Dcn Tom Lindell

My Brothers and Sisters,

Matthew’s passage for today’s Eucharistic lectionary was preceded by Jesus feeding the 5,000 from the loaves and fishes. After the event he was tired and retreated to a high place to rest, sending his disciples across the lake, only to encounter headwinds and rough sea. Within a few short sentences Jesus performs four miracles according to the author of Matthew: feeding the 5,000; walking on water; inviting Peter to walk on the water; and healing the sick in the land of Gennesaret (interestingly by allowing those in need to simply touch his cloak).

I don’t know about you, but I have no need to believe the miracle stories as a foundation of my belief. Why did the Synoptic authors, none of whom knew Jesus in person, chose to illustrate the Gospels with miracle stories? In the 40–70-year period after Jesus’ death, there was significant room to create stories (myths) about Jesus of Nazareth. It seems to me that there was an overt motivation by these authors to elevate Jesus to divine status (technical term: apotheosis). How better to do this than by creating miracle stories?

My constant companion when reading the Gospel stories is a book called The Five Gospels[1], with the fifth Gospel being the Gospel of Thomas. These authors sought to identify the authentic words that Jesus spoke. Arguably there have been many critiques to this approach, but their conclusion about this particular passage is that it was written by the author of Matthew, not the sayings of Jesus. Interestingly, according to these authors, some of the most authentic words that Jesus articulated were the pithy parables.

So, what are we to take away from the miracle stories? They are indeed stories, and they were never intended to be taken literally. However, these stories do not detract from the seminal stories of Jesus life and ministry to the people of his generation. I personally choose to embrace what he accomplished in his lifetime and emulate those intentions in my own life.

—Dcn Tom

[1] The Five Gospels: The search for the Authentic Words of Jesus, Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, Eds., HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.