Matthew 16:13-19 is one of those Gospel selections that are most often read in the Catholic Mass. It is read on the Thursday every 18th week of the liturgical year and on the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A). This particular year, it will be read during the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, the day when the Paulline year will be inaugurated. Parts of the selection are most quoted in the first part of the Catechism of the Church, a part dedicated to the faith. This brief survey of how the above selection from Matthew is employed in the liturgy and in the catechism illustrates the importance of the passage. In fact, the event narrated is found also in the Gospels of Mark and Luke, while the theological significance of the passage, especially with regards to the role of Peter is also echoed in John and Paul.
Matthew 16:13-19 and Parallels
The parallels of Matthew 16:13-19 are found in Mark 8:27-29 and Luke 9:22-27. In Mark, the confession of Peter functions like the Transfiguration: it is a revelation of who Jesus is from the point of view of Peter. No mention is made of a divine revelation here. In fact, Jesus does not acknowledge the answer of Peter; he simply imposes the Messianic secret on them. The reason becomes clear in the following verses (vv. 31-33): although correct, Peter has not understood the full implication of his confession. His eyes still need to be opened, like the eyes of Bartimaeus, that he would fully know Jesus as the Messiah (cf. 10:46-52). This will happen as a gift of the Resurrection.
While Luke follows Mark closely in his retelling of the story of the confession of Peter, he however adds two materials unique to his gospel that modify the meaning of 9:22-27. These are the call of Peter (5:1-11) and the saying to Peter at the Last Supper, 21:31-32. In Luke 5:1-11, Peter's boat is the place where Jesus preaches (5:3) and it is under the direction of Peter and his boatmen that the catch of fish were brought to the shore. The mission to catch men, is in Luke especially tied to Peter and his boat. It anticipates Peter's role in the Acts of the Apostles as the one who will open the door for the mission to the Gentiles. The second element, a saying at the last supper is an allussion to the role that Peter will have in the Church:
"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren." (Luke (RSV) 22:31-32)
The saying, inserted just before the prophecy about Peter's denial, and uniquely Luke's explains the pre-eminence of Peter in the Acts of the Apostles as the one under whose direction the number of the Twelve apostles is completed and the first Christian community solves its problems with regard to the Gentiles.
While there is nothing in John that is similar to the events narrated in the Synoptic Gospels, there are passages that echo the special role accorded to Peter in passages of Matthew and Luke cited above. In John 6:67-69, we find Peter speaking on behalf of the other disciples stating their allegiance to Jesus in the face of a crisis where other disciples, scandalized by the words on the bread of life, begin to walk away. In John 21:15-90, a post-resurrection narrative, Jesus makes Peter his lieutenant in the three-fold commissioning to be shepherd of His sheep.
Upon this Rock
Compared to its parallels in Mark and Luke, verses 17-19 stand out as unique to Matthew. Here, Jesus acknowledge Peter's answer to the question "Who do you say I am" as a revelation from the Heavenly Father. In Matthew, when Jesus uses the phrase "heavenly Father" or "my Father in heaven" it is always in a context of intimacy, as in the Sermon on the Mount, or the sending out of the apostles or as he agoinzes in the garden. Here, the acknowledgment of Peter's answer as coming from the Father, is a signal that the passage should be understood within a familiar context, that of the Church, the household of the faith.
There are three elements in Jesus' acknowledgment of Peter's answer:
(a) the pronunciation of Peter's blessedness
(b) the change of name from Simon to Peter and its meaning
(c) the role of Peter as mayordomo of Jesus' kingdom
"Blessed are you Peter". This passage, interpreted inadequately as "Good for you, Simon bar-Jona" is a pronouncement about the place of Peter before the eyes of Jesus and is comparable to the use of the word in the beatitudes. This "place" is going to be illustrated by the pronouncements immediately following it. "You are kepha and upon this kepha, I will build my Church" The Aramaic underpinnings of the statement of Jesus and is reflected in the name that Paul uses for Peter (Latinized in Cephas) is a word-play on the meaning of the word "Rock". There is no need to force the text here so as to make it sound as if Jesus is the Rock in this passage. The Greek "Petros" is a modification of the word "petra", a feminine noun in Greek, which designates a rock so large that a man can build his house on it (see Matthew 7:24). Jesus explains this new title in the words "Upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail upon it."
The statement is the one place in Matthew where the word ekklesia is used. In a context where one would expect the word for "kingdom" -- Peter had just pronounced Jesus "Messiah", "Anointed King" -- Jesus mentions the word "Church" indicating that the Church is actually the beginnings of the kingdom he inaugurates. He makes Peter the Rock upon which the beginnings of this kingdom will be established. A lot of non-Catholics find this scandalous since God is the "Rock" in many passages of Scriptures. Here, however, Peter is made the foundation of Jesus' household. The saying should be read in the light of other passages where the apostles are made the foundation of the Church.
You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, (Ephesians (RSV) 2:19-20)
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation (RSV) 21:14)
The foundational role of the apostles is related to the faith and communion of the faith-community the first characteristic of which, according to Luke, is allegiance to the word of the apostles (cf. Acts 2:42). Paul puts apostles and prophets at par as foundations of the Church because the prophetic word leads to the gospel proclaimed by the apostles (cf. 1 Peter 1:10-12).
The Rock upon which Jesus will build his Church will not be prevailed upon by the gates of Hades. The feminine "autes", object of the verb "will not prevail" may theoretically refer to the "petra" (Rock) or the "ekklesia" (Church) which are both feminine. However, the syntax of the statement clearly points to "petra" as the reference of "autes". In other words, the Gates of Hell will not prevail over the Rock upon which the Church is built.
The image is that of a large Rock that is placed over a hole in the ground. Sheol or Hades are both openings to the world of Death. The Rock placed over it would prevent anyone from behind the Gates of Hell to break out. This superhuman quality of one who bears the title "Rock" should be understood in the light of a subsequent statement of Jesus: "I will be with you (=the apostles) always."
"I will give you the keys..." The third element in Jesus' statement about Peter is a description of his role in terms that remind one of the role of the chancellor in the kingdom of David. In Isaiah 22, we find the prophet describing this role
I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. And they will hang on him the whole weight of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. (Isaiah (RSV) 22:22-24)
The passage is an oracle about the change of chancellors in the kingdom of David, and the passage specifically is about the new chancellor Eliakim. The passage is relevant because of the way it describes the role significance of the chancellor, an official in the king's palace. He has his own uniform, which confers upon him a particular dignity which also gives him the right to be called "Father". And he has a key that gives him authority over the household of the king. This key sets him off from other household officials since it would be the chancellor who will open doors for anyone in the household.
The second statement about "binding and loosing" is a rabbinic expression referring to the authority to legislate.
The words "bind" and "loose" were commonly used among the Jews in the sense of forbid and allow. Abundant instances of this usage have been collected by Lightfoot. They relate to the binding and annulling of laws and rules. In this sense the Greek word "luo", rendered "loose", is used very many times in the New Testament, but it is translated by the word "break" or "broken" in Mt 5:19 Joh 7:23 10:35. The power here given to Peter was soon after extended to the rest of the apostles (Mt 18:18). The apostles were to lay down, as they afterward did, the organic law of the new kingdom, defining what things were prohibited and what permitted. Their actions in this behalf would of course be ratified in heaven, because they were none other than the acts of the Holy Spirit expressed through the apostles. (J. W. Garvey, see http://www.scripturessay.com/article.php?cat=&id=502)
Peter's role therefore as Rock will be characterized by the key and the authority to bind and to loose. Understood in the light of the dignity of "chancellor of the kingdom" the authority given him acquires a special significance. The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes this authority thus:
Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep." The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom. (1997 Catechism of the Catholic Church 553).
