Bible Study: 1 John 4, 11 to 18. And Mark 6, 45 to 52.
In today’s Gospel passage, we come across one of the most beautiful
statements spoken in Scriptures; “TAKE HEART, IT IS I, HAVE NO FEAR.” This was
exactly what Jesus said to the disciples who were scared to death when he
walked on water towards them. Jesus had just worked a miracle of feeding five
thousand families, he had sent the people away and told his disciples to cross
to the other side while he went to a quiet place to pray.
Out there in the middle of the sea at night, the waves blew terribly
against the disciples and great distress overcame them, they did not know
whether to pray or prepare silently for their death. Great confusion was all
over them, their little boat completely lacked the capacity to withstand winds
of such magnitude. Far away from where Jesus was praying, He could see that his
disciples were in serious trouble. He could have simply prayed for the winds to
cease but instead, he decided to walk on water towards them.
When the disciples saw him, their fears even increased. They thought
they were seeing a ghost. In Matthew’s account of this incidence, Peter wanted
to be sure it was actually Jesus and he said; “Lord, if it is you, bid me come
to you on the water.” And for a few minutes, Peter walked on water but when he
turned his focus to the winds, he became afraid and started sinking. Even Mark
tells us today that the hearts of the disciples were hardened; that is, they
had no faith.
In the midst of the troubles we face in life, one gift that Jesus
demands from us is the gift of our faith. A kind of faith and confidence that
totally takes away our fears, a kind of faith that takes our focus off the
storms of life thereby enabling us to walk on water. No matter how things may
get rough with you, just keep repeating to yourself these beautiful words of
Jesus, “TAKE HEART, IT IS I, HAVE NO FEAR.” Let your fearlessness become an act
of trust in Jesus’ power to save you, let your fearlessness become a sign of
confidence that Jesus loves you deeply, that from wherever he is, he can see
you and would not allow the storms take your life.
“Take heart, it is I, have no fear.” “Take heart, it is I, Have no fear.”
Repeating these words of Jesus brings an assurance within my spirit that these
words were spoken in the context of love. Only a heart that has deep love for
me would say to me, “take heart, it is I, have no fear.” As in, “don’t you know
me again, or have you forgotten, I am the one who said I will be there for you
now, I am the one who died for you, don’t allow anything trouble you, be calm, I
got your back.”
St. John tells us in our first reading this morning that wherever there
is true love, there is no room for fear. In this is love perfected with us,
that we may have confidence…. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts
out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected
in love. 1 John 4, 17 to 18. In other words, it is not possible to love God and
then be afraid of life’s challenges at the same time. It is a betrayal of love
if we believe that God does not care about the things that trouble us. It is a
betrayal of love, if we believe that while God loves us, he purposely allows us
suffer or that, despite our love for him, he is incapable of remedying our
situation.
So far, this week we have been looking at what gifts we are to present
to the Infant Jesus as wise Christians following the footsteps of the three
wise men from the east who visited Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and
myrrh. We have looked at the gift of repentance, the gift of time and today we
have examined the gift of faith. In all these gifts, faith is often the most
difficult to release. Why? Because we humans love to do things for ourselves,
once anything gets us scared, we immediately rush to do something within our
physical reach, we don’t believe prayers are all that powerful despite the
millions of testimonies we have recorded in the past. We would rather trust in
what we do physically than have confidence in a few words we utter to God while
kneeling. And this is very sad!
Recently, a woman told me how she went to visit a native doctor to seek
protection for her son because even after praying, she still felt, she needed
to do “something” and the people she spoke to advised her to consult this
native doctor. So she went with the picture of her son so that nothing will
happen to him abroad and he would continue to send money down home. This
example sounds like a distant scenario but I do not mind giving an example of
myself. Two days ago, I went to an A.T.M machine to withdraw money, I got an
alert of debit in my account but the machine did not bring out any money
instead it flung out my card. Even after praying about it, and receiving
assurance from people around that the money would be returned, I was still worried
and felt like doing “something” about it. In fact, I wasted my credit trying to
call the bank’s head office twice but I couldn’t get through to any of its
customer care representative. When the money was returned eventually, I had to
ask myself, “Guy, where was your faith?”
This thing that pushes us to do “something” (as if prayer itself is “nothing”),
is called fear and it is precisely our fears that Jesus wants to take from us. “Take
heart, it is I, have no fear.” Relax, place your trust and confidence in Jesus.
He truly loves you and he alone can take care of you. Give him your complete
faith!
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, I give you my faith, may I never have a reason to be afraid
of anything anymore. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you.
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