2025/02/24

184. Apostle Peter

Jesus united his mother and the Apostle in a parent-child bond on the cross, thereby publicly entrusting the Apostle with the priesthood (cf. Jn 19:26-27). At the centre of the priesthood is the Body and Blood of Christ, which are born through collaboration with the Holy Spirit. The Eucharist directs believers towards the will of the Father (cf. 6:40), fulfilling Jesus' words, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (6:56). There is a new and eternal covenant which enables people to obtain the forgiveness of sins. That is why the Son of God came down from heaven (cf. 6:38). 

God sent the angel to entrust Mary and Joseph with divine authority so that the Son of God would abide among us (cf. Mt 1:20-21; Lk 1:28-38). God asked Mary for her consent to it through the angel because, in her, who conceived the life of the Son of God, an indelible memory of having been a helper in God's work of creation would remain like all women carrying a child. 

The risen Jesus, in the unity of the Trinity, asked Peter, "Do you love me?" three times (cf. Jn 21:15-17). In the presence of the other Apostles, who had experienced the big catch through the Word together in the morning of the day (cf. 21:1-14), and in the presence of "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (19:26), to whom Jesus had entrusted the priesthood, uniting him with his mother by a parent-child bond, God asked Peter for his consent to accept to become the leader of the Apostles and the priesthood that would bring forth the Eucharist in collaboration with the Holy Spirit. That is because, just as in the case of Mary, who became the mother of Jesus, in a man who receives the priesthood, an indelible memory of having been a helper in God's work of salvation will remain. 

Peter replied, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you" (Jn 21:15). This response is equivalent to Mary's words to the angel, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). When viewed in this way, we can see that the divine authority that the Father once revealed to Peter and that Jesus gave him corresponds to the authority entrusted to Jesus' parents, as I show below. 

Peter was given the words "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16) by the Father in heaven (cf. 16:17). On the other hand, Joseph and Mary, who were to welcome the Son of God, were given the words "You shall call his name Jesus" (Mt 1:21; Lk 1:31) by the angel of the Lord. The word "Emmanuel," the name that means "God with us," was fulfilled there. This name continues in the Eucharist, in which God dwells. 

Jesus said to Peter, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Mat 16:18). These words correspond to the words that the angel said to Mary, "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk 1:32-33). 

Finally, Jesus' words to Peter, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mat 16:19), correspond to the words of the angel to Joseph, "for he will save his people from their sins" (1:21). To "save his people from their sins", it was necessary to give Peter, the leader of the Apostles, the "keys of the kingdom of heaven", which would protect believers from temptation and deliver them from evil. 

For Peter, who responded to the risen Jesus' threefold question, "Do you love me?" these words that Jesus had once given him took root within him, and the mission given to him through them was fixed within him. Peter's mission, which was approved before God and the Apostles, would be passed on to his successors. 

Peter, who had taken on the fate of the Church in this way, would meet his end in a place he never expected with the arrival of Paul. Paul paved the way for Christians to Rome, following Jesus' command (cf. Ac 23:11). In Rome, Peter fulfilled Jesus' words, "on this rock I will build my church". That is as Jesus had foretold: "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go" (Jn 21:18).  The second "Follow me" (21:22) we examined last time was Peter's going to Rome according to God's plan. 

Maria K. M.