““Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.””
It had been “one of those days.” What was supposed to have been a team retreat, a getaway for Jesus’ disciples, turned into a marathon session of teaching and ministry. It concluded with Jesus feeding more than 5,000 people out of some kid’s lunch bag.
Whoa! You don’t see that every day.
Now put yourself in the disciples’ sandals. No doubt they were both blown away and bleary eyed. So Jesus urges his friends back into their boat, pushes them out onto the lake and points them to Bethsaida. Meanwhile, he says his goodbyes to the crowds and sends them home so he can spend time in prayer.
Geography comes into play at this point in Mark’s narrative. The Sea of Galilee is 696 feet below sea level. Consequently “violent downdrafts and sudden windstorms” are not unusual. The disciples, already tired, are now caught in one of those lake storms and are straining at their oars when, what do they see, but something . . . no, SOMEONE out there on the water.
They freak out!
Now, before you go all bravado on the disciples, sit with them in that boat for a moment. I am writing these words from our lake home in Arkansas. It’s 1:44 a.m. and inky black outside — eerily dark! It’s January and the trees from the water’s shore leading up to our home are devoid of leaves. I can see the light shimmer on the water. And I imagine what it would be like were I out there in a wooden boat right now seeing the outline of someone coming my way—not in a boat— but walking on the water.
Weird!
So yes, the disciples understandably freak out when they see Jesus walking on the water.
Let’s pick up Mark’s account here:
but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. Mark 6:49-52 NIV
When three words are two words
Bear with me. This passage is loaded. When I read those three words, “it is I,“ I had a hunch that it was actually just two words in the original Greek, EGO EIMI (I AM), so I looked it up and sure enough, that’s what it was.
Let’s look at those two words for just a moment.
Go back to the burning bush (Exodus 3:11-14). God‘s answer to Moses’ insecurity was, “I am!” “God said to Moses . . . this is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
If we do a quick trace of EGO EIMI in John’s gospel we find that Jesus uses the exact same words to refer to himself: “I am (EGO EIMI) the bread of life” (John 6:35); “if you do not believe that I am (EGO EIMI), you will indeed die in your sins” (John 8:24); “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am! (EGO EIMI)” (John 8:58).
Now take one last look at those two words, this time when Jesus uses them in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 18:5). When the guards come to arrest him, Jesus asks them who they were looking for. “Jesus of Nazareth” they reply. Jesus responds with those same two words, “EGO EIMI” and those burly guards fall over backwards. At that moment Jesus was giving them just a little taste of his divine authority. He wanted the guards to know that no one was taking anything from him.
So it’s no surprise that out on those storm swept waters Jesus encourages his frightened disciples with that two-word reminder: I AM.
“Hey guys, remember who is with you!“ EGO EIMI . . . I AM!
The answer to “I am afraid“ is always, “I am.”
The answer to “I am out of gas“ is “I am.”
The answer to “I can’t“ is “I am.”
The answer to “I doubt it“ is “I am.”
The answer to any problem today and every dilemma tomorrow is always, “I am.”
Jesus is God. That means Jesus is bigger. And he wants you to enjoy living in that reality, the same reality Moses experienced. That’s why Jesus said to those frightened dudes, “Take courage! I AM (is with you). Don’t be afraid.”
And don’t forget about the loaves!
Interestingly, Mark ends this episode in his adventures with Jesus with these words:
“For they had not understood about the loaves, their hearts were hardened.”
When Jesus fed 5000 people with the loaves and fishes, that should have been all the proof of Jesus’ divinity they needed, but “their hearts were hardened.” Perhaps they, like us, were too fixated on what was in front of them – the wind and waves – than who was with them.
Like Moses — like the disciples — we must remember who is with us.
Interestingly, the words Jesus leaves us with (the very last words in Matthew’s gospel) are: “And surely I am (EGO EIMI) with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). God’s promise to Moses is Jesus’ promise to us: I am with you! And “when the Old Testament says that God is ‘with’ someone, it stresses God’s power that enables the person to carry out his calling (cf. 4:12; Gen. 26:3).”
You’ve got a calling and you have a God who is going to help you carry it out!
Today, remember WHO is with you! EGO EIMI . . . I AM!
Notes:
“violent downdrafts and sudden windstorms” from ESV Study Bible (reference note at Mark 6:48).
“When the OT says that God is ‘with’ someone . . . ” from ESV Study Bible (reference note at Exodus 3:11-12).