture (where Paul later would journey and minister), we encounter a whole pantheon—a veritable hierarchy of gods, spirits, demons, etc.—some of which were benign, but many of which were treacherous. Virtually all of them manifested human-like tendencies to erratic whim and tantrum.
And they were everywhere: in the air, in the trees, in the abyss under the earth and in the water. And they sometimes would take up residence in people: curved spines, mute lips, blind eyes, drooling chins. They were everywhere. And they were evil.
New Testament scholar, Hans Jonas, described life in that culture like this: take a young child, blindfold him and place him in the middle of the busiest intersection in downtown Chicago at rush hour. Remove the blindfold and leave him there amid the whizzing, booming, thundering traffic.
The predominant thought in that culture was, “How can I avoid evil today?”
Storms were thought to exhibit the anger of the gods, and in this story, with the wind howling and the waves crashing, Jesus is not intimidated. Indeed, he strolls unruffled through the gods’ temper tantrum. And when he gets in the boat, the wind ceases and the water becomes like glass.
Mark and John also include versions of the story. It’s interesting that Luke, the only Gentile writer of a Gospel, omits the story.
Matthew presents Jesus as master over nature and over the demons and spirits. Fact? Symbol? Metaphor? Those questions totally miss the point. Jesus meets people wherever they are, in the midst of whatever distractions and fears and superstitions may haunt or possess them. While others may stir up storms of controversy, fear, bigotry or ideological dogmatism, if I would follow Jesus I will be a source of peace and calm that can restore clear thinking and collaborative, productive relationships.
Whatever your specific, personal take on this story, it’s at least that much.
That's the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.
There is evidence both from within the Gospel and from other witnesses that suggests Matthew wrote to instruct and encourage recent converts to Christianity—converts probably from among Hellenized Jews. These were marginal Jews (kind of like today’s “spiritual but not religious” population) who had found traditional Judaism empty and had adopted Greek culture.
Since Judaism was (and is) monotheistic, we don’t find much in Judaism about demons, spirits, etc. But when we move outside of Judaism in to the Greco-Roman culture (where Paul later would journey and minister), we encounter a whole pantheon—a veritable hierarchy of gods, spirits, demons, etc.—some of which were benign, but many of which were treacherous. Virtually all of them manifested human-like tendencies to erratic whim and tantrum.
And they were everywhere: in the air, in the trees, in the abyss under the earth and in the water. And they sometimes would take up residence in people: curved spines, mute lips, blind eyes, drooling chins. They were everywhere. And they were evil.
New Testament scholar, Hans Jonas, described life in that culture like this: take a young child, blindfold him and place him in the middle of the busiest intersection in downtown Chicago at rush hour. Remove the blindfold and leave him there amid the whizzing, booming, thundering traffic.
The predominant thought in that culture was, “How can I avoid evil today?”
Storms were thought to exhibit the anger of the gods, and in this story, with the wind howling and the waves crashing, Jesus is not intimidated. Indeed, he strolls unruffled through the gods’ temper tantrum. And when he gets in the boat, the wind ceases and the water becomes like glass.
Mark and John also include versions of the story. It’s interesting that Luke, the only Gentile writer of a Gospel, omits the story.
Matthew presents Jesus as master over nature and over the demons and spirits. Fact? Symbol? Metaphor? Those questions totally miss the point. Jesus meets people wherever they are, in the midst of whatever distractions and fears and superstitions may haunt or possess them. While others may stir up storms of controversy, fear, bigotry or ideological dogmatism, if I would follow Jesus I will be a source of peace and calm that can restore clear thinking and collaborative, productive relationships.
Whatever your specific, personal take on this story, it’s at least that much.
That's the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.
Together in the Walk,
Jim
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