Son of God | Cross | 20th Century Fox

01

Jesus, the Son of God

“Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’”

“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” (Matthew 14.22-33)

After Jesus rescued Peter, the two of them climbed into the boat and the wind died down. That was impressive in itself. A similar effect had caused the disciples to react with awe on an earlier occasion when Jesus calmed a storm (Matthew 8.23–27). But this is not the climax of the story in Matthew 14. The climax here is not the stilling of the waves or even Jesus’ earlier words to Peter: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” The climax is the disciples’ confession of faith in Jesus and their worship of Jesus in verse 33: “And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”

This is the first time Jesus is called the Son of God by the disciples, and the words build on what they had said earlier. In chapter 8 they had asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him” (v.27). Here they say, “Truly you are the Son of God.” They still have a long way to go. If Peter’s confession in chapter 16 is the all-important breakthrough in the disciples’ spiritual understanding, what they say here could not have had its full spiritual significance. Still, it was a step on the way. They were growing in their faith and understanding.

And let’s not forget their worship. This is also the first time the disciples are said to have worshiped Jesus. In chapter 2 the Magi from the East worshiped Jesus (v.11). Later a leper is said to have worshiped Jesus, though the New International Version translates the word merely as “knelt before him” (Matthew 8.2). A synagogue ruler does the same thing in chapter 9 (v.18). But this is the first time the disciples worshiped, and it is important to notice that their worship in 14.33 is joined to their confession. That is what worship is, of course! It is acknowledging who God is and praising Him both for who He is and for what He has done. In this case the disciples took the first step and worshiped Jesus as God’s Son.

I notice too that they focused on Jesus entirely in their worship. Peter had experienced a great deliverance, but they didn’t ask Peter to give his testimony. The wind had died down, but they didn’t hold a discussion about miracles. They worshiped Jesus, and they worshiped only Him because they were entirely taken up with Him.

Meanwhile, the work that Jesus had begun months before continued as He now moved into the region of Gennesaret and healed those who were sick. Apparently, Jesus had not been here before, because the people did not know Him by face. But when they recognized that this traveling teacher was Jesus, they brought their sick friends and relatives to Him to be healed.

These people knew of his reputation, and one of the things they had probably heard was that the woman with uncontrolled bleeding had been healed merely by touching the edge of his garment (Matthew 9.20–22). This is what they did too. The text does not say that these masses of people believed on Him, any more than those in the upper regions of Galilee. (Gennesaret was a plain between Tiberias in the south and Capernaum to the north.) They were using Jesus only for their own ends, just as the people who had been fed with the loaves and fish wanted to use Him by making Him a king. Nevertheless, the Lord had compassion on these people and healed them anyway.

If Jesus says, “Come,” then that word is going to accomplish its intended purpose. Since He is the “author and finisher of our faith,” whatever He starts, He completes. We may fail along the way, but in the end, God will succeed.

Jesus has been caring for you, even if you have not committed your life to Him. The friends you have, the health you possess, the possessions you own, the job you work at, even the life you are living are God’s good gifts to you. Do not be like the people of Gennesaret who stopped there, and so perish in your sins. Turn your eyes to Jesus. Trust Jesus. Commit yourself to Jesus. Say, as Peter did, “Lord, save me!” Cry out with the disciples, “Truly you are the Son of God.” That is how a person passes from spiritual death to life.

(mar-uh-nath-uh – “Our Lord Comes”)

02

At Beirut parish, signs of hope, demands for accountability after blast

Maronite Father Elia Mouannes baptizes Simon Charbel Nader Aug. 15, 2020, at the blast-stricken Mar Mikhael Maronite Catholic Church in the Beirut, as the baby's godparents -- Sua Ellen Eid and Joseph Nader -- and father -- George Nader -- look on. (Credit: Doreen Abi Raad/AP.)

BEIRUT — Sunlight streamed through the damaged rotunda roof of Mar Mikhael Maronite Catholic Church, damaged when a massive explosion in the port ripped through the city.

Baby Simon’s parents readied him for his baptism on the feast of the Assumption, Aug. 15.

“Life must continue,” Maria Nader, Simon’s mother, told Catholic News Service as she held her 2-month-old son. “We already had the baptism scheduled. We didn’t want to cancel it” after the Aug. 4 blast.

“Despite what happened, which is so devastating to everyone, I think the message is that we have to spread hope, that there is still hope for everyone,” Nader said. Following the Maronite tradition of a baptism name, the baby’s parents chose Charbel, after the beloved Lebanese saint.

The serenity of the first sacrament was punctuated by commotion outside: a chorus of beeping horns, motor scooters zipping by, jackhammers digging through rubble — as if the church were an open air arena.

That’s because the church’s stained-glass windows were completely blasted out during the massive double explosion. A sole window — a cross — remained intact, illuminated in brilliant colors as if a testimony to the promise of faith.

Also spared from the destruction of the blast were the crucifix and statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Blessed Mother on either side of the altar, as well as the glistening St. Michael mosaic backdrop.

“It’s a sign that the Lord is here,” said Maronite Father Elia Mouannes, parish priest.

After anointing and baptizing Simon Charbel, Mouannes encouraged the baby’s parents and godparents.

“This baptism is giving me a lot of joy and hope,” the priest said with a smile. “We have Simon. We have a new life. And we have someone who is ready to be a son of God. The sons of God can change the world. You have to help him so that he can cross into eternal life. And he will be one of these people in the future who will give a new face for Lebanon and for the whole world.”

Although he was not the celebrant for Mass the evening of the blast, Mouannes was sitting in a back pew. Only about 15 people were attending, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The church clock is since frozen at the time of the devastation: 6:08 p.m.

“I lived all through the (1975-1990) war. But nothing like this. It was huge,” the priest said. In all, the explosion killed more than 170 people and wounded more than 6,000. Some 300,000 people are homeless.

Mouannes recounted how he crouched and held his ears at the sound of the first blast.

“When I realized I was still alive, the first thing, I thanked God,” he said. “Then I started to check on all those in the church. “Thanks be to God, everyone’s life was saved.” And because Mass had begun a little bit late, the priest celebrating was not in the spot where glass and a concrete block came crashing down around the altar.

However, the people sitting in the first pews were injured, one woman very seriously.

“She couldn’t move, because everything fell down around her. We lifted her, and then she suffered for two hours before she could get to the hospital,” Mouannes recalled of the chaos in the affected Beirut neighborhoods following the blast. The woman had several broken ribs.

“I called her and she is now much better and out of the hospital,” the priest said.

Although the lives of those attending that Mass were spared, so far 12 parishioners have died from the blast. Mouannes has no idea how many have been injured.

The parish is continuing its outreach to the community, providing more than 150 hot meals from the basement parish center.

“If we don’t change our hearts, nothing will change” in Lebanon, stresses Mouannes.

Fueled by the detonation of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the port, the disaster is also fueling the anger of the Lebanese, for whom this catastrophe illustrates once again the carelessness of a political class accused of corruption, incompetence and for causing the country’s economic crisis.

On Aug. 14, Maronite Bishop Paul Abdel Sater of Beirut concelebrated Mass in the street amid the destruction on a makeshift altar in front of Mar Mikhael Church for the intention of all the victims of the explosion. He was joined by the Vatican nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, as well as Mouannes and several other priests. Surrounded by posters of four other Maronite churches damaged by the disaster, the altar was adorned with Mar Mikhael’s Blessed Mother statue.

Sater pressed the political class in his homily: “Dear officials in my country, I want to know … Why did the explosion happen? How? And by whom? And will you be held accountable for the perpetrator?”

“Do you feel the people’s anger? Do you hear the cries of the bereaved mothers?” he asked.

Spiteri told those present, “Today I assure you that His Holiness Pope Francis wept and continues to cry with you.”

“We demand justice and truth so that we can continue our civil and social path so that we rebuild Beirut, your city, and all the devastated regions,” he said.

03

Son Of God: The Mission

Jeremy Bowen and a multifarious band of forensic scientists - all of whom we believe simply because it's easier than working it out for ourselves - try to recreate a hypothetical life of Jesus Christ, slightly ruining the mystery in the process.

They ask things like: Why did Jesus ride into Galilee on a donkey? (Weren't there any black cabs available? Maybe it was raining and the Tubes were down.)

At this point in the series, JC is 30 and probably going through a middle-youth crisis.

Instead of decking Himself out in a pair of expensive trainers and listening to Radiohead, He is baptised and thinks He is the Son Of God. This enables Him to move on from carpentry into a more fulfilling career as a Messiah.

Instead of collecting an army, He chooses a motley crew of 12 assorted fishermen and civil servants.

Rather than live out in the caves with other rebels, He moves His headquarters to the small fishing town of Capernaum, 30 miles away from Nazareth.

A computer-generated recreation of the temple in Jerusalem explains why Jesus was angry with the temple priests, as well as why He performed exorcisms and hung out with prostitutes.

Despite the enormous effort that has gone into this series, there's something innately ridiculous about it all.

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