Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There is something striking about today’s Gospel. It begins with Jesus sending His disciples ahead of Him by boat while He goes up the mountain to pray. As night falls, the disciples find themselves in the middle of the sea. The wind is against them. The waves are crashing. They are exhausted, afraid, and alone, or at least, they think they are.

Then, in the darkest part of the night, Jesus comes to them, walking on the water. Instead of recognizing Him, they panic. They think He is a ghost. Fear blinds them before faith can open their eyes. Jesus immediately speaks the words every Christian needs to hear: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter responds with a mixture of boldness and uncertainty. “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus simply says, “Come.” And Peter does the impossible. He steps out of the boat and walks on water – not because Peter is extraordinary, but because his eyes are fixed on Jesus. But then something changes. Peter notices the wind. He feels the waves. He becomes aware of the danger around him. The moment his attention shifts from Jesus to the storm, he begins to sink.

Isn’t that our story too? We often think Peter sank because the storm was too strong. But the storm had been there from the very beginning. Nothing about the wind had changed. The only thing that changed was Peter’s focus. How many times do we begin our day full of faith, only to spend the rest of it staring at the storms? We focus on the diagnosis, the financial pressure, the family conflict, the uncertainty about the future. Before long, anxiety becomes louder than the voice of Christ. The storm outside us may not disappear, but the storm inside us grows whenever we stop looking at Jesus. The beautiful part of this Gospel is that Peter doesn’t drown because he knows one prayer. Perhaps the shortest prayer in the Bible: “Lord, save me!” No long speech. No polished words. Just an honest cry from someone who knows he cannot save himself. And Jesus does not hesitate. The Gospel says, “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him.” That word “immediately” should give us hope.

Sometimes we imagine Jesus standing at a distance, waiting for us to prove ourselves. But the Gospel paints a different picture. Jesus is already reaching toward us before we can even pull ourselves together. After they climb into the boat, the wind dies down. The disciples fall before Jesus and proclaim, “Truly, You are the Son of God.” Notice the order. The storm leads to deeper faith. The fear leads to worship. The struggle becomes the place where they finally recognize who Jesus truly is.

Then the Gospel ends in a beautiful way. When Jesus arrives on shore, people bring Him the sick. They don’t ask for miracles or dramatic signs. They simply ask to touch the fringe of His cloak. And everyone who touches Him is healed. That is faith. Not pretending life is calm. Not denying the storm. But believing that even the smallest encounter with Jesus can change everything.

Perhaps the greatest temptation today is not fear itself. It is distraction. We spend so much time watching the wind that we forget to look at Christ. We become experts at analyzing our problems but beginners at trusting the One who walks over them.

The invitation of today’s Gospel is simple but challenging: Don’t measure the size of your storm; measure the presence of your Savior. The waves may still rise. The wind may still blow. But if our eyes remain on Jesus, we will discover that His hand is always closer than we think.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there are moments when the winds of life seem stronger than my faith. Like Peter, I begin well but become distracted by fear, doubt, and uncertainty. Teach me to keep my eyes fixed on You. When I begin to sink, remind me that all I need to say is, “Lord, save me.” Stretch out Your hand once again, calm the storms within my heart, and help me trust that You are always near. May I never be so focused on the waves that I fail to see the One who walks upon them. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko