Mistaken identity

Between three and six o’clock in the morning Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water. When they saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost!’ they said, and screamed with fear.

 Jesus spoke to them at once. ‘Courage!’ he said. ‘It is I. Don’t be afraid!’ (verses 25-27)

Read Matthew 14:22-36

There is a well-known urban myth about a-woman driving at night, chased by another car. She tries to lose her pursuer but arrives home with him still close behind. It is only when he drags a knife-wielding maniac from her back seat that she recognises that he is not an assailant but her saviour.

People have always made the same mistake about God. They naturally interpret any approaches he makes towards them as hostile. Their automatic reaction is fear. They try to escape from him or strive to placate him. They do not realise that he loves them and pursues them in order to save them.

In our text, the same pattern is repeated. Jesus appears miraculously beside their boat, and the initial response of the disciples is one of fear. They think he is a ghost and get an attack of the blithering wobbles. It is only when he reveals himself that they see him for what he really is, their Saviour and friend.

The story of our lives.

Dear Jesus, help me to see you not as some fierce fiend but as a loving friend. Amen.

by Richard Hauser, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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