Who I am to you, and the Keys to the open community

(Mt 16:13-20)

More than halfway through his public life Jesus has not yet given formulas, but he asks a challenging question - one that purports to ask much more than the usual law-structured expressions.

Globally, the crowd may have likened him to eminent figures such as the Baptist (the one who proved to be a stranger to courtesies) or Elijah (for his denunciation of idols) or Jeremiah (the opponent of the buying and selling of blessings).

But He did not come - like the ancient prophets - to improve the situation or mend devotions, nor to purify the Temple, but to replace it!

The images of tradition depict Christ in many ways (for atheists, a philanthropist), the most common of which is still that of an ancient Lord, guarantor of conventional behaviour.

Instead - to give us pause for thought - he takes the disciples to a construction site [in northern Palestine, Caesarea Philippi was under construction], far from the interested nomenclature of the 'holy' City.

The common mentality evaluated the success of life - and the truth of a religion - on the basis of success, domination, enrichment, security in general.

The question that Jesus poses to his disciples reveals a novelty that supersedes the whole system: the Call is addressed to each and every person.

It is a boundary proposal, as is the symbolic geographical location of the capital of Philip's kingdom (one of the three heir sons of Herod the Great): in upper Galilee, the furthest point from the centre of recognised religiosity.

The Face of the Son of Man is recognisable only by placing the greatest distance from veteran patterns - otherwise we too would not be able to perceive its personal light.

In the congregation of Mt, we were precisely experiencing an increasing participation of pagans, who previously felt excluded and gradually became integrated.

In our mentality, the 'house keys' are used to close and lock the door, so as not to let the ill-intentioned in. In the Semitic one, they were instead an icon of the opening of the door.

In Perugino's famous masterpiece on the north wall of the Sistine Chapel, Jesus gives the head of the Church two keys: the golden one to Paradise and the silver one to Purgatory.

But the meaning of the passage is not the Afterlife - indeed, it is not even institutional [as the sumptuous architecture of the triumphal arches and the temple in the background of the fresco would indicate].

In Hebrew, the term 'key' - maftéach - is derived from the verb patàch, meaning to open: the greatest missionary task of community leaders is to keep the Kingdom of Heaven wide open, that is, to ensure a welcoming Church!

Peter must not follow the type of the arrogant monarch, the image of authority [substitute for the emperor].

Simon must make himself primarily responsible for the acceptance of those who are outside.

This seems strange for any proposal from the past, where God was supposed to fear making Himself impure in contact with the world.

The Father is the One who dares most.

Faith is not a parachute [as in 'doctrinal belief'] but a loving Relationship that does not clog the mindset and allows us to face the enriching flow of life.

Creative Providence - all-round and boundless, today particularly upsetting every habitual arrangement - is a real expression and authentic Revelation of the Mystery.

This is why Jesus severely imposes a total messianic silence (v.20) on the lips and ancient brain of the Apostles.

Peter and the disciples wanted to return to the usual idea of "the" Messiah (cf. Greek text) awaited by all: a too normal plot, incapable of regenerating us.

Peter's Faith

As mentioned above, Jesus guides his disciples away from the territory of power ideology and the sacred centre of the official religious institution - Judea - so that they may distance themselves from limitations and appreciation.

[The Master's relative success in Galilee had revived the apostles' hopes of one-sided glory].

The territory of Caesarea Philippi, in the extreme north of Palestine, was enchanting; famous for its fertility and lush pastures - an area renowned for the beauty of its surroundings and the fecundity of its flocks and herds.

Even the disciples were fascinated by the landscape and the affluent life of the region's inhabitants; not to mention the magnificence of the palaces.

The reminder of the context alludes to the comforts of pagan religion in general; excessive prosperity, which bamboozled the Twelve.

Christ asks the apostles - practically - what the people expected of Him, and so He wants them to realise the harmful effects of their own preaching, which willingly confused material and spiritual blessings.

While the gods show that they know how to shower their devotees with goods - and a lavish court life that [indeed] beguiled everyone - what does Christ offer? 

The Master realises that the disciples were still strongly conditioned by the propaganda of the political and religious government (vv.6.11) that ensured prosperity (vv.5-12; cf. Mt 15:32-38).

And Jesus still instructs them, so that at least his closest ones can overcome the blindness and crisis produced by his Cross (v.21), by the commitment required in the perspective of self-giving.

He is not merely a continuer of the Baptist's limpid attitude, never inclined to compromise with the courts and opulence; nor one of the many restorers of the law of Moses, with the zeal of Elijah.

Nor did he want to limit himself to purifying religion of spurious elements, but even to replace the Temple (Mt 21:12-17.18-19.42; 23:2.37-39; 24:30) - the place of encounter between the Father and his children.

On this issue, not only the distance with paganism, but also the contrasts between Jews who had converted to the Lord and those who were observant according to tradition, were particularly vivid at that time.

Indeed, the sacred books of late Judaism spoke of great figures who had left their mark on the history of Israel, and were to reappear to usher in the messianic times.

Even within the persecuted communities of Galilee and Syria, Mt notes a lack of understanding, and all the difficulty of embracing the new proposal - which did not guarantee success and recognition, nor immediate goals.

[From the earliest generations it was realised that the Faith does not easily accord with early human impulses.]

Thus the Master contradicts Peter himself (vv.20.23), whose opinion remained tied to the conformist and popular idea of "the" (vv.16.20: "that") expected Messiah.

In short, the leader of the apostles - so weak in the Faith - must stop showing Christ which way to go "behind" him (v.23), diverting Him!

Simon must start being a pupil again; he must stop tracing recognised and opportunistic, non-humanising, elitist or one-sided paths - hijacking God in the name of God.

A special note on the theme of the Name:

While for our culture it is often a label, among Eastern peoples the name is one with the person, and designates them in a special way.

As is evident e.g. in the 'second' commandment, the power of the Name carries great weight: it is a knowing of the (divine) Subject in the essence and meaning of action; almost a taking possession of its power.

Even in our prayerful, spiritual and mystical tradition, the Proper Name [e.g. Jesus] has often been considered almost an acoustic icon of the person, inclusive of his virtues; evocative of his presence and power.

In ancient cultures, pronouncing the name meant being able to grasp the seed, the pregnant and global core of the figure of reference.

Not infrequently, in our mentality too, it meant expressing an omen, a mandate, a wish, a blessing, a vocation, a destiny, a task, a call, a mission (nomen est omen).

But here we measure the difference between sacral mentality and faith. In religions, the proper name that the master or founder bestows on the disciple is a sort of signpost: he who lacks the acumen or fortune, strength and courage to realise it, would diminish in dignity.

Instead, Christ with his callings calls us to a path, but one that is deeply commensurate with the essence. He stimulates the exodus - not according to models - because he first brings the person back into himself. So that we all step into the depths and to the extreme that corresponds.

First step: meeting each other in the round; in the different, even surprising, unexpressed or unknown sides - generally, unimaginable characters according to rules and nomenclature.

Even our eccentric, ambiguous, shadowy or even rejected ways of being in the first person: the best sides of ourselves will be revealed along the Way.

Only in this plural track do we find the way to an adventure full of meaning; not mechanical, nor repetitive - but resembling life: always new and authentic. Not from facade or calculating externals: there is an Author's signature that precedes, in the building up of ourselves and the world.

Passing among the various building sites in the city of Philip, Jesus instead compared Simon to the inert and piled-up (even confusing) materials he found in front of him.

That condition captured the root of apostolic expectations! The disciples did not yet give space to the Mystery within themselves, to the idea of a secret salvation, which erupts with its own, innate energy; which surpasses ordinary dreams.

Cephas in fact derives from the Aramaic Kefas: building stone; something hard: practically, a stubborn like many; nothing special, indeed. Jesus gives Simon a negative nickname!

In fact, the Greek word petros (v. 18) is not a proper noun: it indicates a stone (picked up from the ground) that can indeed be useful for a construction - if of course it allows itself to be shaped - and that not only supports, but is supported; that not only aggregates, but is aggregated.

And the Greek word petra (v.18) is not the feminine of petros: it indicates rock, and refers to the Person of Christ as the only security (along with Faith in Him), an appellation that unpredictably changes an entire life. Only the inner Friend in fact draws from our bad baggage the unpredictable that springs forth.

Each one of us is chiselled by the Lord according to the name Peter, in the sense of a particular piece, an individual and special element - placed singularly but in a great mosaic: that of the history of salvation, where each one is at the same time himself and in a continuous phase of regeneration.

The only feeling of belonging of the many building stones all living: the conviviality of differences, the communion of the disparate fraternal members in the ministerial Church; none forever, but everywhere [unceasingly] pulsating nuclei of an institution all gathered from the earth... and liberated for free.