St. Peter, His Name and His Office Part 7

But, secondly, it is a charge of a very high and distinguis.h.i.+ng nature indeed, for our Lord before conferring it demands of Peter, as a condition, greater love towards His own person than that felt for Him by any of the Twelve--even by the sons of Zebedy, whom from their zeal He surnamed Boanerges, sons of thunder--even by the disciple whom He loved, and who lay on His breast at the last supper. What must that charge be, the preliminary condition for which is a greater love for Jesus than that of the beloved disciple?

What shall be a fitting sequel to "Simon, son of John, lovest thou me _more_ than these?" What, again, the importance of that office, in bestowing which our Lord thrice repeats the condition, and thrice inculcates the charge? The words of G.o.d are not spoken at random, nor His repet.i.tions without effect. What, again, are the _subjects_ of the charge? They are "My lambs," and "My sheep," that is, the fold itself of the Great Shepherd. As He said, "If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with Me," so those who are not either His lambs or His sheep, form no part of His fold. Others, too, in Holy Writ, are addressed as shepherds, but with a limitation, as, "Take heed to the whole flock _wherein_ the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops," or "feed the flock of G.o.d _which is among you_." And, more largely far it was said, "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples all nations;" and "Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature."[15] But they to whom this was said were yet themselves sheep of the Great Shepherd, and in committing the world to them, He did not commit _them_ to each other. Whereas here, they too, as His sheep, are committed to one, even Peter; and very expressly, in the persons of James and John, and the rest present, "lovest thou Me more than these?" A particular flock is never termed absolutely and simply "the flock," or "the flock of G.o.d," but "the flock _which is among you_," "_in which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops_." And, again, the Apostles are sent in common to the whole world, to preach to all nations, and to form one flock; but they are twelve, and "power given to several carries its restriction in its division, whilst power given to one alone and over all, and without exception, carries with it plenitude, and, not having to be divided with any other, it has no bounds save those which its terms convey."[16] What are the terms here? "Feed," and "be shepherd over" or "rule" "My lambs and My sheep." The terms have no limit, save that of salvation itself. Such, then, are the _persons_ indicated as subjects of this charge. But what is the nature of the charge? Two different words of unequal extent and force in the original, but both rendered "feed" in the translation, convey this. One means "to give food" simply, the other, of far higher and n.o.bler reach, embraces every act of care and providence in the government of others, under an image the farthest removed from the spirit of pride and ambition. Such is even its heathen meaning, and the first of poets termed Agamemnon by this word, "Shepherd of the people." By this word, S. Paul, and S. Peter[17]

himself, express the power of the bishop over his own flock. And so our Lord, here inst.i.tuting the Bishop of Bishops, the one Shepherd of the one fold, gives to Peter over all his flock, the very word given to _Him_ in the famous prophecy, "Thou, Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall _rule_ My people Israel:"

the very word, which used of Himself in Psalm ii. to express all His power and dominion, in His revelation to S. John, is spoken of His own triumphant career, as the Word of G.o.d going forth to battle, "He shall _rule_ them with a rod of iron;" and, again, in the same book is applied by Himself to set forth the honour which He will give "to him that shall overcome and keep My works unto the end."[18] Thus, just as in the _persons_ pointed out, the _subject_ of this charge is _universal_, so in the _terms_ by which it is expressed, the _nature_ of the power is _supreme_. What the bishop is to his own flock, Peter is made to "the flock of G.o.d:" and this at once, in the most simple, as well as in the most absolute and emphatic manner, by inst.i.tution from the chief Shepherd Himself, at the close of His ministry, and by a.s.sociating Peter singly with Himself in His most distinctive t.i.tle. If the fold of Christ is equivalent to "the Church of Christ," and "the kingdom of heaven," so to feed and to rule the lambs and the sheep of that fold is equivalent to being "the Rock" of that Church, and "the Bearer of the keys," as well as _the First, the Greater one, and the Ruler_ in that kingdom of heaven.

Again, looking at the circ.u.mstances under which this charge is received by Peter, it either conveys that special and singular honour and power which we have here set forth, or _none at all_. For Peter had _already_ received the full Apostolic authority: he had heard together with the rest of the Apostles those words of power, "As My Father sent Me, I also send you," and the charge following, to bind and to loose. It could not therefore be this power which was given him, for he had it already. All which James and John, the sons of thunder, ever had given them, he also had before these words were uttered. Besides a power which was to be shared by James and John, and the rest of the Apostles, could not be given in terms which distinguished him from them, "lovest thou Me _more than these_?" It could not be the mere forgiveness of his denial, for not only did the Apostolate, since conferred, carry that, but when our Lord appeared to him first of all the Apostles after His resurrection, it was a token of such forgiveness. There remained nothing else to give him, but presidency over the Apostles themselves, the reward of superior love, as was prophesied and promised to him in reward for superior faith. For these two oracles of our Lord exactly correspond to each other as promise and performance. Their conditions and their terms shed a reciprocal light on each other. In the one there is the great confession, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living G.o.d;"

in the other as singular a declaration, "Lovest thou Me more than these? Yea, Lord." In the one there follows the reward, "And I say to thee, that thou art Peter," &c.: and in the other a like reward, "Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." The one is future, "I will build, I will give, thou shalt bind, thou shall loose:" the other present, "Feed and be shepherd." What concerns "the Church and the kingdom of heaven" in the one, concerns "the fold" in the other.

And the promise and performance are singularly restricted to Peter--"I say unto thee, Thou art Peter"--"Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these?"

As then Peter received the promise of the supreme episcopate _before all_ and _by himself_, under the terms that he should be the Rock, by being built on which the Church should never fall, that he should be the Bearer of the keys in the kingdom of heaven, and that _singly_ he should bind and loose in heaven and in earth; so _after_ his own Apostolate, and that of the rest had been completed, _by himself_, and as the crown of the divine work, he received the fulfilment of that supreme episcopate, under the terms, "Feed My lambs, be shepherd over My sheep." And as a part out of that magnificent promise made to him _singly_, was afterwards taken and made to the Apostles _jointly_ with him, for so "it was the design of Jesus Christ to put first in one alone what afterwards He meant to put in several; but the sequel does not reverse the beginning, nor the first lose his place. That first word, 'Whatsoever thou shalt bind,' said to one alone, has already ranged under his power each one of those to whom shall be said, 'Whatsoever ye shall remit;' for the promises of Jesus Christ, as well as His gifts, are without repentance; and what is once given indefinitely and universally is irrevocable:"[19] so when Peter and the rest already possessed the whole Apostolate, the commission to go and preach to the whole world, and to make disciples of all nations, a power was added to Peter to make up what was promised to him originally; the Apostles themselves, with the whole fold, were put under his charge; he represented the person of the Great Shepherd: and the divine work was complete.

Thus the powers of the Apostolate and the Primacy are not antagonistic, but fit into, and harmonise with each other. In the college of the Twelve, as before inaugurated, and sent forth into the whole world, something had been wanting, save that, "by the appointment of a head, the occasion of schism was taken away:"[20]

and Satan would have shaken the whole fabric, but that there was one divinely set to "confirm the brethren." He who "kept them" once, when "with them," by His personal presence, now kept them for evermore by the word of His power, issued on the sh.o.r.e of the lake of Galilee, but resounding through every age, clear and decisive, amid the fall of empires, and the change of races, and heard by all His flock to the utmost of the isles of the sea, till the day of the Son of Man comes,--"Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these? Feed My lambs: Feed My sheep."

And that the universal and supreme authority over the Church of Christ, was in these words committed to Peter by the Lord, is the belief of antiquity. Thus, S. Ambrose, in the west: "It is not doubtful that Peter believed, and believed because he loved, and loved because he believed. Whence, too, he is grieved at being asked a third time, Lovest thou Me? For we ask those of whom we doubt. But the Lord does not doubt, but asks not to learn, but to teach him whom, on the point of ascending into heaven, He was leaving, _as it were, the successor and representative of His love_.[21] It is because he alone out of all makes a profession, that _he is preferred to all_. Lastly, for the third time, the Lord asks him, no longer, _hast_ thou _a regard_ (diligis me) for Me, but _lovest_ (amas) thou Me: and now he is ordered to feed, not the lambs, as at first, who need a milk diet, nor the little sheep, as secondly, but the more perfect sheep, _in order that he who was the more perfect might have the government_."[22] In the East, S. Chrysostome, "Why, then, pa.s.sing by the rest, does He converse with him on these things? _He was the chosen of the Apostles, and the mouthpiece of the disciples, and the head of the band._ Therefore, also Paul once went up to see him rather than the rest. It was, besides, to shew him, that for the future he must be bold, as his denial was done away with, that _He puts into his hands the presidency over the brethren._ And He does not mention the denial, nor reproach him with what had past; but He says, if thou lovest Me, _rule the brethren_, and show now that warm affection which on all occasions thou didst exhibit, and in which thou didst exult, and the life which thou didst offer to lay down for Me, now spend for My sheep." Again, "thrice He asks the question, and thrice lays on him the same command, showing at how high a price He sets _the charge of His own sheep_." Again, "he was put in charge with the direction of his brethren." "He made him great promises _and put the world into his hands_." Thus John and James, and the rest of the Apostles were committed to Peter, but never Peter to them: and he adds, "But if any one asks, How then did James receive the throne of Jerusalem? I would reply that He elected Peter _not to be the teacher of this throne, but of the whole world_." And in another place, "Why did He shed His blood to purchase those sheep _which He committed to Peter and his successors_? With reason then said Christ, 'who is the faithful and prudent servant whom his Lord hath set over His own[23]

house?'" Theophylact repeated, seven hundred years later, the perpetual tradition of the East. "He puts into Peter's hands the heads.h.i.+p over the sheep of the whole world, and to no other but to him gives He this; first, because he was distinguished above all, and the mouth-piece of the whole band; and secondly, showing to him that he must be confident, as his denial was put out of account."

And if S. Leo, a Pope, declares that "though there be among the people of G.o.d many priests and many shepherds, yet Peter rules all by immediate commission, whom Christ also rules by Sovereign power,"[24] the great Eastern, Saint Basil, a.s.signed an adequate reason for this near a century before, when he viewed all pastoral authority in the Church as included in this grant to Peter, declaring that the spiritual "ruler is none else but one who represents the person of the Saviour, and offers up to G.o.d the salvation of those who obey him, and this we learn from Christ Himself _in that He appointed Peter to be the shepherd of His Church after_[25] _Himself_."

But especially must we quote S. Cyprian, because to that equality of the Apostles as such, before referred to by us, by considering which without regard to the proportion of faith some have been led astray, he adds the full recognition of the Primacy, and urges its extreme importance. Thus quoting the promise and the fulfilment, "Thou art Peter, &c." and "Feed My sheep," he goes on, "Upon him being one He builds His Church; and _though_ He gives to all the Apostles an equal power, and says, "As the Father sent Me, I also send you, &c.," yet in order to manifest unity He has, by His own authority, so placed the source of the same unity as to begin from one.

Certainly the other Apostles also were what Peter was, endued with an equal fellows.h.i.+p both of honour and power, but a commencement is made from unity, that the Church may be set before us as one."[26]

That is, the Apostles were equal as to the powers bestowed in John xx. 23-5, but as to those given in Matt. xvi. 18-19, Luke xxii.

31-3, and John xxi. 15-18, "the Church was built upon Peter alone,"

and he was made the source and ever-living spring of ecclesiastical unity.

Yet clearly as our Lord in this charge a.s.sociates Peter with Himself, puts him over his brethren, the other Apostles, and fulfils to him all that He ever promised, as to making him "the first," "the greater one" and "the ruler or leader," by that one t.i.tle of "the Shepherd," in which is summed up all authority over His Church, and the very purpose of His own divine mission, "to seek and to save that which was lost," still a touch of tenderness is added by the Master's hand, which brings out all this more forcibly, and must have told personally on Peter's feelings and those of his fellow-disciples, as the highest and most solemn consecration to his singular office. For when the Lord spoke that parable, "I am the good shepherd," He added, as the token of the character, "the good shepherd giveth His life for His sheep." And so now, appointing Peter to take His place over the flock, He adds to him this token also: "Amen, amen, I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst, but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not." "When thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself," alluding, perhaps, to that impulse of affection with which, just before, as soon as Peter heard from John that it was the Lord standing on the sh.o.r.e, "he girt his coat about him and cast himself into the sea," for his love waited not for the slowness of the boat. Thus He taught Peter that the chiefs.h.i.+p to which He was appointing him, that "care of all the Churches," as it required a different spirit to fulfil it from that which prevailed among "the kings of the nations," so it led to a different end, the last crowning act of a lifelong self-sacrifice, which began by being the servant of all, ran through a thousand acts of humiliation and anxiety, and was to be completed in the martyrdom of crucifixion. And so in his death, as well as in his charge of visible head of the Church, he was to be made like his Lord, and after the manner of the Good Shepherd, whom he succeeded, should lay down his life for his sheep. For "this He said signifying by what death he should glorify G.o.d. And when He had said this, He saith to him, Follow Me." With far deeper meaning now than when those words of power were first uttered to him beside that lake. Then it was, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Now it is, "Follow Me, and I will a.s.sociate thee with My life and with My death, with My charge and with its reward. This shall be the proof of thy greater love, to be obedient even to death, and that the death of the cross." Such was the anointing which the first Primate of the Church received to the triple crown. "Follow thou Me." Like his divine Master, he was during the whole of his ministry to have the cross set before his eyes, and laid upon his heart, as the certain end of his course. And thus Peter "received power and sacerdotal authority over all, from the very G.o.d for our sakes incarnate:"[27]

thus he followed in the steps of the Good Shepherd, as he succeeded to His office. And, therefore, having accomplished his mission and triumphed on the Roman hill, from Rome he speaks through the undying line of his spiritual heirs, and feeds the flock of Christ.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Pa.s.saglia, p. 93.

[2] Matt. xvi. 16.

[3] Matt. x. 1; Mark iii. 13-15; Luke vi. 12-13; Matt. xviii, 18.

[4] John xvii. 12.

[5] Mark xvi. 6.

[6] 1 Cor. xv. 1-9.

[7] Matt. xxviii. 18; Mark xvi. 15; Luke xxiv. 49; Acts i. 4-8; John. xx. 21.

[8] De unitate ecclesiae, 3.

[9] Mark i. 16; Luke v. 3.

[10] Mark iv. 38; Luke viii. 24.

[11] John vi. 21.

[12] John xxi. 1-14.

[13] St. Augustine's 122nd discourse on St. John, who has thus set forth this chapter: "Piscis a.s.sus Christus est pa.s.sus."

[14] Ezech. xxiv. 33; Isai. xl. 9-11; Mich. v. 2; Matt. ii. 6; John x. 11, 14, 16.

[15] Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 10; Matt. xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 15.

[16] Bossuet, sermon on unity.

[17] Acts xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 10; Ps. ii. 9; Apoc. xix. 15; ii. 27.

[18] Poimahinein used in the text of John, and in all these.

[19] Bossuet, sermon on unity.

[20] St. Jerome.

[21] Amoris sui veluti vicarium.

[22] In Lucam, Lib. 10, n. 175.

[23] St. Chrys. in Joan. Hom. 88, p. 525-7; and De Sacerdot. Lib. 2, Tom. 1. p. 372.

[24] St. Leo. Serm. 4.

[25] St. Basil, Const.i.t. Monas. xxii. Tom. 2, p. 573.

[26] St. Cyprian, de unit. 3.

[27] Stephen of Dora, in the Lateran Synod, A.D., 649. Mansi, x.

893.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CORRESPONDENCE AND EQUIVALENCE OF THE GREAT TEXTS CONCERNING PETER.

Before we compare together more exactly what was said to the Apostles in common, and what to Peter in particular, it is desirable to consider briefly two other points, which will complete the evidence furnished by the Gospels.

1. If, then, the[1] question to be decided by doc.u.ments is, whether several persons are to be accounted equal in rank, honour, and authority, or whether one of them is superior to the rest, it will be an unexceptionable rule to observe whether they are spoken of in the same manner. For words are signs of ideas, and set forth as in a mirror the mind's conceptions. A similarity of language, therefore, will indicate a similarity of rank; a distinction of language, especially if it be repeated and constant, will show a like distinction of rank. Let us apply this rule to the mode in which the Evangelists speak of Peter and of the other Apostles.

Now to express one of rank and his attendants, the Evangelists often use the phrase, a person _and those with him_. Thus, Luke vi. 4, "David and _those that were with him_;" and Matt. xii. 3 with Mark ii. 25, "Have ye not read what David did, when himself was a hungered and _those that were with him_?" Of our Lord and the Apostles it is said, Mark iii. 11, "And He made twelve, _that they should be with Him_:" and xvi. 10, "She went and told _them that had been with Him_." And Acts iv. 13, the chief priests "knew them,"

Peter and John, "that _they had been with Jesus_." And Matthew xxvi.

69, Peter is reproached, "Thou also _wast with Jesus_." Now just so the Evangelists speak of Peter. Our Lord having on one occasion left the Apostles for solitary prayer, S. Mark writes, i. 36, "And Simon _and they that were with him_ followed after Him." Again, the woman with the issue of blood having touched the Lord, when He asked, 'Who is it that touched Me?' S. Luke says, viii. 45, "all denying, Peter _and they that were with him_ said," &c. And on the occasion of the Transfiguration, "Peter and _they that were with him_," being James and John. Just as after the resurrection Luke writes, Acts ii. 14, "Peter standing up with the eleven;" verse 37, "They said to Peter and to the rest of the Apostles;" v. 29, "Peter and the Apostles answering said." And the angels to the holy women, Mark xvi. 7, "Go tell His disciples and Peter."