“But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

— Matthew 14:27

The thing about translating the scriptures is that sometimes I do it and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes, translation causes me to take a rabbit trail to nowhere. Seriously, my ADHD brain can spend hours on one word, and I feel like I’m showing off my nerdier side when I talk about Greek and Hebrew in my sermons. I don’t think anyone actually cares that I can translate. I’m certainly no scholar. I just took a class and I use Accordance well. My congregation cares more about how I show up for them than my homework. So sometimes, I rely on good translations and just read on. And sometimes, when I do, I miss surprises like this. Did you know “It is I” is ego eimi?” No predicate. Just ego eimi. I don’t expect ego eimi in Matthew. It’s everywhere in John. but not here. Right here? In the midst of this crazy, demon-like storm, there’s ego eimi. After feeding 5000, after rowing and fighting a storm for hours, when their arms are weak and shaking, when their backs feel broken, rain stinging their faces, hair drenched and in their eyes, in their tired, weariness, there’s ego eimi. Beloved, this week I needed to hear ego eimi. I needed a present God who walks toward me, who calls to me and calls me by name and the named one. Whatever else is happening in your life, ego eimi is here.