Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, «Who do people say the Son of Man is?». They said, «For some of them you are John the Baptist, for others Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets». Jesus asked them, «But you, who do you say I am?». Peter answered, «You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God». Jesus replied, «It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. And now I say to you: You are Peter (or Rock) and on this rock I will build my Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven».
Source: http://evangeli.net/gospel/
Analysis
Today's passage is a passage that is as interesting as yesterday, as it brings up the issue of Simon Peter, the so called leader of the disciples. Nevertheless, we shall cover the whole of the passage from the beginning. The passage opens with Jesus asking His disciples who is He, the son of man, in the words of others. They then answer that some say He is John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or another prophet. Then Jesus asked what do they think. Peter answered that He is the messiah, Son of God. Jesus praised Peter as God Themselves revealed it, and not human. Finally, Jesus elects Peter as His successor for the Church.
The first part holds a very important meaning for our understanding of God. When Jesus asked what others think of Him. The answers attribute Him to mere human identities, and thus human names are given. However, Peter answered that Jesus is the Son of God, and Jesus praised him as it was revealed to Peter by God, not blood and flesh. Why is this very important? Peter's answers reflects his understanding of Jesus' true nature, not as a human, but as the living God Themselves. However, we know that Jesus wishes to say that humanity, and not just Him, are the Son of God. What about the part of being revealed by God?
Why is it important that Peter obtained his knowledge from God and not man? The reason lies within the nature of God. To obtain knowledge from God personally means it is us who works to find out the truth. As divine knowledge should be logical and true, we can rationalize it and find it. Furthermore, the source of the knowledge also determines its credibility, knowledge from God is always true, but knowledge of man is imperfect and may be false. There is one more thing that shows us what kind of person Peter is like here. If Peter truly knew because God told him so, then it means Peter has the initiative to search the truth. He is a leader, and knows how to make decisions by himself. He doesn't just follow others by accepting what they say, and this is very related to the next part of this passage.
Right after that discourse, Jesus appoints Peter by renaming him Peter from Simon, and made him the foundation of the Church, or the leader of it. This is an interesting point, as Jesus went far enough to say that death will not consume them, Peter will get the keys of the kingdom, and whatever he binds or unbinds on earth will be done the same to heaven. First of all, why Peter? As seen, Peter has the qualities of a leader, and as his new name suggests, he is persistent and strong willed, like a coral rock. Death will not overcome the Church? It may be surprising to see that Jesus is wrong, as we see death has corrupted the Church very well. What does this mean though?
Jesus is however divine He is, in that state is still human. Moreover, He is already bound and chained by His curse, so perhaps we should give Him a break. As such, it is possible that Jesus did not foresee the events of today and how the Church would stagnate like an actual rock. The keys of the kingdom, it is the words of Christ of course, and to bind and unbind is an interesting term. In my opinion, it means to bind the truth, what Peter decides as true on earth would apply in heaven and vice versa. Unfortunately, it seems Jesus was wrong as well on that point. This seems to be a revolutionary point for us, as it shows the possibility of Jesus being wrong. Nevertheless, I believe that is all I have to say.
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