Today’s Scripture Reading (September
7, 2014): Matthew 16
The Roman
Catholic Church believes that the church is built on the person of Peter. It is
the basis for the line of Popes that have ruled over the church for centuries.
Each Pope recognizes that he is the next one in the line of succession that
extends back (at least according to the Catholic Church, although it was
centuries before the Bishops of Rome actually understood it this way) to the
ministry of the Apostle Peter himself. Therefore, it follows that the occupiers
of the seat of the Bishop of Rome (now more often known as the Pope) are also
the ones upon who God has promised to build his church. And throughout the
centuries in which the Popes have reigned over the universal church, there have
been both the good and the bad Popes (and to counteract the idea that the
church is failing, some of the best Popes actually reigned over the last 150
years – including Leo XII [1878-1903], John XXIII [1958-1963] and John Paul II
[1978-2005]. These were men that I think Peter would have been proud to have
sitting in his seat.)
The
unanswered question though is whether it is true that the Popes – or even Peter
– are really the persons on whom God will build his church? Is that really what
this verse says? And there is a great deal of logic at least to the idea that
Jesus was meaning Peter. Jesus confirms a name adjustment in this verse. No
longer is Peter Simon, the stress is now on the name Peter, which means rock.
So it makes sense that Jesus was speaking specifically of Peter – and maybe
even the line of successors to the office of Peter, the good and the bad Popes -
as being the ones on whom Jesus was going to build his church.
But
Protestants have often interpreted this verse differently. They want to take
the stress off of the person and place it on the confession. In this
interpretation, Jesus is not saying that he will build the church on the person
of Peter, and by extension all of his successors, but rather that he will build
his church on the confession of Peter that Jesus is the living Son of Living God.
The man who is called the Rock has produced a solid confession of his
understanding of who Jesus is, and it is on this confession that the church
will be built, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I have to
admit that this is the interpretation that I favor. And one of the reasons is
that the line of Popes have not all been good. The church being built on some
of the feuding, egotistical and selfish men that have occupied the seat of the
Bishop of Rome is unthinkable. But the church being built on the confession and
belief of those who profess that Jesus really is the Son of God contains a
power that will change the world. And it also broadens the base. The church is
no longer being built on a single person, but on all of us who are willing to
accept that Jesus is truly the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
And the
truth that we have to understand is that it is this belief that made the good Popes
great. It was this confession that made Peter great, in spite of all of his
weaknesses. When we come together intent on serving Jesus who we acknowledge to
be the Son of the Living God, nothing can stop us – and not even the gates of
hell will overcome that church.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 8
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