09.01.05 Dari 32.000 ke 300: Mengapa Tuhan Memilih yang Sedikit?

Wednesday after Epiphany "Mk 6:45-52" Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd...And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. Do you realise that Jesus knew the forecast better than the Met Office? Jesus knew the speed of the wind, the height of the waves and even the temperature of the water... And nevertheless He sent His disciples out on to those waters at that particular time (evening) with that particular boat. Why did You do that, Lord? Do you remember the story of Gideon? Whilst the Israelites were being oppressed by the Midianites, an angel appeared to this young man and said, "The Lord is with you." "If the Lord is with us," Gideon protested, "why then has all this befallen us?" As we read the story we discover why: so they might learn to trust God. The Lord asked Gideon to raise an army to fight against the Midianites. He managed to gather 32,000! But then God asked him to get rid of those who were afraid. Gideon saw his army reduced to 10,000. Then God asked him to choose 300 of them. Initially, they may well have thought the 300 were being chosen to be discarded, but actually it was just the opposite: those 300 men were to be the entire army! Gideon couldn’t understand why God would prefer a squad of 300 when He had an army of 32,000. But Our Lord knows what He is doing, He knows the what, the who, the where, the when, the how... Only He knows. In the end (spoiler alert) those 300 hundred won against thousands. Well, God did. Like Gideon, that day the Apostles learned to trust. They never forgot Our Lord's words: "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." Now they could weather any storm because they knew that Jesus would never leave them alone. Mary, my Mother, may I never forget that your Son will 'walk' with me.