Venit Jesus in partes Caesareae Philippi: et reliqua.
Matthew the Evangelist wrote in the evangelical Testament, thus saying,
"The Lord came to a district, which is called Caesarea Philippi, and asked
his disciples how men spake concerning him. They answered, Some men say
that thou art John the Baptist; some men say that thou art Elias; some
Jeremias, or some other prophet. Jesus then said, What say ye that I am?
Peter answered him, Thou art Christ, Son of the living God. The Lord said
to him in answer, Blessed art thou, Simon, son of a dove, for flesh and
blood hath not revealed to thee this belief, but my Father who is in
heaven. I say to thee, thou art of stone, and on this stone I will build my
church, and the gates of hell may not aught against it. I will commit to
thee the key of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth, that shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt unbind on
earth, that shall be unbound in heaven."
Beda the expositor reveals to us the mystery of this reading, and says,
that Philip the tetrarch built the city of Caesarea, and, in honour of the
emperor Tiberius, under whom {367} he governed, devised for the city the
name of Caesarea, and in memorial of himself added to the name, 'Philippi,'
thus saying, 'Caesarea Philippi,' as though the city were so named in
honour of them both.
When Jesus drew near to the district, he asked, how the men of the world
spake of him: not as though he knew not the speeches of men concerning him,
but he would, by a true confession of the right belief, destroy the false
imagination of erring men. His apostles answered him, "Some men say that
thou art John the Baptist, some say that thou art Elias, some Jeremias, or
one of the prophets." The Lord then asked, "What say ye that I am?" as if
he had thus said, 'Now the men of the world thus erroneously know me, how
do ye, who are gods, know me?' The expositor said 'gods,' because the true
God, who alone is Almighty, has granted that dignity to his chosen, that he
calls them gods. The obedient Peter answered him, "Thou art Christ, Son of
the living God." He said 'of the living God,' in distinction from the false
gods, which the heathen nations, by various error deceived, worshipped.
Some of them believed in dead giants, and raised precious idols to them,
and said that they were gods, on account of the great strength they had:
yet were their lives very criminal and opprobrious; of whom the prophet
said, "The idols of the heathen are of gold and of silver, men's handiwork:
they have a dumb mouth and blind eyes, deaf ears and unhandling hands, feet
without pace, body without life." Some of them believed in the sun, some in
the moon, some in fire, and in many other creatures: they said that on
account of their fairness they were gods.
Now Peter manifestly distinguished the true belief, when he said, "Thou art
Christ, Son of the living God." He is the living God who has life and
existence through himself, without beginning, and who created all creatures
through his own Son, that is, his Wisdom, and to them all gave life {369}
through the Holy Ghost. In these three persons is one Godhead, and one
nature, and one work indivisibly.
The Lord said to Peter, "Blessed art thou, son of a dove." The Holy Ghost
appeared over Christ in likeness of a dove. Now Jesus called Peter the
child of a dove, because he was filled with meekness and with the grace of
the Holy Ghost. He said, "Neither flesh nor blood hath revealed unto thee
this belief, but my Father who is in heaven." His fleshly condition is
called flesh and blood. He had not that intelligence through parental love,
but the Heavenly Father gave this belief into Peter's heart through the
Holy Ghost.
The Lord said to Peter, "Thou art of stone." For the strength of his
belief, and for the steadfastness of his profession he received that name,
because he had attached himself with firm mind to Christ, who is called
'stone' by the apostle Paul. "And I will build my church upon this stone:"
that is, on that faith which thou professest. All God's church is built on
that stone, that is, upon Christ; for he is the foundation of all the
fabrics of his own church. All God's churches are accounted as one
congregation, and that is constructed of chosen men, not of dead stones;
and all the building of those living stones is founded on Christ; for we,
through that belief, are accounted his limbs, and he is the head of us all.
He who builds not from that foundation, his work falls to great perdition.
Jesus said, "The gates of hell may not aught against my church." Sins and
erroneous doctrine are the gates of hell, because they lead the sinful, as
it were through a gate, into hell-torment. Many are the gates, but none of
them can do aught against the holy church, which is built upon that fast
stone, Christ; for the faithful man, through the protection of Christ,
avoids the perils of diabolical temptations.
He said, "I will commit to thee the key of the kingdom of heaven." That key
is not of gold nor of silver, nor forged of any substance, but is the power
which Christ gave him, {371} that no man shall come into God's kingdom,
unless the holy Peter open to him the entrance. "And whatsoever thou shalt
bind on earth, that shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt
unbind on earth, that shall be unbound in heaven." This power he then gave
to Peter and likewise afterwards, ere his ascension, to all his apostles,
when he blew on them, thus saying, "Receive the Holy Ghost: the sins of
those men which ye forgive shall be forgiven; and from those to whom ye
refuse forgiveness, forgiveness shall be withdrawn."
The apostles will not bind any righteous man with their anathema, nor also
mercifully unbind the sinful, unless he with true repentance return to the
way of life. The same power has the Almighty granted to bishops and holy
mass-priests, if they carefully hold it according to the evangelical
volume. But the key is especially committed to Peter, that every people may
with certainty know, that whosoever deviates from the unity of the faith
which Peter then professed to Christ, to him will be granted neither
forgiveness of sins nor entrance into the kingdom of heaven.