‘Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. (Isaiah 51:1)
(Year A: The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, 23rd August,
2020)
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READINGS (COI & paired as between the Gospel and the Old
Testament readings)
Every so often we may stop and wonder; stare and think;
appreciate and move on. The gospels
contain one such ‘stop and wonder’ moment when Jesus asks what seems like a
very simple question. It ran something like this:
I have been with you some time. We have had great times
together and we have had hard times together. I never promised you that it
would be easy. You heard my call and you
followed me. Others did likewise. News about us spread throughout the country.
Some said I was a great prophet – even the greatest, others said I was a
trouble maker and a fraud while others, still, said I was from the Evil
One. But, you – what do you think? Who do you say I am? Why are you still
following me? Who am I to you?
For today on this God-given Sunday, we are asked the same
question. ‘Who is Jesus Christ for you?’
‘What does Jesus Christ mean for you today?’ ‘Does it matter?’ ‘What difference
does Jesus make to my life today?’
Sometimes, we over-complicate our lives, and religion too.
We think of religion (and God) as a set of ideas or a set of ‘do’s and don’ts’.
We might even think of religion and God as a form of life assurance policy
‘just in case’. That is, ‘just in case it is true in some sense’ or ‘just in
case I need a crutch when confronted with sudden and unbearable suffering’. Or,
perhaps, religion and God is a convenient and socially acceptable way of
maintaining family traditions. After all, what is the harm in baptising
children if, subsequently, in a church-affiliated school it means they get a
good ‘Christian’ education in self-discipline, duty and care of others along
with excellent academic results?
But, who is Jesus for you today?
This Sunday’s Gospel passage is very timely and very
meaningful. We need, each of us, to ask the question. And, perhaps for now, not seek to answer the
question in a hurry or in a way that is tidy, exact and definitive. Rather, let
God speak to us in the question with every passing moment and breath.
After all, it was not ‘flesh and blood’ that revealed this
to Peter but his Father in heaven. It was a work of grace. Peter received a
calling and a trust that would be the rock foundation (the Kephas to use
the Aramaic term that Jesus gave to Simon at the time of his calling) on which
the early Christian community would be founded.
It is likely that the word ‘Church’ or ekklêsia in the Greek was
added much later than the initial oral reporting by the writer of Matthew of
Jesus’ words).
It may be noted that the much contested ‘conferring of the
keys’ verse (Matthew 18:19) is unique to this Gospel and is not found in either
Luke or Mark which are, in other respects, mirrors of Mathew 16:13-16.
Verses 18-19 of Chapter 16 is unique to the Gospel of
Matthew. We may ask if it was introduced later to address particular concerns
and was it indicative of tensions in the Christian community somewhere about
Antioch and further afield in the decade of the 80s when Matthew was written?).
And while some might base a strong theology of a petrine papal ministry
on verse 18 of chapter 16 in one of the four canonical gospels, they need to
pay attention to two verses placed two chapters on in this same gospel of
Matthew. The conferring of the ‘keys of
the kingdom’ with the use of the rabbinical ‘binding and loosing’ instruction
anticipates the very same words in Matthew
18:18-19):
Truly
I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if
two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my
Father in heaven.
Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 18:18-19 need to be read
together. ‘Where two or three gather in
my name…’ is the essence, meaning, source and destination of the ekklêsia
- literally a ‘gathering together of
people’ in the ancient Greek.
(ekklêsia appears over a hundred times in the New
Testament but hardly ever in the Gospels except in the Gospel of Matthew where
it appears only here and in Matthew 18:17, whereas, the word ‘kingdom’, as in
heavenly kingdom or kingdom of God, arises over 100 times in the four Gospels
with the Greek word, basileia or some grammatical variation on basileia).
Both passages (Matthew 16:18 and 18:18-19) have been cited
by Christians through the ages to strengthen a particular emphasis or
latter-day arrangement for Church authority and governance. The Primus inter
Pares (first among equals) of Peter is clear to most. However, we should not jump to conclusions
about modern-day patterns of church governance on foot of sweeping
generalisations or extrapolations from one or two sentences of the Gospel taken
in isolation. Neither should we ignore or dismiss the actual and historical
evidence about the key unifying and leadering role of Peter and those who came
after him in that place (Rome) where, by tradition, he was martyred and on whom
the visible communion of disciples was built. Our eldest brother in faith,
Peter and those who came after him – for all their faults and errors – were and
are important signs of potential (and actual) communion. The Church breathes
with two lungs – East and West and is founded on the rock of Peter as well as
the brotherhood of equals called in Christ.
Was it on the person of Peter that the Church was built or
simply on his faith and that of the community of disciples of whom Peter,
apparently, was the lead spokesperson or actor? I suggest that both
understandings are not mutually exclusive. In any case, the Church universal as
well as the Church local was and is built on the blood of martyrs – even today
in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan. Let us never forget.
Jesus’ question to Peter ‘who do you say I am’ is
essentially a question about what does Jesus mean for Peter. It is about their
relationship and how they relate. It is an ‘I Thou’ dialogue (Martin
Buber)
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that
has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. (1
Corinthians 3:11)
Ultimately, it is on Christ that the Church is built and it
has no other rock or leader or example than the humble shepherd of Galilee – Jeshua or Jesus who continues to work today through
each and all.
1,113 words
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