Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/814

 PETER

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PETER

journeying along with His Apostles, Jesus asks them: "Whom do men say that the Son of man is?" The Apostles answered: "Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremi;is, or one of the prophets". Jesus said to them: " But whom do you say that I am?" Simon said: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God". And Jesus answering said to him: "Bles.sed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter [Kiphfi, a roek]; and upon this rock [Kiphaj I will build my church (^KicXijcriai'l, and the gates of hell shall not pre\-ail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven". Then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ (Matt., xvi, 13-20; Mark, viii, 27-30; Luke, ix, 18-21).

By the word " rock " the Sa\'iour cannot have meant Himself, but only Peter, a-s is so much more apparent in .\ramaic in which the same word (Kipha) is used for "Peter" and "rock". His statement then admits of but one explanation, namely, that He wishes to make Peter the head of the whole community of those who believed in Him as the true Messias; that through this foundation (Peter) the Kingdom of Christ would be unconquerable; that the spiritual guidance of the faithful was placed in the hands of Peter, as the special representative of Christ. This meaning becomes so much the clearer when we remember that the words "bind" and "loose" are not metaphorical, but Jewish juridical terms. It is also clear that the position of Peter among the other Apostles and in the Christian community was the basis for the Kingdom of God on earth, that is, the Church of Christ. Peter was per- sonally installed as Head of the Ajjostles by Christ Himself. This foundation created for the Church by its Founder could not disappear with the person of Peter, but was intended to continue and did continue (as actual history shows) in the primacy of the Roman Church and its bishops. Entirely inconsistent and in itself untenable is the position of Protestants who (like Schnitzer in recent times) assert that the primacy of t he Roman bishops cannot be deduced from the prece- dence which Peter held among the Apostles. Just as the essential activity of the Twelve Apostles in build- ing up and extending the Church did not entirely dis- ai)pear with their deaths, so surely did the Apostolic Primacy of Peter not completely vanish. As intended by Christ, it must have continued its existence and development in a form appropriate to the ecclesiastical organism, just as the office of the Apostles contin- ued in an appropriate form. Objections have been raised against the genuineness of the wording of the passage, but the unanimous testimony of the manu- scripts, the parallel passages in the other Gospels, and the fixed belief of pre-Constantine literature furnish the surest proofs of the genuineness and untampered state of the text of Matthew (cf. " Stimmen aus Maria- Laach", I, 1896, 129 sqq.; "Theologie und Glaube", II, 1910, 842 sqq.).

In spite of his firm faith in Jesus, Peter had so far no clear knowledge of the mission and work of the Saviour. The sufferings of Christ especially, as con- tradictory to his worldly conception of the Messias, were inconceivable to him, and his erroneous concep- tion occasionally elicited a sharp reproof from Jesus (Matt., xvi, 21-23; Mark, viii, 31-.33). Peter's irreso- lute character, which continued notwithstanding his enthusiastic fidelity to his Master, was clearly re- vealed in conn(!xion with the Passion of Christ. The Saviour had already told him that Satan had desired him that he might sift him as wheat. But Christ had prayed for him that his faith fail not, and, being once converted, heconfirms his brethren (Luke, xxii, 31-32).

Peter's assurance that he was ready to accompany his Master to prison and to death, ('licited Christ's predic- tion tlial Peter siiould lienv Him (Matt., xxvi, 30-35; Mark, xiv, 2i;-:n; Luke, xxii, 31-34; John, xiii,;?3- 3S). Wlien Christ proceeded to wash the feet of His iliscijiles before the La,st Supper, and came first to Peter, the latter at first protested, but, on Christ's declaring that otherwise he should have no pai-t with Him, iiniiK'diately said: "Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head" (John, xiii, 1-10). In till' Garden of Gethsemani Peter had to submit to the Saviour's reproach that he had slept like the others, while his Master suffered deadly anguish (Mark, xiv, 37). At the seizing of Jesus, Peter in an outburst of anger wished to defend his Ma.ster by force, but was forbidden to do so. He at lirst took to flight with the other .\postles (John, xviii, 10-11; Matt., x.\vi, 5(5); then turning he followed his captured Lord to the courtyard of the High Priest, and there denied Christ, a.s.serliiig explicitly and .swearing that he knew Him not (Matt., xxvi,' 58-75; Mark, xiv, 54-72; Luke, xxii, 54-02; John, xviii, 15-27). This denial was of course due, not to a lapse of interior faith in Christ, but to exterior fear and cowardice. His sorrow was thus so much the greater, when, after his Master had turned His gaze towards him, he clearly recognized what he had done. In spite of this weakness, his posi- tion as head of the Apostles was later confirmed by Jesus, and his precedence was not less conspicuous after the Resurrection than before.

The women, who were the first t o find Christ's tomb empty, received from the angel a special message for Peter (Mark, xvi, 7). To him alone of the Apostles did Christ appear on the first day after the Resurrec- tion (Luke, xxiv, 34; I Cor., xv, 5). But, most im- portant of all, when He appeared at the Lake of Genesareth, Christ renewed to Peter His special com- mission to feed and defend His flock, after Peter had thrice affirmed his special love for his IMaster (John, xxi, 1.5-17). In conclu.sion Christ foretold the violent death Peter would have to suffer, and thus invited him to follow Him in a special manner (ibid., 20-23). Thvis was Peter called and trained for the Apostleship and clothed with the primacy of the Apostles, which he exercised in a most unequivocal manner after Christ's Ascension into Heaven.

II. St. Peter in Jerusalem and Palestine after THE Ascension. — Our information concerning the ear- liest Apostolic activity of St. Peter in Jerusalem, Judaea, and the districts stretching northwards as far as Syria is derived mainly from the first portion of the Acts of the Apostles, and is confirmed by parallel statements incidentally in the Epistles of St. Paul. Among the crowd of Apostles and disciples who, after Christ's Ascension into Heaven from Mount Olivet, returned to Jerusalem to await the fulfilment of His promise to send the Holy Ghost, Peter is immediately conspicuous as the leader of all, and is henceforth con- stantly recognized as the head of the original Chris- tian community in Jerusalem. He takes the initiative in the appointment to the Apostolic College of another witness of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ to replace Ju<las (.Acts, i, 15-26). After the descent of the Holy Ghost on the feast of Pentecost. Peter stand- ing at the head of the Apostles delivers the first public sermon to proclaim the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and wins a large number of Jews as converts to the Christian community (ibid., ii, 14-41). First of the Apostles he worked a public miracle, when with John he went up into the temple and cured the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. To the people cTowding in amazement about the two Apostles,, he preaches a long sermon in the Porch of Solomon, and brings new increa.se to the flock of believers (ibid., iii, 1-iv, 4).

In the subsequent examinations of the two Apostles before the Jewish High Council, Peter defends in un- dismayed and impressive fashion the cause of Jesus