DOCTRINE AND FAITH
Isaiah 22,19-23; Romans 11, 33-36; Matt 16,13-20: 21st Sunday of the Year: 23 August 2020)
Today, the liturgy presents us with a very important passage from the Gospel: The one in which Peter proclaims Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. He proclaims him not only as the Christ, that is, the Messiah, but also as the Son of the living God. Jesus responds by making extraordinary promises to Peter: To you will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. This detail of Jesus' promises is prefigured in the first reading, which reports the intervention of God to give the key of David's house to a certain Eliakim, son of Chelkia.
The first part of the Gospel revolves around this question that Jesus poses to his disciples: Who do people say the Son of man is? Jesus revealed himself through his authoritative teaching, miraculous power and, above all, his mercy towards people in need (the sick, the little ones, the sinners ...). Now he wants the disciples to draw the conclusion of his discreet revelation, which is already clear enough. People, who do not know Jesus closely, have different opinions: they certainly regard him as an important person. Some say that he is John the Baptist risen, because his mission, like that of the Baptist, is to call people to conversion: Get converted, because the kingdom of heaven is near. This was Jesus’ initial message (Matt 4,17); John the Baptist also called everyone to conversion for the remission of sins (cf. Matt 3 2). Others consider Jesus even greater than John the Baptist: they compare him to Elijah, who was a zealous prophet for God, an intrepid prophet, capable of commanding heaven to close himself so as not to rain; hence a prophet endowed with miraculous powers. Others then consider Jesus as Jeremiah, a prophet aware of living in a period of crisis for his people. Jesus also called the people to conversion, threatening times of complete desolation. He too has this awareness and expresses the urgency of conversion. He also, like Jeremiah, announces the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Finally, others compare Jesus to some of the prophets. So, among the people there are different opinions, based on some observations about Jesus. But he asks the disciples: Who do you say that I am? The question is addressed to the disciples, who have been with him in his ministry, heard the explanations of the parables from him and have been introduced into the secrets of the kingdom of God. Simon Peter has an inspiration. He is the apostle who reacts promptly in many circumstances; he often finds immediate answers to give, or an action to perform in order to respond to a given situation. On this occasion, he replies to Jesus: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is a confession of Jesus' Messiahship and of his Divinity. Jesus is not a simple prophet, nor a great prophet like Elijah, nor a risen John the Baptist, but the expected Messiah, whom in Psalm 2, God called his Son: You are my Son, I begot you today (v . 7). And Peter proclaims: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter recognises that Jesus has a unique dignity and mission. And he is the Messiah, the Saviour. John the Baptist prepared his coming, and acknowledged that he was not even worthy to untie the strings of his sandals (cf. Matt 3,11 and par.). Jesus then comments on Peter’s confession: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven. He fully approves Peter's response, and explains that it is an inspired response: it is not simply a conclusion of human reasoning, but an inspiration that comes from Heavenly Father. Flesh and blood is a Hebrew expression used to designate men in their frailty, in their limitedness. Human nature in itself is not capable of expressing full faith in Christ the Son of God: an intervention by Heavenly Father is needed. Jesus also says the same thing in John's Gospel: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (John 6,44). Peter has this inspiration from Heavenly Father.
Then Jesus says to Peter. I tell you: You are Peter and on this stone I will build my church. The name Peter does not come from Aramaic, it comes from Greek. We know from the Gospel of John that the Aramaic word used by Jesus is Kefa, which means rock. Jesus, therefore, gives Simon, the son of Jonah, a new name: the name rock, to indicate that he will build his church on it. To Simon, who said: You are the Christ, Jesus replies: You are rock and on this rock I will build my church. The Greek translation is not precise because the term stone does not fit a masculine name; therefore, in Greek they translated Kefa with a masculine name (Peter), this makes the sentence a little less clear and gives rise to wrong comments. For example, some Church Fathers say that the rock is not Peter, but the faith of Peter. But Jesus said: You are rock and on this rock I will build my church. Thus he highlighted the function of Peter for his entire project of salvation of men through the Church. Jesus insists a lot on this, and says: The gates of hell will not prevail against it. That is, infernal powers will not have real power against the Church. Peter will have the keys to the kingdom of heaven, that is, the power to bind or loose, so much so that his decisions on earth will be definitive and valid even in the heavens. Here we see that, according to Jesus’ words, Peter’s role is of great importance. And it cannot be a role limited only to his life. It is clear that Jesus wants to build his Church through the ages. Therefore the Catholic faith recognises that the successor of Peter in Rome also shares this function of Peter: obviously not in an identical way to Peter, because the Pope is not a witness to the resurrection of Jesus as Peter was. St. Peter's Basilica testifies to this faith of the Catholic Church in an impressive way. We must accept Jesus’ insistent words which the four Gospels highlight. In them, no other character was given prominence as Peter. This is the indication of a divine plan: to build a church, you must have a solid foundation, otherwise the building will crumble. Jesus wanted to build his Church on a solid foundation, which is Kefa, the rock, Peter. But the last sentence of today’s Gospel is startling: Jesus commands the disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Christ. First, he made his disciples aware that he is the Messiah, and now he wants this revelation to remain hidden, why? Jesus does not want to be considered an earthly Messiah, a political saviour, or a person who has the ambition to have political power on earth. He knows that to be the saviour, he must go through the suffering and humiliation of the cross. Therefore, in order to prevent people from becoming enthusiastic about him and proclaiming him king - as actually happens in some episode of the Gospel (cf. John 6,15) - he orders the disciples not to speak of his messianic dignity. The revelation granted to Peter is only a first revelation; it is not yet the full revelation of the mission of Jesus the redeemer, saviour through his passion.
In the second reading, Paul expresses his admiration and amazement for God’s wisdom and knowledge. And it is true that the divine mysteries are always disconcerting for the human mind. Jesus’ destiny is a divine folly, but a folly that is wiser than all human plans. How inscrutable are his judgments and inaccessible his ways!" Paul is full of admiration, and also invites us to be so, for this fulfillment of God's plan in the life of Jesus. In the moment in which it could be more glorious, Jesus accepts to be humiliated. The moment he might impose his power, he agrees to be sentenced and crucified. Thus he realises his mission of salvation for all men, even for the worst and most criminal. In fact, God's plan is to save all men, and the necessary way is that of revelation in two stages: the revelation of Jesus' messianic dignity and the revelation of his paschal mystery. Therefore, let us open our hearts to this mystery! +John I. Okoye
(GRAPHICS BY CHARLES CHUKWUBIKE)
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