Upon the Rock, Against the Gates
27
August 2017
Proper
16A
Parish
Church of Trinity, Ashland (OR)
The
Rev. Fr. Tony Hutchinson, SCP, Ph.D.
Exod.
1:8- 2:10; Psalm 124; Rom. 12:1-8; Matt. 16:13-20
Today’s Gospel tells about Jesus giving Peter a new name and what are called “the keys of the kingdom.” In popular imagination, that means Peter has become the doorkeeper of heaven. But that is not what today’s Gospel is about.
The scene takes place in Gentile territory, near Caesarea Philippi, in the extreme north of Palestine in the foothills of Mount Hermon. It is now known in Arabic as Banias, from its original name “Panea,” the City of Pan. This Greek god, half man half goat, was always seen as drunk, playing happy tunes on reed pipes, and in a state of constant sexual excitement. The Temple of Pan was built on a face of exposed bedrock at the mouth of a large cave from which then flowed a spring, the headwaters of the River Jordan. Pan’s Temple was built there because the cave opening looks like a spooky gate leading to the underworld, Hades.
Jesus takes his
closest followers with him on a day trip to a place that later Rabbis would
rule as totally off-limits, a place seen as “Sin City.” I imagine Jews at the time saying, “What
you do in Caesarea stays in Caesarea.”
It is here that Jesus asks his followers, “Who do people say I am,” and “Who do you say I am?” Simon replies, “You are the Messiah. The Son of the Living God.” Jesus says Simon’s recognition does not come from publicly available data, but rather from God speaking in his heart. Jesus tells Simon who he thinks he is. He gives him a new name: Rock. In the Aramaic they would have been speaking, the word is Qepha’. It is where the name Cephas, one of the Greek names for Peter in the New Testament, comes from. When you translate Qepha’ into Greek rather than just transliterate it as Cephas, it becomes Petros, our familiar name Peter.
It is here that Jesus asks his followers, “Who do people say I am,” and “Who do you say I am?” Simon replies, “You are the Messiah. The Son of the Living God.” Jesus says Simon’s recognition does not come from publicly available data, but rather from God speaking in his heart. Jesus tells Simon who he thinks he is. He gives him a new name: Rock. In the Aramaic they would have been speaking, the word is Qepha’. It is where the name Cephas, one of the Greek names for Peter in the New Testament, comes from. When you translate Qepha’ into Greek rather than just transliterate it as Cephas, it becomes Petros, our familiar name Peter.
In the Hebrew
Scriptures, the Rock of Israel, the one reliable thing they can cling to when
all else fails, is God himself. It is also the place where God puts you
when he wants you safe, “the rock that is higher.” It is also the dry stones in the desert from
which God can make water spring. Simon is named “Rock” to remind him of
the source of his knowledge and strength.
“You are Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church.” The Greek here uses two different words, one masculine (petros “stone”) and one feminine (petra “massive outcropping of bedrock”). Jesus here corrects the image before them of Pan’s Temple on that bedrock in front of the Gates of Hades. It becomes the Church of God built on a firm rock foundation, against which the gates of Hell cannot prevail.
Roman Catholics have always insisted that it is the person of Peter, the role he plays in the Church, that is the foundation stone Jesus refers to. For them, it is the Roman Papacy, an institution that over the centuries grew from Peter being the first bishop of Rome to a greater and greater primacy with monarchical overtones. Predictably, Protestants have always said the “Rock” at issue is faith alone, apart from works—Peter’s confession of Jesus as Son of God. The Eastern Orthodox generally say that the Rock is divine revelation (“flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven”).
“You are Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church.” The Greek here uses two different words, one masculine (petros “stone”) and one feminine (petra “massive outcropping of bedrock”). Jesus here corrects the image before them of Pan’s Temple on that bedrock in front of the Gates of Hades. It becomes the Church of God built on a firm rock foundation, against which the gates of Hell cannot prevail.
Roman Catholics have always insisted that it is the person of Peter, the role he plays in the Church, that is the foundation stone Jesus refers to. For them, it is the Roman Papacy, an institution that over the centuries grew from Peter being the first bishop of Rome to a greater and greater primacy with monarchical overtones. Predictably, Protestants have always said the “Rock” at issue is faith alone, apart from works—Peter’s confession of Jesus as Son of God. The Eastern Orthodox generally say that the Rock is divine revelation (“flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven”).
Jesus follows his
play on words with an immediate statement of Church authority (“what you bind
on earth, God will bind, what you loose, God will loose”) and ultimate success
(“the gates of Hell shall not prevail against you”). This leads most modern scholars from all
these traditions to agree that the story in Matthew is indeed about the leading
role of Peter in the early Church rather than about later papal presumptions,
salvation through faith alone, or Eastern Christian mysticism.
Within three decades of Jesus’ death, Christians were divided between Jewish congregations who saw James the Brother of Jesus as the heir to Jesus as leader, and gentile congregations who saw this in Paul, the missionary who had converted them. Matthew’s Gospel takes as leader Peter, the “compromise candidate” who was a companion of Jesus but who also supported the Gentile mission.
“You are Rock.” From all the other stories we read in the New Testament, this “Rock” was not at the start all that solid. “Rocky” might better describe him in his impetuousness, and extremes of devotion followed by failure. In Mark’s version of this story, immediately after the confession of Peter, Jesus does not give him the keys to the kingdom, but rather criticizes him for not accepting his prediction of the coming passion and scolds him and says, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mark 8:27-30; 31-33). We read a couple of weeks ago of Peter’s silly reaction to the marvelous epiphany on the Mount of Transfiguration. Last week, we saw him walking on water through faith and then, faith faltering, sinking into the waves. During Holy Week, we see him sleeping through Jesus' prayers at Gethsemane, and then denying Jesus three times during the Passion. But finally, after Jesus has appeared to the women, Peter is the first male disciple (at that misogynistic time, the first legally acceptable witness) to see the Risen Lord. One of the earliest fragments of early Christian tradition is preserved in St. Paul’s formulaic recitation, “For I passed on to you what was first passed on to me, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared, first to Cephas and the Twelve, . . . then to James and the apostles” (1 Cor. 15: 3-7).
Within three decades of Jesus’ death, Christians were divided between Jewish congregations who saw James the Brother of Jesus as the heir to Jesus as leader, and gentile congregations who saw this in Paul, the missionary who had converted them. Matthew’s Gospel takes as leader Peter, the “compromise candidate” who was a companion of Jesus but who also supported the Gentile mission.
“You are Rock.” From all the other stories we read in the New Testament, this “Rock” was not at the start all that solid. “Rocky” might better describe him in his impetuousness, and extremes of devotion followed by failure. In Mark’s version of this story, immediately after the confession of Peter, Jesus does not give him the keys to the kingdom, but rather criticizes him for not accepting his prediction of the coming passion and scolds him and says, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mark 8:27-30; 31-33). We read a couple of weeks ago of Peter’s silly reaction to the marvelous epiphany on the Mount of Transfiguration. Last week, we saw him walking on water through faith and then, faith faltering, sinking into the waves. During Holy Week, we see him sleeping through Jesus' prayers at Gethsemane, and then denying Jesus three times during the Passion. But finally, after Jesus has appeared to the women, Peter is the first male disciple (at that misogynistic time, the first legally acceptable witness) to see the Risen Lord. One of the earliest fragments of early Christian tradition is preserved in St. Paul’s formulaic recitation, “For I passed on to you what was first passed on to me, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared, first to Cephas and the Twelve, . . . then to James and the apostles” (1 Cor. 15: 3-7).
“I will give you the
keys of the kingdom.” The image of keys that open irrevocably or
close definitively is taken from a series of passages in the Hebrew Scriptures
and Intertestamental literature. The idea is that Peter’s actions will be
definitive and reflect the will of God (cf. Isa 22:22, 23; Job 12:14; 1 Enoch
1-16).
“What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” This is a polite way of saying, “What you declare as binding, God will bind. What you declare as loosened, God will loose.” In Matthew’s view, Peter’s ruling on the terms and conditions of gentile entry into the Church take priority over Paul’s or James’.
“What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” This is a polite way of saying, “What you declare as binding, God will bind. What you declare as loosened, God will loose.” In Matthew’s view, Peter’s ruling on the terms and conditions of gentile entry into the Church take priority over Paul’s or James’.
The Church built on
this Rock, says Jesus, will be able to defeat even the “Gates of
Hell.” The image is a common Old Testament image for death itself
(Isa 38:10; Job 38:17; Psa 9:14; Wis 16:13).
Set here in Caesarea Philippi, the reference is image of the Church’s attack on and defeat of the evils of the world, as represented by the Temple of Pan build on the rocky outcrop sitting beside the mouth of the cave containing Pan’s Spring. Gates were traditionally a symbol of defensive military action, not attack. So here Peter’s rock-based witness and ministry and the Church founded upon that rock are seen as a vanguard in an effort to reclaim this enemy-occupied territory we call our world. Based on the Rock of our Salvation, we simply cannot be defeated by the horrors of the world we see before us, including sick religion and death itself.
Set here in Caesarea Philippi, the reference is image of the Church’s attack on and defeat of the evils of the world, as represented by the Temple of Pan build on the rocky outcrop sitting beside the mouth of the cave containing Pan’s Spring. Gates were traditionally a symbol of defensive military action, not attack. So here Peter’s rock-based witness and ministry and the Church founded upon that rock are seen as a vanguard in an effort to reclaim this enemy-occupied territory we call our world. Based on the Rock of our Salvation, we simply cannot be defeated by the horrors of the world we see before us, including sick religion and death itself.
All of us are like Simon standing with
Jesus in front of the Temple of Pan. What
we see in front of us is not all there is. What we see with our eyes and
handle with our hands do not tell us who Jesus is, or who we ourselves truly
are. Jesus is asking us, even today, “Who do people say I am? And who do you
say I am?” He is offering us new names and true identities, the authentic
names and selves we were created for but which we have wandered far from. And he promises victory, against evil,
disorder, and death itself.
Faith is trust in unseen truth, and
looks beyond the visible, beyond the temptations and distractions around us,
beyond the Temple of Pan, the Gates of Hell, and beyond our messed up
lives. It looks even beyond suffering and Death. If we rely on our
Rock, and build upon the firm foundation of God speaking truth in our hearts, then
our unstable, unsteady selves, our “rocky” selves, will be transformed.
And together, as a beloved community in Him, we will be unstoppable in charging
up the rocky slope, breaking down the gates of Hell and Death, and changing
ourselves and the world.
In the name of Christ, Amen.
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