One of the undersold elements in today’s reading of the gospels was how dangerous Jesus’s growing fame was. How physically dangerous the crowd was to the people and to the subject of their obsession.
A few times in the narrative, Jesus puts some distance between himself and the people. Often explicitly.
In this week’s gospel, he gets into a boat to push off from shore a little way. Standing on the water serves to amplify his voice, of course. And it puts a barrier between himself and the crowd.
This is also starting to become more overt in the gospel of Matthew at the part we’re reading now, as it describes for the first time in chapter 12, that the religious authorities are seeking a mortal solution to their Jesus problem. They aren’t just frustrated with this guy, they’re contemplating an untimely demise.
How we understand the danger Jesus is in seems to relate directly to our christology, of course. But also to our very sense of self. How we identify and understand our purpose as followers. Often, failing, as Peter does, as his own family does, to comprehend that it isn’t our job to protect him from harm. It is to love unconditionally.
And I can’t help but think of those people of faith today who are willing to punish, oppress, and even kill for Jesus. To prove something, perhaps. The double insult of claiming to be champions of Jesus, protecting him — and missing that this is no less sinful than the charges they seek elude.
And yet, for us, I hope we see how unlike the hospitable soil such dispositions are. How easily God’s good seeds can disappear in such evangelism.
The real danger, that some would protect Jesus from, and protect their neighbors from, is their own violence. The danger of a selfish crowd, yearning to be healed.