+E-pistle

Dear Ones in Christ:

Lectionary Cycle A is primarily focused upon Matthew’s Gospel, which was written to the Hebrews, Diaspora Jews who lived in Hebrew communities surrounded by a Greco-Roman world, many of whom spoke Greek, not Aramaic, since most of them were born and lived outside of Palestine.

Matthew’s Gospel includes a passage unique to all the Gospels, which has been the focus of much debate and varying interpretation over time, wherein Jesus says:

“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:18-19).

Since this passage is part of the most Jewish of the canonical Gospels, we will explore it as particularly significant to Judaism. In that light, we look for signs that the passage was fulfilled according to its face value, which leads us to assume that Peter was being told that he would be head of Jesus’ church. But, if this is so, then new questions arise through evidence to the contrary. For instance, it is James who gives the final word of the Jerusalem Council, designating his remarks as his judgment concerning the debate with Paul over what would be required of Gentile converts; and indeed, his words became the official position on the matter:

It is my judgment, therefore, that we ought to stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God, but tell them by letter to avoid pollution from idols, unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals, and blood. (Acts 15:19-20).

This alone is not really very much to go on, but there is additional supporting evidence of James as Jesus’ successor. Previously, Luke reported concerning Peter:

He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and explained (to them) how the Lord had led him out of the prison, and said, "Report this to James and the brothers” (Acts 12:17).

Luke also reports:

The next day, Paul accompanied us on a visit to James, and all the presbyters were present (Acts 21:18).

And Paul writes:

. . . and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised (Galatians 2:9).

Here we note that James is listed first among the “pillars” of the faith. Just as is done today, a list of persons shows their rank of importance in descending order (except when the author is present among the list, in which case the author would be listed last).

Then Paul writes:

And when Kephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong. For, until some people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised (Galatians 2:11-12).

Here we find Peter’s actions were mitigated by the appearance of representatives from James who have come down from Jerusalem. It seems clear that Peter is subordinate to the authority of James and/or to his delegates.

But, let us also consider that Jesus was preparing to establish his reign as King of the Jews when he made many of the statements reported as quotes of his words. In doing so, Matthew is making a parallel to Hebrew scripture that his Hebrew audience will recognize and understand in a traditional Hebrew context. As is quite common of New Testament passages, Matthew dovetails his message concerning the keys to the kingdom (16:18-19, above) to a passage from the prophet Isaiah:

I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open (Isaiah 22:19-22*(see notation below)).

And so it appears that Peter had been selected to hold ‘the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven’, but this must be understood in the Jewish sense wherein the kingdom of heaven means ‘the kingdom of God on earth’, not a paradise beyond death, but a monarchal constitutional government to which Jesus had just been proclaimed ruler (16:16). The idea expressed as to the building of a "church" must also be considered since Matthew is using the Greek word "ekklesia", which meant a political assembly of the citizens or a gathering of the community to the ears of those hearing the message in its proper context at the time in which it was originally being presented. Of course, this makes clearer sense in light of Peter having been sent [by Jesus through James' leadership] to carry out Jesus' ministry to the circumcised/Jews (Galatians 2:7). In the context of developing church structures in successive centuries, the word ekklesia was taken to be understood to mean church. Peter’s being given the ‘keys to the kingdom’ designates his appointment as chief minister to an earthly government of the Jewish people, announced in strikingly similar terms to those in the passage from Isaiah 22:19-22. In its Jewish sense, the chief minister's office held the power to bind and loose in governmental legal matters, which likely had some carry-over into the Temple system since there was no separation of church and state under that form of government, e.g., a declared state criminal might also be barred from the Temple. If one is unaware of the Isaiah passage, the implications of the passage from Matthew’s Gospel can become decidedly muddled by the second century legend of Peter’s death at Rome, while the churches of the East have always held that Peter, the Apostle to the Hebrews, was Bishop of Antioch and died in the East.

In Ecclesiastical History Eusebius writes:

This same James [the brother of Jesus], to whom men had accorded [on account of the excellence of his virtue] the surnamed of 'the Just One', was recorded to be the First to be elected to the Throne of the Episcopate [Episcopes] of the Church of Jerusalem.

And in the Sixth Book of the Hypotyposes [Institutions] Eusebius writes the following:

Peter, James, and John after the Ascension of the Savior, did not contend for the Glory, even though they had previously been honored by the Savior, but chose James the Just as Bishop of Jerusalem.

Eusebius also offers quotes of Hegesippus, 'who flourished closest to the days of the Apostles' (c.90-180 CE), specifically where in his Fifth Book of Commentaries he quotes:

But James, the brother of the Lord, who as there were many of this name, was surnamed the Just by all from the days of our Lord until now, received the Government of the Church with [or 'from'] the Apostles.

From the Nag Hammadi Library we have the Gospel of Thomas which reports:

The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader?" Jesus said to them, "Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being." (Logion 12)

As Edward Gibbon points out from the writing of Eusebius, the first ten bishops of the Jerusalem church were circumcised Jews who used the Jewish liturgy for their daily prayers.

We are left with the distinct impression that there is a real difference between New Testament material, viewed in its proper context, and subsequent church traditions that have led us to read something else into it. Jesus was a Jew. He was to rule as an earthly ‘messiah’/anointed king as head of a Jewish kingdom as well as the religion integral to it. When his ascent to the throne failed to happen, he promised a spiritual kingdom within. So we have become heirs to his kingdom, heaven manifested on earth. In this knowledge, we are not awaiting a kingdom that will manifest only after death, but living it now and eternally.

May we each work to make His kingdom present, shining a light in the darkness here and now, and may we each become Christ to one another. In this, may we possess calm confidence in bringing forth Christ's kingdom.