You Are Peter!

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year A

Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalm 138; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah… I say to you, you are Peter…”
Matthew 16:17, 18

We all know Peter.  Or do we?  When we hear his name two images emerge.  The first is of the impetuous fisherman who suffered greatly from “foot-in-mouth” disease.  The second is of the first Pope, the leader of the apostles and the first to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to the people at Pentecost.  But the fact is that the first image is largely of a man named Simon and the second of a man named Peter.  They are, of course, both the same man.  But why the change in name and what did it have to do with the change in character?

Simon, son of Jonah, brother of Andrew, was a fisherman from Capernaum in Galilee.  There was nothing outstanding about him.  Simon was an observant Jew, but may not have been what we might think of as devout.  We actually know nothing of his religious life prior to his meeting with Jesus.  And in fact, if we peek into the nuances of his outburst in his conversion story- that he’s a sinful man (Luke 5:8) - then it stands to reason there was a good deal lacking in Simon’s faith life. 

When Simon met Jesus and was called to follow Him, he entered upon a course of conversion, but the change did not take place overnight.  Then something happened.  One day Jesus asked His disciples a simple question: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  The answers ran the gamut of famous prophets.  The people knew Jesus was special.  They knew He was someone different.  But they couldn’t quite grasp who He was.  The best they could guess was that He was a prophet; either someone who comes in the spirit of Elijah or John the Baptist, or perhaps He was actually one of them reincarnate.  This bordered on superstition.

But then He asked the more pointed question.  “Who do you say that I am?”  One can imagine an awkward silence at this point.  Because the fact is that His disciples probably thought of Him in much the same way as the rest of the people.  He was a good man.  He was a gifted teacher.  He was probably a prophet.  But what more could there be?

Then Simon blurted out his answer.  “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Stop for a moment to consider the implications of this statement.  To say Jesus is the Christ is to say He is the long awaited Messiah of prophecy.  The Messiah was conceived of as a deliverer of Israel from the tyranny of Rome.  This humble carpenter was being described as the conquering King that was to come.  Furthermore, to say Jesus is the Son of the living God is to say He is more than merely human.  He is also divine.  It is to proclaim that a man is God.

Simon probably has not thought all of this through.  This appears to be another of his impetuous statements made without any forethought.  Jesus tells him that he didn’t come up with this on his own but that it was revealed by the Father.  However, as a result, Simon’s name is changed to Peter.  Why?

The name, Peter, means “Rock”.  Our Lord says He is changing Simon’s name to Peter because “upon this rock I will build my church.”  Jesus is picturing the Church as a building and it is made up of a number of rocks, stones, bricks, etc.  Jesus is saying He will begin the building with this rock. 

Now allow me to digress for just a moment.  There is a popular line of reasoning that tries to say that Peter does not mean “rock”, but merely a “stone”.  They point to the fact that in the original Greek language of the New Testament the word for rock is petra, but the word for Peter is petros.  The first, they say, means a rock, but the second means a stone, or even a tiny pebble.  They reason that the passage should be interpreted to mean that the rock is Christ Himself, or perhaps Simon’s confession of faith, but that Peter is merely one of many stones that Christ will use in building His Church.  However, the argument breaks down on two points.

First, ancient Greek, like many languages have words that are designated as masculine or feminine.  Petra is a feminine word and so the ancient text uses its masculine equivalent, petros, when used as a man’s name.

Second, while the ancient text was written in Greek, Jesus actually spoke Aramaic.  The Aramaic word for both rock and Peter is Kepha.  In the original language that would have been spoken at this time there would be no difference in the word.

So we may have confidence that the way we read the story in English is exactly what is intended.  Jesus renames Simon as Peter in order to demonstrate that he will be the first rock on which Jesus will build His Church.

You will note that this did not instantaneously change Peter’s character.  However, Jesus’ intention is eventually fulfilled and Peter does, indeed, become the rock that leads the Church and proclaims the Gospel to the world.  The change in name is prophetic of what Christ would accomplish in Peter’s life.

Now what about us?  What if I told you that you are Peter?  Of course, you would instantly refuse the title.  This is for the Pope alone.  That would be correct in a juridical sense.  But spiritually we can all be known as Peter.  That’s because we are all the rocks our Lord is using to build His Church.  We may be frail, or even failures.  We may be impetuous like Peter.  But our Lord is not willing to withdraw His call from us for our failings.  And His choice to designate us as Peter is intended to call us to more than we could ever hope to be on our own.

Peter became who he was, not because he was infused with self-confidence, or endowed with an office, or empowered by self-help, or leadership training.  He was transformed because he had an encounter with Christ that produced faith and opened him to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  He became the man he was because he knew Jesus personally and intimately.  He was daily being transformed by Christ so that his life was meshed with that of our Lord.  This is, in fact, what is intended to be the normal experience of every believer in Christ.

Where do you find yourself today?  Are you Simon, full of fears, doubts, anxieties, prejudices, and sins?  Or are you Peter, flawed but faithful, destined to be someone who will boldly proclaim Christ by word and deed until death? 

Today, find some place of solitude.  Silence the noise around you and within you.  Listen for the voice of the Lord as He asks you, “Who do you say I am?”  Allow faith to arise in your heart and proclaim, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”  With that profession receive in yourself all its implications- the forgiveness of sins, the overlooking of failures, and the hope for eternal life.  Then listen for His voice again.  “You are Peter and on this rock I will build My Church!”