GOSPEL READING

Christ, Peter and Church: 16,13-20

In the scene where Jesus walks on the water, the disciples have already worshipped Jesus as the Son of God (14,33). The scene here therefore is not as dramatic a turning point as in Mark where the walking on the water ended with the hardened hearts of the disciples, Mk 6,52.

The district of Caesarea Philippi around the slopes of Mount Hermon is the extreme far north of Galilee. This is Jesus' departure point for Jerusalem (16,21).

"Son of Man" in verse 13 is a frequent way by which Jesus refers to himself. Here it perhaps makes the question more objective to be followed by the full impact of "I am" in verse 15.

In verse 14, we can note that Jesus is portrayed in the Gospels like Jeremiah as a suffering and rejected prophet. The reference to the prophets recalls the special prophet promised in Dt 18,15-18.

In verse 16, Messiah is probably better than the Greek "Christ" because the story is still at a Jewish stage. "Christ" is for the time after the resurrection.
Whereas in Mark, Peter says just "You are the Messiah" (Mk 8,27) here in verse 16 he adds "the Son of the Living God" which he and the others have already said in the earlier scene (14,33). "Son of the living God" is an expression found in the OT, I suggested a couple of references (Ps 42,2 or Ho 1,10). It is also used by the High Priest at Jesus' trial (26,63). Matthew is clearer than Mark about the divine origins of Jesus.

To this exclamation of Peter, Jesus replies in verse 17 with a beatitude because what Peter has said comes from God. The language is notably semitic, "flesh and blood" stands for the whole human being.

Jesus then tells Peter in verse 18 that he is the rock on which he will build his Church. This is a response unique to the Gospel of Matthew which warns against the over-interpretation which has been prominent in history. It needs to be heard alongside the community discourse in chapter 18. The word Church occurs only here and there (18,17) in the Gospels.

Isaiah speaks of the gates of Sheol or the underword (Is 38,10). Peter's keys are not for those gates but for the kingdom of heaven (verse 19). 7,21 gives the conditions for entering. There is an allusion to the lengthy story in Isaiah (Is 22,15-25) about the appointment of a new steward.

The Church community itself is given the powers of binding and loosing only a couple of chapters later (18,18)

We note that Peter does not respond to Jesus.

Matthew has strengthened verse 20 by adding "that he was the Christ". This may be because he has inserted a break in the following verse.

Jesus, Cross and Glory: 16,21-28

In Mark, Mk 8,34, Jesus summons the crowd for his teaching about the cross. Matthew has changed this to a simple "then", 16,24. We have noted how this whole passage is now addressed to the disciples. Matthew has also removed Mark's "And he said to them" (Mk 9,1). These verses tell us the coming fate of both Jesus and his disciples. A bracket is formed by the Son of Man appearing in 16,13 and 16,28.

Verse 21 differs from Mark because Matthew omits the reference to "Son of Man" (16,13). He is also specific in saying that Jesus is going to Jerusalem.

In this Gospel, Peter's response is given in verse 22 in direct speech, which heightens the effect of his objection. It's much stronger than Mark, Mk 8,32.

Jesus calling Peter Satan in verse 23 is a reminder of the Jesus' temptations in the desert, 4,10. There, Jesus steadfastly set his course.

Jesus then says that Peter is a stumbling block to him. Translations tend to vary, for example, refering to "obstacle". But stumbling block is in Greek a skandalon, from which we get our English word "scandal" (see also 13,41 & 18,7). Having just called Peter the rock on which his Church will be built, Jesus now shows Peter to be a seriously flawed rock.

Matthew in verse 24 has Jesus addressing only the disciples; in Mark he speaks to the crowd as well. From the middle of the parable discourse when Jesus went into the house (13,36), Matthew has restricted his teaching to the disciples.

Ecclesiastes or Qohelth is the book which takes a sceptical view of life. It's echoed here in verse 26. As is Psalm 49, a meditation on the transience of wealth.

Matthew tightens up the passage by omitting Mark's comments about being ashamed of Jesus (Mk 8,38) and his words, with a comment similar to 16,4. He adds the comment about reward to 16,27 and provides a better focus to finding life.

The final two verses, 16,27-28, anticipate the great judgment scene of chapter 25, 25,31. For not tasting death, Matthew may still have expected an early return of Jesus in glory, even though many Christians will have died by the time the Gospel was written. An anticipation of that final glory now follows in the next scene at the beginning of chapter 17.

Peter: Mt 16,13-28

This passage gives us a good example of the need to interpret the Bible broadly and not concentrating on one passage often taken out of context. There has been too much "proof texting" over the centuries. Here, there has been a great emphasis in the Church on Jesus' commission to Peter, 16,17-19 with regard to the Papacy.
We have put this commission into context by noting that much of it is repeated in the community discourse of chapter 18. We have seen that the rock of verse 18 quickly becomes the stumbling block in verse 23. We have also seen that the commission of Jesus to Peter is unique to Matthew.

The choice of the Isaiah passage to accompany the Gospel on the 21st Sunday spotlights just one part of what Jesus says to Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whether that is the best focus may be another matter.

The Jeremiah pasagefor the 22nd Sunday is a reminder that Jeremiah was a suffering prophet. Applying his words to Jesus tells us of the human cost of the path that Jesus was following.