Homily 43 — John 6, verses 16 to 25

“And when evening had now come, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and went across the sea toward Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. And the sea rose because a great wind was blowing.” [a]

Christ provides for the good of his disciples not only when he is present in the body, but also when he is far away. For he has an abundance of means and of skill, and he brings about one and the same end by opposite actions. Look, for instance, at what he has done here. He leaves his disciples and goes up into a mountain, and they, when evening had come, went down to the sea. They waited for him until evening, expecting that he would come to them. But when evening had come, they could no longer bear not to go looking for their Teacher, so great was the love that held them. They did not say, “It is evening now, and night has overtaken us. Where are we to go? The place is dangerous, and the hour is not safe.” No, driven by their longing, they got into the boat. For it is not without reason that the evangelist has told us the time as well: he does it to show how warm their love was.

Why, then, does Christ let them go and not show himself? And again, why does he show himself walking alone on the sea? By the first he teaches them how great an evil it is to be left without him, and he makes their longing stronger; by the second, again, he shows his power. For just as in his teaching they did not hear everything in common with the crowd, so with the miracles they did not see them all together with the mass of people. It was necessary that those who were about to be given charge of leading the whole world should have something more than the rest. “And what kind of miracles did they see by themselves?” The Transfiguration on the mountain; this one on the sea; and those after the resurrection, which are many and important. And from these I infer that there were others as well.

They came to Capernaum without any sure information, but expecting to find him there, or even on the way across. The evangelist hints at this by saying that “it was already dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.”

“And the sea rose because a great wind was blowing.” What did they do? They were troubled, for there were many different causes that forced them to be. They were afraid because of the hour, for it was dark; because of the storm, for the sea had risen; because of the place, for they were not near land, but “had rowed about three miles” (verse 19). And last of all, they were afraid because of the strangeness of the thing, for “they see him walking on the sea.”

And when they were greatly troubled, “he says to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid’” (verse 20).

Why, then, does he appear? To show that it was he who would make the storm stop. The evangelist has shown this by saying, “They were willing to take him in, and immediately the boat was near the land” (verse 21). He gave them not only a safe crossing, but one with a fair wind as well.

To the crowd he does not show himself walking on the sea, for the miracle was too great for their weakness. Indeed, even the disciples did not see him doing this for long: he appeared, and at once withdrew. Now this seems to me to be a different miracle from the one found in Matthew 14, and that it is different is clear for many reasons. For he often works the same miracles, so that those who see them may not only find them very strange, but also receive them with great faith.

“It is I; do not be afraid.” As he spoke the word, he drove the fear out of their souls. But at another time it was not so, which is why Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you” (Matthew 14, verse 28). Why was it, then, that on that occasion they did not accept this at once, but now were convinced? Because then the storm went on tossing the boat, but now the calm came at his voice. Or if this is not the reason, it is the other one I mentioned before: that by often working the same miracles, he made the second easily accepted by means of the first.

But why did he not get into the boat? Because he wanted to make the wonder greater, to reveal his divinity to them more openly, and to show them that when he gave thanks before, he did not do so because he needed help, but by stooping down to meet them. He let the storm arise, so that they would always look for him; he stilled the storm, so that he might make his power known to them; he did not get into the boat, so that he might make the wonder greater.

Verse 22: “And the people who were there saw that there was no other boat there except the one the disciples had got into, and that Jesus had not gone into the boat, but his disciples had.”

And why is John so exact? Why did he not simply say that the crowds crossed over the next day and went away? He wants to teach us something else: that Jesus allowed the crowds, if not openly, then at least in a hidden way, to suspect what had happened. For “they saw,” he says, “that there was no other boat there but one, and that Jesus had not gone into it with his disciples.”

Verse 24: And getting into boats from Tiberias, they “came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.”

What else, then, could they suspect, except that he had arrived there by crossing the sea on foot? For it was not possible to say that he had crossed in another boat, since “there was one,” the evangelist says, “the one his disciples got into.” And yet when they came to him after so great a wonder, they did not ask him how he had crossed over or how he had got there, nor did they try to understand so great a sign. But what do they say?

Verse 25: “Teacher, when did you come here?”

Unless someone claims that they are using “when” here in the sense of “how.” But it is worth noticing here, too, how fickle their impulses were. Those who said, “This is the Prophet,” those who were eager to “take him and make him king,” now that they have found him, have no such plan. They have thrown off their amazement, and they no longer admire him for what he did before. They were looking for him because they wanted to enjoy a table like the first one again. [g]

The Jews, under Moses’ leadership, crossed the Red Sea, but that case is very different from this one. He did everything with prayer and as a servant; Christ did it with absolute power. There, when the south wind blew, the water gave way so that they crossed on dry land (Exodus 14, verse 21); but here the miracle was greater. For the sea kept its own nature and yet carried its Lord on its surface, bearing witness to the Scripture that says, “Who walks on the sea as on a pavement” (Job 9, verse 8).

And it was with good reason that, when he was about to enter stubborn and disobedient Capernaum, he worked the miracle of the loaves. He wanted to soften its disobedience not only by what happened inside the city, but also by the miracles done outside it. For was it not enough to soften even a stone, that such crowds should come to that city with such eagerness? Yet they felt nothing of the kind, but again wanted food for the body, and for this Jesus also rebukes them.

So, beloved, since we know these things, let us give thanks to God for the things of the senses, but much more for the spiritual things. For that is his will, and it is for the sake of the spiritual things that he gives the others. By them he leads in, as it were, those who are less mature, and gives them a first lesson, because they are still gaping after the world. But when people like this receive these worldly things and stop there, then they are reproached and rebuked. In the case of the paralyzed man, for example, Christ wanted to give first what was spiritual, but those who were there would not stand for it. When he said, “Your sins are forgiven you,” they cried out, “This man is blaspheming” (Matthew 9, verse 2).

I beg you, let us not feel as they did, but let us set more store by the spiritual things. Why? Because when we have spiritual things, no harm comes from lacking the things of the flesh; but when we do not have them, what hope, what comfort, will be left to us then? That is why it is for these that we ought always to call on God and plead with him. And it is for these that Christ also taught us to pray. For if we unfold that prayer, we will find nothing of the flesh in it, but everything spiritual; and even the small part that seems to concern the senses becomes spiritual by the way it is asked. For to bid us ask for no more than our bread “for each day in turn,” that is, our “daily” bread, marks a spiritual and truly wise mind. And consider what comes before it: “Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” Then, after naming that need of this present life, he quickly leaves it and brings us back to the spiritual teaching, saying, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Nowhere has he put riches in the prayer, or glory, or power, but everything that serves the good of the soul; nothing earthly, but everything heavenly.

If, then, we are told to keep away from the things of this present life, how could we not be wretched and miserable if we ask God for the very things he tells us to throw away even when we have them, to free us from worrying about them, and the very things he tells us to take no pains over? This is the “empty repetition,” and this is why we accomplish nothing by our prayers. “How, then, do the wicked grow rich? How do the unjust and impure, the plunderers and the greedy?” Not by God’s giving — far from it! — but by plundering, and by taking more than their share. “And how does God allow them?” In the same way he allowed that rich man, keeping him for a greater punishment (Luke 16, verse 25). Listen to what Abraham says to him: “Son, in your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus likewise evil things; but now he is comforted, and you are in torment.”

So then, so that we too may not come to hear that voice by living softly and idly and heaping up many sins for ourselves, let us choose the true riches and true wisdom, so that we may obtain the good things promised. May we all attain them, through the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.