Scripture Study

This weekend we celebrate the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time. The first reading provides an Old Testament example of the image of the key as a symbol of authority and power. The second reading provides Paul's conclusion to his struggle with the rejection of Jesus by the chosen people. After grappling with the question at length, Paul is forced to admit that, what God has planned is simply beyond his ability to discern. He can not comprehend the mystery of God's love and wisdom and resorts to praising God for His wisdom and trusting to His mercy and love. The incident related in the gospel this week is a turning point in all three of the synoptic (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) gospels. Here, Peter stands out as a spokesman for the disciples and is singled out by Jesus in His response to Peter's confession of faith. All three readings should call us to consider the role of authority in the church. From where is it derived and how is it to be used? More personally, how do I as an individual, as a parent, as a teacher, as a leader, etc. use the authority or leadership that I have been given? Do I see it as a way to increase my own comfort and sense of value or as part of Jesus' mission to lead as many as possible into the Kingdom of God?

NOTES on First Reading:

* 22:19 These words are addressed to Shebna (verse 15) who was the Master of the Palace which was a high office in the King's household probably equivalent to prime minister although some scholars believe that this was a different official who controlled access to the palace and to the king.

* 22:20 Use of the term, on that day, is indicative of a new beginning. Eliakim is also referred to in Isaiah 36:3. He is described as loyal to God.

* 22:21 The statement about Eliakim and his office are probably meant to associate him closely with the royal house. See 9:5, Gen 45:8, Job 29:16, and Judges 5:7. The key was a symbol of authority (See Matthew 16:19; Rev 3:7) but the mention of placing it on his shoulder may refer to the actual investiture ceremony.

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 11:33-36 Paul ends this section of Romans with a doxology that is most likely an adaptation of a hymn praising the wisdom and mercy of God that was in use at the time. It celebrates the wisdom of God's plan of salvation that both Jew and Gentile, despite the religious failure of each, have received the gift of faith. God's ways of making this outreach to the world is beyond human comprehension but at the same time they are a dazzling invitation to abiding faith.

* 11:34 While the citation is from the Greek text of Isaiah 40:13, Paul does not explicitly mention Isaiah in this verse.

* 11:35 There is disagreement as to which text of Job, Paul is following since the Hebrew (Masoretic) text of Job 41:3 is difficult to follow and probably corrupt. Some have suggested Job 35:7 or 41:1. Some scholars hold that Paul is quoting from an old Greek version of Job 41, 3a, which differs somewhat from the Hebrew text (Job 41:11a). In any case, the idea is clear: God is no one's debtor and need not explain or justify His actions to us.

* 11:36 This doxology expresses the absolute dependence of all that exists on God (the Father) as creator, sustainer and goal of all.

NOTES on Gospel:

* 16:13-20 Matthew has significantly modified the Marcan (Mark 8:27-29) confession of Jesus as Messiah, made here by Peter as spokesman for the other disciples (Matthew 8:27-29; see also Luke 9:18-20). The confession is of Jesus both as Messiah and as Son of the living God (16:16). Jesus' response is drawn principally from material peculiar to Matthew and attributes the confession to a divine revelation granted to Peter alone (Matthew 16:17). He then makes him the rock on which Jesus will build his church (Matthew 16:18) and the disciple whose authority in the church on earth will be confirmed in heaven (Matthew 16:19).

* 16:13 Caesarea Philippi was situated about twenty miles north of the Sea of Galilee in the area ruled by Philip, who was a son of Herod the Great. He ruled as tetrarch from 4 B.C. until his death in A.D. 34. Originally called Paneas the town was rebuilt and named Caesarea in honor of the emperor, the last part of the name, Philippi ("of Philip"), was added to distinguish it from the seaport in Samaria that was also called Caesarea. The question in Matthew is "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" This is different than the question from the Marcan parallel (Mark 8:27: "Who . . . that I am?"), but the meaning is the same, since Jesus here refers to himself as the Son of Man (Matthew 16:15). The title, "Son of Man," comes from Dan 7:13.

* 16:14 Matthew adds Jeremiah to the list in Mark because by his own experience of rejection and suffering Jeremiah announced the rejection of the Messiah that would come.

* 16:15 Matthew returns to the question as asked in Mark (Mark 8:29).

* 16:16 Matthew adds the words, "the Son of the living God" to the Marcan confession and eliminates whatever ambiguity may have been attached to the title Messiah. This, is often taken as one support for the view proposed by many scholars that Matthew has derived this story by combining his source's confession (Mark) with a post-resurrectional confession of faith in Jesus as Son of the living God that more properly belongs to the appearance of the risen Jesus to Peter as reported in 1 Cor 15:5 and Luke 24:34 but never described.

Reference to the Father-Son relationship may also have been intended to direct the focus away from the military-national connotation of messiah to the more world encompassing aspect of God's fatherhood and Jesus' sonship.

* 16:17 The term, "flesh and blood," is a Semitic expression for human beings in general, especially in their weakness. Matthew speaks of Peter's faith as coming not through human means but through a revelation from God which parallels Paul's description of his recognition of who Jesus was. See Gal 1:15-16.

* 16:18 The Aramaic word kepa means rock and is transliterated into Greek as Kephas. This is the name by which Peter is called in the Paul's letters (1 Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:4; Gal 1:18; 2:9,11,14) except for Gal 2:7-8 where "Peter" is used. It is translated as Petros ("Peter") in John 1:42. The likely original Aramaic of Jesus' statement would have been, in English, "You are the Rock (Kepa) and upon this rock (kepa) I will build my church." The Greek text probably means the same thing. The difference in gender between the masculine noun petros, the disciple's new name, and the feminine noun petra (rock) is most probably due simply to the unsuitability of using a feminine noun as the proper name of a male. The two words were generally used with slightly different nuances, but they were also commonly used interchangeably with the same meaning, "rock." The word translated as "church" (Greek ekklesia) is found in the gospels only here and in Matthew 18:17 (twice). Several possibilities have been suggested for the Aramaic original. In any case, Jesus' Church means the community that he will gather and that, like a building, will have Peter as its solid foundation. It is Peter's function to be the witness to Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The netherworld (Greek Hades) is the abode of the dead portrayed as a walled city whose gates will not close in upon the Church of Jesus. The power of death will not overcome it. See Isa 38:10, Job 38:17, Ps 9:14, Wis 16:19.

* 16:19 Matthew probably draws the image of the keys from Isaiah 22:15-25 where Eliakim, who succeeds Shebnah as master of the palace, is given "the key of the house of David," with which he authoritatively "opens" and "shuts" (Isa 22:22). See also Job 12:14. There are many instances in rabbinic literature of the binding-loosing imagery. Of the several meanings given there to the metaphor, two are usually seen as of special importance here: the giving of authoritative teaching, the lifting or imposing of the ban of excommunication. Though of lesser importance, some would add the binding of the devil in exorcism as another traditional rabbinic meaning. Scholars dispute whether the image of the keys and that of binding and loosing are different metaphors meaning the same thing here or whether they have different meanings. In any case, the promise of the keys appears here to be given to Peter alone. Later in Matthew (18:18) all the disciples are given the power of binding and loosing, which Peter receives here, but the context of that verse suggests that there the power of excommunication alone is intended.
An intimate connection between, but not an identification of, the church and the kingdom of heaven seems to be indicated by the fact that the keys are those to the kingdom of heaven and that Peter's exercise of authority in the church on earth will be confirmed in heaven. This episode, as Matthew presents it, is a blend of Old Testament poetic imagery and institutional legislation which was not unusual in the rabbinic literature that may have acted as a model.

* 16:20 See also Mark 8:30. Unlike Mark, Matthew explicitly says that the prohibition concerns speaking of Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus was popularly regarded as a prophet. In contrast, the disciples, or at least Peter, believe Him to be the Messiah, and in Matthew's gospel, the Son of God. Jesus acknowledges this identification but prohibits them from making His messianic office known to avoid confusing it with ambiguous contemporary expectations of the nature of that office.