They wanted to take him into the boat

At 6,1-7; Ps 32; Jn 6,16-21
4 MAY

To understand what is said of the Apostles after having seen Jesus walking on the sea – Then they wanted to take him on the boat – we must let ourselves be helped by the Gospel according to John. But first let us ask ourselves: how essential is the will in the relationship between Jesus and the Father, not only concerning his humanity, but also in relation to his eternal Sonship? In time and in eternity everything is from the will.

Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work” (Jn 4,31-38).

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen (me), you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it (on) the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him (on) the last day” (Jn 6,35-40).

Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me. I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me” (Jn 12,44-50).

In eternity and time Jesus is always from the will of the Father. He lives to listen to the Father. At all times He wants to do only the will of the Father. There is not a single moment of eternity and of time in which Jesus does not want to have the will of the Father. At the river Jordan, He also gave entirely his will to the Father as a gift; at every moment of his existence and his mission he had to repeat this gift. All of Jesus’ temptations aimed at this: separating him from the will of the Father. Making him retrieve the gift given. Making sure that Jesus did not want from the Father and for the Father. He made himself obedience till death on the cross. The gift was full, always, in every moment and in front of every person.

When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.

The disciple of Jesus must also insert himself in this truth of the gift of the will. Instead we do not give the will to Christ even when we celebrate the sacraments. Baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, sacred order and marriage are often celebrated without thinking that at that moment the gift of the will is done once and for all. In the absence of this initial gift, the next gift will also be missing. We must always want the will of Jesus. If it is not willed, He cannot get on the boat of the sacrament received and there is no life.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints make of our life a gift of the will to Jesus.