TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)
Is 22:19-23; Ps 137; Rom 11:33-36; Mt 16:13-20
COMMENTARY
The profession of faith in Caesarea Philippi – The turning point of the mission
Following Jesus with his disciples on their way, with this Sunday’s Gospel we have reached the turning point of his mission, when Jesus asked his disciples and obtained from Peter, as representative of the group, the profession of faith in his messianic identity. To better understand the meaning of the episode as well as the very words spoken by both Peter and Jesus for the mission then and also today, it is necessary to delve into some details, apparently not relevant and therefore often overlooked, starting from the indication of the place of the event.
1. Why a confession of faith in “the region of Caesarea Philippi”?
Only the evangelists Matthew and Mark indicate the geographical context of the episode: “the region of Caesarea Philippi”. It is a Greco-Roman style city rebuilt by the tetrarch Philip in honor of the emperor Caesar Augustus on the site formerly called Panea (in honor of Pan, divinity of wild nature). (Thus, the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentions the city as Caesarea Panias). Modern archeology has found there the remains of the sanctuary of this Greek divinity and, as in every Greco-Roman city, we can also imagine the existence in that area of other altars dedicated to other divinities, the various “sacred monuments”, such as St. Paul found in Athens (cf. Acts 17:23). Here we have a particular spatial context that reflects contemporary paganism where people believed in various gods according to each one’s religious inclination and needs. We therefore always find Jesus and the disciples in the “pagan” area on the borders of the northern part of Galilee. (So much so that last Sunday we “saw” them in the area of Tire and Sidon with an encounter with a Canaanite mother).
Moreover, the region of Caesarea-Philippi faces Mount Hermon with one of the sources of the Jordan River. In the area we note the concentration of fig trees, which can also be observed today by pilgrims in the Banias Natural Park-Reserve. The fig tree, with its sturdy and tall trunk (up to 8 meters) and large leaves, offers a cool shelter against the heat of the sun. Therefore, sitting under the fig tree and the vine will be a sign of the messianic time (cf. Mi 4:4).
This geographical context seems crucial to us to understand why Jesus took the disciples so far from their “base” in Capernaum (at least 10 hours walk according to Google Maps!), in order to ask them a fundamental question about his identity. Regardless of and unlike how people may regard Jesus in the contemporary world of pluralism of gods and religious opinions, the disciples are now called to profess their faith in Jesus as the true and only Messiah of God of Israel, of that one and only true God. We can well understand that the question is also relevant precisely in our modern times. Every follower of Christ is now called to profess true faith in him, like Peter and other disciples, in the midst of various possible “opinions” regarding His person among the people. And this sincere “taking a position” is essential for witnessing and sharing the true faith with others.
2. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter’s profession of faith in Matthew’s Gospel completes and at the same time makes explicit the other simpler forms, reported by the evangelists Mark (“You are the Christ”) and Luke (“You are the Christ of God”). For a detailed study of the content of this profession, I refer you to the various books on Christology. I would like to recall here only two essential points.
Firstly, Jesus is professed to be the Christ, i.e. the “messiah” in Hebrew, meaning the anointed one. In other words, he is the Anointed One of God, foretold by the ancient prophets of Israel and therefore long awaited by the Chosen People at the end of time. While in the history of Israel various kings, priests, and in some cases even prophets were the anointed by God, Peter’s response to Jesus accentuates the singular identity of Jesus as the messiah, the anointed of the anointed, the only and definitive one, sent by God for the mission of saving his people. Furthermore, in Peter’s words, we can glimpse not so much an affirmation of an intellectual nature as an expression of adherence to the person of Jesus as the Christ in whom the apostles now trust and place all their hope. He is therefore “the one who is to come” into the world, as it was clarified for a perplexed John the Baptist in prison, and as it was declared on the lips of Martha in the Gospel of John: “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who comes into the world” (Jn 11:27). The coming of Jesus Christ-Messiah inaugurates for the Chosen People and for the whole world the awaited and predicted messianic era, in which everyone sits under his vine and his fig tree, to use again the evocative image of the prophets mentioned earlier.
Secondly, by professing that Jesus is the Son of the living God, Peter declares belief in the particular divine nature of Jesus in relation to the one true God of Israel who revealed himself to Moses simply as “I am”, the One-Who-Is. Also concerning this title, angels or various men were already called “sons of God” in the biblical-Jewish tradition. However, as well noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in this profession of Peter we recognize “the transcendent character of the divine filiation of Jesus the Messiah” (nn. 442-443). So much so that in the Gospel of John, Peter will declare on behalf of the small group of few who remained with Jesus during the so-called crisis of Galilee, when “many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him” after the “hard” discourse “I am the bread of life”: “We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” (Jn 6:69). Likewise, the uniqueness of Jesus, Son of God, is accentuated with the expression “the Only Begotten of the Father” or simply the Son. (It should be added that in our evangelical episode recounted by the evangelist Matthew, divine transcendence also seems connected with the implicit title that Jesus used for himself in asking his followers at the beginning: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”)
3. «Non praevalebunt» – «[The gates of the netherworld] shall not prevail [against it.]»
Among the evangelists who recount the same episode in Caesarea of Philippi, only Saint Matthew reports Jesus’ discourse to Peter after the latter’s profession of faith. These are the inspired and profound words, which have become the object of reflection, study, theological debate over the centuries (with a few heated “disagreements” involved up to today!) From a spiritual point of view and due to the limitation of time, we will only dwell on two observations important for understanding Jesus’ discourse.
First of all, we note the peculiar character of Jesus’ language in this praise of Peter. We see in the discourse the abundance of Semitic expressions such as the form of beatitude (blessed are you, Simon…), “flesh and blood” (to indicate human nature), the combination of binding-loosing (to indicate the power total, as seen in Is 22:19-23 [first reading]), the pun based on Simon’s new name as “Cephas” – stone/rock. This reflects an “earthly” Jesus, so to speak, with his acuity and purely Jewish way of expressing himself, well rooted in the tradition of his people.
On the other hand, the content of the discourse gives us a glimpse of Jesus in ecstasy, just like in the moment when He pronounced the prayer of praise to God for the exclusive revelation to the little ones: “I give you thanks, God, Lord of heaven and earth …” (we heard this a few Sundays ago). That is, we are dealing with a glorious Jesus, “above earth”, who, with particular authority, confirmed Peter’s profession as the revelation of God himself (solemnly called as “My Father who is in heaven”). He consequently, conferred on Peter a status (“upon this rock I will build my church”) and a special mission (“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven”).
So we have here the discourse of the earthly and heavenly Jesus together, which reveals his plan concerning the future of the “kingdom of heaven” and the building up of his “Church”. Therefore, the close relationship between the kingdom of heaven and the Church, which Jesus declared to build on the rock which is the person of Simon Peter, should be noted. The word “church”, from the original Greek ekklesia, reflects the Hebrew qahal which indicates the assembly/congregation of the people, summoned by God (for worship). Entering the kingdom of God logically means participating in the “church” of God that Christ builds and calls “his”.
It should be emphasized in this regard that Jesus speaks of his Church and of his action to build it on the rock which is Simon-Peter. In other words, the Church belongs to Christ who builds it, and not to Peter who, with his profession of faith, remains an instrument, albeit a fundamental one, for its foundation. It must be remembered that Christ himself is seen as the rock and as such: there is no foundation other than Christ himself. Thus, Christ’s words to Peter must be understood in an inclusive sense: For the building of the Church, Peter will be the stone in Christ – the one cornerstone and foundation of everything, and this by the will of Christ himself. In this way, we can understand that despite the human weaknesses of Peter and all the others in the Church, the powers of hell will not prevail over it, because behind Peter and generally behind the whole Church, there is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, who upholds both. After all, Jesus himself said to Peter and the other disciples before the Passion: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:31-32).
Therefore, in this perspective, here is the beautiful affirmation of Pope Leo the Great († 461): “[…] as what Peter believed in Christ endures, so what Christ instituted on the person of Peter endures […] Throughout the Church, Peter proclaims every day: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (De Natale ipsius, III). Let us pray then in conclusion (in the words of the alternative Collect prayer in the Italian Missal for this 21st Sunday, Year A): O Father, fount of wisdom, who in the humble testimony of the Apostle Peter you laid the foundation of our faith, give all men the light of your Spirit, so that by recognizing in Jesus of Nazareth the Son of the living God, they may become living stones for the building up of your Church. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who is God, and lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
Post Scriptum. Jesus in the end “strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.” Why? We will know the answer the following Sunday!
Useful points to consider:
Pope Leo XIV, Holy Mass Pro Ecclesia Celebrated By the Roman Pontiff With the Cardinals, Homily, Sistine Chapel, Friday, 9 May 2025
[…] “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). In these words, Peter, asked by the Master, together with the other disciples, about his faith in him, expressed the patrimony that the Church, through the apostolic succession, has preserved, deepened and handed on for two thousand years
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the one Saviour, who alone reveals the face of the Father.
In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person and in the mature features of a man (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22), finally appearing to his disciples after the resurrection with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities.
Peter, in his response, understands both of these things: the gift of God and the path to follow in order to allow himself to be changed by that gift. They are two inseparable aspects of salvation entrusted to the Church to be proclaimed for the good of the human race. Indeed, they are entrusted to us, who were chosen by him before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs (cf. Jer 1:5), reborn in the waters of Baptism and, surpassing our limitations and with no merit of our own, brought here and sent forth from here, so that the Gospel might be proclaimed to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15). […]
Peter, however, makes his profession of faith in reply to a specific question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” (Mt16:13). The question is not insignificant. It concerns an essential aspect of our ministry, namely, the world in which we live, with its limitations and its potential, its questions and its convictions.
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” If we reflect on the scene we are considering, we might find two possible answers, which characterize two different attitudes.
First, there is the world’s response. Matthew tells us that this conversation between Jesus and his disciples takes place in the beautiful town of Caesarea Philippi, filled with luxurious palaces, set in a magnificent natural landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon, but also a place of cruel power plays and the scene of betrayals and infidelity. This setting speaks to us of a world that considers Jesus a completely insignificant person, at best someone with an unusual and striking way of speaking and acting. And so, once his presence becomes irksome because of his demands for honesty and his stern moral requirements, this “world” will not hesitate to reject and eliminate him.
Then there is the other possible response to Jesus’ question: that of ordinary people. For them, the Nazarene is not a charlatan, but an upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things, like other great prophets in the history of Israel. That is why they follow him, at least for as long as they can do so without too much risk or inconvenience. Yet to them he is only a man, and therefore, in times of danger, during his passion, they too abandon him and depart disappointed.
What is striking about these two attitudes is their relevance today. They embody notions that we could easily find on the lips of many men and women in our own time, even if, while essentially identical, they are expressed in different language.
Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.
These are contexts where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to its truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet, precisely for this reason, they are the places where our missionary outreach is desperately needed. A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.
Today, too, there are many settings in which Jesus, although appreciated as a man, is reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman. This is true not only among non-believers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism.
This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Saviour. Therefore, it is essential that we too repeat, with Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16).
It is essential to do this, first of all, in our personal relationship with the Lord, in our commitment to a daily journey of conversion. Then, to do so as a Church, experiencing together our fidelity to the Lord and bringing the Good News to all (cf. Lumen Gentium, 1). […]
Catechism of the Catholic Church
ARTICLE 2 “AND IN JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD”
1. Christ
436 The word “Christ” comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Messiah, which means “anointed”. It became the name proper to Jesus only because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission that “Christ” signifies. In effect, in Israel those consecrated to God for a mission that he gave were anointed in his name. This was the case for kings, for priests and, in rare instances, for prophets. This had to be the case all the more so for the Messiah whom God would send to inaugurate his kingdom definitively. It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet. Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king.
(…)
438 Jesus’ messianic consecration reveals his divine mission, “for the name ‘Christ’ implies ‘he who anointed’, ‘he who was anointed’ and ‘the very anointing with which he was anointed’. The one who anointed is the Father, the one who was anointed is the Son, and he was anointed with the Spirit who is the anointing.’” His eternal messianic consecration was revealed during the time of his earthly life at the moment of his baptism by John, when “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power”, “that he might be revealed to Israel” as its Messiah. His works and words will manifest him as “the Holy One of God”.
III. The Only Son of God
441 In the Old Testament, “son of God” is a title given to the angels, the Chosen People, the children of Israel, and their kings. It signifies an adoptive sonship that establishes a relationship of particular intimacy between God and his creature. When the promised Messiah-King is called “son of God”, it does not necessarily imply that he was more than human, according to the literal meaning of these texts. Those who called Jesus “son of God”, as the Messiah of Israel, perhaps meant nothing more than this.
442 Such is not the case for Simon Peter when he confesses Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God”, for Jesus responds solemnly: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” Similarly Paul will write, regarding his conversion on the road to Damascus, “When he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles…””and in the synagogues immediately [Paul] proclaimed Jesus, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’” From the beginning this acknowledgment of Christ’s divine sonship will be the centre of the apostolic faith, first professed by Peter as the Church’s foundation.
443 Peter could recognize the transcendent character of the Messiah’s divine sonship because Jesus had clearly allowed it to be so understood. To his accusers’ question before the Sanhedrin, “Are you the Son of God, then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am.” Well before this, Jesus referred to himself as “the Son” who knows the Father, as distinct from the “servants” God had earlier sent to his people; he is superior even to the angels. He distinguished his sonship from that of his disciples by never saying “our Father”, except to command them: “You, then, pray like this: ‘Our Father’”, and he emphasized this distinction, saying “my Father and your Father”.
Article 9 “I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH”
751 The word “Church” (Latin ecclesia, from the Greek ek-ka-lein, to “call out of”) means a convocation or an assembly. It designates the assemblies of the people, usually for a religious purpose. Ekklesia is used frequently in the Greek Old Testament for the assembly of the Chosen People before God, above all for their assembly on Mount Sinai where Israel received the Law and was established by God as his holy people. By calling itself “Church,” the first community of Christian believers recognized itself as heir to that assembly. In the Church, God is “calling together” his people from all the ends of the earth, the equivalent Greek term Kyriake, from which the English word Church and the German Kirche are derived, means “what belongs to the Lord.”
752 In Christian usage, the word “church” designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of believers. These three meanings are inseparable. “The Church” is the People that God gathers in the whole world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical, above all a Eucharistic, assembly. She draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ’s Body.
The Church – instituted by Christ Jesus
763 It was the Son’s task to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent.” The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures.” To fulfill the Father’s will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth, the Church “is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery.”
764 “This Kingdom shines out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ.” To welcome Jesus’ word is to welcome “the Kingdom itself.” The seed and beginning of the Kingdom are the “little flock” of those whom Jesus came to gather around him, the flock whose shepherd he is. They form Jesus’ true family. To those whom he thus gathered around him, he taught a new “way of acting” and a prayer of their own.
765 The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head. Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the new Jerusalem. The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ’s mission and his power, but also in his lot. By all his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church.
766 The Church is born primarily of Christ’s total self-giving for our salvation, anticipated in the institution of the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross. “The origin and growth of the Church are symbolized by the blood and water which flowed from the open side of the crucified Jesus. “For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the ‘wondrous sacrament of the whole Church.’” As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross.
