Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone)

 

 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).

 

- John 1:35–42 

 

Yesterday, we were given the "second day" in John's Gospel, in the story of the beginning of Jesus' ministry (see here for the first):   John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.'  I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."  And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

 

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.  And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.  Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, "What do you seek?"  They said to Him, "Rabbi" (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), "where are You staying?"  He said to them, "Come and see."  They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated, the Christ).  And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah.  You shall be called Cephas" (which is translated, A Stone).   In the context of the orientation toward Genesis in this first chapter of John's Gospel (which evoked Genesis 1 by commencing with the words, "In the beginning" -- see this reading), we are now given the third day of Jesus' ministry.  Here we observe that Christ's first disciples had first been followers of John the Baptist.   They are Andrew and Simon, who would come to be known as Peter, here also called Cephas.  Peter is the Anglicized Greek "Petros" which means "Stone," and is a translation of the Hebrew/Aramaic Cephas.  In the following reading (giving us the fourth day), two more disciples will be named who were originally disciples of John the Baptist (Philip and Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew).  Looking at today's text closely, we see also there is an unnamed disciple who is frequently presumed to be John, the author of this Gospel.  My study bible explains that it was a common literary device for a writer not to give one's own name (see Luke 24:13).  In this third day given in John's Gospel, John the Baptist sends two disciples to Christ whom Christ gathers to be Hi sown, and one of whom He declares to be the foundation of the Church (when He declares Simon the son of Jonah to be called Cephas, or Peter).   My study bible says this parallels the gathering of the waters and the establishment of growth on the land on the third day in Genesis 1:9-13.

 

 What does it mean that Peter is proclaimed by Jesus to be called Cephas, or "A Stone"?  St. Peter himself would go on to write about the living stones in the Church, extending his name into yet new meanings that apply to all of us.  He writes, "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, 'Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.'  Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” and 'A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.'  They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed" (1 Peter 2:4-8).  St. Peter quotes from Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22, and Isaiah 8:4, and clearly refers to Christ in so doing (just as Christ was referring to Himself by quoting this verse from Psalm 118 in telling to the religious leaders the parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (Matthew 21:33-43).  But taking his name as assigned by Christ, and extending that metaphor of stones to each one of us -- each one who is faithful -- Peter shares his name with the rest of us.  He not only becomes the foundation of the Church, as declared by Christ, but also tells to each one of us that we are each essential to the building up of this Church.  Our faith has everything to do with whether or not we are living stones, as it is Peter's confession of faith which is tied to his name being given by Christ in  Matthew's Gospel; see Matthew 16:13–20, Mark 8:27–30, Luke 9:18–21.  So, when we pay our attention to Peter's letter, and to his teaching regarding the "living stones," it is important to understand that his teaching is activated and made real via faith.  This is the mystical reality of the Church, which we cannot separate from the fullness of what the Church truly is or how it manifests itself in the world.  Peter speaks on behalf of all of the apostles when he makes his confession of faith, but here in his letter, he expands his own experience of faith, and Christ's confidence in that faith, to include all of us who will follow.  We are, indeed, the mystical living stones of the Church.  In order for us to absorb what this means in the fullness of which it is given, we have to understand our Church as a mystical reality.  We are not just tied together by a united slogan, or statement of faith, or Creed.  We are tied together by a mystical reality which is made real in faith, just as Jesus' miraculous healings are always tied to faith, and he can do no "great works" where there is no faith.  Faith adds an entirely new dimension to our lives, ties us into participation in the life of Christ, and communion in the kingdom of heaven.  It is on this basis that Jesus looks at Peter in today's reading, and peers deeply into Peter's capacity for faith, and assigns him the name that means A Stone.  Peter testifies to all of us and on behalf of all when he writes that we are "chosen by God and precious," and that we are "being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."  This mystical reality continues as each in turn is called and believes and lives one's faith, even as part of a holy priesthood.  When we "offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" we are practicing our priesthood, even as we turn our lives to the place Christ calls us to follow, giving up what might seem the easier way for His way.  We may wonder what each of these stones has to offer the world, as precious jewels, polished and honed, showing forth brilliant colors from and through the prisms God's light shines through each facet of a life of faith.  Let us consider and not neglect our mystical life here in Lent, and find a way to deepen our communion with Him, and with the saints like Peter, who inform us about our faith and teach us who we are.   For in his testimony he truly gives us our foundation, as Christ has said.