Matthew 16: 13-20
The US Congress passed the 19th Amendment to
the Constitution which granted women full and equal voting rights on this very
day in 1920.
As a result of its passage, today we celebrate “Women’s
Equality Day.”
It took women 113 years of struggle, putting their lives
on the line, to get this amendment passed.
Yet their fight is not over. There are limits being placed on women
everywhere where changes needed in childcare policies, reproductive rights,
education and employment, and vocational opportunities remain.
It is clear in our day and age, that women still have a
long way to go in securing their equality among men.
What does this have to do with our Gospel story today?
First off, it’s always good to realize what is happening
on the ground. It’s important to gather
information in order to be properly informed.
It’s important to know about what Jesus actually taught. You know, in the beginning times when things
started to really happen.
We know that Jesus spoke in Aramaic and Hebrew. We know that the original Gospel stories were
written in Aramaic and Hebrew. We know
that the first translation of these stories were in Greek. And, as with all translations, what is meant
in one language, is not always translated properly to another. Instead of being objectively translated,
these stories were most often interpreted
by editors who inserted their understanding of who Jesus was, and what Jesus
said, along with what the faith community at the time believed. Remember, the
understanding of faith was an evolving matter (and is so, even today). Each age
had differing thoughts and insights. As time
continued on, we find that the whole body of work was translated again from the
Greek into Latin. Another era, another
opportunity for interpretation of the text, another mindset for understanding
what they believed. And so, it continued. Many different translations, many centuries
of interpreters that distanced the original language from the current thought.
So, let’s clarify some terms.
In Greek, “Peter” is “Petros” and “rock” is “petra.”
Peter’s Aramaic name was “Kephas” that is also the Aramaic
word for “rock.”
Whatever else it is, “rock” is a word of tremendous
praise, and by no means strange or unusual to Jewish thought. No Jew who knew the Old Testament could ever
use the word without their thoughts turning to God, who alone was the true rock
of their defense and salvation.
Remember. Abraham was the rock (petra) on which the nation and purpose
of God were founded.
The word “church” in Greek is “ekklesia,” which we most
often experience in New Testament translations. However, the word that Jesus
almost certainly used was the Aramaic “quahal” which is the word the Old
Testament used for the congregation of Israel, or, more precisely, the gathering
of the People of God.
When Peter responded to Jesus that he was the Messiah, the
Firstborn of the Living God, Jesus affirmed Peter’s faith by calling Peter the “beginning
of a new Israel,” the new people of God, the new group of religious peers,
equally associated with one another, who believed in what Jesus taught.
Peter was the first person to publicly proclaim his faith in
Jesus. And it certainly was not a coincidence that
the authors of this story have Jesus asking his question of Peter in a place that
housed the legends of the gods of Greece, the temples of the ancient Syrian
worship, and the great Caesarea Philippi temple built to the godhead of Caesar
that projected the might and divinity of Rome.
This location was where all gathered to remember the old ingrained ideas
and practices, and the looming arm of Roman rule. But it also contained the source of new life,
the source of the River Jordan where Jesus was baptized and began his public
ministry.
It is noteworthy that it was not a church in the human
sense that began with Peter. What began
with Peter was the fellowship of all believers in Jesus—who were equally
associated with one another. This new
phase, new journey of faith, was not identified with any church and not limited
to any church, but embraced all who believed in Jesus’ teachings and ministry. On bedrock like this, Jesus said, I will
build my community!
God is the rock, Jesus is the first cornerstone, the force
holding everyone together. All the other believing disciples added their
pebbles of faith upon his, Peter being the first to come forward.
And so, this applies to all Christians-- they are the
living stones built into the fabric of the faith community. The faith community didn’t depend on Peter,
as it depended on Jesus and God. This
new phase of community began with Peter’s declaration of faith. And because Peter declared his faith, Jesus
ensured him that nothing will stand in his way, not even the jaws of death, for
God will be their stronghold against everything.
Jesus also gave to Peter a special responsibility of
opening the door to the kinship of all believers. And so, on Pentecost, Peter did just
that. The story goes that over 3,000
people were welcomed into the fold. He
also opened the door to the Gentile world through welcoming the Gentile centurion,
Cornelius, who through Peter’s witness, was ratified by the Council of
Jerusalem. And by Peter’s example, we,
too, are charged with opening the door of the Kin-dom of God’s world to others
so that they, too, become part of this equal fellowship of believers.
Jesus gave Peter the power to bind and to loose. What does that mean? To loose and to bind were very common Jewish
phrases. They were used especially by
the teachers and Rabbi’s when making decisions. To bind something was to
declare it forbidden; to loose was to declare it allowed. For the Jews, these were regular phrases for
making decision in regard to the law. But Jesus did not follow some of those
laws. He said they did not reflect the
Spirit of the Living God in and among the people. So what Jesus is saying to Peter is: you will be the first guide of this infant
faith community. And in the early
chapters of the Book of Acts, we see that in Jerusalem that is precisely what
Peter did. The privilege of the keys
meant that much like the illusion of Eliakim in our Old Testament reading
today, Peter would be the steward of this community, opening the door for all
to enter into the Kin-dom of God’s presence.
So, to paraphrase this Gospel passage, we can say:
Peter, your name means rock, and your destiny is to be a
rock. You are the first person to
recognize me for who I am, and therefore, you are the first stone in the structure
of the community of those who are mine.
Against that relationship the embattled powers of evil will not prevail
nor hold me captive. And in the days to come, you must be the steward who will
unlock the doors of the Kin-dom so that Jew and Gentile are welcomed in; and
you will guide and direct the work of this infant and growing faith community.
Peter had made the great discovery; and Peter was given
the great privilege and the great responsibility. It is a discovery which everyone of us must
make for ourselves, and, when we have made it, the same privilege and the same
responsibility are laid upon us.
And here is where we get to the part about what Women’s
Equality Day has to do with this Gospel.
We cannot let false interpretations and imperfect
declarations affect the truth of Jesus’ message.
In the Roman Catholic Women Priest movement, we put our
lives on the line in renewing the basic message of Jesus that ‘all are equal in
the eyes of God.’ The hierarchical
structures, oppressive patriarchal language, institutional bureaucracy, and
misogyny have no place in the group of believers who declare their faith in
Jesus, and associate with one another with equal respect inspired by a common
vision.
We stand on the shoulders of women who gave their all in
pursuing the truth of who they were and how they should be treated. And I stand before you as a prophetic witness
in our Church today, proclaiming that Women’s Equality Everyday must set up tent and dwell in the midst of the People of
God as we continue the journey proclaiming the truth of Jesus’ message that all
are equal in the eyes of God, and all are given the privilege of proclaiming
that truth and being Christ for one another.
We all act equally in persona
Christi.
Always remember that Christianity never consists in
knowing about Jesus; it always consists in knowing Jesus. Jesus demands a personal decision. He did not ask only Peter, he asks every
person: “YOU—what do YOU think of me?”
It is our individual answer that will determine our journey forward.
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