Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven

 

 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

 

- Matthew 16:13-20 

 

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.'  Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.  A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah."  And He left them and departed.  Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.  Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have taken no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?  Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?  Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?  How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? -- but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

 

 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."  My study Bible comments on today's entire passage that Christ's question, "Who do you say that I am?" is the greatest question that a person can ever face.  This is precisely because it is the question that defines Christianity.  Peter's correct answer to the question prevents the Christian faith from being seen or known as simply another philosophical system or path of spirituality.  This is because Jesus is the one and only Son of the living God.  Such a position excludes all compromise with other religious systems.  As Jesus indicates in His response to St. Peter here, St. Peter's understanding could not be achieved by human reason, but only by divine revelation through faith (see 1 Corinthians 12:3).  My study Bible points out that Christ means "Anointed One," the equivalent of the Hebrew title "Messiah."  It also asks us to note that Christ first draws out mistaken opinions about Himself.  He does this to identify incorrect ideas, as a person is better prepared to avoid false teachings when they are clearly identified.

 

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."  My study Bible explains that Peter/rock is a play on the word for "rock" in both Aramaic and Greek (petros/petra).  This rock does not refer to St. Peter per se, but rather to "the faith of his confession" according to St. John Chrysostom.  The true Rock, my study Bible tells us, is Christ Himself (and so says St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:4), and the whole of the Church is built on the faithful confession of Christ.  The gates of Hades are the powers of death.  In the Old Testament, my study Bible says, "gates" suggest a fortified city (Genesis 22:17, 24:60; Isaiah 14:31).  By shattering its gates, Christ has opened the stronghold of death to set free the souls of the righteous.  So therefore, the Church also shall not be stopped in her proclamation of salvation.  Moreover, my study Bible tells us that the term church is mentioned only twice in all the gospels, here and in Matthew 18:17.  This Church is the true Israel and the Body of Christ; her citizenship is heavenly.  

 

"And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.  My study Bible says that the keys of the kingdom is a reference to a special authority that will be given both to Peter and the other apostles after the Resurrection (see Matthew 18:18; John 20:23).  St. Peter was not a leader over the others, but rather among them.  This truth was confirmed at the Council of Jerusalem (see Acts 15) where the apostles and presbyters met as equals, and where St. Peter advised, but St. James presided.  This is the New Testament witness concerning St. Peter -- his role should neither be expanded, nor should it be diminished in opposition to such claims.  My study Bible also notes for us that binding and loosing is a reference primarily "to absolve sins," according to St. John Chrysostom (see John 20:23).  But it includes all the teaching, sacramental, and administrative authority of the apostles.  This authority was in turn transmitted to the bishops of the Church, and it continues in effect to this day.

 

There is a kind of dual impact of the information revealed in today's reading.  There is first of all the authority which Jesus confers to His apostles, and particularly through St. Peter, who was known as "first among equals" in the continuing spirit of conciliarity which guides the Church and is its aim.  But there is also the powerful, extraordinary understanding that Jesus is the Christ -- and that "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven."  Let us remember that when Jesus will speak to the apostles of the sending of the Helper, the Holy Spirit,  He tells them that the Holy Spirit will be sent from the Father, and through Christ's prayers (see John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7).  This is very important, because it truly teaches us that Christ's life, death, Resurrection, and Ascension has the effect of bringing humanity into deeper communion not only with Christ, but also the Father and the Holy Spirit.  For if the Father -- as Jesus says in today's passage -- is working in St. Peter to effect this revelation, then how much more is promised through the fullness of the effects of Christ's mission to us as Incarnate Jesus and His completion of that mission in Resurrection and Ascension?  We really cannot estimate the fullness of what this means, and the fruits it will bear, has borne, and will continue to bear in our lives and in our world.  We simply don't know how to calculate what God does among us, and what God will do.  But we can look around ourselves and see what that has meant, even if we can't know its fullness.  See, for example, the work of the secular historian and award-winning author Tom Holland, titled Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World, in which he examines the effect of Christ upon our world through the present day.  Moreover, this "remaking" of the world is ongoing, continuing not only through the present time but through the future we don't yet know.  We are assured of this in Revelation 21:15, in which "He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'"  The English translation does not completely capture the meaning of the Greek, in which the word "make" is in a continuing present tense, better translated as "I am always making all things new."  For this is the reality of the Church and the fullness of Christ and Christ's ongoing work in our world, and we simply cannot know all that this entails, including all the possible dimensions it might indicate of which we are unaware.  But we can know the graciousness and love of God for the world and for us human beings, for so God has granted to us this enormous, inestimable gift of salvation, to be with God in the fullness of eternal life and what that might entail for us and for our world.  Let us marvel at this extraordinary gift, coming to us through St. Peter's confession on behalf of all of the apostles, and indeed of all of us, and through the revelation of our Father who is in heaven, as Jesus says. There is no greater honor nor gift in potential for all of us.  Let us truly place the value of this blessed treasure as is appropriate to is, for taken in this perspective, our faith is everything.