Peter the Rock

08-16-2020Weekly Reflection

After removing Shebna from his position of authority, the Lord chose Eliakim and was given the keys to the palace of King Hezekiah and made Prime Minister or vizier. A vizier is the 2nd in authority after the king. Like the Egyptian vizier, a Jewish vizier was the master of the palace and the highest official in the Jewish Kingdom next only to the king. He is entrusted with the key to the palace, he controlled those who enter and leave the place. Alluding to Mt. 16:19, Peter implicitly is like the ancient Jewish vizier given the keys of the Kingdom of God, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Peter is the rock, on which the church is built and to whom the key to gates of the Kingdom is given, he has the power to bind or to loosen, or has the power of who will be admitted or denied entrance to the Kingdom of God.

After the death and resurrection of Jesus, His disciples gathered around Him, He instructed them to continue His mission without His physical presence. But there is someone who will have to lead them. The Gospel of Matthew was very explicit in showing how Jesus received all His power and authority from His Father, and how He passed this authority to His disciples. The Gospel showed how Peter occupies a special place, he is to be their leader when He is gone and head of the Church that Jesus established.

But before entrusting to Peter the Church, Jesus had to test the faith of Peter. The famous confession of Peter, “You are the Son of the living God,” was a revelation he could receive only from the Father. That is why Jesus praises the Father and congratulates Peter for his confession of faith in Him. Reminding us of the words in Mt. 11:25, “Father… to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children.” Tested, Peter would be the solid rock on which the Church is built.

Jesus then made the announcement and revelation, not about Himself but about Peter. Because the Father had revealed to Peter this secret, “I declare to you, you are rock, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail over it.” Jesus used a new name, before Peter there was no one called “Rock.” He used this new name to reveal that He was establishing something new, “my Church,” on a new foundation. The qualities of a rock revealed what this new Church will be; strong, solid and permanent. Revealing a lasting and firm foundation of the Church. Who is Jesus to me personally? I am grateful for the gift of faith and for the Church that Jesus established?