The book “Songs of the Deliverer” tells the story of Christ re-cast in modern day. The book is a work of fiction but the stories and characters are based on the Gospels of the New Testament. These Reflections are written to highlight the Biblical pericopes.
Referenced in Chapter Ten
Now everyone in the region knew of the wonders of Jesus. After feeding thousands from just a few loaves of bread and a couple small fish, the people flocked to the man they deemed a prophet. They struggled to clasp his garment in hopes that a mere touch would cure them of their ailments. They chased after him wanting to exalt Jesus as their king.
Jesus eschewed their adulation. He didn’t seek to be a celebrity and he did not want to be their king. So, after the miraculous feeding of the multitudes, he went off to be by himself away from the adoring crowds. He instructed his disciples to get in a boat and head to the other side of the lake. Later that night, the waters became turbulent as a storm raged across the lake. The boat swayed wildly and the men held on firmly desperate to not be cast overboard.
Then Jesus came walking on the water. He said to them:
“It is I. Be not afraid.” (John 6:20)
Jesus steered the boat to the shore and safely delivered his disciples to land.
The people had wanted Jesus for their king, but that was not what Jesus wanted. A king’s power was imposed by fear and intimidation; by threats and through bondage, but that was not what Jesus wanted. He spoke to his disciples to calm their fear and to ease their mind. When he said, “it is I,” he was reminding them that he was the friend they knew to be kind and merciful, loving and pure. When he said, “be not afraid,” he was assuring them that he was not sent to enslave them as indentured servants. Rather, he was sent as the one true way to find and choose God.
The people first came to think of Jesus as the one who could feed them, who would heal them, and who would save them from harm. The people considered him a prophet and hoped he would become their king.
But that is not what Jesus wanted. That is not why he was sent. He was sent to offer a choice:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Jesus Christ does not desire adulation; he seeks only faith. He comes to us in friendship to share the truth of God. Jesus comes to us daily saying:
“It is I. Be not afraid.”
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