What was it Jesus commended in Simon when he started calling him Peter? Here, paraphrased from Matthew chapter 16:
Jesus (to all the disciples): Who do you say that I am?
Simon: You are the Christ, the son of the living God.
Jesus: Simon, you’re blessed, because my Father in heaven revealed that to you rather than anyone of flesh and blood. And now I call you Peter,* and on this rock I will build my church.*From petra, meaning “rock.”
Now, only Matthew 16 makes the distinction that this is where Simon became Peter. In Mark 8 and Luke 9, Jesus asks the same question and Peter gives the same answer, at which point Jesus tells the disciples not to tell anyone. We could say more about those differences, in terms of how the gospels were compiled and what their authors tended to emphasize, but that’s a subject for another day.
Today’s question, again, is: What did Jesus find so commendable? It had to be foundational to Peter’s statement, in order for Jesus to declare that Peter was solid enough to uphold his church.
I’ve been told, time and again, that Jesus here was commending Peter’s faith, and it was upon that faith–and the faith of all believers–that his church would rest. But was that it?
Reading the Matthew passage strictly, Jesus refers to revelation, not faith. Jesus didn’t call Peter’s identifying him as the Christ–the Messiah, the Anointed One of God–a matter of belief, something that Peter had come to believe, but rather something God had shown him.
Did he mean, perhaps, that the church is built upon revelation–or maybe just realization? That is, instead of being a place for the “faithful” that sometimes feels uncomfortable for those of us of lesser faith, could the church be a place for the “aware,” for those of us who have realized that Jesus’s life and mission are important and compelling enough for us to join him in it, however imperfectly we might do so?
Revelation, after all, is not about belief. It’s not a matter of faith. It’s a matter of being shown, which means it’s also a matter of having our eyes open to see.
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