Replies

From: Romans 9:1-5

The Privileges of Israel and God’s Fidelity

[1] I am speaking for the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me
witness to the Holy Spirit, [2] that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in
my heart. [3] For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ
for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race. [4] They are Israelites, and to
them belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the wor-
ship, and the promises; [5] to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race,
according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed for ever.
Amen.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

Chaps. 9-11. In these chapters—as we indicate in the title given to this section
of the letter—St Paul deals with “God’s plan for the chosen people.” The Apostle
explains that Israel, as a people, in general has failed to accept the Gospel des-
pite the fact that God’s promises of salvation were made to the Jews in the first
instance.

3. There is an apparent contradiction between what is said here—”I could wish
that I myself was accursed and cut off from Christ’—and what is said earlier (cf.
8:31ff) about nothing being able to separate us from the love of Christ. The two
ideas in fact complement one another. God’s love moves us to love others so
intensely that we are ready to suffer anything if it means the conversion of others
to God. Paul is not referring to permanent separation from God, that is, eternal
damnation, but to being ready to renounce any material or spiritual favor God
might grant us. This means that we should be ready to bear public opprobrium
and be taken for evildoers, as Jesus was. Some writers have interpreted the
verse as meaning that the Apostle is even ready to renounce eternal happiness,
but obviously what we have here is typical oriental exaggeration, rather like what
Moses said when he interceded with God on behalf of those Israelites who had
fallen into idolatry: “[If thou wilt not forgive their sin] blot me, I pray thee, out of
thy book which thou hast written” (Ex 32:32). Both Moses and Paul know that
God loves them and protects them and that the vision of God necessarily involves
the indescribable happiness of heaven, but they want to make it plain that they
put the salvation of the chosen people ahead of their own personal advantage.

4-6. The Israelites are the descendants of Jacob, to whom God gave the name
Israel (cf. Gen 32:29). The fact that they are children of Israel is the basis of the
privileges which God bestows on them in the course of Salvation History—firstly,
their status as the people of God, chosen as the adoptive sons of Yahweh (cf.
Ex 4:22; Deut 7:6); also their being given the “glory” of God who dwelt in their
midst (cf. Ex 25:8; Deut 4:7; Jn 1:14); their good fortune in being able to offer
worship proper to the one true God, and in receiving from him the Law of Moses,
which spelt out the principles of the natural moral law and revealed other aspects
of God’s will; and, finally, their being the recipients of oft-repeated messianic
promises.
*********************************************************************************************
The remarkable honor bestowed on the chosen people is to be seen most clear-
ly in the fact that God himself chose to assume a human nature which had all
the characteristics of the Israelite race. Jesus Christ, as true man, is an Israelite
“according to the flesh”, and he is true God because he is “God above all, bles-
sed for ever.”

Similar statements made in other epistles of St Paul about the mystery of the
Incarnation manifest Christ’s two natures and one Person (cf. Rom 1:3-4; Phil
2:6-7; Col 2:9; Tit 2:13-14).

In the present passage, this statement appears in the form of a “doxology” or
paean of praise to God, one of the most solemn ways in which Yahweh is exal-
ted in the Old Testament (cf. Ps 41:14; 72:19; 106:48; Neh 9:5; Dan 2:20; etc.).
By calling Jesus Christ “God, blessed for ever” his divinity is being declared in
a most explicit manner.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 14:22-36

Jesus Walks on the Water

[22] Then He (Jesus) made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to
the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. [23] And after He had dismissed
the crowds He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When evening came,
He was there alone, [24] but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant
from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. [25] And
in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. [26] But
when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It
is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. [27] But immediately He spoke to them,
saying, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.”

[28] And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to You on the
water.” [29] He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the
water and came to Jesus; [30] but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and be-
ginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” [31] Jesus immediately reached
out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you
doubt?” [32] And when they got into boat, the wind ceased. [33] And those in
the boat worshipped Him, saying, “Truly You are the son of God.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

22-23. It has been a very full day, like so many others. First, Jesus works many
cures (14:14) and then performs the remarkable miracle of the multiplication of
the loaves and the fish, a symbol of the future Eucharist. The crowd who have
been following Him were avid for food, teaching and consolation. Jesus “had
compassion on them” (14:14), curing their sick and giving them the comfort of
His teaching and the nourishment of food. He continues to do the same, down
the centuries, tending to our needs and comforting us with His word and with the
nourishment of His own body. Jesus must have been very moved, realizing the
vivifying effect the Blessed Sacrament would have on the lives of Christians—a
sacrament which is a mystery of life and faith and love. It is understandable that
He should feel the need to spend some hours in private to speak to His Father.
Jesus’ private prayer, in an interlude between one demanding activity and another,
teaches us that every Christian needs to take time out for recollection, to speak
to His Father, God. On Jesus’ frequent personal prayer see, for example, Mark
1:35; 6:47; Luke 5:16; 16:12. See the notes on Matthew 6:5-6 and Matthew
7:7-11.

24-33: This remarkable episode of Jesus walking on the sea must have made a
deep impression on the Apostles. It was one of their

outstanding memories of the life they shared with the Master. It is reported not
only by St. Matthew, but also by St. Mark (6:45-52), who would have heard about
it from St. Peter, and by St. John (6:14-21).

Storms are very frequent on Lake Gennesaret; they cause huge waves and are
very dangerous to fishing boats. During His prayer on the hill, Jesus is still mind-
ful of His disciples; He sees them trying to cope with the wind and the waves and
comes to their rescue once He has finished praying.

This episode has applications to Christian life. The Church, like the Apostles’
boat, also gets into difficulties, and Jesus who watches over His Church comes
to its rescue also, after allowing it to wrestle with obstacles and be strengthened
in the process. He gives us encouragement: “Take heart, it is I; have no fear”
(14:27); and we show our faith and fidelity by striving to keep an even keel, and
by calling on His aid when we feel ourselves weakening: “Lord, save me” (14:30),
words of St. Peter which every soul uses when he has recourse to Jesus, his
Savior. Then our Lord does save us, and we urgently confess our faith: “Truly
you are the Son of God” (14:33).

29-31. St. John Chrysostom (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 50) comments that in this
episode Jesus taught Peter to realize, from his own experience, that all his
strength comes from our Lord and that he could not rely on his own resources,
on his own weaknesses and wretchedness. Chrysostom goes as far as to say
that “if we fail to play our part, God ceases to help us.” Hence the reproach, ‘O
man of little faith” (14:31). When Peter began to be afraid and to doubt, he
started to sink, until again, full of faith, he called out, “Lord, save me.”

If at any time we, like Peter, should begin to weaken, we too should try to bring
our faith into play and call on Jesus to save us.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.