Questions

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, August 27th, 2023:
Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Matthew
16:13-20

When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the Prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 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 Jesus sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

What was Simon, son of Jonah, thinking about just before Jesus started asking questions? Was there a rumbling in his soul like thunder before a storm as they walked into Caesarea Philippi? An unsteadying feeling that he was about to say something paradigm shifting? Or was he thinking about sore feet and a cold drink?

It’s surprising how inseparable the natural and the supernatural really are. This keystone moment of spiritual significance is marked in a time and place. Real people. Real ground. Real questions.

Why here? Jesus has brought them far to the north, on the edge of Israel. They are at the foot of a massive outcropping of rock, Mt. Hermon. Nearby, there’s a cave the locals call the Gates of Hades. This cave has a small entrance, but an immeasurable drop and a vast still water in the dark. These are the source waters of the river Jordan, the waters of his, and possibly their, baptisms.

Standing there, what was Jesus asking them? Really, there are two questions, and with them, two paradigm shifts.

Who do people say the Son of Man is? 
This question raises two ideas: people and Son of Man. This question by Jesus asks the disciples to look around themselves at others. The disciples answer this question philosophically, theologically. They answer based on the thoughts passed among people about the Son of Man — the one coming on the clouds before the Ancient of Days in the prophet Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:13).

Who do you say I am?
This second question raises two new ideas: you and me. Jesus shifts the question so that it needs it to be answered personally, not philosophically. The question asks the disciples to look inside themselves. Simon makes a personal declaration birthed by an unveiling — his own personal apocalypse. The base of the word apocalypse isn’t destruction, it’s the pulling off of a blinding caul, revealing what’s really there — revealing something that shakes reality. ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ This changes who Simon is. Jesus gives him a new name. He starts with his disciple’s name tied to a lineage, to earth, and adds a name from heaven. ‘Your father gave you one name, my Father gives you another.’

Is the Church built on the man or the declaration?

‘You are Peter…’ 

• Πέτρος (Petros): a stone, made of the same stuff as a larger immoveable rock formation

‘…and on this rock I will build my Church…’

• πέτρα (petra): a mass of rock, like a cliff or rock formation rising from the earth

It was built on both. What Peter gives voice to changes everything. What the Church is built on, and what hell cannot stand against, is, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and Peter, who said it. Hearing the declaration of a bedrock to build on, Jesus gives him a name that changes the essence of who he is — Peter, the Rock.

Lord, help me to look inside myself. Who do I say You are? What can You build on how I answer that question? What is my name?




Noreen Smith

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