Peter's Faith; JESUS Promises

 "After that, 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; 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 of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.'" - Matthew 16:13-19 

(One parable of the kingdom of GOD already foretold the Church [Matthew 13:31-33].  This present text openly refers to the Church:

        - it tells us what its foundation is: faith in JESUS, the CHRIST and Son of GOD;

        - it focuses on the primacy of Peter among all the apostles;

        - it suggests that the Church will always need a visible head.  This is the successor of Peter, the pope.

Faith in the Son of GOD, which Peter, among the apostles is the first to proclaim, really comes from GOD.  This faith is not a human opinion, or a sentimental attachment.  It does not come from flesh and blood, an expression that for the Jews meant what is purely human, what a human being does and understands by his own capacity.  The words with which JESUS greets Peter, it is well for you Simon Barjona, are true for all the believers.  For it is the FATHER who has chosen us and has brought us to CHRIST: see John 6:37; 6:44.

Next, the primacy of Peter is emphasized.  His name was Simon, but JESUS gave him this surname Rock, foreseeing that he would be for HIS Church a foundation rock [John 1:40].  This change of his name attests that a mission is given to him as happened to Abraham and Jacob [Genesis 17:5 and 32:19].  Other texts attest to the leadership and faith of Peter: Matthew 10:2; 14:28; 17:25; Luke 5:8-10; 22:32; John 6:68; 21:15-19.

Is what JESUS tells Peter true also of his successors?  No one can deny that even in the Old Testament GOD wanted HIS people to have a visible head.  Jerusalem and the nation had as their center the temple and the kings, sons of David.  When GOD chose David, the first king of Israel, HE promised him that his sons would rule the kingdom of GOD forever: this promise was fulfilled in CHRIST.  Now JESUS chooses Peter to be forever the visible foundation of the building.  In the future his successors will be for the Church, what Peter was in the early Church.

For the Jews, to bind and to unbind meant to state what is forbidden and what is allowed.  So Peter and his successors will have the last word about what is, or is not, the faith of the Church.  In spite of the fact that as humans Peter's successors can commit mistakes, CHRIST does not ignore what they ultimately decide on: whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.)

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