The Feast of St. Peter

"And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

If you were to visit Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, you would encounter an imposing statue of Saint Peter on your left as you approached the main entrance of this magnificent edifice. Giuseppe De Fabris' statue reaches some twenty feet high and depicts St. Peter standing with a scroll in his left hand and a large, golden key in his right. The image of the Apostle holding "keys" comes from today's Gospel reading for the Feast of St. Peter. In the reading, Jesus and the twelve are resting on the seacoast of Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asks his companions, "Whom do people say that I am?" This question shows Jesus wanting to know how people interpret the events in his life and ministry. He wants to know who they think he is.

Peter responds, "Some people think you are John the Baptist; others say you are Isaiah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." This shows that the crowds believed Jesus was a "man of God," a prophet sent to Israel like those before him. It also indicates that the people did not yet understand who Jesus was, as they did not recognize Him as the Messiah foretold in Israel's scriptures. They saw the man but did not recognize God Himself, the second person of the Holy Trinity – Jesus: Son of Man and Son of God.

Now, here comes the big question, perhaps the most pivotal question in all of human history. Jesus asks his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" And why do I apply such weighty importance to this question? Well, this was THE decisive moment in which the separation of the New Testament church (the Church) from the Old Testament theocracy was to be made. For in the providence of God, the hour had come for the utterance of the distinct Christian confession: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

In other words, you, Jesus, are the Son not only of man but of God which means YOU ARE GOD: "very man of very man, very God of very God." Peter's reply on behalf of his fellow Apostles is more than an answer: it is the true and good confession about Jesus Christ, the creedal heart of the entire Christian faith. Jesus Christ IS MAN and the eternal SON OF GOD (not A son— but THE SON of the living God). Peter has confessed the very mystery of the Incarnation in its widest understanding, "God [made] manifest in the flesh." "Who do you say that I am?" You, Jesus, are the God-Man, the Savior of the world.

Our Lord's response to Peter's confession is profound. He reveals the mission He intends to assign Peter - to be the 'rock,' the visible foundation on which the entire spiritual edifice of the Church is built. He says, 'And I also say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' But what is 'the rock' upon which Christ will build His Church? It is Peter's spirit-given confession of Jesus as Messiah. This confession, the confession of the new Pentecost-people of God, is the foundation upon which the Church is built. Jesus says, 'Upon this rock, I will build the faith you have just confessed.'

But there is more going on here because Peter's confession is spoken by a man, made of flesh and blood, who gives breath by divine enlightenment to the confession upon which the Church of Jesus Christ is built. We cannot separate the words from the man or the confession from the one who makes it. Nor do we separate our confession of faith from the body (the Church) which professes it! This unity, this belonging to a body of believers, makes our confession of faith powerful and enduring. One cannot claim to have the Christian faith without the church that possesses and confesses it!

Each week, we profess the Apostolic confession, marking us as a peculiar people in this world, a royal priesthood, sons and daughters of the kingdom. 'I believe in one God, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God...' We have come to believe this not through flesh and blood but by God the Father's gracious initiative and the Spirit's illumination. Peter is the rock, the man who professes Jesus to be the Son of God. And we, by grace and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, believe, and profess the very same: we stand on firm ground. We are being built up day by day to confess this same saving faith to a dark and confused world.

"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." In Holy Scripture, there is a strong analogy between the events of Peter's life and the Church. Today's Epistle reading from Acts tells of Christ's ascension and the persecution the Church faces in Jerusalem under Herod, who martyrs James, the brother of John. Peter is then arrested and thrown into prison, which pleases the unbelieving Jews. This event takes place during Easter, the time of the Passover. It is a situation where a righteous man is wrongly imprisoned, and his fate is to be decided by the Jewish people. An innocent man, is falsely accused by the Jews, arrested, and incarcerated during Passover.

Does this sound familiar? It's as if the very same things that happened to Jesus during Holy Week is repeating itself in the life of Peter. And it is, because the way of Christ is the way of Peter: there is a correspondence between Christ and the one upon whom he will build his Church. This tells us that the way of the Church is and will always be the way of Christ. 'If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. Remember the word I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.'

And now we’ve entered the great mystery between Christ and his Church, the sacramental reality of Christ in us and we in him which is why we are called to share in our Lord's sufferings and to bear the same reproaches from men. St. Peter clearly understood this, for he also suffered at the hands of Israel as our Lord did. Peter's mission was as the prophet Ezekiel as heard in today's Old Testament Lesson, "And God said unto Ezekiel, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiff-hearted."

So it's no surprise that we see in the epistle Peter imprisoned and facing dire consequences: beatings, floggings, and most likely death at the hands of his brethren. But the Lord is with Peter, so the Apostle's story ends in the same manner: with deliverance and victory because Peter’s chains "fell off" didn’t they! No chain could hold him and my friends just like the grave couldn’t hold our Lord. And neither will the gates of Hades contain, frustrate, or destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. The hostile fortress of Hades has always loomed over and against what appears to be a defenseless and feeble church, but the Lord has proclaimed and promised indestructibility to Peter and to us: 'The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it!" Why? Because Christ is building his Church, Christ is with and in his Church just as he was with Peter and delivered him from a Roman jail cell.

You see, the promise made to Peter is greater than those God made to the prophets of old. The prophets were only threatened by human enemies, but Peter must be defended against the "powers of the underworld," the destructive power of evil, sin, and death. And that promise spoken to Peter on the beach should fill us with comfort concerning the future of the Church in this world, and even this little parish in Rockwall. And it should bring peace and assurance to your soul because his promise extends to each of us who faithfully confess the apostolic faith and express it through loving fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ.

My friends, the sword of death and destruction that Hades wields in this world shall not prevail against Christ's Church because Jesus because by his resurrection, he has disarmed hades by overcoming death. The very thing intended to destroy us is the very means by which we attain victory. For in Christ, suffering and death lead to eternal life. This paradox is most vividly given to us in the bread broken, and the wine poured out. Both images are icons of our Lord's suffering and death. And yet, his suffering and death were transformed into the very means of eternal life.

So as you come to this Holy Communion, be strengthened in body and soul and reassured of this: Christ, as with Peter, is with us, his Church. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No chain can hold, nor can any man or principality destroy the people of God.

“As it is written, For thy sake, we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Beloved, let us embrace the very life and example of St. Peter and take to heart his words when he says, "Those who suffer according to God's should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." Stand firm and make the good confession: Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he who has saved your soul shall defend you against the gates of hell. Amen+