Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him…” (Matt 14:29-31a, italics mine).

“And immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him.” Immediately, … immediately. This word in the Greek is euthus. It is common enough in the Gospels. Specifically, it is everywhere in St. Mark’s Gospel. For this reason, his version of the life of Christ reads like an action novel.

“At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. (Euthus) Immediately, coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. … (Euthus) Immediately, the Spirit threw him out into the wilderness” (Mark 1:9-10, 12).

“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said. … (Euthus) Immediately, they left their nets and followed him. When he had come a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. (Euthus) Immediately, he called them… and [they] followed him (Mark 1:16-20).

“They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, (euthus) immediately, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach” (Mark 1:21).

Immediately, immediately, immediately, immediately! In total, St. Mark uses this term—euthus, “immediately”—thirty-nine to forty-one times in his Gospel, depending on the textual tradition. Of those forty-one instances, ten appear in the first chapter alone. And as a reminder, St. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest Gospel, at sixteen chapters, so the word—euthus—appears with greatest, relative frequency. It is unfortunate that many translations eliminate the word altogether, on account of “redundancy” or “improved readability.” It is unfortunate because it was intended by St. Mark. It is his particular Gospel’s “flavor,” if you will: heightened action, drama, tension, … immediacy!

            But let’s pump the breaks for a second. We have not heard today St. Mark’s Gospel, but rather, St. Matthew’s:

“And [Peter]… beginning to sink…cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And (euthus) immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him…” (Matt 14:29, 31).

Is St. Matthew as notorious as St. Mark in his “adverbial inclinations”? No, he is not. The Synoptic Gospels share many things, many accounts, much language. There is clear “copy and paste” action going on between the three. But the use of euthus (or eutheōs, as St. Matthew prefers) is not the result of plagiarism. In fact, this passage is not even “true to form” for a Synoptic account. It is shared by Sts Matthew, Mark, and John—not St. Luke. And the narrative is largely truncated in St. Mark (not uncommon) but notably, the comment, “And immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him,” is altogether absent from every account but St. Matthew’s. This should tell us something. If St. Mark uses this term regularly and intentionally for dramatic flare, added tension, then St. Matthew’s language here is equally, though differently, intentional. It is not for him colloquial, that is, a way of writing that St. Matthew is predisposed to (as some of St. Mark’s language appears to be). And it is not the result of transcription. St. Matthew did not get this verbiage from his contemporaries. Again, it is intentional; it has import. “Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him…” (Matt 14:31).

            There is, brethren, an immediacy to our salvation. This is what St. Matthew is imparting to us. There is an immediacy to God’s desire, willingness, and ability to affect our salvation. We need only to call out to him in faith, and with a childlike trust.

            There are so many soteriologies—or “theologies of salvation”—that have come down to us throughout the two millennia following Christ’s saving death and resurrection. Even in our Orthodox Tradition, there are various interpretations of Christ’s saving work and its effect on our personal, spiritual, psychological, and physical estates; “Christus Victor,” “ransom theory,” “soul-making,” to name only a few. They all touch on a central aspect of the biblical theology of our salvation. Alone, they cannot do justice to the wealth of biblical revelation. Even as a comprehensive system, they may still miss this critical aspect: God’s immediate desire for our salvation.

            It would be too easy to read this account from St. Matthew’s Gospel, to gloss over this seemingly trivial, insignificant word—“immediately”—and to go about interpreting the passage. How much of a difference could one word make?

“[Peter] cried out saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And… Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him…” (Matt 14:30-31a, sic.).

Not so different, right? You can imagine reading this account, glossing over the negligible adverb and interpreting the passage in a perfectly Orthodox way. And many commentators have done just this. Peter’s doubt, Christ’s saving action; no immediacy needed, right? How important is it that we emphasize Christ’s immediate desire and action in affecting our salvation?

“For God says, ‘At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.’ Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2, italics mine).

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2, italics mine).

“And [the thief] said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And [Jesus] said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:42-43, italics mine).

            In Orthodoxy, brethren, we like to emphasize the process of salvation. We say things like, “I was saved, am being saved, and will be saved.” There is nothing wrong with this. This is a perfectly sound, biblically-attested understanding of the nature of our salvation. Christ’s grace affects us permanently and personally in concrete, past actions: our baptisms, for instance. Christ’s grace affects us in present events—in prayer, in receiving the Holy Eucharist, which we will do in a few moments, in Christian fellowship. And Christ’s grace affects us in coming events; certainly, at the foremost coming event, the Great and Terrible Judgement of Christ, at which time we will plead before our Creator to forgive us our transgressions, to save us, and to account us worthy of receiving the heavenly Kingdom. We are constantly “working out our salvation,” (Phil 2:12). We are constantly falling and getting up, falling and getting up; repenting, praying, worshiping, rising to the heights of Orthodox faith and spirituality… and falling… and getting up.

            None of this experienced reality, though, brethren, discounts what I have said earlier, pertaining to St. Matthew’s “word of choice” in today’s Gospel Reading. Despite our perpetual failure and our need for constant infusions of divine grace through the Holy Mysteries, there is still an immediacy to our salvation.

“[God] desires not the death of a sinner, but that the sinner would turn from his way and live… [today!]” (cf. Ezek 33:11).

We know, brethren, that God is quick to forgive, that God is quick to save. We know this immediacy of God’s saving desire is true. But how often do we say—if not verbally then—in our hearts, “I will repent… tomorrow. I will pray… tomorrow. I will serve… tomorrow. I will worship… tomorrow. I will ‘work out my salvation’ tomorrow.” If Peter had called out to Christ tomorrow, he would have drowned.

But when [Peter] saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him…” (Matt 14:30-31a, italics mine).

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!