Today the Church remembers the confession of St. Peter when he acknowledged that Jesus was in fact the Son of God as recounted in the Gospel according to Matthew:
Now 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 Messiah, 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.’ (Mt. 16: 13-19).
This is what Bishop Tom Wright, one of the foremost Biblical scholars in the world today, says about this passage:
‘Who do you say I am?’ ‘You are the Messiah, son of the living God!’ ‘Right: this is the rock we build on; this is where God’s people will find their city; so it’s time to go on pilgrimage, up the dusty road to the beautiful city that sits upon its rock. … (I should say, just for the record, that the idea that Peter himself, rather than his faith in Jesus as Messiah and Lord, was the rock on which the church would be built, and that this was to be passed on to his successors as Bishops of Rome, was an exegetical innovation in the counter-Reformation period of the late sixteenth century, when you get those remarkable settings of the Latin text of Matthew 16, ‘Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam’, ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church’.) … The point is this: when you confess Jesus, crucified and risen, as God’s Messiah, and Lord of the world, you are taking your stand upon the rock to which Jesus himself, and Peter himself in his first letter, refer, the rock where the true city of God is being built, even though the gates of hell roar their anger against it and do their best to distract us from the hot and tiring pilgrim journey by which we must come to it at last.
Now 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 Messiah, 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.’ (Mt. 16: 13-19).
This is what Bishop Tom Wright, one of the foremost Biblical scholars in the world today, says about this passage:
‘Who do you say I am?’ ‘You are the Messiah, son of the living God!’ ‘Right: this is the rock we build on; this is where God’s people will find their city; so it’s time to go on pilgrimage, up the dusty road to the beautiful city that sits upon its rock. … (I should say, just for the record, that the idea that Peter himself, rather than his faith in Jesus as Messiah and Lord, was the rock on which the church would be built, and that this was to be passed on to his successors as Bishops of Rome, was an exegetical innovation in the counter-Reformation period of the late sixteenth century, when you get those remarkable settings of the Latin text of Matthew 16, ‘Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam’, ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church’.) … The point is this: when you confess Jesus, crucified and risen, as God’s Messiah, and Lord of the world, you are taking your stand upon the rock to which Jesus himself, and Peter himself in his first letter, refer, the rock where the true city of God is being built, even though the gates of hell roar their anger against it and do their best to distract us from the hot and tiring pilgrim journey by which we must come to it at last.
In short, the "rock" upon which the Church is built is not a person, but the faith in Jesus as the Christ and as the Son of the Living God, Peter's and ours as well.
Let us pray: Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Please remember in your prayers all of the people of Cathedral of Faith Market Street Baptist Church; their 73 year old pastor emeritus died today while conducting a funeral.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
CONFIRMATION CLASS on Sundays starting at 10:50 a.m. If you want to be Confirmed when Bishop Harrison visits us on Sunday, 5 February, you will need to participate in the Confirmation class. Please come!
SACRED PLACES TOUR: St. Augustine will be on the tour this year in February. It is a wonderful opportunity to share our faith history with others. Please plan to be a part of it.
PLEASE REMEMBER everyone on our Prayer List, especially those who are chronically ill, the lonely, the depressed, the unemployed, the ill and those who have no one to pray for them.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
Let us pray: Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Please remember in your prayers all of the people of Cathedral of Faith Market Street Baptist Church; their 73 year old pastor emeritus died today while conducting a funeral.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
CONFIRMATION CLASS on Sundays starting at 10:50 a.m. If you want to be Confirmed when Bishop Harrison visits us on Sunday, 5 February, you will need to participate in the Confirmation class. Please come!
SACRED PLACES TOUR: St. Augustine will be on the tour this year in February. It is a wonderful opportunity to share our faith history with others. Please plan to be a part of it.
PLEASE REMEMBER everyone on our Prayer List, especially those who are chronically ill, the lonely, the depressed, the unemployed, the ill and those who have no one to pray for them.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
No comments:
Post a Comment