Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
Scripture Readings
Not because Jesus was conducting a straw poll did Jesus asked the disciples who the people thought he was. Neither was he having an identity crisis to ask them who they thought he was. There are two parts in today’s gospel reading. In theological terms, there is a Christology and an ecclesiology. The first part consists of Jesus’ two questions to his disciples. It concludes with Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Mt 16:16). It gives us an insight into Jesus’ identity. This is the Christology. The second part is Jesus’ declaration of Peter as the “rock on which I will build my church” (Mt 16:18). This Church, even “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18). As Jesus says, it “my church.” This gives us an understanding into the church. This is the ecclesiology.
In my three points today, I hope to present a Christology and ecclesiology for our times. I am calling it “a Christology and an ecclesiology of hope.”
1. Matthew's Unique Narrative. Those of you who have studied scripture a little more in depth probably know that the Gospel of Matthew is based much on the Gospel of Mark. Matthew composed his gospel following Mark’s timeline and another source called Q source. Q stands for Quelle, meaning “source.” The interesting thing is that Mark’s narrative of today’s gospel reading is very different than the way in which Matthew chose to compose the same story. In Mark’s story, after Peter’s confession, Jesus makes the first passion prediction. On hearing this, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. In turn, Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Mk 8:33). On the contrary, in Matthew’s composition, Peter is affirmed. “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,” Jesus said, “for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Mt 16:17). Jesus goes even further. He declares Peter as the “rock” on which “I will build my church,” and “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18). I am proposing that Matthew’s narrative is tailored for his times and for his people. Let me reflect more on this in my second point.
2. Matthew’s Narrative of Hope. How shall we read Matthew’s narrative? Perhaps we must pay attention to three historical realities to understand Matthew’s narrative. First, Matthew wrote his gospel around 85 AD, a good fifteen years after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. After the destruction of the temple, Christians were no more welcome to the synagogues. There were no churches as we have today. Small Christian communities scattered in various part of Asia minor met in secret at homes, in fear of persecution. Especially the Jewish-Christians were traumatized to see the Temple, the Temple at which they worshipped desecrated and destroyed. These were desperate times. Second, the Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian divide had the potential to destroy the Church. This was not the most united church by any measure. Matthew’s community was primarily Jewish-Christian. However, founded and formed by the missionary journeys of Paul, the Gentile-Christian Church was firmly in place. Third, by 85 AD, Peter had already been martyred for 25 years. Paul, who became the champion of Gentile-Christianity had also been martyred for that long. There were other local leaders but none that could match the combined caliber and charisma of Peter and Paul. The nascent church of Jesus Christ was literally in the throes of hell. In the midst of utter desperation, Matthew composes, what I am calling, his “narrative of hope.” In his narrative, Peter becomes the force of unity for a scattered and divided church. In his narrative, even the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against “my church”(Mt 16:18). Even though future of the church and the church the future of the church, looked bleak, the church thrived. For his time, his community and indeed for the world, Matthew presented a gospel that was indeed ‘good news.’ Today, Matthew presents to us this very “narrative of hope.”
3. A Christology and Ecclesiology of Hope. Perhaps I won’t be wrong if I said that both the world and the church are in the throes of hell. A pandemic threatens the lives of more and more people each day in every corner of the world. Not only is there a crisis of global leadership, but division and scandals continue to consume the church. Just last week two more stories of child abuse scandals rocked the American church. Close to home, a priest in the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. In a second case, Michael Bransfield, retired bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston apologized for “any scandal or wonderment” he has caused. He has been accused of swindling church funds and sexually harassing at least three men. How much more can we endure? Catholics have never been more devastated by the sexual abuse scandal and the lack of credibility of church leadership. Add to that the ultra-traditionalist’s banner of revolt against Pope Francis that threatens rip the church apart. In the secular world too, the rise of fascism, radical nationalism, climate change, racial, economic, and gender inequalities have left the world without hope.
It is in these times fraught with desperation, division, fear, and hopelessness, that we hear Matthew’s narrative of hope. Matthew Christology and ecclesiology of hope can be life-giving to us. I believe that this hope lies in three things. First, like Peter, we confess our in the Christ of Matthew’s gospel. In the Synoptic gospels, immediately after Peter’s confession Jesus predicts his passion. The experience of suffering and death does not make Jesus powerless or the situation hopeless. Rather, Jesus’ life, passion, and death teach us that pain and suffering are not meaningless, but that they ARE the way to salvation. Jesus himself led the way. Like Peter, we confess our faith in this Christ, this Christ who bring us out of darkness into light and, through suffering into salvation. Let us latch on this Christology of hope. Second, Jesus promised the disciples that the powers of the netherworld shall not prevail against the church. This is not because Peter was the rock. This was because Jesus said to Peter, it was “my church.” In this time of disillusionment, discouragement, scandal, and division we remember that the church is more than a human institution. Just as Christ guided the church (the disciples) through his own suffering and death, and later guided the church over the hardest and darkest centuries, I believe that Christ will continue to guide the church today. For the church belongs to Christ. Let us latch on to the ecclesiology of hope. Third, we remember that Peter’s reputation for being “the rock” was at best, chequered. Similarly, each one of us has a life of faith that is chequered. But Christ does not lose faith in us. Christ puts as much faith in us as he put in Peter. Christ still trusts us and will continue to build his church upon whatever kind of rock we are. We simply need to be present to Christ. This is the kind of ecclesiology where Pope Francis calls the church a “hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.”
Jesus is the Messiah. The church belongs to Jesus. All we need to do is to have the spirit of Peter – weak, yet willing to be the rock. Jesus will take care of the rest. This Eucharist in the assurance of Christ’s presence among us! In him we put our trust.
- Fr. Satish Joseph