I’m going to do my best this week to ensure that these notes remain a Scripture\u00a0commentary<\/em>, rather than an apologetic defense of the Papacy<\/em>. I may well write a more apologetic piece later in the week. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n “When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel.” – Ezekiel 3:10<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The First Reading this week is our\u00a0hermetical\u00a0“key” for understanding the Gospel Reading.<\/p>\n In this section of the prophet Isaiah we hear how Shebna, the Chief Steward of the Kingdom, was replaced by a man called Eliakim. Understanding this ministerial office is critical to our understanding of what Jesus says in the Gospel which, in turn, is paramount to our understanding of the Papacy.<\/p>\n In this passage we see foreshadowed a man on whom God would bestow\u00a0His blessing. This man would exercise authority on behalf of the King in the administration of the Kingdom. He would be a secured feature, a father to the people and an honoured member of the family of God…<\/p>\n Thus says the LORD to Shebna, master of the palace:<\/span>\u00a0“I will thrust you from your office<\/span>\u00a0and pull you down from your station.<\/span>\u00a0On that day I will summon my servant<\/span>\u00a0Eliakim, son of Hilkiah;<\/span>\u00a0I will clothe him with your robe,<\/span>\u00a0and gird him with your sash,<\/span>\u00a0and give over to him your authority.\u00a0<\/span>He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,<\/span>\u00a0and to the house of Judah.<\/span>\u00a0I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder;<\/span>\u00a0when he opens, no one shall shut<\/span>\u00a0when he shuts, no one shall open.<\/span>\u00a0I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot,<\/span>\u00a0to be a place of honor for his family.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n “Thus says the LORD to Shebna, master of the palace: ‘I will thrust you from your office…'”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Through the Prophet Isaiah, God “fires” Shebna from his position as\u00a0“master of the palace”<\/span><\/em>. Up until this point, Sheba was the Chief Steward, the Prime Minister in the Davidic Kingdom. The Master of the Palace was not the one ultimately in charge, the King was, but the Prime Minister exercised the King’s authority in the administration and running of the Kingdom. This is the same kind of post that Joseph (son of Jacob) had when he lived in Egypt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “On that day…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n …when the Lord executes judgment…<\/p>\n “I will thrust you from your office\u00a0and pull you down from your station…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Donald Trump just says “You’re Fired”… \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n “…my servant\u00a0Eliakim…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This is Shebna’s replacement. Eliakim is called the Lord’s “servant”<\/span><\/em>, a title given in Scripture to prophets and those people whom God uses.<\/p>\n “I will clothe him with your robe,\u00a0and gird him with your sash,\u00a0and give over to him your authority”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n All the symbols of authority and the authority itself which Shebna currently possesses will be given to Eliakim. This transition takes place sometime around 701 BC. \u00a0Poor old Shebna is demoted to “secretary”. Ouch…<\/p>\n “He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,\u00a0and to the house of Judah<\/em>…to be a place of honor for his family”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In his role as Master of the Court, Eliakim will become an honoured father figure to God’s people.<\/p>\n “I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim’s shoulder…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This is the critical verse.<\/p>\n In the Davidic Dynasty, the key was the symbol of the authority given to the Prime Minister by the King. He who had the keys had authority.<\/p>\n We are more familiar with the concept of someone receiving the “Keys to the city”. \u00a0The idea is somewhat similar. The person with the keys controls entry into the city or, in the case of the Davidic Kingdom, access to the King’s palace.<\/p>\n The verse above is quoted, in part, in the book of Revelation when Jesus is “writing” to the Church in Philadelphia through St. John:<\/p>\n “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:\u00a0These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David<\/strong>. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open<\/strong>.”<\/em><\/p>\n Again, the key denotes Christ’s authority. It also harkens back to the Messianic prophecy found earlier\u00a0in Isaiah:<\/p>\n “For to us a child is born, a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders<\/strong>” – Isaiah 9:6<\/em><\/p>\n “…when he opens, no one shall shut\u00a0when he shuts, no one shall open”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This means that what the Master of the Palace says, goes. If he declares something to be so, nobody else has authority to undo it.<\/p>\n Now, in the Davidic Kingdom there were other ministers\u00a0in the Kingdom who could also\u00a0“open”<\/em><\/span> and “shut”:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n “So King Solomon ruled over all Israel.\u00a0And these were his chief officials:\u00a0Azariah son of Zadok\u2014the priest;\u00a0Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha\u2014secretaries;\u00a0Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud\u2014recorder;\u00a0Benaiah son of Jehoiada\u2014commander in chief;\u00a0Zadok and Abiathar\u2014priests;\u00a0Azariah son of Nathan\u2014in charge of the district governors;\u00a0Zabud son of Nathan\u2014a priest and adviser to the king;\u00a0Ahishar\u2014palace administrator;\u00a0Adoniram son of Abda\u2014in charge of forced labor” –\u00a01 Kings 4:1-6<\/em><\/p>\n …but none could overrule the Prime Minister.\u00a0This\u00a0organizational\u00a0structure was common in the Near Eastern Kingdoms. The Prime Minister had the highest power, second only to the King.<\/p>\n If you can understand why I put this picture here, it means you’re a nerd too..<\/p><\/div>\n “I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This word “peg”<\/em><\/span> usually meant a tent peg, but here it means a peg driven into wood. It is painting the picture of something stable, reliable, …one might even say “rock-like”…hmmm…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This psalm is a Davidic song of praise for God’s saving help against enemies and a prayer for His eternal protection.<\/p>\n R. (8bc) Lord, your love is eternal; do not forsake the work of your hands.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,<\/span><\/em> Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n “…with all my heart…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This isn’t “heart”<\/span><\/em> in the way we think of it today. In Hebrew thought it includes spirit, emotions, thought, courage etc.<\/p>\n “I will worship at your holy temple”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n If<\/em> David did<\/em> write this psalm, this will refer not to the real Temple (since it hadn’t been built yet), but to the tent which was setup for the Ark of the Covenant.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Lectionary continues to move us through Paul’s letter to the Romans. Last week we looked at the issue of the Gentiles in Salvation History and this week Paul concludes that section with a doxology of praise for God’s wisdom, power and His saving plan for the whole world.<\/p>\n Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!<\/span>\u00a0How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!<\/span>\u00a0For who has known the mind of the Lord<\/span>\u00a0or who has been his counselor?<\/span>\u00a0Or who has given the Lord anything\u00a0<\/span>that he may be repaid?<\/span>\u00a0For from him and through him and for him are all things.<\/span>\u00a0To him be glory forever. Amen.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n “…inscrutable…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Impenetrable, mysterious, impossible to understand<\/p>\n “For who has known the mind of the Lord\u00a0or who has been his counselor?”<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This is a citation from Isaiah:<\/p>\n “Who can fathom the Spirit\u00a0<\/span>of the LORD,\u00a0or instruct the LORD as his counselor?” – Isaiah 40:13<\/em><\/p>\n God is infinitely wiser than we are (even if we sometimes think He could use our advice).<\/p>\n “Or who has given the Lord anything\u00a0that he may be repaid? For from him and through him and for him are all things<\/em>“<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This is a citation from Job:<\/p>\n “Who has a claim against me that I must pay?\u00a0Everything under heaven belongs to me” – John 41:11<\/em><\/p>\n The point here is that everything we have, we received have from God – there is nothing that we can bring to the bargaining table that He Himself did not give us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Today’s Gospel is the essential Scriptural\u00a0basis for the Catholic Papacy. \u00a0Christ, Himself the stone that was rejected by the builders (Psalm 118:22<\/a>), chooses to found His Church on another unlikely candidate, Simon. Even today, Jesus continues to make strange choices as He calls us<\/span>, flawed and broken human beings though we are,\u00a0to be living stones in His Church. As Peter wrote in the first Papal encyclical:<\/p>\n As you come to him, the living Stone\u2014rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him\u2014\u00a0you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house\u00a0to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ – 1 Peter 2:4-5<\/em><\/p>\n The following episode takes place a little after the encounter we heard last week with the Canaanite woman.<\/p>\n Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and<\/span>\u00a0he asked his disciples,<\/span>\u00a0“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,<\/span>\u00a0still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Simon Peter said in reply,<\/span>\u00a0“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Jesus said to him in reply,<\/span>\u00a0“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.<\/span>\u00a0For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.<\/span>\u00a0And so I say to you, you are Peter,<\/span>\u00a0and upon this rock I will build my church,<\/span>\u00a0and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.<\/span>\u00a0I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.<\/span>\u00a0Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;<\/span>\u00a0and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Then he strictly ordered his disciples<\/span>\u00a0to tell no one that he was the Christ.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n “…Caesarea Philippi…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Just to be confusing, there are two Ceasareas. There is another<\/em>\u00a0Caesarea which was the great city on the coast\u00a0built by King Herod.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Caesarea being referred to in this passage<\/em> was instead located north of the Sea of Galilee near Mount Hermon. It was an extremely pagan region and was originally called “Panion” in honour of the god “Pan”, featuring a statue of that god carved into a huge rock. Herod’s son Philip rebuilt Panion and renamed it to “Caesarea\u00a0Phippi” in honour of both himself and Tiberius Caesar\u00a0(“Caesar” + “Philip” = “Caesarea Philippi”).<\/p>\n “Son of Man……Son of…God”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Notice the parallel here.<\/p>\n “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God…Simon son of Jonah…you are Peter<\/em>”\u00a0<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Fulfilling his usual role as spokesman for the Apostles, Peter declares Christ’s divinity and that He is the promised Messiah King.<\/p>\n Notice that there is another parallelism here – first Peter declares who Jesus is and then Jesus does the same for Peter.<\/p>\n It is interesting that Jesus refers to Peter as “son of Jonah”<\/span><\/em>\u00a0because the name of Peter’s father was “John” (John 21:16<\/a>) . There are a few different explanations as to what’s going on here:<\/p>\n 1. It may just be that Jonah was another name for Peter’s father. This is entirely possible.<\/p>\n 2. However, Jesus could be using a bit of symbolism here. Earlier in this Gospel, Jesus compared Himself to Jonah (Matthew 12:37-39<\/a>), so Jesus may be indicating here that Peter is His spiritual son….<\/p>\n …or Jesus may instead be expressing something of the relationship between Peter and the Holy Spirit since “Jonah”<\/span><\/em> means “dove”. It may be that He is saying that the spirit who confirmed\u00a0Jesus’ Sonship at His baptism (Matthew 3:16-17<\/a>) now inspires Peter’s confession of faith.<\/p>\n “…flesh and blood has not revealed this to you…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The phrase “flesh and blood”<\/em><\/span>\u00a0was a Hebrew idiom for describing human beings and their\u00a0frailty. Rather than this confession being brought about by Peter’s cleverness or piety, Jesus affirms that it came about through a revelation (“revealing”) of God.<\/p>\n “Simon son of Jonah…And so I say to you, you are Peter”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This change of name evokes memories of the renaming of “Abram” to “Abraham” (Genesis 17:5<\/a>) and “Jacob” to “Israel” (Genesis 32:28<\/a>).\u00a0Like before, a change of name signals a change of purpose and mission.<\/p>\n Interestingly, there is no record of the name “Peter” (“Petros”) being used in history as a proper name prior to the events described in this passage.<\/p>\n “Peter…rock…”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The Greek “Petros”, rendered here as “Peter” means “rock” (like the name “Rocky”). It is on this rock that Christ says He will build His Church.<\/p>\n There is wordplay here that we miss in the English, but that is present in the Greek and other languages. Here’s the Greek:<\/p>\n “kagw de soi legw oti su ei petro<\/strong>V kai epi tauth th petra<\/strong> oikodomhsw mou thn ekklhsian kai pulai adou ou katiscusousin authV”<\/p>\n It’s rather hard to parse the Greek and see the wordplay, so here it is in French:<\/p>\n French: “Tu es Pierre<\/strong> et sur cette pierre<\/strong>…”<\/p>\n Earlier we compared Simon’s name change to that of Abram’s. It is interesting to note that, later in Isaiah, Abraham is described as the rock from which the Children of Israel came:<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cListen to me, you who pursue righteousness\u00a0and who seek the LORD:\u00a0Look to the rock from which you were cut\u00a0<\/em>and to the quarry from which you were hewn;\u00a0look to Abraham, your father,\u00a0and to Sarah, who gave you birth” – Isaiah 51:1-2<\/em><\/p>\n You may hear people try and say that the two rocks mentioned in today’s Gospel passage are two different rocks since Peter is called “Petros<\/a>” and the rock on which Jesus will\u00a0build His Church is “Petra<\/a>“. However, the only reason that these two words are different is that Peter, being a man, had to have a masculine ending (in Greek, “os”) for the word “rock” (otherwise he’d have been called something like “Rockette”).<\/p>\n Regardless, this conversation would have almost certainly have taken place in Aramaic where the word\u00a0kephas\u00a0<\/em>would have been used in both instances<\/span>. This Aramaic name for Peter is preserved in several spots of the New Testament:<\/p>\nReading I: Is 22:19-23<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/ricker_and_picard.jpg\")
<\/a>Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8<\/h3>\n
\n for you have heard the words of my mouth;<\/span><\/em>
\n in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;<\/span><\/em>
\n I will worship at your holy temple.<\/span><\/em>
\n
\n<\/span> I will give thanks to your name,<\/span><\/em>
\n because of your kindness and your truth:<\/span><\/em>
\n When I called, you answered me;<\/span><\/em>
\n you built up strength within me.<\/span><\/em>
\n
\n<\/span> The LORD is exalted, yet the lowly he sees,<\/span><\/em>
\n and the proud he knows from afar.<\/span><\/em>
\n Your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;<\/span><\/em>
\n forsake not the work of your hands.<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n
Reading II: Romans 11:33-36<\/h3>\n
\n
Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20<\/h3>\n
\n
<\/a><\/p>\n