Daily and Festal Readings:
Saints/Martyrs/Heroes/Feasts/Fasts to be observed/commemmorated/celebrated: the Confession of St. Peter (Lesser Festival) W
◦Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Begins
The Confession of Peter is a statement made by Saint Peter the Apostle in the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew 16:13-20, Mark 8:27-30, and Luke 9:18-20, in which he emphatically acknowledged Jesus as the "Messiah" or "Christ" (meaning the Anointed One).
The Confession of Peter is also the name of a liturgical feastday celebrated by some Christian churches
1. According to the Gospels
Traditional painting by Pietro Perugino depicting "The Giving of the Keys to Saint Peter" (1492)
The Gospel of Matthew gives the most complete narrative of the events upon the arrival of Jesus on the coast of Caesarea Philippi. More truncated versions of the story are told in the Gospels of Mark and Luke.
Jesus asked his disciples: Whom do men say that I (the Son of man) am? The disciples varied in their answers, claiming that Christ was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. [1]
Then Jesus asked them: But whom say ye that I am? Only Simon Peter answered Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. [2]
Matthew alone recounts that Jesus blessed Peter, stating:
“ 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. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [3] ”
All three of the Synoptics end the account with Jesus telling the disciples not to reveal that he was the Messiah to anyone. [4]
2. Theological interpretation and context
2. 1. Interpretations and meanings
This passage can be seen in several contexts. For one, it could be argued that the disciples did not yet know who Jesus really was. Even though they walked with him and believed in his teachings they did not understand at this time that Jesus was the Christ. This theory is supported by other biblical verses. Matthew 8:23-27 is such a passage. When Jesus rebuked the sea and waves, it is written that the disciples were amazed and said, What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him? (verse 27). At this point, they did not know that the living God himself was present among them. Mark 8:18-21 further supports this; coming directly after the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus asks them, Do you still not understand?
Saint Peter displays tremendous insight given by the Holy Spirit, and Jesus tells him that this insight was given to him by God, not from man. Immediately following these passages, Jesus explains what sufferings and travails the Messiah has to go through. Peter objects to this, and Jesus admonishes him, saying that Peter can only keep his mind on earthly things.
2. 2. "Upon this rock I will build my church"
“ Σὺ εἶ Πέτρος, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ οἰκοδομήσω μου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτῆς. δώσω σοι τὰς κλεῖδας τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν. ”
—Mt 16: 18-19
In the Roman Catholic Church, Jesus' words, "upon this rock I will build my church" are interpreted as the foundation of the doctrine of the papacy, whereby the Church of Christ is founded upon Peter and his successors, the Bishops of Rome. Jesus' next statement, "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." are interpreted as the foundation of the doctrine of papal infallibility. Christ's charge to the Apostle Peter to "feed my sheep" and "tend my lambs", as well as Peter's authoritative position in the early Church are seen as emphasising St. Peter's, and thus his successors', the Popes, unique role as vicarious head of the Christ's Catholic Church on Earth.
Protestants believe that although the verse states that Peter was the foundation stone of the Church, it does not imply the continuous succession of popes nor that the pope, if the modern office of pope can correlate at all with Peter's position in the first century, should be the only authority over the Church. In other words, they believe that Christian communities existing outside the Catholic Church are just as legitimate, if not more so. The statement "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" is usually taken to mean that the Church will never become extinct, not that the Church itself cannot fall into official doctrinal error.
The Eastern Orthodox churches interpret the verse differently and disagree with the Roman Catholics with regard to the language He was speaking and therefore affecting the meaning. Catholics believe he was speaking Aramiac, where there would be no distinction in gender. The Eastern Orthodox believe that the "rock" Christ refers to is not the person of Peter, but the faith of Peter (the Greek construction, ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ tautē tē petra, uses the feminine demonstrative pronoun and article; Jesus would have used the masculine if he were referring to Peter's person) [5] . They see Jesus' words, "whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" as simply bestowing first upon Peter what was later bestowed upon all of the Apostles collectively (John 21:23, cf. Matthew 28:18). Orthodox see Peter's immediate fall into error, when he opposes the suffering Messiah and is rebuked by Jesus (Matthew 16:21-23), as proof of Peter's fallibility, while the Catholic Church sees Peter's personal failures as having no bearing on his gift of infallibility in his teaching capacity. The Orthodox believe in the infallibility of the Church as a whole, but that any individual, regardless of their position can be subject to error or even heresy in their teaching. While Catholics see the Catholic Church as the one true Church, the Eastern Orthodox see their churches collectively as constituting the sole true Church.
3. Annual commemorations
3. 1. Liturgical commemorations
The Catholic Church prior to the Second Vatican Council liturgical reforms celebrated the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter on January 18. Since the liturgical reforms the feast is celebrated on February 22. The Catholic Church never celebrated a feast under the title of the "Confession of Peter."
In the Anglican, and Lutheran churches the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter is celebrated as the Feast of the Confession of Peter on 18 January. The name of the feast was changed from the Chair of St. Peter as that title emphasises the role of St. Peter as the first pope and his universal authority over the Christian Church by virtue of the Keys.
3. 2. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
The Confession of Peter is the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, is actually an octave rather than a week and was originally known as the Octave of Christian Unity. It is an international Christian ecumenical observance that began in 1908. It spans from 18 January to 25 January (the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul).
This date is observed in remembrance of how Saint Peter the Apostle was impelled by Divine grace to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, and is a date when current Christians acknowledge Jesus as Lord, God and Saviour.
4. See also
•Conversion of Paul
•Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
•Calendar of saints
•Liturgical year
5. References
1.Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 9:19 (KJV).
2.Matthew 16:15-16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20 (KJV).
3.Matthew 16:18-19 (KJV)
4.Matthew 16:20, Mark 8:30 (KJV).
5.The Orthodox New Testament, Vol. I: The Holy Gospels. Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent. 1999. p. 105. ISBN 0-944359-13-2.
Scriptural Readings:
Daily Readings:
Psalm 40:6-17
6Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
7Then I said, “Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”
9I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.
10I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
11Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.
12For evils have encompassed me without number; my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
13Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me.
14Let all those be put to shame and confusion who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who desire my hurt.
15Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
16But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
17As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.
Isaiah 53:1-12
53Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.
4Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. 9They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. 11Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Hebrews 10:1-4
10Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. 2Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. 4For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Festal Readings:
Acts 4:8-138Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ 12There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” 13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.
Psalm 18
1I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so I shall be saved from my enemies.
4The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of perdition assailed me;
5the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
6In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
16He reached down from on high, he took me; he drew me out of mighty waters.
17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
18They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the Lord was my support.
19He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
1 Corinthians 10:1-5
10I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.
Matthew 16:13-19
13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
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