Tanner, Henry Ossawa: Disciples See Christ Walking on the Water (ca 1907)
Des Moines Art Center
Matthew 14:22-33
Just a Bit
He makes them go into the boat
And while he prays, to go ahead;
He tells them not to be afraid -
Unlike a ghost, he isn't dead;
To Peter he commands he come
To him atop the batt'ring waves;
He notes that Peter has some faith,
And some is all it takes to save;
But some was not enough for Pete,
Who thought that he could have it all.
If that's your goal, then you're all wet,
A bit of trust avoids a fall.
Scott L. Barton
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go
on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had
dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening
came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was
far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he
came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on
the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in
fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do
not be afraid.” 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, started
walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong
wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save
me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You
of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind
ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of
God.”
Ferenczy, Károly, Joseph Sold into Slavery by his Brothers (1900),
Hungarian National Gallery
Genesis 37:1-28
Another "Here I Am!"
Once again you have to wonder
If a patriarch believes -
For Jacob knows the boys can't stand
This Joseph with long sleeves;
It's not as if the father is
Oblivious to the threat;
He knows how much the dreamer is
Despised by them - And yet
He still sends out his pride and joy
(Another lamb to slaughter);
He knows the opportunity
Will make their mouths all water!
I think deep down he wonders: "Is
This promise true? Or tale?"
Is this a challenge to the LORD
To see if it will fail?
Perhaps his father, Isaac, once
Had told him 'bout that ram,
Then, just like Grandpa, Joseph tells
His father, "Here I am!"
It takes all kinds to grow this faith,
The doubters and the brave,
The truth is, Yahweh works through both
To show the love that saves.
Scott L. Barton
[Please see also the poem for July 2 about the
almost-sacrifice of Isaac.]
Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an
alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph,
being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was
a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph
brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than
any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had
made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father
loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak
peaceably to him.
[Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his
brothers, they hated him even more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream that
I dreamed. There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose
and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to
have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and
his words. He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I
have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to
me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked
him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we
indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before
you?” So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in
mind.]
Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near
Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock
at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” So he
said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock;
and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came
to Shechem, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him,
“What are you seeking?” “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please,
where they are pasturing the flock.” The man said, “They have gone away, for I
heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’“ So Joseph went after his brothers, and
found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to
them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this
dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we
shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will
become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their
hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood;
throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him” —that
he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of
his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw
him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down
to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down
to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our
brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and
not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his
brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up,
lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces
of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
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