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Reflection on the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Times

By Lola Wells

The readings for this Sunday:

Isaiah 22:19-23

Romans 11:33-36

Matthew 16:13-20

Matthew 16:13-20:

13 Jesus went out into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

15 He said too them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply,

16 "you are the Christ the Son of the living God."

17 Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

18 And I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,"

20 Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.


Translation from THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE as presented in THE WORKBOOK FOR LECTORS AND GOSPEL READERS

Matthew, Mark and Luke all include in their Gospels the first part of this passage where Jesus is interested in knowing who others think he is. It is only Matthew who includes the section in which Jesus establishes Peter as the head of what would appear to be a church that has broken its ties with the faith of the Israelites. This passage is used as evidence, dare we say proof text, that Jesus is the direct founder of the Christian religion and the one who established Peter as the head of a church with a hierarchal structure. Matthew wrote his Gospel probably as late as 900A.D.; therefore, he had no personal knowledge of Jesus or the original disciples. He may have been a converted rabbi, i.e., he was concerned for church order, was scholarly, wrote well and gave a softer presentation of the rabbis.

In the New Jerome Biblical Commentary it is proposed that verses 17-19 above provide us with a post-Easter story about leadership in the church. In Gnostic Thomas it is James in Jerusalem, the leader of the Jewish Christians, who is pictured in the key leadership role. The Gentile Christians would have voted Paul into the key leadership spot. Matthew presents Peter as the compromise candidate who could hold both tendencies together in the early church. Matthew is engaging in "ecumenical good sense" when he proposed a compromise candidate for the position. It is sad that Mary Magdalene does not seem to have even been given consideration. Certainly Peter had outstanding qualifications, but so did Mary, and she is the one Jesus chose to be the Apostle to the Apostles. Matthew, however, selects Peter, and in his Gospel he has Jesus select Peter by adding this brief dialogue onto an established and accepted conversation between Jesus and the disciples.

What Matthew did may have been brilliant for his time and place. Unfortunately the human penchant for making what works now good for all now's got involved, and we got caught. For generations too numerous to count this brief passage, Mt. 16. 18-19 has been used by the catholic church as "proof text" for pope, hierarchy and men only. And to think that it was a converted, 1st century Jewish scribe who came up with this schematic, not Jesus! Will the real Jesus please stand up! Some of the misreading is attributed to questionable critical biblical scholarship. One needs also to consider the contribution of virulent anti-Semitism. It has been difficult for the followers of Jesus to remember that he was a Jew and that he came to reform his "church" not start a new one.

The truly fascinating aspect of this passage is Jesus' questions:

"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

"But who do you say that I am?"

I will briefly share some of my imaginative reflection about this passage with you. Imaginative reflections allow you to enter into the text and talk with the people who are part of the Story. You can interview them, dialogue with them, imagine what their lives were like at the time of the event or before or after the event. In this passage you could talk with Jesus, Peter or any of the disciples. You can ask them any question that helps you to better understand this passage, and you are free to go wherever the interaction leads you. Hopefully you will share your reflections with us.

I am going to talk with one of the disciples who was ask the questions-

LW: Mary Magdalene were you with Jesus when he asked the disciples "Who do the people think I am" and "who do you think I am?"

MM: Oh yes, I was there. At that time though most of us did not think of ourselves as disciples. At least I didn't. Jesus and I were good and dear friends. I also liked being with his band of followers. Any one of us could tattle on the others because we all had our humorous, silly moments, even Jesus! We were all strong people of faith. Like many of those who followed Jesus, I believed YHWH had chosen him to reform our Jewish religion, and I wanted to help him do it. I wanted Jesus' message to be heard, and I wanted to care for him and protect him from the people who wanted to harm him.

LW: Why do you think he asked the question?

MM: No, you go first. What do you think?

LW: AH, you learned well from the Rabbi, didn't you?

MM: Jesus wanted to know the heart of the other.

LW: I think he was unsure and needed support from those he trusted.

MM. He asked us these questions more than once. At first none of us got it right. We worked it out - mostly with him. When he continued to ask the questions it was troubling for us. Sometimes I thought, I have the answer, why ask the same question. We talked among ourselves first, but that was never very successful. It's always best to talk with him. That's how I came to realize that it's the same words but never the same question.

LW: Mary, …

MM: Lola, I do not have your answer. I have given you the clue.

LW: What clue? Is this mystical "stuff"?

MM: Oh, the advantage of having talked with him, touched him, eaten with him, known his friendship, his compassion and passion. But you have friends. You know how people grow and change, how relationships change, how the same question asked one time can mean something entirely different another time.

LW: Is he more asking me who I am?

MM: Sometimes that is his question, but it will take you a while to exhaust all the meaning. Shall we go now and share some more stories about him?