The Sánchez Archives TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Year B

By
Patricia Datchuck Sánchez

Even The Sea Obeys!

JOB 38:1, 8-11
2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-17
MARK 4:35-41

Perhaps it is because the seas and oceans comprise two-thirds of the earth’s surface. . . perhaps it is because the mysteries of the sea are constantly amazing as with new and exciting discoveries. . . perhaps it is because its murky depths have been associated with the powers of evil, ruin and chaos. . . perhaps it is the perennial emergence of real and/or mythical creatures, like the Lock Ness monster or the great white shark of the movie Jaws. . . whatever the reason or reasons, the sea has inspired ambivalent feelings of fear and fascination, of awe and anxiety, from time immemorial.

For our Hebrew ancestors in the faith, as well as for other ancient near eastern cultures, the sea figured importantly in every aspect of their lives, cosmically, cultically and symbolically. As Elaine R. Follis (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 5, Doubleday, New York: 1992) explained, according to Hebrew cosmogony, the sea was one of the basic elements from which everything was formed. At the beginning, God separated the seas from land (Genesis 1:9-10) and formed a three-story universe: the earth, the heavens above the earth and the waters beneath the earth (Exodus 20:4). The waters which were sometimes called tehôm (the abyss or the deep) completely surrounded the universe. Whereas many ancient peoples personified the sea as a great monster, e.g. the Mesopotamians called it Tiamat; the Canaanites feared the sea creature Lotan, the Israelites believed the sea to be under the control of God.

As the Hebrew scriptures reflect, Yahweh has power to bring rain or snow through the sluices of the firmament (solid dome of sky in Hebrew cosmogony); to cause floods or to dry them up; to part the sea so that the escapees from Egypt could travel to freedom; to tame the fearsome creatures of the depths, etc. etc.

When Israel established its temple liturgy, the sea was symbolically incorporated into the cult. A large bronze basin (7 feet high and 14 feet across) stood outside Solomon’s temple. Variously referred to as the brazen (bronze) sea (2 Kings 25:13; 1 Chronicles 18:8; Jeremiah 52:17), the molten sea (1 Kings 7:24; 2 Chronicles 4:2), or simply the sea (1 Kings 7:24; 2 Kings 16:17); it was designed and cast by a Phoenician craftsman named Hiram (1 Kings 7:13-14) and was supported by twelve bronze bulls. The large basin was filled with water which was probably used by priests who were responsible for sacrificing the animal offerings of the people. In addition to its practical function, the bronze sea probably symbolized the cosmic waters over which God had dominion.

In today’s first reading from Job, that dominion is celebrated. When he had thoroughly vented his sorrows and poured at his rage over his misfortunes, Job, who never lost faith, arrived again at a place in his life wherein he could rely on God’s dominion and be at peace.

Jesus, in the gospel, shows himself as having power to calm the stormy sea. Since this was a prerogative that belonged to God alone, the disciples were overcome with awe. They would eventually understand who Jesus truly is and know why the wind and sea obey him.

Paul, in the second reading, reminds his readers that, as believers make their way through the uncharted sea of life, there is one who has gone before us. Because of Christ, and out of love for him we are impelled forward, away from the old order, toward the new. Washed in the saving waters of baptism we have become a new creation.

It is significant that a later Christian writer would also encourage his readers with the hope of a new creation. In his vision of the new and heavenly Jerusalem, the author of Revelation noted that, while there would be a river of life flowing from God’s throne through the midst of the city (Revelation 22:1), there would be no sea (Revelation 21:1) because evil and all its real and mythical vestiges would be forever vanquished. For now, believers will find refuge from their fears and courage for the struggle within the bark of Peter which is the church.

JOB 38:1, 8-11

Thanks to Jacques Cousteau and other explorers of the vast watery depths, the oceans of the earth have begun to yield some of their centuries old mysteries. But for the author of Job and his contemporaries, the sea was still a force which struck the human heart with fear and dread.

While the date of the book of Job remains a matter of scholarly debate (some suggest a seventh century C.E. date while others support a late post-exilic period), the purpose of the book seems evident. Using the ancient and popular legend of Job as his literary vehicle, the author of Job explored one of life’s thorniest issues, attempting, albeit unsuccessfully, to arrive at an answer to the question: Why do the good and the innocent suffer?

Job, the book’s protagonist, was portrayed as a wealthy sheikh, blessed with an abundance of this world’s riches. With God’s permission, Job was tested with the loss of everything except his life; his wealth, lands, possessions, prestige, and even his health and friends were taken from him. As the saga of Job unfolds, the author’s intent becomes increasingly evident. Through the lively and often vehement exchanges between Job and his friends, the ancient writer put before his readers and refuted the conventional morality that interpreted suffering as a punishment for sin. As each of his friends implored Job to search his heart to discover some hidden or forgotten sin, or to find the cause for his pain in the sins of someone near to him (parent? wife? children?), Job refused each suggestion with the truth. He had not sinned. Nor was the sin of any other person to be blamed for his difficult circumstances.

Finally, and with the best efforts of traditional human wisdom exhausted, God enters into the exchange, speaking to Job and to all others who suffer “out of the whirlwind” or storm (Job 38:1). It is from this part of the dialogue that today’s first reading has been excerpted. It is also at this point that the author delivers what has been praised as a literary masterpiece without parallel.

With question after question, the absolute power and sovereignty of God is firmly established and Job’s place within the overall schema of creation is clearly established. Readers of this magnificent speech are compelled by its power to allow the questions asked of Job to confront them as well. Where were you when I founded the earth?. . . Were you there when the morning stars sung in chorus?. . . Who shut within doors the sea?. . . Have you ever commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place?. . . Have you entered into the sources of the sea?. . . Who is father of the rain?. . . Who begets the morning dew?. . . (Job 38).

As the questions continue to pelt us with the fact of our finitude, each in turn underscores the dynamic omniscience of God. In the end, like Job, we remain breathless, aware that “you, O Lord, can do all things and no purpose of yours can be hindered. I’ve been dealing with things beyond my understanding, things too wonderful for me. . .” (Job 42). In the end, like Job, we must surrender the reality of human suffering to God’s hands, and learn to trust that the God who can harness the power of the sea can also, very capably, see to our needs as well.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-17

Despite the fact that he gave himself wholeheartedly and unswervingly to his ministry, there were some who questioned Paul’s motives and attacked the quality of his work. Today’s second reading is part of a longer apologia or defense of the apostolic ministry which Paul exercised among the Corinthian believers. Paul’s ideas can be better appreciated if this pericope were extended to include verses 11-13 (2 Corinthians 5). Therein the great apostle testified that his ministry was rooted in knowledge and fear of the Lord (v. 11). With respect and reverence, Paul so valued the relationship he was privileged to share with God that he did his best to persuade others to do likewise. In answer to those who may have doubted his authenticity, Paul claimed that he was “clearly apparent”, i.e. sincere, and hoped to be accepted as such by others (v. 11).

Rather than recommend or boast of himself (v. 12), Paul told the Corinthians “that this would be a perfect time for them to brag about him in response to the pretentiousness and insincerity of the false teachers” among them (Paul Wrightman, Paul’s Early Letters, Abba House, New York: 1983).

Then at this point in his argument, Paul asserted that the underlying motivation for all he did and said was the all-compelling love of Christ (v. 14). His ministry flowed from his faith in Jesus, dead and risen, and was a sincere expression of the loving relationship he enjoyed with Christ. In a sense, Paul is saying that he could do nothing to stop his apostolic efforts because they were a natural and necessary aspect of his response to the Lord who had called him by name on the road to Damascus.

Some looked at what Paul endured for the sake of the gospel and called him a madman (v. 13, Acts 26:24); recall the fact that Jesus was similarly judged (Mark 3:21). As William Barclay (“Corinthians”, The Daily Study Bible, St. Andrew Press, Edinburgh: 1975) once noted, “the real enthusiast always runs the risk of seeming crazy to lukewarm people.” Paul was such an enthusiast and he cared little about public opinion except when it threatened the work to which he was so committed.

Rather than bicker with his nay-sayers, Paul urged them to know and experience Christ as he did. To that end, he reminded them that Christ had died for them; indeed Christ died for all so that “those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him” (v. 15). As Kevin Quast (Reading the Corinthian Correspondence, Paulist Press, New York: 1994) explained, two crucial aspects of salvation merge in this sentence. First, Christ did not die for a select few but for all humankind. Second, Christ’s death for all is not effective for people unless they die to themselves and live for Christ. Christ’s saving death requires a response. Just as Christ gave up his life and was raised, those who die to themselves will be raised to new life, i.e. they will become a new creation in Christ.

One of Paul’s favorite phrases, in Christ, was what Paul Wrightman (op.cit.) has called Pauline “shorthand” for describing a friendship that is so intimate as to be transformative. Being and living in Christ is tantamount to being recreated and if anyone has become a new creation, this necessitates a new life-style, new values, new ethical principles, a new motivation, a new attitude and a new commitment, all of which are derived from and empowered by Christ.

While the first reading and gospel focus our attention on the natural power of the earth’s waters, Paul’s words remind us of the supernatural power of another “watery” event, that of Christian baptism. By our passage through the waters of baptism, each of us has died with Christ, to ourselves and to sin, so as to be raised with Christ and to live as a new creation.

MARK 4:35-41

Of the many images which have aided Christians in understanding and expressing the reality of church, the ark or bark of Peter remains of the most enduring. The ark as an ecclesial symbol first appeared in 1 Peter 3:20 wherein baptism was equated with the saving power of Noah’s mythic ark. The idea of church as a ship or boat is probably rooted in texts like today’s Marcan gospel as well as in Luke 5:3 wherein Jesus is featured as teaching the crowds and commissioning the disciples to become fishers of people. No doubt, one of the Johannine resurrection appearance narratives also factored into the nautical = ecclesial equation. In John 21:1-14, the risen Jesus met his disciples who had spent the night fishing, but unsuccessfully. At Jesus’ instruction they cast their nets from their boat once more and brought in a great haul of fish, one of every known species. Through their experience, the disciples were to learn that the bark of Peter or the church is a source of salvation for all people.

In addition to this lesson in ecclesiology, today’s gospel also offers a christological insight. Jesus, in commanding the stormy sea to be quiet and calm, manifested a power which was thought to be God’s sole prerogative. While the disciples were moved to ask, “Who can this be that the wind and sea obey him?” (v. 41), Mark’s readers become aware that the power at work in Jesus is from God. Indeed, we are led to conclude what the Roman centurion would later proclaim, “Truly, this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39). Like God who tamed the primordial waters (Psalms 65:8; 87:10); 93:3-4; 107:29), and calmed the forces of the sea (Job 38:1-11), Jesus had power over the sea and all that it signified.

Today’s gospel includes yet another lesson for believers, a catechetical one. Notice that when the squall blew up and terrorized the disciples, Jesus was sound asleep. The disciples’ fear soon translated into resentment. . . Doesn’t it matter to you that we are going to drown? Karl Rahner (The Great Church year, The Crossroad Publ. Co., New York: 1994) once observed that the good disciples in the boat of the church today are similarly nervous and excited. The storm of human history continues to threaten and frighten and the boat is weak. But, because the boat also carries Jesus, it keeps on going. The bark of Peter travels onward; it does not sink, no matter how much of its cargo is tossed overboard or how many of its passengers disembark. The storm will continue, amid shouting and sleeping, until the voyage through history is completed.

Wilfrid Harrington (Mark, Michael Glazier, Inc., Wilmington: 1979) suggested that the disciples experience of being awake and in danger while their Master “sleeps” reflects the post-Easter situation of the church. The early Christians may have felt abandoned and left to fend for themselves in an increasingly hostile and dangerous environment. Mark’s gospel pericope was meant to strengthen their resolve to persevere in the faith and in the service of the gospel despite the squalls and storms.

Believers are to make their own the courage of Christ. Of course he could sleep in the boat; his full and trusting confidence in God afforded him an implacable peace and security. Our lesson for peace and survival lies in the questions he asked, “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?” Faith in Jesus’ abiding and sustaining presence keeps fear at bay and enables believers to go about the business of navigating through the storms of life while being fishers of people for the sake of the reign of God.

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