The Presence of Jesus In Moments of Crisis. Wednesday After Epiphany
Breakfast With the Word Wednesday After Epiphany
Mark 6:45-52
The moments of crisis is one of those critical moments that usually affect our faith. The moments of crisis are those moments when we face challenges, problems, temptations and difficulties that sometimes try to pull our faith to the mud.
In the moments of crisis, there is always the tendency to be trapped in fear and anxiety. When this happens, we lose focus, we tend to forget we have Someone who is more powerful than the problem.
During the time of problems, we sometimes concentrate our energy on the negative things that the problem may cause us, instead of the positive things, our God can do out of them.
These are those moments when you pray, yet it seems your prayer is not working. They are those moments that despite how close you are to God, your challenging moments increase day by day.
They are those times that after thanking God for the gift of life, yet in the next minute you hear that you have lost a relation. Moments of crisis can be devastating. It can challenge your faith.
In Moments of crisis, there is always this temptation to treat our problems as if they are supernatural while God is natural, instead of the other way round.
We have to understand that the moment of crisis does not mean that Jesus has gone on holiday.
The moment of crisis is part of life and although challenging, but the presence of God is still there. So, when we are faced with such moments, we have to activate our faith and not our fear.
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The Apostles and Their Moment of Crisis.
In today’s readings, the apostles of Jesus face a moment of crisis that put them into fear.
The point is that the readings of these moments continue to reveal who Jesus is. Today He is presented as Someone with extraordinary power and above the natural.
In fact, double scary scenes besiege the apostles today in the gospel text of Mark 6:45-52.
After the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus sends the crowd away while His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to Bethsaida.
After saying goodbye to them, then Jesus moves to the hill to pray. When evening came, Jesus sees that the apostles are worn out with rowing, because a heavy wind is against them. Then about the fourth watch of the night, Jesus comes towards them, walking on the lake.
Then He tries to pass them by, but when they see Him walking on the lake, they think it is a ghost and they screamed out. When the apostles see Jesus, they become heavily terrified.
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Therefore, they encounter two troubles at the same time. They were struck by the heavy wind and while battling with the already strong disaster, they met someone walking on the water.
Imagine how fearful they could become. Even the man walking on the water tend to pass them, this could make them more afraid.
When they saw him walking on the sea, they suppose that it is a ghost (Greek: phantasma), and they cried out”.
The text says “for they all saw him, and were troubled” (v. 50). They were struck with terror at what they saw. At this point, Jesus says, “Be calm! It is I! Do not be afraid.”
In essence, Jesus sees that they are deeply in crisis, He then assures them of His ever-abiding presence. Jesus comes to them in a moment of crisis. He is there in their deepest fears, even when they think their own lives may end up in the sea.
He is Also With Us.
Jesus is also there with us in our moments of crisis. Sometimes, the situation may become worse like that of the apostles. Sometimes it becomes worse that we begin to doubt if Jesus truly cares for us.
There are times we face great challenges, the more we pray for them to cease is the more they increase.
Many Christians at this time begin to seek the easiest way out of the trouble. Many people abandon their faith at this time. Like the apostles today, we sometimes activate our fear instead of faith.
When Jesus saw them crying, Jesus says to the apostles, courage, it is I. Therefore, He is invariably telling them that when they face this situation, they need to activate their faith and not their fear. They need to be fully assured that He is still with them in moments of crisis.
So, the moments of crisis does not mean that God is no longer there. Rather, it means that we need more of God at this time. His presence assures peace despite the crisis.
He still says to us “Be calm, do not be afraid” our function is to be calm and trust His presence. Jesus knows what to do.
He is Supernatural.
Supernatural indicates someone who beyond the limitation of any natural phenomenon. It means that nothing human can limit what He can do.
The gospel text affirms that Jesus defies all odds. Nothing natural is beyond His power to control. Jesus walks on the water, which is an impossible task for all. Also when He speaks, the wind obeys Him. No one does that. This is an indication that there is nothing beyond His power to control.
We have to take note of this when we are in moments of crisis.
Trust His Presence.
With the Christmas celebration, we believe that He is now with us. Therefore, the text is telling us that there is nothing He cannot do. So, we have to be courageous, calm and trust His presence.
Therefore, when we feel like everything is going against us, let us be calm and trust His presence.
Even when we feel like losing hope, Be calm and trust His presence. Also, even when you feel like taking away your life because of what you are passing through, be calm and trust His presence.
Even when the sickness seems incurable, Be calm and trust His presence. For He is beyond the natural. He is beyond every impossible situation. Jesus assures us of His ever abiding presence despite the crisis.
Trust the presence of Jesus when everything goes against you. Whatever problem that we face in life is not beyond the power of God. Only God is supernatural, problems are not.
May His grace and abiding presence continually be with us in our moments of crisis. Amen.
