Homily Two for the Ninth Sunday of Matthew
(9th Sunday of Pentecost)
By St. John of Kronstadt
(9th Sunday of Pentecost)
By St. John of Kronstadt
Today, beloved brethren, the deacon read the Gospel about the solitary prayer of the Savior on the mountain; about the command of His Apostles to cross in a boat to the other side of the sea; about their difficult voyage in the contrary wind; about Jesus Christ walking on the sea as if on dry land; about the fear of the Apostles at the sight of a man walking on water, and about their encouragement from the Lord; about the bold request of the Apostle Peter to come to the Lord on the water and permission to do so; about Peter walking on the water at the beginning, before his fear, and drowning after the fright; about the helping hand extended by the Lord and the reprimand to Peter for his lack of faith and doubt; about the sudden cessation of the wind; and, finally, about the confession by those in the boat of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. The Gospel is extremely instructive and edifying, especially when we reflect on the fact that the persons and objects depicted in it, excluding the person of the Lord Himself, depict you and me.
Firstly, the present Gospel teaches about the benefit and necessity of solitary prayer. Jesus Christ Himself, God and man, often prayed, as a man, in solitude. In solitude a person can devote himself fully, with all his heart, to prayer, because no one and nothing then prevents him from praying, whereas among people devoted to their usual everyday vanity, it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to devote oneself fully to prayer. Of course, solitary prayer can sometimes be among people, when someone prays in his heart, as in a solitary cell, and such prayer is pleasing to the Lord; but not everyone can pray like this, only the experienced, who have learned to converse with God everywhere, in every place.
Secondly, the Gospel of today teaches us courage and fearlessness in difficult circumstances of life, or in dangers, temptations, misfortunes, in the confidence that the Lord is always with us and will not allow those who trust in Him and love Him to perish untimely. Thus, the Apostles were in a very difficult situation when they were in a boat in the middle of the sea, with a contrary wind; and the Lord, wishing to lead them out of a difficult situation, went to them on the sea, and they, seeing an unusual phenomenon, a man walking on the water, took him for a ghost, and cried out in fear - but when Jesus spoke to them in a voice familiar to them: "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid" - they calmed down. The Apostles, who were then imperfect, but only newcomers in faith and life, depict you and me; the sea signifies this earthly, vain life, agitated by the wiles of the devil, worldly passions and misfortunes; the boat signifies our easily destroyed body, in which our spirit, together with the soul, swims across the sea of this life and which the enemy of our salvation is always ready to drown with carnal passions. Likewise, my brethren, we all experience to varying degrees the storm of troubles and misfortunes in life, like swimmers in the sea, and our imagination, thoughts, hearts and wills are painfully tuned by sins and worldly temptations; sometimes we are afraid of everything and everyone, our own shadow, the rustle of tree leaves, but this is because our faith in Jesus Christ is still weak, that we have not yet united with Him; whoever has believed in Him with all his heart and is closely united with Him, he fears no one either in heaven, or on earth, or in the underworld. "The Lord is my light and my Savior, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defender of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1). Though the host of demons should encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though the battle of demons should rise up against me, I will trust in Him. Behold, how bold and courageous, how fearless is he who believes in and loves the Lord!
Further in the Gospel it is told about the bold request of the Apostle Peter to come to the Lord on the water, for which permission was given, about his walking on the water before the fright and drowning after the fright. Peter's request, on the one hand, is worthy of approval as the fruit of his faith in Christ and love for Him, but on the other hand, it is unreasonable; for, not yet having been established in faith and love, but only having the rudiments of faith and love, he wanted a miracle without need, which would give him a reason to exalt his thought before the other Apostles, who did not dare to ask the Lord for anything similar. Therefore, when the Lord allowed him to walk on the water, he walked on the water, but then soon his faith weakened, he doubted and began to drown. So it often happens with us: when we do or say something with faith and confidence, then the speech flows smoothly, and the work is done properly; but as soon as we begin to waver, doubt, and fear, then the word will die out and the work will not go well. Let us take prayer as an example. When we pray with faith, trust, and zeal, see how fervent, easy, and useful your prayer is; but as soon as we doubt or forget about the presence of God, or if we are distracted by extraneous thoughts and dreams, then the prayer will fade away and we will feel spiritual collapse, heartfelt drowning, spiritual death. How harmful and destructive is little faith and doubt! Faith means so much! Let us not be among those "who waver to destruction, but among those who believe to the salvation of the soul" (Heb. 10:39). "Lord! save me," Peter cried out when he began to sink. The Lord stretched out his hand to him, supported him, and said to him: "O you of little faith! why did you doubt?"
We are all drowning in sins, as in the sea; therefore, we, like Peter, must turn to the Savior with a strong cry of repentance: "Lord! Save me." Drowning Peter signifies us, perishing in the sea of life. And the Lord will never leave those who sincerely repent and pray to Him to perish. He will immediately extend a helping hand; millions of repentant sinners have experienced and are constantly experiencing this, of whom I am the first. “Who came to You weeping, and was not immediately saved? Who cried out warmly, and was not immediately heard? But O Master! You are soon found for the salvation of all who pray to You, as invincible in mercy,” is said in the general service every day to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord convicted Peter of little faith, showing thereby that if he had not wavered in faith, he would not have drowned, but would have firmly walked on the water and reached the Lord. Peter's own lack of faith was the cause of his drowning. And how many troubles and sins do we experience because of our lack of faith? There is no end to our falls, our drownings! If we always believed in our hearts, we would walk firmly toward the Lord by fulfilling His commandments, by loving God and our neighbor; but since we have little faith, we fall every day into the depths of sin and drown, now in intemperance, now in anger and fury, now in envy, now in the luxury of life, now in the love of money and cruelty, now in carnal impurity. Oh, let us at least more often turn to the Lord in repentance with the prayer: "Lord, save me: I am perishing." When the Lord entered the boat, the wind immediately died down. So the storm of sin in us immediately abates when we turn to Christ with sincere repentance; the desired silence of thoughts and feelings will come to us. Oh, how good it is then for the soul! Then it, too, in a deep feeling of faith and gratitude to the Lord, approaches Him, falls before Him and says to Him, like the Apostles in the boat: "Truly You are the Son of God! You are my Savior! You are my life. You are my God!" Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
