Lecture 2 — Peter’s profession of Christ

^16:13^ And Jesus came into the regions of Cesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, saying: who do men say that the Son of man is? [n. 1369]

^16:14^ But they said: some John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. [n. 1371]

^16:15^ Jesus says to them: but who do you say that I am? [n. 1372]

^16:16^ Simon Peter answered and said: you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. [n. 1374]

^16:17^ And Jesus answering, said to him: blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. [n. 1376]

^16:18^ And I say to you that you are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. [n. 1381]

^16:19^ And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven. [n. 1386]

1368. Above, the Lord taught that the evangelical teaching is to be preserved pure from the leaven of the Jews; and here he teaches the loftiness of the teaching. And

first, as regards faith in both natures, namely the deity and the humanity;

second, as regards faith in the passion, at **from that time, Jesus began to show to his disciples **(Matt 16:20);

third, as regards faith in the judiciary power, at **for the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father **(Matt 16:27).

Concerning the first,

first, the crowds’ opinion about Christ is sought out;

second, the disciples’ faith, at but who do you say that I am?

Concerning the first,

first, the place is set down;

second, Christ’s questioning, at who do men say that the Son of man is?

third, Peter’s response, at but they said.

1369. It says then, and Jesus came into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi; and not only this, but he added Philippi, because there were two Cesareas, namely Cesarea Traconis, where Peter was sent to Cornelius, and this other one, which is otherwise called Paneas. The first was established by Herod, in honor of Caesar Augustus; Philip constructed this one in honor of Tiberius.

But why did the Lord ask this question here? One should say that this city was situated on the borders of the Jews; so before he wished to ask for faith, he took them out from the Jews. A similar thing is written, that the Lord, when he was leading the Jews from Egypt, did not lead them through the land of the Philistines (Exod 13:17).

1370. Next, the questioning is set down: and he asked his disciples. When the wise man asks, he teaches, as Jerome says. (This appears to be a misattribution. Elsewhere (Summa theologiae III, q. 12, a. 3 and Catena Aurea on Luke c. 2, lect. 13) St. Thomas ascribes a similar quote to Origen, Homilies on Luke 19.6, where the latter says "he interrogated the teachers not to learn anything, but to teach them by his questions.") Hence we are instructed in many places that we should be concerned about what is said about us: so that if it is bad, we may correct it, and if it is good, we may preserve and multiply it. Hence, take care of a good name: for this will continue with you, more than a thousand treasures precious and great (Sir 41:15). Hence Christ asked what was said about him. Likewise, those who know the divinity are called gods, I have said: you are gods (Ps 81:6), but those who know the humanity are called men; hence he says, who do men say that the Son of man is? But, as Hilary says, Christ seemed to be only a man, so he willed that they should know that he was something other than a simple man. (Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew (CPL 0430), ch. 16, par. 6.) Hence he himself gives one to understand by this that there is something else in him. Also, Christ’s humility is shown, because he confesses himself to be the Son of man, in accord with that above, learn from me, because I am meek, and humble of heart (Matt 11:29).

1371. Next, the crowds’ opinion is set down: but they said: some John the Baptist. Different ones felt different things about Christ. The Pharisees blasphemed Christ, but the crowds said he was a prophet; hence, a great prophet is risen up among us (Luke 7:16). For they called him John by reason of authority, since John preached penance; do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt 3:2). So they thought he was John, since Christ began in a similar way: do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt 4:17).

Likewise, they held Elijah the Prophet in reverence; behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Mal 4:5). Hence they thought him to be Elijah, because of the power of his word and the virtue of his preaching; and Elijah the Prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch (Sir 48:1). And it is said of Christ, above, that **he taught as one who has power **(Matt 7:29).

Also, on account of loftiness of life, they thought him to be Jeremiah, of whom the Lord said, before I formed you in the bowels of your mother, I knew you: and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you (Jer 1:5). And in the same book, it says that he was honored among the gentiles (Jer 40). In this same way, Christ was held in reverence by outsiders, but was blasphemed by the Jews. So they compared him to Jeremiah.

But how did they call him Elijah? Because it is said that he was taken up, and that he was still alive (2 Kgs 2:11), and was promised to the Jews for salvation (Mal 4:5). For some posited transcorporation, and so according to this opinion it could have been that Elijah’s soul entered another body.

1372. Jesus says to them: but who do you say that I am? Here the disciples’ faith is sought out. And

first, the questioning is set down;

second, the response;

third, the approval.

The second is at Simon Peter answered; the third, at and Jesus answering.

1373. Jesus says to them: but who do you say that I am? as though to say: so the crowds say, but since more is entrusted to you, more is required of you. You have seen miracles, so you should suppose more.

But why did he ask? Did not he know? Indeed he knew, but he willed that they should merit by confession; for with the heart, we believe unto justice; but with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation (Rom 10:10). For things are more meritorious the more they are separated off, and, as it were, the greater things are not suited to the crowd, which knows the lowest things.

1374. Simon Peter answered and said: you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. He responds for himself and for the others; but he himself responds more frequently, and in this response perfect faith is touched upon, for faith in the humanity is touched upon. You are the Christ, i.e., the anointed one. And it is agreed that he is anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Anointing does not belong to him according to the divinity, because it proceeds from it, but according to the humanity. So he says this that they might regard the humanity of Christ in a way different from the crowds.

But it is asked why they called him a prophet. A prophet was anointed, as is written of Elisha. Kings were anointed, as is written of Saul. Likewise, priests, as is written in Leviticus. And all these things are brought in by the name Christ. (A key to understanding the point that St. Thomas is making here is that each of these prophets, in some sense, were christs insomuch as "christ," from the Greek christos, simply means anointed.) For he is called a king, as in Jeremiah, a king will reign, and will be wise (Jer 23:5). Also a priest: you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech (Ps 109:4). And also a prophet: the Lord your God will raise up to you a prophet of your nation and of your brethren like unto me (Deut 18:15).

1375. And Peter did not just confess the humanity, but piercing through the outer shell, he climbed up even to the divinity, saying, you are . . . the Son of the living God. For others said that he blasphemed; hence not for a good work do we stone you, but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself God (John 10:33). But this man recognized the Son of God.

And he says, living, to exclude the error of the gentiles, who called certain dead men gods, such as Jove (Wis 13:2). Likewise, some held as gods the elements and other dead things, like earth, fire, etc. (Wis 13); but this man calls him the Son of the living God.

But one should know that when he is called the living God and a living man, living is said of the man through participation in life, but it is said of God because he is the fount of life. For with you is the fountain of life (Ps 35:10). And, I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

1376. And Jesus answering. Here

first, he approves his confession;

second, he commands silence, at **then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ **(Matt 16:20).

Concerning the first,

first, he approves this confession by praising the one who confessed;

second, by a reward, at and I say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church.

1377. Hence it says, and Jesus answering, said to him: blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. ‘Bar’ is the same as ‘son’; ‘Jona’ is the same as ‘dove,’ his name. Hence Bar-Jonah, i.e., son of the dove.

And Christ’s response seems to correspond to Peter’s confession. For he had confessed him to be the Son of God, and Jesus calls him the son of the dove, namely of the Holy Spirit, for this confession could only have come about by the Holy Spirit. But it is thought that it was said Bar-Jonah at first, i.e., son of John, but then was said in this way by a corruption of the Scripture.

1378. But what is this? Did not others confess him to be the Son of God? Indeed, it is written of Nathaniel (John 1:49). Likewise, those who were in the boat, above (Matt 9). Why then is Peter blessed here, and not the others?

Because the others confessed him to be an adoptive son, but this man confessed him to be the natural Son; therefore this one is blessed before the others, because he first confessed the divinity.

Origen says, it seems that it had not been confessed before. (Origen, Commentary on Matthew 12.15.) But how did he send them to preach?

He responds that they did not preach that he was the Christ from the beginning, but preached penance. Also, it could be that they preached Christ, but this man first confessed that he was the Son of God. Therefore he rewards this man especially.

1379. Blessed are you, Simon, because he is blessed in knowledge; now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God (John 17:3).

But there are two kinds of knowledge: there is one which comes through natural reason, and another which is above reason. The first does not make for blessedness, because there is doubt, and hence it does not satisfy the intellect; but blessedness should satisfy the natural appetite, and this shall be had in the homeland. The eye has not seen, O God, besides you, what things you have prepared for those who wait for you (Isa 64:4). Therefore in this life, someone is more blessed to the degree that he is more able to perceive of this knowledge; blessed is the man who finds wisdom (Prov 3:13). Hence he says, blessed are you, because you begin to be blessed.

1380. Because flesh and blood have not revealed this to you. This can be explained in such a way that flesh and blood are taken for carnal friends; immediately I condescended not to flesh and blood (Gal 1:16). Hence flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, i.e., you did not get it from the Jews’ traditions, but from God’s revelation. Likewise, in Christ there was flesh and blood and divinity; therefore, since Peter did not focus on the flesh and blood, it is said to him, blessed are you, because you do not judge according as flesh and blood reveal, but according as my Father reveals. Or, you do not have this knowledge from natural diligence, but from my Father. For no one knows who the Son is, except the Father (Luke 10:22). For it is his to reveal, whose it is to know. Hence no one knows the Son except the one to whom the Father wills to reveal him; but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries (Dan 2:28).

1381. And I say to you that you are Peter. Here he gives a reward for the confession. He had confessed the humanity and the divinity, so the Lord gives a reward.

First, he gives a name;

second, a power.

Concerning the first,

first, he gives a name;

second, the reason for the name, at and upon this rock I will build my Church.

1382. And I came into the world for this, to found a church. Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Zion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation (Isa 28:16). This was signified by the stone which Jacob put beneath his head and oiled (Gen 28:18). This stone is Christ, and from this anointing all are called Christians; hence we are not only called Christians from Christ, but from the rock. For this reason, he specially imposes a name: you are Peter, from the rock which is Christ. Although, according to Augustine, it might seem that it was not imposed now, but from the beginning: you will be called Cephas (John 1:42). (Augustine, Agreement Among the Evangelists (CPL 0273), bk. 2, ch. 17.) Or it can be said that it was promised then, and given here.

1383. As a sign of this thing, upon this rock I will build my Church. It is a property of the rock that it is placed in the foundation; also, that it gives firmness. Above, everyone therefore who hears these my words, and does them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock (Matt 7:24).

Hence it can be explained as about Christ: and upon this rock, i.e., on Christ, that he might be the foundation, and that the thing founded might receive a support. Augustine says in the book of Retractions that he explained it in many ways, and left it to the hearers to accept what they would. (Revisions (CPL 0250), bk. 1, ch. 21, ln. 1.) Or, to demonstrate that this rock means Christ: and the rock was Christ (1 Cor 10:4). And in another place, for other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus (1 Cor 3:11).

Another explanation: upon this rock, i.e., upon you, Peter, because from me, the rock, you receive that you are a rock. And just as I am a rock, so upon you, Peter, I will build my Church.

1384. But what is this? Are both Christ and Peter the foundation?

One should say that Christ is the foundation through himself, but Peter insofar as he holds the confession of Christ, insofar as he is his vicar. Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone (Eph 2:20). And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Rev 21:14). So Christ is the foundation through himself, but the apostles are the foundation not through themselves, but by Christ’s permission, and by the authority given by Christ; the foundations thereof are in the holy mountains (Ps 86:1). But especially Peter’s house, which is founded upon the rock, shall not be destroyed (Matt 7:25). Thus it can be attacked, but cannot be conquered.

1385. **And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And they will fight against you, and will not prevail (Jer 1:19).

And who are the gates of hell? Heretics, because just as one enters into a house through a gate, so one enters into hell through these. Also tyrants, demons, sins. And although other churches can be reproached for heretics, yet the Roman church was not corrupted by heretics, because it was founded upon the rock. Hence there were heretics in Constantinople, and the apostles’ labor was lost; only Peter’s church remained inviolate. Hence, but I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not (Luke 22:32). And this does not only refer to Peter’s church, but to Peter’s faith, and to the whole western church. Hence I believe that those in the west owe more reverence to Peter than to the other apostles.

1386. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Here is set down the second gift which Christ, according to his humanity, gave to Peter. For he founded a Church on earth, and established Peter as his vicar, that he might lead into heaven; having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ (Heb 10:19). For Christ established Peter as his vicar, that he might lead others into heaven, for which reason he gave him that ministry; hence he gave the keys. For keys lead one in; hence Peter has the ministry of leading in.

And he does two things:

first, he entrusts the keys;

second, he teaches their use: and whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven.

1387. But let us see what the keys are. When a house is locked, it obstructs entry; but a key removes the obstacle. The kingdom of heaven had an obstacle, but not on its own part; I looked, and behold a door was opened in heaven (Rev 4:1), but the obstacle was on our part, namely, sin, because there shall not enter into it anything defiled (Rev 21:27). Christ removed this impediment by his passion, because he washed us from our sins in his blood (Rev 1:5). And he communicated this so that sins might be removed through a ministry, which is completed by the strength of Christ’s blood. Hence the sacraments have strength from the strength of Christ’s passion. Hence I will give to you a ministry. And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he will open, and none will shut: and he will shut, and none will open (Isa 22:22).

But he says, I will give to you, for the keys were not yet made; and a thing cannot be given before it exists. Now, they were made in the passion, hence their efficacy came in the passion. Hence he promised them here, but gave them after the passion, when he said, feed my sheep (John 21:17).

1388. But why does he say keys? Because to absolve is to remove an obstacle. For there are two keys, since two things are required, power and knowledge.

But what is this? Are there not some priests who do not have knowledge? Understand that they have knowledge, because no one has the key of knowledge except priests. Knowledge here does not mean a habit of the intellect, but the authority of discerning. Hence there is a judge who does not have knowledge in the first way, and yet has knowledge in the second way, because he has authority; and there is someone who has knowledge in the first way, and not the second way, because he has no authority. Hence knowledge here means the authority of discerning, and any priest has this, so he may discern in absolving.

1389. Next, he sets down the use of the keys: and whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven. But it seems that this is set down unfittingly, because a key is not used to bind, but to open.

I say that this is a fitting use of a key. For heaven itself is open: I looked, and behold a door was opened in heaven (Rev 4:1). Hence it is not necessary that it be opened; rather, the bond of him who should enter must be loosed.

1390. But here some errors should be avoided. The first is touched upon in the Gloss, for some have claimed that anyone who wished could absolve, and lead others into the kingdom of heaven. But this cannot stand, because it belongs to God alone to change desires.

Another error is that the priest does not bind, but merely points out that a sin is absolved. But this takes away from the strength of the sacrament, because the sacraments of the new law effect what they figure; but the sacraments of the old law did not. Hence if it effected nothing, it would not be a sacrament of the new law.

Third, some say that there are three things in sin: guilt, liability, and punishment. A man is absolved per se from two of these by contrition; but when a man is absolved from these, he remains bound to a temporal punishment, which a man cannot take away and avoid of himself. Therefore the keys are given, which reduce something of this punishment, and bind as regards some punishment.

Yet it seems to me that this is not well said, because a sacrament of the new law gives grace, and grace is not ordered against punishment but against guilt. Hence I say that in the sacrament of confession, just as in the sacrament of baptism, there is a spiritual, instrumental strength, according to which it cleanses from guilt. Hence Augustine: what is water’s strength, that it washes off the body and takes away guilt? (Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John (CPL 0278), tract. 80, par. 3.) Thus I say that in a priest there is a certain spiritual, instrumental strength, from which he is called a ‘minister,’ and thus he works the remission of sins ministerially, just as water works baptism.

1391. But here a difficulty arises, because at the present time only children come to baptism. And if an adult were to approach, he would come either falsely, or not: he would come falsely if he came without a renewal of the mind, and then guilt would not be remitted; he would not come falsely if he came with the intention of confession. Hence grace is required, or the intention of conversion, which is from grace. Now, grace takes away guilt. Hence in the sacrament of baptism, when an adult comes, if he prepares himself, he receives the remission of guilt. Thus in the sacrament of penance, to which only adults come, a man is not contrite unless he has the intention of subjecting himself to the discretion and judgment of a priest. If he is not contrite, the effect will not follow, just as neither in baptism. But it can happen that someone approaches not entirely contrite, and is made contrite by virtue of the grace received in the perfect sacrament; therefore one should understand, whatever you loose, i.e., if you use the ministry of absolution. And he says, whatever because not only guilt, but punishment is loosed. Will be loosed also in heaven, i.e., it will be held as loosed in heaven, just as it is with baptism. Hence the priest should say, I absolve you, just as he says, I baptize you.

1392. But someone can ask how he binds.

One should know that the priest is a minister of God, and the action of the minister depends on the Lord’s action. Hence in the same way the Lord binds and looses, so the priests do ministerially. The Lord looses by pouring in grace, and binds by not pouring in: in the same way, the priest looses by the sacrament, by administering the sacrament, but binds by not giving it.

In another way, it is said that the present Church is designated by the heavens; hence whatever you bind by excommunication, or loose, will be loosed or bound as regards the administration of the Church’s sacraments. Hence they would have it that this administration, this binding and loosing, is on earth, so that it does not extend to the dead.

But this is refuted, because it extends not only to the living, but even to the dead. Hence if it is referred to both, the sense is: whatever you bind upon earth, at that time, I say, being on earth, will be bound also in heaven.

1393. But there is another question, because it is written in another place, whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them (John 20:23), but here he says this only to Peter.

One should say that he gave it to Peter immediately, but the others receive from Peter. For this reason, lest they believe that this is said only to Peter, he says, whose sins you forgive (John 20:23). And for this reason the Pope, who is in the place of holy Peter, has full power, but the others have power from him.